Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Industrial and Managements Systems Engineering

Committee Chair

Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan.

Abstract

The pot hardware in continuous galvanizing lines is prone to failure and needs to be replaced quite frequently. This resulted in considerable loss of production time. Also equipment like, the molten zinc pot and annealing furnace cannot be turned off during downtime resulting in considerable energy consumption during downtime too.;A profound study of the energy aspect of the equipment used on galvanizing line was done. A systematic approach was used to collect and analyze the data from galvanizing facilities. A decision support system (DSS) that will take into account all the major energy consuming equipment in a typical hot dip continuous line was developed. This DSS allows the user to model their galvanizing line in Excel(TM) based software. The DSS maintains track of the current production and energy consumption for up to three different processes. It can simulate a scenario to identify the magnitude of benefits that can be obtained as a result of any energy savings measures implemented.;The economic justification of whether or not to replace the hardware can be evaluated with the help of this DSS. Charts pertaining to energy consumed by different equipment groups, total cost of energy spent on natural gas and electricity, MMBtu/ton, tons/year and production time before shutdowns are obtained from the DSS.

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