Simulation and optimization of material flow system for “the mode of one open ladle” in BF-BOF region

For the purpose of making the waiting time less and production capacity more in “the mode of one open ladle” which is in the blast furnace (BF) - basic oxygen furnace (BOF) region, a new method based on queuing theory and material flow simulation(using Witness software) is carried out in this work. The indicators comparisons between single-queue and multi-queues have been made; it could be found that the indicators of single-queue queuing system were better than those of the multi-queues system. What´s more, on the basis of single-queue, according to the simulation experiments in BF-BOF region of a steel plant, the queuing simulation systems which were used to describe the relationships among the numbers of HMCL (hot metal charging ladle) s in cycle, production capacity and average waiting time were studied. The results imply that the type of queuing and HMCLs in cycle have effects on the waiting time and production capacity. The optimization model has been developed to obtain the optimal numbers of HMCLs in cycle with less waiting time and higher production capacity.