- Case Study · Iron Mine & Steel Plant
Automated Foreign Material
Detection System
SWIR Vision Technology deployed on iron ore conveyor belts
to detect and reject wooden contaminants in real time —
preventing furnace damage and protecting steel quality.
98%+
Detection Rate
SWIR+IR
Imaging Technology
8–24H
Downtime Prevented
$5M+
Annual Risk Mitigated
Client
- Tata Steel / Iron Mine
- Prepared by IndusVision · 2026
- 01 - Challenge
The Problem We Solved
Wooden contaminants in iron ore are a silent but critical operational hazard —
invisible to human eyes at conveyor speeds, and catastrophic if they reach the
crusher.
Wooden Contaminants
Pieces of wood, tree bark and organic debris mix into iron ore during mining and transport — making their way onto conveyor belts undetected by standard RGB cameras.
Process Risk
Foreign organic materials, if undetected, cause furnace damage, reduce steel quality, and trigger shutdowns costing $100K+ per hour of lost production.
Manual Inspection Fails
Human visual inspection on fast-moving ore conveyors is unreliable, inconsistent, and hazardous for operators — no human can sustain 98%+ accuracy 24/7.
High Volume Throughput
Ore conveyors operate continuously at high speed — requiring an automated, real-time detection and rejection solution with zero throughput impact.
- 02 — Objectives
Our Four-Step Approach
The system was designed around a complete detect-flag-reject-report loop,
ensuring every contamination event is caught, removed, and documented.
01
Detect
Automatically identify wooden logs, bark, and organic contaminants on iron ore conveyor belts using SWIR spectral imaging.
02
Flag
Generate real-time alerts when foreign material is detected — before it enters the processing plant or primary jaw crusher.
03
Reject
Trigger conveyor stop and mechanical rejection arm to scoop out the detected contaminant with spatial precision.
04
Report
Log all detection events with timestamp, images, and confidence scores for quality audit and model improvement.
- 03 — Business Impact
The Cost of Undetected Contamination
Wooden logs and organic debris in iron ore can halt an entire plant for up to 24
hours — with cascading damage from conveyor to crusher internals.
Damage Cascade: Conveyor → Crusher
Stage 1
Conveyor Belt
Wood & bark wrap around rollers and idlers, causing belt misalignment and accelerated wear.
Stage 2
Crusher Feed Chute
Large logs wedge in the primary jaw crusher feed throat, triggering immediate blockage and full plant shutdown.
Stage 3
Crusher Internals
Fibrous pulp clogs discharge, jams toggle plates, damages liners and seizes bearings — requiring full dismantling.
Downtime Impact Per Jam Incident
8-24
HOURS TO RESTART
- Unplanned plant shutdown — full production halt
- Emergency maintenance crew mobilization
- Crusher dismantling, clearing and re-assembly
- Thousands of tonnes of lost throughput
- Downstream steel plant starved of ore feed
Components at Risk
Crusher Liners & Mantles
Fibrous debris accelerates wear, cutting liner life by 30–50%.
Toggle Plates
Wood jams create sudden overloads that shear the crusher's primary safety component.
Bearings & Shafts
Compacted wood generates off-axis forces causing premature bearing failure.
Conveyor Belt & Idlers
Woody fibre wraps around idlers, causing belt tracking failure and edge damage.
$3–5M+
Annual crusher downtime costs reported by iron ore mines (Int'l Mining, 2021)
$100K+
Lost production cost per hour from each unplanned crusher stop event
1 Point
Early-stage conveyor detection is the only cost- effective intervention point
- 04 — Technology
SWIR Imaging System
Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) spectral imaging exploits the fundamental
difference in IR reflectance between organic materials and iron ore to achieve
highly reliable detection.
Why SWIR Works
Spectral Contrast
Wood and bark strongly reflect IR wavelengths (850–1150nm) while iron ore absorbs them — creating high brightness contrast that makes detection precise.
Surface Detection Through Dust
SWIR penetrates surface dust and debris, ensuring visibility of contaminants even in heavy industrial dust environments.
Targeted IR Illumination
IR bar lights at 850–1150nm illuminate the ore belt uniformly, creating consistent imaging conditions independent of ambient light.
Millisecond AI Processing
SWIR feeds are processed by AI in milliseconds, enabling detection at full conveyor operating speed with zero throughput impact.
Key Insight
Under SWIR illumination (850–1150nm), organic materials like wood and bark appear significantly BRIGHTER than iron ore due to their different IR reflectance properties — making detection highly reliable even in dusty, high-throughput environments.
| Type | Short-Wave Infrared Area Scan |
| Wavelength | 850 – 1150 nm |
| Coverage | High-res, wide belt coverage |
| Positioning | Global Shutter (motion-free) |
| Spectrum | GigE / Camera Link |
| Type | Industrial IR Bar Lights |
| Wavelength | 850 nm – 1150 nm |
| Coverage | Full belt width — multi-unit |
| Positioning | Angled for max contrast |
| Spectrum | Non-visible to human eye |
- 05 — AI Pipeline
How the System Works
End-to-end detection pipeline: from ore conveyor image capture to physical
rejection trigger — all in milliseconds.
SWIR Camera Trigger
SWIR camera triggers on belt movement sensor, capturing high-resolution infrared frames.
Image Enhancement
Normalize, denoise, ROI extraction and contrast enhancement for AI model input.
CNN Detection
Deep learning CNN detects and localizes foreign material with spatial precision.
OK / NOK Verdict
Threshold scoring and confidence check produces a final verdict per frame.
Rejection Trigger
Alarm trigger, conveyor stop via PLC, and rejection arm deployment.
PASS — OK
No foreign material detected. Conveyor continues at full operating speed with no interruption to throughput or production.
REJECT — NOK
Foreign material detected. Conveyor stops, rejection arm deploys, contaminant scooped to rejection bin, belt resumes.
- 06 — Performance
Accuracy & System Constraints
The system achieves industry-leading detection accuracy while operating
within well-defined physical and operational boundaries.
98%+
Detection Rate
Accuracy depends on:
- Proper camera exposure settings
- Sufficient IR illumination (850– 1150nm)
- Correct SWIR camera configuration
Detection Constraints
Surface Visibility Only
Contaminants must be visible on the ore surface. Buried material cannot be detected by SWIR imaging.
Spectral Visibility Required
Material must exhibit IR reflectance contrast against iron ore in the SWIR spectrum (850–1150nm).
Irregular Sizes
Precision rejection of very small irregular pieces may be challenging — mechanical solution is the most effective intervention.
Detection Constraints
Conveyor Stop Required
Rejection requires belt stoppage — continuous-flow rejection is not feasible with this mechanical design.
Lens Maintenance Schedule
Continuous dust exposure requires a regular camera lens cleaning and inspection protocol.
Environmental Dust
Heavy airborne dust can reduce image clarity over time, requiring periodic system recalibration.
- 06 — Performance
Solution Summary
The SWIR-based Automated Foreign Material Detection System provides a
reliable, real-time solution for identifying and removing wooden contaminants
from iron ore conveyor belts.
SWIR imaging achieves strong spectral separation between wood/bark and iron ore
AI model targets 98%+ detection accuracy under optimal operational conditions
Proposed mechanical rejection arm stops belt and removes contaminant safely
System ready for site-specific POC installation and full validation trial