Development of a multicriteria optimization tool for the refractory thermal insulation linings of high temperature resistive furnaces

• Grant number: 17/16044-8
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: August 01, 2018
• End date: April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Ivo Batistel Galiote Brossi Pelissari
• Grantee: Pedro Ivo Batistel Galiote Brossi Pelissari
• Company: Refractory Eco Design Desenvolvimento de Projetos Ltda. - ME
• CNAE: Pesquisa e desenvolvimento experimental em ciências físicas e naturais ; Atividades profissionais, científicas e técnicas não especificadas anteriormente
• Pesquisadores principais: Carlos Eduardo de Meo ; Denis Prado Santos
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/16444-9 - Development of a multicriteria optimization tool for the refractory thermal insulation linings of high temperature resistive furnaces, BP.PIPE

Abstract

Nowadays, great part of commodities and manufactured goods depends on fabrication routes with high temperatures (> 800 °C) steps, such as cement and glass productions, as well as ceramics materials based dental prostheses. These steps are essential for these items production, and are responsible for the processes high energy consumption, increasing the overall manufacturing costs. In the case of finished consumer goods with high added value such as ceramic dental prostheses, the use of processes that occur at high temperature accompanies all stages of their production, from the raw material synthesis to the ceramic body final heat treatment. Usually, dental prostheses are obtained from ceramic raw materials such as alumina, zirconia, and porcelain which are heat treated at high temperature (> 800 ° C) to develop their mechanical strength and other aesthetic aspects such as color. This step is done by prosthetics, which use high temperature electric furnaces in non-industrial spaces, imposing restrictions of temperature, space and energy consumption. The heat treatments costs represent a significant share of the dental prostheses total manufacture cost, so the possibility of reducing this cost would impact directly on the final product cost. Considering that this market is closely related to the electric furnaces market, representing nearly 80% of its sales invoicing, there is a great opportunity to reduce direct costs in two sectors. An increase in the furnaces energetic and general performances would impact directly in the manufacture costs of both ceramic prostheses and furnace production, in addition to improving the latter's sales. Such improvements can be obtained by optimizing the refractory system that composes the furnace's thermal environment, thus improving the utilization of the heat generated by the resistive element for heating the load. To make such improvements possible, one can use multi-physical computer simulations based on finite elements method (FEM) to explore different configurations of the refractory system and verify each thermal response. FEM is a powerful tool which allows simulating high complexity problems, supporting decision-making in projects. Thus, with the aid of this tool, it is possible to estimate how several factors affect the thermal performance of refractory systems and their impact on resistive furnaces energy consumption. Additionally, optimizations based on many important project's criteria, such as reduction of energy consumption, shell temperature and refractory lining thickness, can be combined with the results obtained by the thermal simulations to obtain smart refractory systems. The current research project aims to develop a tool (software) which optimizes the thermal insulation system of high temperature resistive furnaces, focusing on reducing energy consumption, shell temperature, refractory lining thickness and total costs. For the subsequent phases of the PIPE Project phase I, further thermal insulation systems optimizations will be carried out on industrial furnaces with flame as heating element. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SANTOS, D. P.; PELISSARI, P. I. B. G. B.; DE OLIVEIRA, B. S.; LEIVA, D. R.; DE MELLO, R. F.; PANDOLFELLI, V. C.. Materials selection of furnace linings with multi-component refractory ceramics based on an evolutionary screening procedure. CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL, v. 46, n. 4, p. 4113-4125, MAR 2020. (17/16044-8)

SANTOS, D. P.; PELISSARI, P. I. B. G. B.; DE MELLO, R. F.; PANDOLFELLI, V. C.. Estimating the thermal insulating performance of multi-component refractory ceramic systems based on a machine learning surrogate model framework. Journal of Applied Physics, v. 127, n. 21, JUN 7 2020. (17/16044-8)