Scheduling requirements for hot charge optimization in an integrated steel plant

Direct and indirect hot charging of slabs to the reheating furnaces of the hot strip mill results in an important productivity gain, reduced inventory and slab handling and an important energy consumption reduction. This paper describes the logistics of hot charging and its challenging scheduling and control requirements. It also proposes the software system SteelPlanner, a scheduling solution where different process specific and automated scheduling components collaborate to optimize the hot charging problem. The paper is based on a hot connect implementation at Voest Alpine Stahl Linz in Austria.