Water cooled end-point boundary temperature control of hot strip via dynamic programming

This paper presents a system for end-point boundary temperature control approach, for run out table (ROT) cooling, used in hot strip mills. The system relies on a linearized model for describing heat radiated to the environment and heat transferred to cooling water. A conventional feedforward control design to control the temperature at the end boundary point, the only measurable controlled parameter, is first presented. A modified control scheme, which minimizes the temperature error, at the end boundary point via dynamic programming, is then discussed in detail. System performance analysis via simulation is presented for both control schemes. Simulation results show that temperature error minimization by dynamic programming improves system performance