Breakthrough Control Technologies in the Japanese Steel Industry

Abstract

: The Japanese steel industry started to progress in the 1950s and reached maximum production in the 1970s. In the 1980s it changed its policy of pursuing quantity in production to pursuing quality. A slight decrease in production levels at the beginning of 2000 followed, but the industry has recently recovered production quantity while maintaining quality. In the process it has developed and accumulated a variety of innovative technologies, called "Japan original technologies" which were exported around the world. These are highly advanced control technologies, including sensors, controllers and control logics, and other electrical and automated equipment. This paper introduces some of the technologies developed by the Japanese steel industry that ushered in a new era in steel making worldwide.

Application of Combined Developments in Processes and Models to the Determination of Hot Metal Temperature in BOF Steelmaking

“…The potential benefits of complex models over other, simpler alternatives are seldom mentioned. For instance, descriptions have been published of several models for the prediction of the BOF endpoint [5,6], for which sensors have long existed for reliable endpoint determination [7]. By contrast, little attention has been paid to the modeling of the BF-BOF interface, despite its strong energy implications [8,9].…”