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Start Date:2 Aug, 2026
End Date:6 Aug, 2026
Duration: 5 Days
 
Overview: 
Hot rolling operations require high-quality reheated semi-finished steels at the lowest possible cost and the optimal production rate of the rolling mill. The reheating furnaces used to heat semi-finished steels in a hot rolling mill consume a large amount of energy and simultaneously generate a significant amount of pollutants. Because of this, there is a need to explore ways to reduce energy consumption, as well as contaminants and associated costs. This can be done by improving the fuel efficiency of the reheating furnaces
 
Course Objectives: 
The quantity of heat required to be imparted to the charge material.
Generation of heat within the furnace is required not only to heat the charge material but also to compensate for all heat losses that occur.
Transfer of part of the available heat from the furnace gases to the surface of the heating charge material.
Equalisation of the temperature within the charge material.
Losses of heat from the furnace through the doors, walls, etc.
The exhaust gases carry heat.
Emissions of the pollutants (e.g. NOx, etc.) are caused by the exhaust gases.
There are two main objectives.
The primary objective is to develop a simulation model of billet temperature that considers real-time changes in thermal conditions, including their thermal properties and thermal radiation view factors.
The second objective is to develop a practical furnace control optimisation method that responds to real-time non-steady-state condition changes in the operation of a reheating furnace in rolling mills, without using trajectories. By applying these immolation models and control methods to the real operation of reheating furnaces, reheating fuel costs can be minimised, and the loss caused by operators’ differences and conservative actions can also be minimised.
Course Content:
1. Background
Fundamentals of reheating in steel rolling.
Strategies to reduce fuel consumption.
Key causes of inefficient furnace performance.
Overview of previous furnace control approaches.
 
2. Modeling the Reheating Furnace
Furnace and Line Performance: Mill layout, billet/bloom movement, cycle time analysis.
Heat Balance: Understanding heat requirements, heat loss, and temperature differences.
Heat Transfer Mechanisms: Gas-to-metal transfer, thermal conduction, and coefficients.
Material Thermal Properties: Specific heat, emissivity, absorption rate, conductivity.
Furnace Modeling Techniques:
Mesh creation.
Component-level heat balance.
Interaction and temperature of billets and hearths.
 
3. Simulation of the Model
Input Data: Billet orders, material properties, operating conditions.
Simulation Results:
Temperature distribution and longitudinal heat transfer.
Impact of mesh size and time increments.
Thermal Conductivity Analysis:
Effects on billet core temperature.
Control Parameter Selection:
Billet extraction temperature estimation.
Model and parameter selection for control strategy.
 
4. Furnace Operation Optimization
Optimization Methodology:
Objective functions, variables, constraints.
Scheduling and temperature adjustment techniques.
Reducing Computation Time:
Selective billet tracking.
Temperature change limiters.
Control Performance Evaluation:
Furnace temperature response.
Actions during unexpected stoppages.
Handling billets with higher target temperatures.
Conclusion:
Summary of findings.
Design improvement suggestions based on simulation insights.
 
Targeted Audience:
Maintenance Engineers and Managers
Maintenance Technicians and Supervisors
Reliability Engineers and Technicians
Technical Support and Supervisors
Technologists
Technology Supervisors and Managers
Operations Engineers and Managers
Operation Technicians and Supervisors
Operational Management.