CIVS Associate Director Delivered a Keynote at AIST Digital Transformation Forum

On October 8-9, CIVS Associate Director for Research, Tyamo Okosun, delivered a Keynote Presentation “Digital Transformation for Ironmaking: An Integrated Virtual Blast Furnace for Operational Guidance and Process Improvement” at the AIST Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry in Pittsburgh, PA.

Blast furnaces are a well-established which have been continually improved over more than a century of industrial use, meaning that modern optimization opportunities must often rely upon the implementation of digital technologies. The Integrated Virtual Blast Furnace (IVBF) represents a multi-faceted new approach to providing operators and engineers with recommendations for guidance and methods for quantifying and understanding the internal state of the process, enabling further optimization and decarbonization. This novel approach aims to provide rapid predictions of furnace performance under new operating conditions for engineers, process health indicators via indices based on data analytics, and insight into the process with a novel non-invasive casting rate imaging sensor.

This forum aimed to serve as a platform for industry experts, researchers and professionals to delve into the pivotal aspects of digital transformation within the steel industry. The primary objectives of the forum included fostering collaborative discussions, sharing innovative insights and exploring the latest developments that drive digital transformation in the steel industry. The forum included papers, panel discussions and real case studies.