Computer applications in steel industry

An overview of the current status of computer applicat-ions in the steel industry has been presented from the point of view of process automation and control. Specific areas covered range from sintering to rolling - including energy and transport management. It has been concluded that development of more intelligent man-machine interface for computer aided analysis, simulation and implementation of control system coupled with advances in software engi-neering, parallel processing, high performance graphics and artificial intelligence based systems have led to cons-iderable advancement in all areas as evidenced by signi-ficant improvement in both the plant productivity and pro-duct quality, the world over. Efforts being made in India in general and at R&D Centre of SAIL in particular have been highlighted. In this context, generation of our own technology and a rational and intelligent selection and adoption of various technical advances has been emphasised

Application of artificial intelligence to modelling of materials performance and processing

This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in artificial intelligence research pertinent to metallurgical and materials science. The frameworks of two broad schools of AI research, namely, the Expert Systems (ES) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) have been discussed with specific reference to their various notable applications in the area of materials research. Finally, we present NML's own efforts in this area, where a hybrid framework comprising ES and ANN is being developed for future use

Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document:for:Iron and Steel Production:Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU:(Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)

The BREF entitled ‘Iron and Steel Production’ forms part of a series presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection and the Commission, to draw up, review, and where necessary, update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of the Directive. This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. This BREF for the iron and steel production industry covers the following specified in Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU, namely: • activity 1.3: coke production • activity 2.1: metal ore (including sulphide ore) roasting and sintering • activity 2.2: production of pig iron or steel (primary or secondary fusion) including continuous casting, with a capacity exceeding 2.5 tonnes per hour. The document also covers some activities that may be directly associated to these activities on the same site. Important issues for the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU in the production of iron and steel are the reduction of emissions to air; efficient energy and raw material usage; minimisation, recovery and the recycling of process residues; as well as effective environmental and energy management systems. The BREF document contains 13 chapters. Chapter 1 provides general information on the iron and steel sector. Chapter 2 provides information and data on general industrial processes used within this sector. Chapters 3 to 8 provide information on particular iron and steel processes (sinter plants, pelletisation, coke ovens, blast furnaces, basic oxygen steelmaking and casting, electric arc steelmaking and casting). In Chapter 9 the BAT conclusions, as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive, are presented for the sectors described in Chapters 2 to 8.JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumptio

Beyond energy efficiency : actors, networks and government intervention in the development of industrial process technologies

Het proefschrift geeft vier gedetailleerde verhalen over de ontwikkelingsgeschiedenis van industriële procestechnologieën voor de papierindustrie en de staalindustrie: de schoenpers, impulstechnologie, strip-casting technologie en smeltreductie technologie. Deze 4 technologieën staan bekend als doorbraaktechnologieën die het energieverbruik per ton papier of staal beloven te verminderen. De overheid is geïnteresseerd in de ontwikkeling van dit soort technologieën omdat ze op de lange termijn het energieverbruik per ton kunnen reduceren (zodat ook in de toekomst de CO2-emissies van de zware industrie verder om laag kunnen). De vier ontwikkelingsgeschiedenissen worden vergeleken om af te sluiten met suggesties voor de overheid om de ontwikkeling van industriële procestechnologieën te stimuleren. Het proefschrift laat zien dat sturing van energie-efficiënte procestechnologieën lastig is voor de overheid. Technologieontwikkeling voor de zware industrie gaat traag en de stappen die genomen worden zijn klein. Het bouwt sterk voort op het bestaande productieproces. Wanneer de stap van een innovatieve technologie ten opzichte van het bestaande proces te groot is begint men er simpelweg niet aan. Aan de andere kant moet de verbetering van de kosten per ton product wel groot genoeg zijn om de langdurige en dure ontwikkelingtrajecten te verantwoorden. De verbeteringen in energie-efficiëntie liften mee op de ontwikkeling; de procestechnologieën worden ontwikkeld omdat ze de productiecapaciteit van het bestaande proces vergroten of de productkwaliteit verbeteren. Ook al is stimuleren lastig, het is niet onmogelijk. Voor effectieve stimulering is beleid op maat nodig. Het veld van doorbraaktechnologieën voor de industrie is te divers om generiek beleid te voeren. De kans op free-riders is te groot. De overheid moet geïnformeerd zijn over het vertrouwen dat de industrie heeft in een nieuwe procestechnologie. Wanneer het vertrouwen erg laag is of juist erg hoog, dan heeft interventie geen additioneel effect. Overheidsinterventie zou meer succes hebben wanneer de overheid op de hoogte is van de netwerken, de kennis en ervaring van betrokken actoren die de technologie ontwikkelen. Daarnaast moet een overheid oog hebben voor wat de innovatieve technologie met het produktieproces doet. Stimuleren van technologieontwikkeling begint dus niet alleen bij kennis over de doorbraaktechnologie - en dan niet alleen investeringskosten en energiebesparingskosten, maar ook andere voordelen en inpassingskenmerken -, maar juist ook bij kennis over (internationaal actieve) actoren. Inzicht in het internationale technologienetwerk vergroot de kans op succesvolle overheidsinterventie

