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Production Strategies Research of Specific Reheating Furnaces Mode using Decision Tree Algorithm in Computer Simulation

Helan Liang, Sujian Li, Bo Hu Department of Logistics Engineering University of Science and Technology Beijing Beijing, China lianghelan@gmail.com
Abstract It is not easy to find effective production strategies of Specific Reheating Furnaces Mode (SRF) by experiments or simulation methods due to the complexity in interrelations between production cells of SRF. In this paper, therefore, a decision tree based method to analyze the output of simulation model is proposed for production strategies mining of SRF. Firstly, an improved simulation model of SRF is proposed to obtain the training samples. Secondly, decision rules are mined out by means of decision tree algorithm using the acquired samples. Finally, production strategies of SRF are determined after decision rules analysis. Decision tree is a novel method for production strategies research of SRF. The results show that the method can make the analysis more simple and interpretable, and mine out valuable rules which are not easy to be found. Index TermsReheating furnaces; Specific Furnaces Mode; Logistics; Simulation; Decision tree Reheating

Liping Yao Production Department Shougang Qianan Iron & Steel CO., LTD. HeBei, China

II.

MATERIAL FLOW OF SRF PRODUCTION

I.

INTRODUCTION

According to SRF, slabs with similar charge temperatures (or other similar qualities) are charged into one or more furnaces in batch [1]. There are different types of SRF and they are defined according to the number of furnaces where hot slabs are charged. Take three furnaces as an example. They are one specific furnace, meaning one furnace specific for hot slabs and the other two for cold ones, two specific furnaces and three, respectively. Fig.1 shows the material flow of one specific furnace: slabs which are direct hot charge rolling (DHCR) or hot charge rolling (HCR) are sent to the No.1 furnace which is specific for hot slabs; while cold slabs from slab yard are charged to the No.2 and No.3 furnaces cyclically. Once a slab is charged into a furnace, it will proceed through the four heating zones from inlet to outlet by the walking beams cycle movement. Finally, it is pushed out and transported for rolling when it is eligible to be discharged.

Reheating furnaces (RF) are used to provide slabs heated to the required rolling temperatures for hot strip mill (HSM). In the reheating process, hot charging slabs and cold ones are always mixed in production. It is suggested that the Specific Reheating Furnaces mode (SRF) has a preferable performance in energy saving when executing such mixed production [1]. However, it is hard to determine the required production strategies of SRF production due to the complexity in interrelations between production cells of SRF. At present, there are two types of methods for production strategies research of SRF: (1) industrial experiments [1~2]. This method is costly and the concluded strategies may only be suitable for its own plant; (2) simulation method [3~4]. It is much cheaper and can simulate production under various circumstances. However, a simulation model only acts as a tool in examining performance [5], but it is not easy to make decisions from a large number of simulation behaviors. In this paper, therefore, the use of decision tree for simulation analysis is proposed to solve the problem of making strategies. The rest of this paper is as follows: first of all, in section 2, the material flow of SRF production is described. Secondly, a simulation model for SRF production is introduced in section 3. In section 4, a decision tree is constructed and analyzed. Finally, conclusions are given in section 5.

Figure 1. Material flow of one specific furnace

In the SRF production, production capacities of furnace groups vary according to several production attributes such as types of SRF and types of slabs resided in, which make the material flow extremely complex. It is necessary to study logistics activities of SRF and determine production strategies for SRF production.

978-1-4244-2800-7/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE

687

ICIEA 2009

III.

SIMULATION MODEL DESIGN

A simulation model based on Three-Phase Approach [6] (TPA) simulation method is proposed to study logistics activities of SRF and acquire the training samples for decision tree creation. The EM-Plant [7] is selected for the application. The determination of discharge sequence of slabs is important in this model. According to simulation models proposed in literature [3] and [4], discharge sequence should be predefined as input parameters. However, optimal discharge sequence is not easy to be made manually because there are a huge number of possible discharge sequences (supposing n m slabs equally reside in m RFs, then there are Pn / Cn discharge sequence possibilities), and the optimal sequence is varied under different production conditions. In this paper, therefore, a greedy based method is developed to automatically work out the priorities of furnaces to execute discharge activity, so as to provide preferable discharge sequence of slabs. Fig. 2 outlines the proposed method. Wherein, DR[i] is the deviation of actual resident time of the slab, which is stayed in the ith furnace (iN) and is nearest to the outlet, from the minimum resident time; os[i] stored the furnace No. which has the ith discharge priority.
TABLE I. Method Discharge sequence making

Procedure: Discharge sequence making method begin k = the furnace which executed the latest discharging activity; N = the number of furnaces; os[1]=k+1z=2 while z=N do if k+zN then y= k+z else y=k+z-N; for m=1 to N do if DR[y]DR[os[m]] then begin for( r=N; rm; r--) do os[r]=os[r-1]; os[m]=y; end else continue; end for; end while; end; Figure 2. Discharge sequence making method in pseudocode

SIMULATION METHODS AND DESCRIPTIONS

Discharge

Move

Charge

Description This method is used to order furnaces by discharge priority. The sequence is decided with the principles that: (1) The furnace, the resident time of whose slab nearest to the outlet deviates from the minimum resident time larger, is prior; (2) If the deviations are the same, then the furnace, which is nearer to the furnace which has executed the latest discharge activity, is prior. The Discharge method is applied to check and execute the feasible discharge activities. A furnace is eligible for discharging when: (1) The slab nearest to the outlet is in the discharge available position; (2) Deviation from the latest discharge activity of furnace groups is not less than the predefined minimun discharge interval; (3) Actual resident time of the slab nearest to the outlet is not less than the minimum resident time; (4) This furnace has not been executing move activity at the moment. The move method is applied to check and execute feasible slabs movements. A furnace is eligible for moving when: (1) There are enough space that slabs in this furnace can be moved one walking distance forward; (2) interval between two move activities of this furnace is larger than the cycle time of walking beam; (3) This furnace has not been executing charge or discharge activities at the moment. The Charge method is used to check and execute feasible charge activities. A furnace is available for charging when: (1) The inlet of this furnace has enough space to put one more slab in; (2) This furnace has not been executing move activity at the moment.

Besides the method of Discharge sequence making, discharge, move and charge methods are designed respectively. All these simulation methods and their descriptions are shown in Table . At every simulation clock, firstly, the sequence of furnaces ordered by discharge priority is worked out by the discharge sequence making method. Secondly, the discharge method is executed to output the slab which is nearest to the outlet and eligible for discharging to the unit of HSM. Thirdly, move method is executed to move available slabs by one cycle distance of walking beam ahead. Finally, the charge method is run, according to which if the furnace eligible for charging is set to be a specific furnace, then a hot slab will be requested from the unit of slab source, otherwise a cold one. After executing the above methods, the simulation clock advances

and methods mentioned above are repeated, till all hot slabs are discharged. IV. DECISION TREE ANALYSIS Decision tree is one of the most popular algorithms for data analysis and prediction [8~12]. In this paper, the simulation behaviors are analyzed base on decision tree method, so as to make the analysis more simple and interpretable. A. Data Preprocessing 1) Attributes definition a) Class label attribute Considering that the longer the slab resides in a furnace, the more energy consumes, in this paper, we use total deviation of actual resident time of hot slabs from minimum resident time as the evaluation of SRF performance:

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C=

iS hot

(e

si H )
(1)

