F.A.Q - Frequently asked questions

Why do I have to register with my name and affiliation?

We like to communicate with our users in order to give support and get ideas for improvement. This is much easier if we are open with our identities. Try to get a relation with ‘qwerty' from ‘asdfg' and you'll see. The user-list of blast-furnace.net will never be sold or disclosed to a third party. For further details, see our privacy policy.

How long will blast-furnace.net be a free and avalilable service on Internet?

We have no other intentions than to keep the service free to the public for the years to come.

I want to change the password. How do I do that?

Sorry. At the moment it is not possible. If it is a real problem for you, send us a mail and we'll change it for you.

Will my actions be logged?

All logins and logouts are logged for security reasons. No calculations or calculation results are logged or stored. Statistics is made based on user category, country, number of raw materials stored, type of raw materials stored and number of calculations made.

I want to store our own analyses for raw materials. Can other users see them?

No! The system is built so that nobody will see your private data unless you provide it to them. No guarantees are given though. See the disclaimer.

Can I trust the calculations on blast-furnace.net?

All models are based on assumptions. They limit the validity and improve the usability of the model. Models may contain errors and errors can also occur when programming the model. The site blast-furnace.net is submitted to you in good faith. We try to correct the errors we find and to publish the assumptions made. However you must always use your own jugement. For more details see the disclaimer.

I do not trust free meals. Why do you provide blast-furnace.net free of charge?

The site has been developed in a number of research projects so most of the development costs have been covered by tax-payers. For projects to come this seems to be a good way to prove the value of research. Moreover Kobolde & Partners AB developes this kind of software for companies and blast-furnace.net is an important tool for testing ideas and demonstrating benefits.

I am giving a course in metallurgy. Can I use blast-furnace.net?

Please go ahead as long as all users register under their proper names. No guarantees are given though. See the disclaimer. Do not miss the copyright statements in the disclaimer and to give us some feedback afterwards.

I think I can use it in my work. Is it OK to use it for that purpose?

Please go ahead! No guarantees are given though. See the disclaimer. Do not forget to give a reference in any written document resulting from the calculations and to give us some feedback from time to time.

I find the visualization tool awkward? What is the meaning?

The tool was initially developed to help operators get a good view and understanding of the process state by a mere glance at the screen. In blast-furnace.net the idea is to show the nature of process data and in future releases to make it possible for users to select and download process data for research and development of their own models.

It takes long time to start the system. Why?

The Java applet you download is about xxx kb big. If you have a busy network this might take some time.

Our corporate firewall hinders me to use the system. What shall I do?

Sigh! We thought we fixed all that. Send us a mail and we will se what we can do.

Why are there no economic calculations?

Economy is important but we want to reduce complexity so prices will probably never be a function in the system However you can store the calculation result as an excel-file and add whatever functions you want.

Will the process dynamics be entered in the models?

There are severel models of that kind that are good. Let's hope somebody puts one on the net for you. We will not do that.

Is this all?

Yes at the moment! We are working on improvements and extensions but what they will be and when they will come is yet a secret. We will inform our registerd users about changes via e-mail.