Quantifying the transient interfacial area during slag-metal reactions

The steel industry is facing significant competition on a global scale due to the drive for light-weighting and cheaper more sustainable construction. Not aided by oversupply in geographic sectors of the industry, there is significant competition within the slowly shrinking sector. The recent growth in developing countries through installation of modern plant technology has led to the reduction in unique selling points for mature steelmaking locations. As such, to compete with the equalling product capability and innate cheaper production costs within developing areas the industries in Europe and North America require significant improvements in productivity and agile resource management. To date the basic oxygen furnace has been somewhat treated as a black box within industry, where only control parameters are monitored, not the fundamental mechanisms within the converter. Studies over the past 30 years have shown the basic oxygen furnace is unable to attain the thermodynamic minimum phosphorus content within the output liquid steel. Coupled with the need to drive down resource cost, with a potential for high content phosphorus ores the internal dynamic system of the basic oxygen furnace requires more rigorous understanding. With the aid of in-situ sampling of a pilot scale basic oxygen furnace, and laboratory studies of individual metal droplets suspended in a slag medium (known to be a key driving environment for impurity removal) the present project aims to provide insight into the transient interfacial area between slag and liquid metal through basic oxygen steelmaking processing. Initially the macroscopic dynamics including the amount of metal suspended in the gas/slag/metal emulsion, the period of time it is suspended for, and the speed at which it moves, is investigated. It was found that these parameters vary greatly through the blow, with a normal peak in residence times near the beginning of the blow and a dramatic increase in metal circulation rates at the end of the blow, when foaming is reduced or collapsed. Further to this, a method of interrogating the size of metal droplets within the slag layer using X-ray computed tomography is introduced. The study then progresses into the microscopic environments that individual droplets are subjected to during steel processing. Initially the cause of spontaneous emulsification in basic oxygen furnace type slags is investigated through high temperature-confocal scanning laser microscopy/X-ray computed tomography led experimentation, with the addition of null experiments conducted to rationalize the experimental technique. It was found that the flux of oxygen across the interface was the cause and thus the confirmation of material transfer across the interface being the driving force. Furthermore the physical pathway of emulsification is interrogated and quantified, with in-situ observation of spontaneous emulsification in the high temperature-confocal scanning laser microscope enabled through use of optically transparent slags. The life cycle of perturbation growth, necking and budding is observed and quantified through high-resolution X-ray computed tomography. In addition a phase-field model is developed to interrogate slag/metal systems in 2D and 3D variations, giving rise to the ability to track the cause of emulsification and to predict its occurrence. Finally the project progresses with the in-situ investigation of spontaneous emulsification as a function of initial metal composition. The behaviour of droplet spontaneous emulsification is seen to reduce in severity and subsequently to decline into a non-emulsifying regime below a critical level. Free energy calculations coupled with a measure of the global interfacial tension increase give quantifiable reasoning as to the behaviour seen

Albuquerque Citizen, 04-29-1908

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/abq_citizen_news/3748/thumbnail.jp

INTSORMIL 2007 Annual Report

The 2007 INTSORMIL Six Year Report presents the progress and notable achievements by the Sorghum/Millet CRSP during the period of July 1, 2001 - June 30, 2007. These results are an outcome of partnerships between scientists at seven U.S. Land Grant Universities (Kansas State University, Mississippi State University, Ohio State University, University of Nebraska, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and West Texas A&M University), scientists of the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture at Tifton, Georgia and the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) and National Universities in nineteen countries in Central America, West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. Introduction and Program Overview Project Reports Sustainable Plant Protection Systems Agroecology and Biotechnology of Stalk Rot Pathogens of Sorghum and Millet — John F Leslie (KSU 210) Low Input Ecologically Defined Management Strategies for Insect Pests on Sorghum — Henry N Pitre (MSU 205) Striga Biotechnology Development and Technology Transfer — Gebisa Ejeta (PRF 213) Sustainable Management of Insect Pests — Bonnie B Pendleton (WTU 200) Sustainable Production Systems Economic and Sustainability Evaluation of New Technologies in Sorghum and Millet Production in INTSORMIL Priority Countries — John H Sanders (PRF 205) Cropping Systems to Optimize Yield, Water and Nutrient Use Efficiency of Pearl Millet and Grain Sorghum — Stephen C Mason (UNL 213) Soil and Water Management for Improving Sorghum Production in Eastern Africa — Charles Wortmann and Martha Mamo (UNL 219) Germplasm Enhancement and Conservation Breeding Pearl Millet for Improved Stability, Performance, and Pest Resistance — Jeffrey P Wilson (ARS 206) Breeding Grain Mold Resistance in High Digestibility Sorghum Varieties — Dirk Hays (TAM 230) Development and Enhancement of Sorghum Germplasm with Sustained Tolerance to Biotic and Abiotic Stress — Gebisa Ejeta (PRF 207) Enhancing the Utilization of Grain Sorghum and Pearl Millet through the Improvement of Grain Quality via Genetic and Nutritional Research — Mitch Tuinstra, Joe Hancock, William Rooney and Clint Magill (KSU 220A, KSU 220B, TAM 220C, TAM 220D) Germplasm Enhancement for Resistance to Insects and Improved Efficiency for Sustainable Agriculture Systems — Gary C Peterson (TAM 223) Crop Utilization and Marketing An Evaluation of New Market Development and Marketing Strategies on Sorghum and Millet Farmers\u27 Income in Tanzania and Zambia — Donald Larson and J Mark Erbaugh (OSU 200) Chemical and Physical Aspects of Food and Nutritional Quality of Sorghum and Millet — Bruce R Hamaker (PRF 212) Food and Nutritional Quality of Sorghum and Millet — Lloyd L Rooney (TAM 226) Entrepreneurship and Product Development in East Africa: A Strategy to Promote Increased Use of Sorghum and Millet — David S Jackson (UNL 220) Host Country Program Enhancement Central America — Stephen C Mason Hom of Africa — Gebisa Ejeta Southern Africa — Gary C Peterson West Africa — Bruce R Hamaker Educational Activities Educational Activities Appendices INTSORMIL Sponsored and Co-Sponsored Workshops 1979-2007 Acronym