Models and Methods for Planning and Scheduling in Iron and Steel Making: Review and Prospects

The analysis and optimization of material flows, planning and scheduling in a steel industry are of considerable interest to steelmakers and academic researchers. Numerous publications in this area indicate a great potential for significant benefits and innovations in modern steel production. This article provides a review and analysis of recent publications in English and Russian on modeling, planning and scheduling in metallurgy and steel production. The main attention is focused on inaccurate data and uncertain factors characterizing most planning and scheduling problems arising in iron and steel making. Current challenges to be overcome and promising areas of a future research on material flows in steel production are discussed including technological processes, models and methods used in steel production, planning and control of steel smelting-continuous casting, dynamic planning and energy consumption optimization.