Review on the study of metallurgical process engineering

After nearly one hundred years of research, metallurgy (metallurgical science and engineering) has gradually become a system with three levels of knowledge: (1) micro metallurgy at the atomic/molecular scale, (2) process metallurgy at the procedure/device, and (3) macro-dynamic metallurgy at the full process/process group. Macro-dynamic metallurgy development must eliminate the concept of an “isolated system” and establish concepts of “flow,” “process network,” and “operating program” to study the “structure–function–efficiency” in the macro-dynamic operation of metallurgical manufacturing processes. It means considering “flow” as the ontology and observing dynamic change by “flow” to solve the green and intelligent potential of metallurgical enterprises. Metallurgical process engineering is integrated metallurgy, top-level designed metallurgy, macro-dynamic operated metallurgy, and engineering science level metallurgy. Metallurgical process engineering is a cross-level, comprehensive, and integrated study of the macro-dynamic operation of manufacturing processes. Metallurgical process engineering studies the physical nature and constitutive characteristics of the dynamic operation of steel manufacturing process, as well as the analysis-optimization of the set of procedure functions, coordination-optimization of the set of procedures’ relations, and reconstruction-optimization of the set of procedures in the manufacturing process. The study establishes rules for the macro operation of the manufacturing process, as well as dynamic and precise objectives of engineering design and production operation.