Management and technical challenges of laminar flow-dedicated line production in steel manufacturing

To increase steel processing efficiency and product quality consistency while meeting the demands for low-carbon production and intelligent processes, dynamic cross-process collaborative operations and intelligent, laminar flow-dedicated line production are required. These aspects are also important technical directions for the intelligent upgrading of steel manufacturing processes. When steel enterprises operate multiple production paths simultaneously, frequent path intersections create laminar and turbulent operating modes that can be challenging to manage. The turbulent mode is characterized by unpredictable waiting events and prolonged transport and waiting times, leading to lower process efficiency, higher energy consumption, unstable product quality, and difficulties in achieving intelligent process control. In contrast, laminar flow-dedicated line production operation provides straightforward routes, fewer random intersections and uncertainties, higher operational efficiency, stable output quality, and operating patterns that can be accurately modeled, thereby facilitating intelligent regulation and control. This study systematically analyzed the macro-management and technical challenges associated with implementing laminar flow-dedicated line production in steelmaking processes, identified the conditions required to support this production mode, and evaluated its application in the steelmaking section of a representative steel enterprise. Three types of optimal laminar flow-dedicated line production paths were selected. Based on the general principles of laminar flow-dedicated line production in steel processing, operating rules for multiple dedicated production lines and a dynamic simulation model for this operating mode in the steelmaking section were developed. Following the implementation of the optimized laminar flow-dedicated line production scheme, the total operating time of the steelmaking section of an SPHE steel (hot-rolled steel for extra deep drawing) via the Ruhrstahl–Heraeus single-refining route decreased from 223.9 to 196.3 min, resulting in a 12.3% improvement in operational efficiency and a substantial enhancement of production performance.