ABSTRACT

MICHAEL A. JOHNSON*, GERALD HEARNS and THOMAS LEE

Industrial Control Centre, University o f Strathclyde, Glasgow Gl 1QE Scotland, UK

4.1. INTRODUCTION

The steel industry is a highly competitive international activity. It is also an energy intensive industry which consumes large quantities of diverse raw materials. The continual pursuit of economic and technical advantages provides the motivation for the use of effective solutions to the demanding technological process and plant control problems of the steel industry. The economic background for the industry is linked to the hot strip mill process and this connection briefly described first. This is followed by an overview of the chapter contents.