Modelica model of industrial gas furnaces

Modelica models for the prediction of the temperature of the load inside a walking basket type reheat furnace of the aluminium industry have been developed. The loads move through the furnace with discrete movements. Several library components have been developed using the Modelica Standard Fluid Library. In order to validate them a full 1D furnace simulation model has been built. It allows calculating the heat transfer through walls, the temperature and the composition of combustion gases, the temperature of the aluminium products, as well as the fumes flow and the pressure drops. The library provides the necessary resources for modelling this type of furnaces flexibly and quickly. The objective of the work is to validate Modelica as analyse tool for evaluating the different possibilities of heat recovery in this kind on furnaces