Automation in the Steel Industry: Current Practice and Future Developments

Particle Technology and Engineering presents the basic knowledge and fundamental concepts that are needed by engineers dealing with particles and powders. The book provides a comprehensive reference and introduction to the topic, ranging from single particle characterization to bulk powder properties, from particle-particle interaction to particle-fluid interaction, from fundamental mechanics to advanced computational mechanics for particle and powder systems. The content focuses on fundamental concepts, mechanistic analysis and computational approaches. The first six chapters present basic information on properties of single particles and powder systems and their characterisation (covering the fundamental characteristics of bulk solids (powders) and building an understanding of density, surface area, porosity, and flow), as well as particle-fluid interactions, gas-solid and liquid-solid systems, with applications in fluidization and pneumatic conveying. The last four chapters have an emphasis on the mechanics of particle and powder systems, including the mechanical behaviour of powder systems during storage and flow, contact mechanics of particles, discrete element methods for modelling particle systems, and finite element methods for analysing powder systems. This thorough guide is beneficial to undergraduates in chemical and other types of engineering, to chemical and process engineers in industry, and early stage researchers. It also provides a reference to experienced researchers on mathematical and mechanistic analysis of particulate systems, and on advanced computational methods.The IFAC International Workshop on Automation in the Steel Industry: Current Practice and Future Development (ASI'97) was held in Kyongju, Korea from 16th to 18th July 1997, with the Steel Processing Automation Research Center (SPARC) serving as the official host. The objective of the workshop was to bring together engineers and scientists with expertise in applying modern control theories and techniques to industrial problems, particularly those involved in the steel industry. These proceedings present papers covering various processes in the steel industry, such as cold rolling, hot stripping, continuous casting, sintering, tube making and welding. New technologies with a strong potential for application to the steel industry, such as fuzzy control, AI techniques, neural networks, robust control, predictive control, and instrumentation and measurement are also covered.