On 22 and 23 November, our colleagues Nico Schmitz, Elsa Busson and Johannes Losacker visited the reheating furnace of project partner Celsa in Castellbisbal near Barcelona to prepare the upcoming measurement trials.
As part of the EU-funded research project TWINGHY — Digital TWINs for Green HYdrogen transition in steel industry — the walking beam furnace for steel billets at the Celsa 3 steelworks will be equipped with new burner technology for the use of hydrogen and oxygen-enriched combustion. In addition, the furnace’s measurement technology is expanded to provide data for a digital twin.
Together with colleagues from the furnace manufacturer Fives and the experts for numerical simulations from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), the existing data pool was analyzed on Wednesday morning and questions about the existing instrumentation of the furnace were discussed: What data is needed to set up energy balances, CFD simulations and a meaningful digital twin? Which temperatures, gas flows and actuator positions are recorded? Where are the measuring points positioned and where could additional probes be introduced?
During the subsequent tour of the furnace, the participants were able to get a more detailed picture of the instrumentation and accessibility for potential measurement technology. The guests were then guided along the hot rolling mill, where the process from the preheated billet to the steel profile takes place. The impressions gained on site were discussed further over dinner in Barcelona in the evening, which also provided an opportunity to talk about topics outside of work. The next morning, the colleagues met at the BSC premises to formulate their expectations of the digital twin and the work steps for the coming months.
We would like to thank the partners of Celsa and the BSC for the invitation and organisation of the visit and look forward to the next project meeting on 21 and 22 February 2024 in Aachen.