Simulation of a Box Annealing Unit

In this paper the heating process in a box annealing unit is simulated and the effect of various parameters involved in the process is examined. For this purpose, the full Naiver-Stokes equations along with the standard k- turbulence model are solved in the fluid region using the finite volume approach. In the solid area the conduction heat transfer equation is employed using approporate surface conductance models. The program used for these calculations was the well known fluent code. The effect of various parameters such as inlet temperature, type of gas used, fan power and coil size and weight are examined. Using the simulation results, it is possible to examine the time variation of the temperature at the critical points, i.e. the temperature at the cold and hot spots. Comparisons of the predicted results with the existing field measurement results were promising.

Keywords:

Box Annealing , Flow simulation , Fluid flow , Steel coils