Determining the optimal cool-down for an industrial sintering process
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2017 American Automatic Control Council (AACC). The efficiency of an industrial sintering process for the production of tungsten carbide parts is considered. Under current operations, the parts cool over an 11 hour period in an insulated chamber. The cool-down time can be reduced up to 30% by introducing mass flow through the furnace. A nonlinear, radially symmetric model of the furnace is used to characterize the optimal mass flow with respect to the net monetary profit realized in the process. This involves considerations of energy consumption, waste streams, and production capacity. While implementing this mass flow consumes more energy per batch, the overall furnace efficiency is improved.