But what if these easy-to-measure variables could act as substitute variables, so that they could be used as a starting point to infer the desired quality parameters after all? This is precisely the question that head Andreas Steinböck and his team at the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Intelligent Process Control for High-Quality Steel Products, which opened today at the TU Wien, asked themselves!
The CD Laboratory (with commercial partner voestalpine Stahl GmbH, leading company of the voestalpine Steel Division) is investigating whether and how it is possible to directly control quality parameters on the basis of these substitute variables using mathematical models, soft sensors, sensor fusion and in-process quality monitoring, whereby non-measurable variables are estimated with the help of specially prepared model-based observer and sensor fusion concepts: A principle that can be applied equally to continuous casting (the process of pouring liquid steel into water-cooled profile moulds) and steel strip finishing (such as hot-dip galvanising), in order to detect deposits and blockages in the casting channel in the former case and to control the surface properties of galvanised strips in the latter, for example, and that has the potential for numerous quality and environmental advances in steel production!
Further information on the CD Laboratory for Intelligent Process Control for High-Quality Steel Products