China's annealing furnace industry

The intelligent revolution experienced by China's annealing furnace industry in the past 10 years, with digital twin, AI process optimization, and full process closed-loop control as the core, has achieved a fundamental transition from 'experience driven' to 'data-driven'. In the field of steel and new energy materials, MCC Southern Thermal Power has developed the world's first 0.1mm silicon steel dedicated continuous annealing furnace, achieving ultra-low emissions and high-precision temperature control of ± 1 ℃; Baosteel Group, relying on the 'blast furnace big model' and annealing process AI system, has increased the process compliance rate by 22%, extended the single operation interval from 3.2 minutes to 19 minutes, and significantly reduced energy consumption. Wuxi Sifang Group optimized the annealing curve through AI algorithm, improving the uniformity of material grain size by 40%. The vacuum degree of the vacuum annealing furnace reached 10 ⁻⁴ Pa level, which is widely used in battery electrodes and aerospace materials. The manufacturing end has fully built the PLC+industrial Internet plus+digital twin system. For example, Chunlei Copper in western Shanxi has realized the full chain data linkage of annealing furnace temperature control, finish rolling and AI quality inspection, and the equipment operation stability has exceeded 99.2%. At the policy level, the 14th Five Year Plan aims to reduce the comprehensive energy consumption of heat treatment to below 350kWh/t, mandate the installation of flue gas treatment and intelligent monitoring systems, and promote the industry's transformation towards green and intelligent technology. China is leading the global high-end annealing equipment technology standard system, and the intelligent penetration rate has jumped from less than 30% in 2016 to over 75% in 2025.