Influence of Spacers and Skid Sizes on Heat Treatment of Large Forgings within an Industrial Electric Furnace

Sajad Mirzaei (), Nima Bohlooli Arkhazloo, Farzad Bazdidi-Tehrani, Jean-Benoit Morin, Abdelhalim Loucif and Mohammad Jahazi ()
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Sajad Mirzaei: Département de Génie Mécanique, École de Technologie Supérieure, Montréal, QC H3C 1K3, Canada
Nima Bohlooli Arkhazloo: Département de Génie Mécanique, École de Technologie Supérieure, Montréal, QC H3C 1K3, Canada
Farzad Bazdidi-Tehrani: School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran 16846-13114, Iran
Jean-Benoit Morin: Finkl Steel Inc., Sorel-Tracy, QC J3R 3M8, Canada
Abdelhalim Loucif: Finkl Steel Inc., Sorel-Tracy, QC J3R 3M8, Canada
Mohammad Jahazi: Département de Génie Mécanique, École de Technologie Supérieure, Montréal, QC H3C 1K3, Canada

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-18

Abstract: The influence of stacking patterns, through the different spacer and skid sizes, on the transient temperature distribution uniformity of large-size forgings in a 112-m 3 electrical heat treatment furnace was investigated by conducting CFD simulations and real-scale experimental validation. A 3D CFD model of the electrical furnace was generated, including a heat-treating chamber, axial flow fans, large size blocks, skids, and spacers. Real-scale temperature measurements on instrumented test blocks during the heat treatment process were carried out to validate the CFD simulations. Results indicated that the CFD model was capable enough to determine the transient temperature evolution of the blocks with a maximum average deviation of about 6.62% compared to the experimental measurements. It was found that significant temperature non-uniformities of up to 379 K on the surfaces of the blocks due to the non-optimum stacking pattern were experienced by the blocks. Such non-uniformities could be reduced between 24% to 32% if well-adapted spacer and skid sizes were used in the stacking configurations. Based on simulation results and experimental validation work, optimum spacer and skid sizes for uniform temperature distribution were proposed for different stacking patterns.

Keywords: electrical furnace; computational fluid dynamics; multiple reference frame model; stacking pattern; temperature uniformity; spacer size; skid size (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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