Industrial IoT enabled fuzzy logic based flame image processing for rotary kiln control

Abstract

Purpose A rotary kiln is a pyro processing device that is used to raise the temperature of materials in cement factories. Temperature monitoring is an essential process in the rotary kiln to yield high quality clinker. Temperature measurement is a challenging task in clinkering process and it is difficult to apply automation techniques. As the pyrometer gives unreliable readings, it is necessary to apply various image processing techniques on the camera images to measure the temperature inside the kiln at different zones. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a fuzzy logic rule-based analysis is proposed to measure temperature using a burning flame image in which it considers red, green, blue (RGB) magnitude planes. The proposed method uses Mamdani fuzzy inference system for decision-making. The system takes RGB magnitude as an input fuzzified variable and generates temperature as fuzzified output. Findings This paper focuses on the temperature measurement obtained from the images of the camera system. The commands to the valves and actuators are controlled using the center of gravity of the control regime. The fuzzy logic controller detects the temperature of flame zones using color features of burning flame images. Originality/value Precise temperature mapping of flame images helps to control the temperature inside the rotating kiln to produce high quality clinker. The process can be viewed remotely and controlled using various control loops from anywhere.