A heat transfer model, coupled with an optimization scheme has been present
ed in designing a re-heating furnace typically used in the integrated steel
plants. Numerical solution of the pertinent differential equations were co
upled with the optimal settings of the burner and the velocity of the bloom
, using biologically inspired genetic algorithms (GAs) and differential evo
lution (DE), which led to optimized temperature profiles satisfying bloom d
ropout temperature constraints. The ease of application and efficiency of s
olution methodology demonstrated in this paper suggest further application
of GAs and DE to more complex engineering design problems.