TABLE IV. Sample No 1 2 3


N

PART OF SIMULATION SAMPLES Decision attributes


R(min) W(mm) I(min) T

Target
C

| S hot |

Wherein, C is the total deviation from the minimum resident time; Shot is the set of hot slabs; si, ei are the charge and discharge time of slab i, respectively; H is the minimum resident time of hot slabs; |Shot| is the pieces of hot slabs. The target C is discretized into three levels according to the experiences from operators. Wherein, if C belongs to [0,3) min then SRF production is good, G; else if C belongs to [3,5) min then SRF production is medium, M; otherwise, SRF production is bad, B. b) Decision attributes In this paper, attributes which may influence the performance of SRF production are chosen as decision attributes according to the experiences from operators. All these decision attributes and their values are defined in Table . Among these, the attribute of number of hot slabs is continuous valued while others are discrete. SRF type 1, 2 and 3 respectively means one specific furnace for hot slabs and two for cold ones, two specific furnaces for hot slabs and one for cold ones, and three furnaces for hot slabs.
TABLE II. DECISION ATTRIBUTES AND VALUES Values [10,400] 100, 130, 160 1000, 1500, 2000 100, 130, 160 1.3, 1.5, 2 1, 2, 3

250 100 75

130 130 130

1500 2000 1500

1.5 1.5 1.5

1 3 2

G B M

B. Decision tree construction and analysis We adopt C4.5 algorithm to generate the decision tree, considering its advantage in handling continuous attributes [11~12] . The pruned decision tree created by C4.5 algorithm is shown in Figure3. 26 rules are acquired according to the tree diagram (the rule number is in the leaf node), which can be described by IFTHEN as follows:

Decision attributes Number of hot slabs, N Minimum resident time of hot slabs, R(min) Width of hot slabs, W(mm) Minimum resident time of hot slabs, R(min) Minmum discharge interval, I (min) SRF Type, T

Figure 3.

Decision tree constructed by C4.5

2) Simulation parameters setting Parameters used in the simulation model and their values are listed in Table . Besides, in order to reduce the warm-up period, we assume that each furnace is full of initial slabs at the beginning of simulation. Dimensions of the initial slabs are 230*1500*10000mm3, and their minimum resident time are 160min. The actual resident time of each initial slab is known, and they will be discharged cyclically to the three furnaces.
TABLE III. item Number of RFs Length of RF Length of heating zone1 Length of Soaking Cycle distance of walking beam OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS AND THE VALUES value 3 42000mm 10075mm 8360mm 500mm item Slab position interval Length of preheating zone Length of heating zone2 Cycle time of walking beam Minimun resident time of slabs value 50 mm 13240mm 10325mm 0.75min 130min(Hot) 160min(Cold)

(1) IF (Minimum resident time of hot slabs =160min) THEN (SRF production =Good); (2) IF (Minimum resident time of hot slabs =130min) (Number of hot slabs10) THEN (SRF production =Bad); (3) IF (Minimum resident time of hot slabs =130min) (Number of hot slabs30) (Number of hot slabs10) (SRF Type=1) THEN (SRF production =Medium); Further, we can make out production strategies of SRF by analyzing the decision tree and 26 rules above: (1) Rule 1 shows that if the minimum resident time of hot slabs equals to that of the cold ones charged in front, then all SRF types can be adopted to get good performance. As in this circumstance, hot slabs need not waste time waiting for discharging. And other rules further prove that if the minimum resident time of hot slabs is much less than that of the cold slabs ahead, then suitable production conditions should be provided to get good performance. According to this, we can conclude that resident time of hot slabs influences the performance of SRF production a lot. Hot charging slabs and cold ones with similar minimum resident

3) Training samples creation According to the parameters setting above, 189 samples are conducted by simulation as Table shown.

