Blast furnaces (BFs) are the key receptacles of iron and steel smelting. Iron ore, coke and limestone are some of the raw materials that are used in the process of iron making and the charging operation needs to be accomplished by accurately estimating the current depth of the burden surface. To accomplish the goal of global class steel production, burden profile measurement and monitoring is vital. This measuring and monitoring help in augmenting the best usage of charge materials and energy consumptions.
Radar based measurement is best for determine the level and profile of the burden inside the furnace. However, for the optimal operation of the radar, it is important know the dielectric constant of the material. There are many approaches to determine the dielectric constant like capacitive methods, transmission line methods, cavity resonator methods, open cavity methods and so on. For this study the cavity resonator method is has been used for measuring the permittivity of coal samples. The reflection capability of electromagnetic waves by coal is a function of its dielectric properties which is also has a dependency on temperature. The results presented in this paper will provide essential design input for radar-based measurements at blast furnace, especially for burden profiling at blast furnaces.
Measurement of hot metal temperatures during tapping is a critical operation and is useful in understanding blast furnace thermal conditions. The hot metal temperature is currently determined by dipping a lance into the stream coming out of the taphole. The lance contains a thermocouple. This lance is connected through a very long trailing cable into the local display for the operators. The measuring technique is manual, the operating temperature in the casthouse is very high, and every time the cable has to be moved, this activity becomes unsafe. Therefore, a system is developed to transfer these data wirelessly to the control room. It consists of a low-cost small, battery-powered wireless transmitter, which transmits its readings up to 500 m away to a host receiver. It will fit in with limited changes to the entire current temperature lance. When triggered, it will relay readings at a pre-set time interval continuously to the host receiver. The device monitors and transmits to the host: Thermocouple Input Reading, Connector Ambient Temperature, RF Signal Power, and Battery Condition and will be displayed in real-time on the PC screen. These data are also stored on the cloud platform for various kinds of analytics for optimizing the process.
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