We considered the thermal operating balance of a continuous furnace being charged with 250 mm-thick cold steel slabs, and perform experimental measurements of the heat loss to the environment. The required heating time and peak productivity of a hot-charged furnace were determined under the assumption that the slabs were fed into the furnace at 700–1250°С. The calculations revealed that the amount of time required to heat the slabs is much shorter, productivity is higher, the amount of heat required per metric ton of metal is smaller, the amount of heat lost to the environment is lower, and the fuel (natural gas) consumption of the furnace per metric ton of metal is much lower. We also obtained a theoretical curve for fuel consumption as a function of charging temperature; according to this curve, as the charge temperature increases from 700 to 1000°C, the specific natural-gas consumption per metric ton of metal decreases from 27.7 m3 /metric ton to 10.3 m3 /metric ton, compared with 62 m3 /metric ton for cold feedstock. We find that the energy savings in heating furnaces is maximized by feeding the slabs in immediately after they come out of the continuous billet casting machine.

中文翻译：

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连续炉节能的热板坯装料

我们考虑了装有 250 毫米厚冷钢板的连续炉的热运行平衡，并对环境中的热损失进行了实验测量。热装炉所需的加热时间和峰值生产率是在假设板坯在 700-1250°С 下送入炉内的情况下确定的。计算表明，加热板坯所需的时间更短，生产率更高，每公吨金属所需的热量更小，向环境损失的热量更低，燃料（自然气体）每公吨金属的熔炉消耗量要低得多。我们还获得了燃料消耗与充电温度的函数关系的理论曲线；根据这条曲线，随着炉料温度从 700°C 升高到 1000°C，每公吨金属的比天然气消耗量从 27.7 立方米/公吨下降到 10.3 立方米/公吨，而冷原料为 62 立方米/公吨。我们发现，在钢坯从连铸机中出来后立即送入，可以最大限度地节省加热炉的能源。