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time are preferable to be selected in mixed production, which can enhance the flexibility of SRF production. (2) Rule 2 shows if the minimum resident time of hot slabs is much less than that of cold slabs ahead, and the batch of hot slabs is too small, then the performance is not good. Further, rule 3~5 show if there are not too much hot slabs then it is preferable to charge them into one specific furnace rather than to several furnaces, which can decrease the transition frequencies of slabs with different qualities. More SRF types are alternative for production, according to rule 6~15, when the batch of hot slabs is larger. According to this, we can conclude that the number of hot slabs affects the performance a lot. Improving hot slabs percentage in the mixed production can make the organization of SRF production easier. If deviation of minimum resident time of hot slabs is large from that of the cold slabs charged in front, and the batch of hot slabs is small, it is preferable not charging hot slabs separately into several furnaces. (3) Rule 7~12 show that when the hot slabs are wider, a smaller batch is needed for good performance, Vice versa. Rules acquired from sub tree of Minimum resident time of hot slabs=100min also have similar characters. According to this, we can conclude that the character of slab width also influences production performance. The correct combination of the number and width of hot slabs can lead to good SRF production. If the pieces of available hot slabs are not much, it is preferable to select wider slabs into the mixed production, which can improve the performance. V.
CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES
[1] Miao Weiren. How Reheating Furnaces can Adapt to the Hot-Charge Rolling Production[A]. National Conference on Energy and Thermal(2) [C],2004: :207~ 210. [2] Tang Lixin, Liu Jinyin, Rong Aiying, Yang Zihao. A Review of Planning and Scheduling Systems and Methods for Integrated Steel Production [J]. European J of Operational Research, 2001,133(1):1~20. [3] Li Yan,Li Sujian,Wang Gangxiang. Logistics Simulation System of Special Furnace Mode in Hot-charge Rolling[J]. Logistics Technology, 2007,26(11):188~190. [4] Li Jing, Li SuJian, Gu Yunzhou. Logistics Simulation System of Reheating Furnaces [J], 2001, 23(3):368~372. [5] ChiSheng Tsai. Evaluation and optimisation of integrated manufacturing system operations using Taguch's experiment design in computer simulation [J]. Computers and Industrial Engineering,2002,43:591~604. [6] Michael Pidd, R A Cassel. Three phase simulation in Java[A]. Proceedings of the 30th Conference on Winter Simulation[C], 1998: 367~372. [7] E.Jack Chen, Young M.Lee, Paul L. Selikson. A simulation study of logistics activities in a chemical plant[J]. Modeling Practice and Theory 2002,10: 235~245. [8] Jiawei H, Micheline K. Data mining concepts and techniques[M]. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publisher, 2001. [9] Qing Guo, Nobuyuki Katae, Hao Yu, Hitoshi Iwamida. Decision tree based duration prediction in mandarin TTs system[J]. Journal of Chinese Language and Computing, 2006,17(2):97~106. [10] Wang Yingchun, Li Dayong, Yin Jilong, Peng Yinghong. Application of Decision Tree Algorithm in Stamping Proces[J]. Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University(Science),2005,E-10(4):368~372. [11] J. R. Quinlan. Improved use of continuous attributes in C4.5[J]. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, 1996,4:77~90. [12] Fan Jie, Yang Yuexiang, Wen Pu. Application of C4.5 Algorithm in Online Study Behavior Assessment system[J]. Computer Engineering and Design,2006,27(6):946~948.

In this paper, a method that uses decision tree algorithm in simulation analysis for production strategies research of SRF is proposed. According to this method, a decision tree is constructed base on C4.5 algorithm using the samples obtained by executing the improved simulation model of SRF. From the pruned decision tree and the rule sets, following production strategies of SRF are mined out: (1) Resident time of hot slabs influences the performance of SRF production most. Hot charging slabs and cold ones having similar minimum resident time are preferable to be selected in mixed production, which can enhance the flexibility of SRF production. (2) Increasing the batch of hot slabs in the mixed production can make the organization of SRF production easier. If the minimum resident time of hot slabs and cold ones in the mixed production deviate a lot, and the batch of hot slabs is small, it is preferable to charge hot slabs into one furnace. Further, when the batch of hot slabs is larger, more SRF types are alternative for production. (3) The correct combination of the number and width of hot slabs can lead to good SRF production. If the pieces of available hot slabs are not much, it is preferable to select wider slabs into the mixed production, which can have better performance.

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