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Energy-Saving Renovation of Steel Billet Heating & Reheating Furnace

May. 12, 2026

Amid the global dual-carbon initiative and the accelerating low-carbon transformation of the steel industry, energy conservation and emission reduction have become core priorities for metallurgical enterprises. As one of the most energy-intensive thermal equipment in the rolling production line, the steel billet heating and reheating furnace has long suffered from high gas consumption, serious heat loss and insufficient combustion efficiency in traditional operating conditions. To solve the above industry pain points, a domestic iron and steel enterprise has successfully completed a comprehensive energy-saving renovation project for its walking-beam billet reheating furnace in 2026.

The original furnace was put into operation in 2018. After years of high-load operation, it was plagued by aging furnace lining, fixed air-fuel ratio, low waste heat recovery efficiency and backward manual control. The flue gas emission temperature remained high, and NOx emissions failed to meet advanced environmental standards. Aiming at these defects, the project adopted mature and efficient energy-saving technologies without large-scale demolition of the main furnace structure. The renovation scope covers dual regenerative combustion system upgrading, composite thermal insulation furnace lining reconstruction, furnace body airtight optimization, multi-stage flue gas waste heat recovery and intelligent combustion control system iteration.

Energy-Saving Renovation of Steel Billet Heating

In this renovation, the traditional single regenerative burner was replaced with high-efficiency dual regenerative burners to realize simultaneous preheating of air and gas, greatly improving fuel combustion efficiency. New lightweight refractory materials were paved inside the furnace to reduce surface heat dissipation, and all air leakage points were fully sealed. Meanwhile, an AI intelligent linkage control platform was deployed to automatically adjust air-fuel ratio and furnace temperature according to billet specifications and production load, realizing precise digital operation. The multi-stage waste heat recovery system effectively recycles flue gas residual heat for production auxiliary heating.

After commissioning and stable trial operation, the renovation has achieved remarkable technical and economic indicators. The ton steel gas consumption drops by 18.7%, the comprehensive thermal efficiency of the furnace rises to 69.2%, and the flue gas discharge temperature is controlled below 150℃. The NOx emission concentration is reduced to less than 100mg/m³, fully complying with international advanced environmental protection standards. Statistically, the renovated furnace cuts annual carbon emissions by over 4,200 tons, bringing annual energy-saving benefits of more than 28 million US dollars. In addition, uniform temperature field in the furnace lowers the billet rejection rate and equipment maintenance frequency.

Continuous casting rolling billet induction furnace

Energy-Saving Renovation of Steel Billet Heating

This furnace renovation project combines energy saving, emission reduction, quality improvement and cost reduction. It not only optimizes the enterprise’s production cost structure and enhances market competitiveness, but also forms a replicable and mature technical transformation scheme for medium and small-sized walking-beam heating furnaces. In the future, the enterprise will continue to promote intelligent and low-carbon upgrading of metallurgical thermal equipment, contributing to the high-quality green development of the global steel industry.

Energy-Saving Renovation of Steel Billet Heating

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