Title: Energy consumption modelling and benchmarking in continuous galvanising lines

Authors: Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan, Raviraj Ratnakar Chavan, Deepak Gupta, Nasr E. Alkadi

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506-6070, USA. ' Helios Resources Ltd., 134 Commons Court, Chadds Ford, PA 19317, USA. ' Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology, Southeast Missouri State University, 1 University Plz, MS 6825, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701, USA. ' Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Energy and Transportation Science Division, Building 3147 – Room 203 – Mail Stop 6070, One Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6070, USA

Abstract: The pot hardware in continuous galvanising lines is prone to failure and needs to be replaced quite frequently which results in considerable loss of production time and high energy consumption. Galvanizing Energy Profiler and Decision Support Systems (GEPDSS) was developed to consider major energy consuming equipment in a typical hot dip continuous line which tracks the current production and energy consumption for up to three different processes. It can simulate a scenario to identify energy, cost, and productivity benefits obtained from energy savings measures and can evaluate the economic desirability of investment in new and improved pot hardware.

Keywords: energy analysis; continuous galvanising; energy consumption; steel coating; pot hardware; modelling; benchmarking; decision support systems; DSS.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETP.2010.033097

International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy, 2010 Vol.7 No.3, pp.229 - 253

Published online: 07 May 2010 *

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