SMSVC Meeting Showcases State-of-the-Art Computational Models

Thank you to over 50 SMSVC industry attendees for a successful Annual Meeting on November 8 and 9, hosted at the CIVS facility at the Purdue University Northwest Hammond campus. During the meeting, CIVS & SMSVC director Dr. Chenn Zhou summarized the 2023 existing accomplishments and highlighted strong academic-industry partnerships in the recent DOE grants for the Decarbonization of the Steel Industry. She also emphasized the effectiveness of SMSVC application roadmaps as well as collaborations between the PNW CIVS team and the SMSVC project technical committees (PTC).

CIVS staff and students presented development and applications of computational models in six topic areas (safety and training, Electric Arc Furnace, ironmaking including blast furnace and DRI, Refining Ladle, Continues Casting, and Reheating Furnace), followed by lively discussions. The SMSVC board and PTC members were very impressed by the level of advancement on both the models and their applications. This annual event, with thorough review and discussions on the SMSVC projects, will ensure continued project success and future directions to address the industry’s needs.

During the meeting, Dave Schalles, Vice President of Technical Services at Bloom Engineering, gave an overview of the newly welcomed member of the SMSVC and described expected contributions from and benefits to the company. SMSVC members look forward to working with Bloom Engineering, which has nearly 90 years of steel industry experience. The annual event also included a keynote dinner on November 8th entitled “Opportunities for Industry-Academia-Federal Partnerships in the Decarbonization of Ironmaking and Steelmaking,” presented by Mr. Dave Forrest, Principal Technical Consultant at Nexight Group, representing the Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO)