Heat transfer mechanisms and interfaces in a heat treatment furnace (Pusher) in Novelis aluminium rolling plant.
Contact: Daniel Flórez-Orrego, daniel.florezorrego@epfl.ch, Dareen Dardor, dareen.dardor@epfl.ch
Master project in collaboration with Novelis company
Objectives
- To simulate the heat transfer phenomena (residence time, interfaces, temperature profiles, operating cycles) in a real Pusher furnace.
- To identify the waste heat recovery potentials for producing combined heat and power, or a future district heating systems in Sierre city (VS).
Profile
- Interest in heat transfer theory, energy conversion systems and energy integration method.
- Knowledge on heat transfer in high temperature energy systems (furnaces and waste heat recovery) and fluid mechanics.
- Some knowledge on R, Python and Lua is desirable. Experience with Ansys software is also recommendable.
Project plan
The study includes:
- Identification of the process constraints and operative conditions (cycle times, temperature profiles, energy consumption) in the Pusher furnace.
- Heat transfer modeling and simulation using Ansys software and validation using existing experimental data.
- Interaction with Novelis for the proposition of a simplified predictive strategy to correlate the heat transfer coefficient and other relevant parameters to the operating conditions of the Pusher furnace.
- Estimation of the techno-economic and environmental impact of the proposed system.
- Identification of opportunities for additional waste heat valorization for combined heat and power production.
Observation
The project is related to the Net Zero Lab in collaboration with Novelis Sierre and HES-SO Valais and funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
Sources
See more at: https://www.novelis.com/net-zero-lab-valais/
Supervisors
Daniel Flórez-Orrego, daniel.florez.orrego@epfl.ch Dareen Dardor, dareen.dardor@epfl.ch François Maréchal, francois.marechal@epfl.ch