Developing an Optimal Control System for Workpiece Heating in a Continuous Furnace Using the Digital Twin Technology

The authors analyze papers on the introduction and application of the digital twin technology at production facilities including metal plants. The analysis of papers on the modeling of heat-treatment furnaces showed that the majority of them aim to solve local problems associated with the study of external and internal heat exchange. The authors of this article developed a digital twin of a through-type furnace. The twin describes the coupled systems of equations for internal and external heat exchange with workpieces moving along the furnace. The authors describe the adaptation of the mathematical model to the real object. The mathematical model for the distribution of temperature in the heating medium accounts for the mutual impacts of adjacent zones and the workpiece movement speed in the furnace. The mathematical twin allows for the imitation of inputs: temperature setting for workpiece charging, adjusting fuel supply to the zones, and changing the movement speed of workpieces in the furnace. Being part of the digital twin, the optimal control system uses a coupled model of external and internal heat exchange to heat workpieces using a fuel-saving trajectory.