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DOE OSTI · 1770033

The Virtual Blast Furnace - An Integrated High Performance Computing Modeling, Simulation, and Visualization Capability for Steel Manufacturing (Final Report)

Fisher, Aaron·Zhou, Chenn
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Abstract

Many manufacturing industries require substantial capital and utilize energy intensive processes that involve complex phenomena. One example of such an industry is the steel industry, which is the fourth largest energy consuming industry in the U.S. By harnessing the power of High-Performance Computing (HPC) to enhance current simulation and visualization methods in the steel industry, it should be possible to increase resolution and/or decrease time of these methods by a factor of 1000. In this way, information can be obtained in a time frame that is useful for making business and engineering decisions, optimizing manufacturing processes and, ultimately, improving the completeness of U.S. industries. For example, if coke usage in blast furnaces were optimized such that the average coke rate was reduced from 797 lb/net tonne of hot metal (NTHM) to 604 lb/NTHM, costs could be reduced by $894 million/year. Additionally, members of the steel industry need the flexibility to efficiently operate blast furnaces at a range of production rates in order to meet fluctuating market demands. Large scale parameter studies can be utilized to discover workable operating parameters at a range of production rates.

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Fisher, Aaron, Zhou, Chenn. 2021-03-02. The Virtual Blast Furnace - An Integrated High Performance Computing Modeling, Simulation, and Visualization Capability for Steel Manufacturing (Final Report). https://doi.org/10.2172/1770033

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