Master thesis: Digital twin of a reheating furnace

The research institute Swerim provides applied research within mining engineering, process metallurgy and materials and manufacturing engineering, mainly for the mining, steel and metals industry. Swerim has 190 co-workers in two locations in Sweden - Luleå and Stockholm.

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Goal
Develop a digital twin of a reheating furnace using stored process data, possibly combined with physical modelling.

Background
Reheating furnaces are used in steel plants where they heat the steel stock (e.g. billets or slabs) before they are processed in for example rolling mills. At Swerim in Luleå we have multiple pilot reheating furnaces. We are also developing numerical heating models (e.g. STEELTEMP) capable of simulating the heating process of furnaces in order to estimate parameters such as temperature and heating characteristics of the material to ensure a homogeneous temperature at optimal energy cost. However, running reheating furnaces are expensive, and in some situations it would be preferable to have a “digital twin” of a reheating furnace, which then can be used as a test bed instead of a real furnace.

The goal of this master thesis is to build a digital twin of one of Swerim’s reheating furnaces by using stored process data, possibly also in combination with some simpler physical modelling of the furnace. If time permits, the last stage of the project is to develop a cloud solution to autonomously control furnaces, and/or predicting the thermal characteristics of the product, as well as monitoring the process remotely.

Thesis description
* Literature study on digital twins in general, and the usage of digital twins in the steel making process.
* Develop a digital twin of a reheating furnace.
* Develop a cloud solution for control and monitoring of the process remotely.
* Report and examination.We are looking for you that are at the end your Master of Science studies, preferably in Programming/Computer science/ Engineering physics. Strong interest in Machine Learning and Big Data techniques such as e.g. Kafka for data streaming is an advantage. Knowledge of signal processing, developing software and coding would be preferable, but not required. Knowledge of the steel making process is not required. We want you to be able to take own initiatives, be comfortable with addressing challenging problems, and have good communications skills in both written and spoken English.

The master thesis is connected to an ongoing Vinnova research project.

Location and time
The thesis work will be performed at Swerim in Luleå with a proposed start in early 2021.

Performing master thesis work at Swerim will give you the experience of working as a researcher in a stimulating environment with modern laboratories, in a team with skilled researchers developing tomorrow’s technologies for industry. You will have the possibility to meet and connect with industrial partners and to understand their needs and interest. Swerim rewards the student with 50 000 SEK for an approved master thesis (30hp).

Contact
Tomas Lundberg, Research Engineer, tomas.lundberg@swerim.se, +46 (0)730 78 32 83