Reducing costs and saving energy in the tandem rolling of hot metal strip by the use of an advanced control method

A complex industrial process that is especially sensitive to production costs and energy consumption is the tandem rolling of hot metal strip. In our recent work we have determined that a method for control of this process, based on the state-dependent Riccati equation technique, is quite effective in improving the quality and yield of the final product. Upon further investigation, including additional simulations, it has been determined that such an improvement has led to the potential for significant reduction of production costs and the savings of energy due to the improvement of the quality and yield. This paper provides an overview of our new method for control of the tandem hot metal rolling process, the results of our additional simulations, and shows how it has resulted in a reduction in costs and a significant savings in energy. It is expected that the potential exists for similar cost reduction and energy savings in other large industrial processes by using this new method.