Design of a Radiant Heat Capturing Device for Steel Mills

This paper approaches the energy transition towards decarbonization and lower primary energy use in the steel and glass industries through the exploitation of radiant waste heat. In contrast with exhaust gases heat recovery, radiant waste heat has typically not been used. This energy waste is found in energy intensive processes in which high temperatures are reached. For instance, in the steel making process, the cast steel is red hot and emits a considerable amount of radiant energy. In this paper the conceptual design of a radiant heat capturing device is presented. This device enables the recovery of currently unused energy while solving the radiative emission-related problems. The achieved design gets to an optimized solution regarding view factors and optical properties of the involved surfaces. In this research work, those factors are optimized to maximize the amount of heat recovered by the presented device. Simulation tools are used to test different designs and define the most appropriate solution for a given case.