Optimal operation of an industrial low pressure carburizing furnace

This study presents the dynamic optimization of an industrial low-pressure gas carburizing (LPC) furnace. The objective is to determine the optimal operating conditions that minimize the production of harmful substances, i.e., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and soot, while meeting the industrial and mechanical requirements of the treated steel parts. A dynamic optimization problem is proposed and solved by means of a control vector parametrization approach and a gradient-based method using the software MATLAB. Optimized operating conditions are proposed and they are experimentally tested on an industrial LPC furnace. The results confirm that the proper treatment of steels parts is ensured and show that the PAH generated are reduced.