Influence of heat treatment on the microstructure of steel coils of a heating tube furnace

Transportation and refining of heavy metal-bearing oil are associated with the problems of localized destruction of metal structures and elements due to corrosion. In the process of equipment operation, it was revealed that premature failure of steel coils of heating tube furnaces at oil refineries and petrochemical plants was associated with insufficient strength and corrosion resistance of the steelwork. The study of the effect that structure and phase composition of 15KH5M-alloy steel elements of heating furnaces at oil refineries have on the corrosion properties, associated with mass loss and localized destructions in the process of heat treatment, allows to develop protective measures and determine heating modes with a rate-limiting step of oxidation. The rate of various corrosion types of 15KH5M steel is used as an indicator to assess the effectiveness of the applied modes of coil heat treatment in order to increase their corrosion resistance and improve their operational characteristics. Conducted experiments on heat treatment of certain steel coil sections allowed to determine rational heating modes for the studied coils, which made it possible to reduce their mass loss and increase corrosion resistance of working surfaces in the process of operation. Proposed heat treatment of steel coils at specified intervals of their operation in the tube furnaces creates conditions for their stable performance and affects the degree of industrial and environmental safety, as well as reduces material costs associated with the repair and replacement of individual assemblies and parts of tube furnaces.

Manufacturing-oriented silicon steel coil lengthwise cutting stock problem with useable leftover

PurposeThis paper propose an algorithm for the multiple silicon steel coils multiperiod two-dimensional lengthwise cutting stock problem (m2DLCSP), so as to minimize the total cost of materials and production.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose a sequential leftovers utilization correction (SLUC) algorithm for the m2DLCSP. The algorithm primarily considers three optimization strategies. First, it considers usable leftovers to simplify the cutting process and improve material utilization. The total quantity and types of leftovers should be limited in order to avoid leftover overstock. Second, it uses a splice method of items to improve the generated cutting plan. Third, it takes into account operational restrictions in the cutting operations. Operational restrictions include imposing maximum and minimum lengths on the cutting patterns, and the limitation of cutting knives at the slitting machines.FindingsSeveral sets of benchmark with real-world and randomly generated instances are provided to evaluate the algorithm. Compared with literature algorithm and current procedure applied in enterprises, the computational results indicate that proposed algorithm can effectively reduce the total cost, and the computation time is reasonable for practical use.Social implicationsThis algorithm can effectively reduce the total cost.Originality/valueThe proposed method can effectively applied to solve the m2DLCSP and improve the economic efficiency of enterprises.

UHF RFID in a Metallic Harsh Environment

The use of the UHF RFID system in a warehouse that contains steel coils is a challenge for the technology itself since there are countless reflections of the radio frequency waves in the environment causing the multipath effect, which represents one of the most complex problems for wireless communication. Thus, this effect must be managed with the hardware, such as the antenna radiation diagram, and with the software, in the middleware, the software developed for the application. In this chapter, an application of RFID in metallic items will be discussed, tracking them since the product’s hot rolling, controlling the receiving process, shipping, and inventory, working together with equipment such as overhead crane.

Developing of X65 steel coils making at Steckel mill using thermo-mechanical control process

The process of thermo-mechanically controlled rolling in the conditions of Steckel mill of Ferriera Valsider plant was developed for the first time for hot-rolled coils in the sizes of 12 mm × 1510 mm from steel of X65 grade for further production of electric welded pipes according to the API-5L standard. The developed process provides carrying out of the roughing-rolling in two stages to facilitating the forming of a smaller austenite grain and therefore more dispersed and homogeneous inherited ferrite structure in the finished rolled product. At the implementation of the process, the holddown of the temperature at the desired level at 1780 Steckel rolling mill has been carried out by adjusting the number of burners in furnace coilers. The process of controlled air cooling of rolled coils to a temperature of 400°C after winding in the developed technology for Steckel’s mill condition of Ferriera Valsider plant is applied for the first time that allowed to reduce the thickness of the air scale layer and to improve the surface quality. The performed research has been allowed to evaluate the feasibility of the operating equipment and to determine the possibility of coils fabrication related to the nowadays world requirements and satisfied to the demand of European electricwelded pipes manufacturers.

Failure Analysis of Coil Racks in a Batch Annealing Furnace Using Finite Element Methods

In this work, a series of finite element method simulations were performed on cooling racks used for the loading and unloading of steel coils in a batch annealing furnace. Normal furnace operations were simulated using ANSYS Thermal FEA and ANSYS Mechanical FEA to reproduce the thermal and structural loads experienced by the racks, as well as additional lifting forces representing removal by forklift after annealing. In addition to warping found due to uneven heating from the radiative elements of the furnace, severe stress leading to failure was identified on the base of the racks from the lifting force. These results correspond with failures seen in the actual units. The simulation data was used for design adjustments to reduce the damage from the above sources.

Optical Dual Laser Based Sensor Denoising for OnlineMetal Sheet Flatness Measurement Using Hermite Interpolation

Flatness sensors are required for quality control of metal sheets obtained from steel coils by roller leveling and cutting systems. This article presents an innovative system for real-time robust surface estimation of flattened metal sheets composed of two line lasers and a conventional 2D camera. Laser plane triangulation is used for surface height retrieval along virtual surface fibers. The dual laser allows instantaneous robust and quick estimation of the fiber height derivatives. Hermite cubic interpolation along the fibers allows real-time surface estimation and high frequency noise removal. Noise sources are the vibrations induced in the sheet by its movements during the process and some mechanical events, such as cutting into separate pieces. The system is validated on synthetic surfaces that simulate the most critical noise sources and on real data obtained from the installation of the sensor in an actual steel mill. In the comparison with conventional filtering methods, we achieve at least a 41% of improvement in the accuracy of the surface reconstruction.