Optimization of Non-Stationary Electric Field Parameters in Order to Increase the Efficiency of Chamber Furnaces

Abstract

Topicality. The presented work is devoted to the urgent task of increasing the energy efficiency of chamber furnaces.The purpose is to solve the problem connected with optimizing the parameters of the non-stationary mode of the applied electric field in order to increase the efficiency of the chamber furnaces. Methodology. According to well-known methods of experiment planning, we obtained a set of Paretoincomparable solutions of the chamber furnace, taking into account the voltage between the burner and the metal charge, which is the basis of the algorithm. Findings. The work proposes an innovative system acting the process of metal heating in a chamber furnace. The result is a developed chamber furnace control system, in which the optimal values of control actions at each step of the heating cycle are determined according to the created algorithm. The proposed control system is universal, because after miscalculations it produces the dynamics, according to which one needs to change the value of direct-current voltage and gas supply with a step in time to perform any given mode of metal heat treatment. The experimental studies conducted on a real chamber furnace with a bogie hearth at Zaporozhye Titanium and Magnesium Combine confirmed this. The analysis of the obtained metal annealing temperature curve showed that the implementation of the optimal values of the control actions, obtained using the developed algorithm, provides a high uniformity and better quality heating of the metal. The dynamics of gas consumption by the chamber furnace during the heating cycle in the basic mode, without voltage supply, and under the condition of its use in accordance with the performed optimization testify to the possibility of significant energy efficiency improvement of the considered furnaces. Conclusions. For the first time we proved the possibility and efficiency of using a non-stationary electric field in the furnace chamber as a control action, which confirms the originality of the obtained results. The practical value of the research is that the developed control algorithm is universal in terms of metal heat treatment and can be used in chamber furnaces of any industrial enterprise, while one heating cycle reduces the consumption of natural gas by more than 10 %.