Heating characteristics of billet in a walking hearth type reheating furnace

The heating characteristics of billet in a walking hearth type reheating furnace were studied by developing a mathematical heat transfer model. Radiation calculations were conducted by means of zone method and considering all radiation exchange paths. The weighted-sum-of-gray-gas-model was used for better accuracy of gas radiation prediction. Convective heat flux was calculated by considering suitable value of convective heat transfer coefficient at any location of the furnace. The model was substantiated through its comparison to experimental data. A comparison was drawn to evaluate the effect of constant and variable convective coefficient on convective flux distribution and billet thermal behavior. The effect of furnace wall's emissivity of each zone and whole of the furnace on the billet thermal behavior was investigated. The obtained results revealed that by increasing furnace wall's emissivity for a determined residence time, billet's temperature in primary zones rises but it has no significant effect on its final temperature. However, by increasing wall's emissivity from 0.7 to 0.95, the residence time can be declined by about 5%. Moreover, emissivity increase in non-firing and preheating zones as compared to heating and soaking zones has greater impact on the billet thermal behavior. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.