• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.55-67
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• 2004

In this paper, an active vibration control of a translating steel strip in a zinc galvanizing line is investigated. The control objectives in the galvanizing line are to improve the uniformity of the zinc deposit on the strip surfaces and to reduce the zinc consumption. The translating steel strip is modeled as a moving belt equation by using Hamilton’s principle for systems with moving mass. The total mechanical energy of the strip is considered to be a Lyapunov function candidate. A nonlinear boundary control law that assures the exponential stability of the closed loop system is derived. The existence of a closed-loop solution is shown by proving that the closed-loop dynamics is dissipative. Simulation results are provided.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.43-46
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• 2011

Zinc consumption in a continuous galvanizing line is one of the highest operating cost items in the facility and minimizing zinc waste is a key economic objective for any operation. One of the primary sources of excessive loss of zinc is through the formation of top dross and skimmings in the coating pot. It has been reported that the top skimmings, manually removed from the bath, typically consist of more than 80% metallic zinc with the remainder being entrained dross particles ($Fe_2Al_5$) along with some oxides. Depending on the drossing practices and bath management, the composition of the removed top skimmings may contain up to 2 wt% aluminum and 1 wt% iron. On-going research efforts have been aimed at in-house recovery of the metallic zinc from the discarded top skimmings prior to selling to zinc recycling brokers. However, attempting to recover the zinc entrapped in the skimmings is difficult due to the complex nature of the intermetallic dross particles and the quality and volume of the recycled zinc is highly susceptible to fluctuations in processing parameters. As such, an efficient method to extract metallic zinc from top skimmings has been optimized through the use of a specialized thermo-mechanical process enabling a continuous galvanizing facility to conserve zinc usage on-site. Also, through this work, it has been identified that filtration of discrete dross particles has been proven effective at maintaining the cleanliness of the zinc. Future efforts may progress towards expanded utilization of filters in continuous galvanizing.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2011

The effect of dynamic flow or forced convection were investigated and compared on the formation of inhibition layer, galvanizing and galvannealing reactions through the hot-dip galvanizing simulator with the oscillation of specimen in zinc bath, continuous galvanizing pilot plant with zinc pumping system through the snout and continuous galvanizing operation with Dynamic $Galvanizing^{TR}$ system. The interfacial Al pick-up was not consistent between the results of simulator, pilot plant and line operation, but the morphology of inhibition layer became compact and refined by the forced convection. The growth of Fe-Zn intermetallics at the interface was inhibited by the forced convection, whereas the galvannealing rate would be a little promoted.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.105-108
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• 2010

The product specification of the Continuous Hot Dip Galvanizing Line (CGL) changes and varies constantly with different customers' requirements, especially in the zinc coating weight which is from 30 to 150 g/$m^2$ on each side. Since the coating weight of zinc changes often, it is very important to reduce time spent in the transfer of target values changed for low production cost and yield loss. The No.2 CGL in China Steel Corporation (CSC) has improved the control of the air knife which is designed by Siemens VAI. CSC proposed an experiment design which is an $L_9(3^4)$ orthogonal array to find the relations between zinc coating weight and the process parameters, such as the line speed, air pressure, gap of air knife and air knife position. A non-linear regression formula was derived from the experimental results and applied in the mathematical model. A new air knife feedforward control system, which is coupled with the regression formula, the air knife control system and the process computer, is implemented into the line. The practical plant operation results have been presented to show the transfer time is obviously shortened while zinc coating weight target changing and the product rejected ratio caused by zinc coating weight out of specification is significantly reduced from 0.5% to 0.15 %.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1996.10b
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• pp.836-839
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• 1996

Throughout CGL (Continuous Galvanizing Line) in steel works, zinc-coated steel sheets are produced which are used where long-running corrosion resistivity is required. During the galvanizing process, top dross is created and floated on the zinc pot. Because the dross leaves ill patterns on the coated sheets, a robot system is developed to automatically collect and remove the top dross. It consists of a robot and its carriage system, a pot level sensor, a system controller, and special robot tools. For the first time the level of zinc pot must be measured and fed back to the robot controller to avoid submersion of the robot hand into the hot zinc pot. In this paper, acoustic distance sensor is tested as a candidate for the pot level sensor in the view point of hot environment. Some considerations on the use of the acoustic distance sensor will be denoted.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.281-285
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• 2001

This technology Provides an economical Production of high value added goods applicable to electro chemicals by recycling of waste products in EGL(Electro Galvanizing Line). The waste products produced in EGL contain potassium chloride (KCI), nickel and zinc. Highly pure KCI and Zinc Chloride which are raw material of electro plating, can be produced by the development of the recycling process. The scope of this study ranges from laboratory experiments to pilot test in plant. We have developed the whole process of recycling technology such as purification method of waste products, fabrication methods of electro chemicals, basic design of plant, pilot scale production and evaluation of pilot goods, Developed electro chemicals were pure enough to satisfy the specification of steel company.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.228-234
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• 2024

Zinc wiping is a phenomenon used to control zinc-coating thickness on steel substrate during hot dip galvanizing by equipment called air knife. Uniformity of zinc coating weight in length and width profile along with surface quality are most critical quality parameters of galvanized steel. Deviation from tolerance level of coating thickness causes issues like overcoating (excess consumption of costly zinc) or undercoating leading to rejections due to non-compliance of customer requirement. Main contributor of deviation from target coating weight is dynamic change in air knives equipment setup when thickness, width, and type of substrate changes. Additionally, cold coating measurement gauge measure coating weight after solidification but are installed down the line from air knife resulting in delayed feedback. This study presents a coating weight control model (Galvantage) predicting critical air knife parameters air pressure, knife distance from strip and line speed for coating control. A reverse engineering approach is adopted to design a predictive, prescriptive, and descriptive model recommending air knife setups that estimate air knife distance and expected coating weight in real time. Implementation of this model eliminates feedback lag experienced due to location of coating gauge and achieving setup without trial-error by operator.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1996.10b
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• pp.1488-1491
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• 1996

Throughout CGL(Continuous Galvanizing Line) in steel works, zinc-coated steel sheets are produced which are used where long-running corrosion resistivity is required. During the galvanizing process, top dross is created and floated on the zinc pot. Because the dross leaves ill patterns on the coated sheets, it is removed manually with shovel-like tools in about twenty minutes. Because, however, the working environment is very noisy, hot and harmful to human workers, a robot system is developed and implemented on a real plant to automatically remove the top dross. It consists of a robot and its carriage system, a pot level sensor, a system controller, and special tools to collect, pick up, and put the top dross into a dross waste basket. A system software is developed to monitor the system status. A series of tests were performed to verify the robot motion and adaptation to working conditions, and proved successful work.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.192-199
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• 2002

In continuous galvanizing process, the mass of zinc deposited and its distribution are controlled by the air pressure, effective distance from the air knife nozzle to the steel strip surface and line speed. Coating defects are resulted from the unbalance of these control factors and the inaccuracy of coating equipments. This paper investigates the main cause of coating deviation and a new air knife system for control of coating thickness was developed. We investigate dynamic pressure variation by air knife types. It is found that the coating deviation is caused by the unbalance of dynamic pressure, the irregularity of strip position, and the strip vibration. Formulating a useful coating model by using present working condition, an optimal working condition is suggested. The productivity and coating quality are improved by applying the result of this research at the shop floor.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.718-722
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• 2015

This paper proposes a fractional-order PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) control used electromagnetic strip stabilization controller in a continuous galvanizing line. Compared to a conventional PID controller, a fractional-order PID controller has integration-fractional-order and derivation-fractional-order as additional control parameters. Thanks to increased control parameters, more precise controller adjustment is available. In addition, accurate transfer function of a real system generally has a fractional-order form. Therefore, it is more adequate to use a fractional-order PID controller than a conventional PID controller for a real world system. Finite element models of a $1200{\times}2000{\times}0.8mm$ strip, which were extracted using a commercial software ANSYS were used as simulation plants, and Gaussian mixture models were used to find optimized control parameters that can reduce the strip vibrations to the lowest amplitude. Simulation results show that a fractional-order PID controller significantly reduces strip vibration and transient response time than a conventional PID controller.