Scheduling Overhauls of Soaking Pits

The current system for overhauling soaking pits within a steel production plant is reviewed with the objective of improving the overall cost effectiveness of the pits. It is concluded that this may be improved by regularly phased overhauls where the time scale is based upon tonnes throughput of steel and not, as at present, upon calendar time. The proposed solution is sufficiently robust to accommodate expected interruptions in the phasing of overhauls without losing its effectiveness.