CIVS Showcases Steel Research at AISTech 2024
On May 6-8, CIVS researchers and collaborators delivered various technical presentations at the AISTech 2024 Conference in Columbus, Ohio, which is the major Annual International Iron & Steel Technology Conference and Exposition. There were record-high attendees with over 8,400 professionals and students. The CIVS presentations included 1 panel discussion, 6 technical presentations, 3 undergraduate oral presentations, and 11 graduate poster presentations in the topics of blast furnace, electric arc furnace, reheating furnace, ladle, and safety.
CIVS research quality and efforts were recognized with 6 awards. CIVS also won the AISTech attendance challenge and was selected to receive an AISTech 2024 Material Advantage Chapter Travel Grant.
CIVS Director, Chenn Zhou, served as a panelist at the Energy & Utilities Panel Discussion at AISTech 2024. Four panelists discussed the importance of high energy efficiency and greener fuels for reheating furnaces. CIVS Senior Research Engineer Kyle Toth presented “Hazard Recognition Scenario Builder for On-Site Customizable Virtual Training” with co-author and Senior Research Scientist Jack Moreland.
It was exciting to see so many people interested in our project (we had about 80 attendees for our talk). It shows the importance of hazard recognition for safety and the need for our project to help create custom scenarios for site specific training.
John “Jack” Moreland, Senior Research Scientist
AISTech gave a positive outlook on the steel industry and my place in it. Sustainability and decarbonization were huge topics in the technical presentations and town hall forum. Speakers emphasized how important it is for the students and young professionals of today to do research and lead change that will shape the steel industry over the next 25 years on its path to net zero. I came away from the conference excited about the future of steel and the direction the industry is headed.
Veronica Pitt-Payne, undergraduate student majoring in Civil Engineering at PNW, 1st place winner of the undergraduate student contest
The following is a list of CIVS technical presentations:
1) “CFD Modeling of the Refining Process in an Industry-Scale Electric Arc Furnace: Analysis of Decarburization Efficiency and Model Validation,” presented by Orlando Ugarte, Post-Doctoral Researcher
2) “Scale Thickness Prediction for Steel Reheating,” presented by Nicholas Walla, Senior Research Engineer
3) “The Integrated Virtual Blast Furnace: Enabling Physics-Based Operational Guidance,” presented by Tyamo Okosun, Associate Director for Research
4) “Image-Based Casting Rate Estimation for Molten Iron Jet Released from Blast Furnace,” presented by Weixiao Shang, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Purdue University
5) “A CFD Study of Refractory Brick Erosion and Corrosion in Ladle Metallurgy Furnace,” presented by Xipeng Guo, Ph.D. Research Assistant
6) “Hazard Recognition Scenario Builder for On-Site Customizable Virtual Training,” presented by Kyle Toth, Senior Research Engineer
AISTech is North America’s largest annual iron and steel technology conference and exposition. It provides a global perspective on today’s marketplace by featuring technologies from all over the world that help steelmakers to compete more effectively. AISTech is hosted by The Association for Iron & Steel Technology.
The Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) is a non-profit organization with over 18,500 members from over 70 countries. AIST represents a large network of steel industry professionals with tremendous knowledge and expertise.
