Computer Modeling of the Continuous Annealing Furnace

A computer program to calculate the strip temperature heated in the continuous annealing furnace was developed, using the zone method for radiative heat transfer analysis with the measured gas temperature in the furnace. Using the FE operator, the present study considered the effects of soot and transient species in addition to the H2O-CO2 gas mixture on the gas radiative heat transfer. The predicted strip temperature distribution for FE = 1.05 represented well the measured data. The maximum difference in the heat flux transfered to the strip from the combustion gas for FE = 1.0 (without soot and transient species gas radiation) and 1.05 (with soot and transient species gas radiation) was about 15 percent. The present study also investigated the effects of line speed and thickness variations on the strip temperature, establishing the bases for the on-line computer model.