要約

Energy conservation in steel industries is a big issue in sustaining a green environment. Reheating furnaces consume a huge amount of non-renewable sources of energy to heat up the billets above recrystallization temperature. Optimal energy utilisation to achieve desired thermal quality of billets inevitably needs the help of mathematical formulation and computational modelling. In view of this desired goal, a pusher type reheating furnace with axial burners injecting air-coal mixture, is simulated with the help of a computationally efficient numerical model. The effect of varying coal flow rate on the thermal efficiency and productivity are studied along with physical reasoning. An optimal value of 38.1 cm is identified for the spacing between the burners which maximises thermal efficiency and furnace productivity. Also, the effect of installing additional burners in the heating zone is assessed for the furnace under consideration.