Numerical simulation on the effect of switching modes on the thermal process of an HTAC reheating furnace

Based on commercial software CFX4.3 and some self-programming codes, a 3-D CFD simulation system for simulating thermal process in a continuous heating furnace by using high temperature air combustion technology was developed. The effect of switching modes on the entrance, combustion and billet heating process in furnace were analyzed numerically, and the computational results were compared with production records and onsite measurement, which verified the practicability of this CFD system. The results demonstrated that the flow pattern and the distribution of temperature in the HTAC reheating furnace with partial same-side-switching combustion mode were favorable to satisfy the high quality requirements of reheating. But the design and operation of current state were still need to be optimized to improve the temperature schedule of billet heating. Compared to the results with current mode, the distribution of flow and temperature in HTAC reheating furnace with same-side-switching combustion mode can't satisfy the heating process, while the distribution of flow and temperature can be improved by using crossed-switching combustion mode, which was favorable to satisfy the heating process of billets.