Metallurgist. Vol. 42. No. 4.

1998

MONITORING

AND REGULATING THE THERMAL

REGIME

O F T H E T U Y E R E R E G I O N S IN A B L A S T F U R N A C E

V. G. Makienko, R. S. Dumbur, Yu. V. Serov, V. A. Kalachev, L. V. Bykov, A. V. Zotov, and V. A. Malyshev

UDC 669.162.221.2:65.011.56

Information on the condition of the tuyere regions in the hearth of a blast furnace is of considerable interest from the viewpoint of monitoring and controlling the operation of the furnace. All of the oxidizing-reducing reactions are completed in these regions along with the thermal processes involved in the formation of the final products of the smelting operation. The "Chermetavtomatika" Institute collaborated with other organizations on research aimed at improving the design of a temperature-sensitive element [1, 2] for monitoring the thermal regime of blast-furnace tuyeres. A new technology and new materials have been employed in the sensor, and a method has been devised for the factory production of tuyeres that have the sensor embedded in their tip (Fig. 1). The sensor can easily be incorporated into the design of any tuyere, regardless of the thickness of the tip: the sensor has a linearly reproducible characteristic ranging from 0 to 40 mV. Its operating range during the monitoring of the tuyere regions is 4-16 mV. Production of tuyeres containing the sensor has now been centralized, and the tuyeres can be obtained from the Shadrinsk plant (in Russia) and the Artemovsk and Konstantinovsk plants (in the Ukraine). The broad functional capabilities of the sensors built into tuyeres have been demonstrated by their many years of use on blast furnaces at the ~Azovstal'," Nizhniy Tagil, Dnepropetrovsk metallurgical combines, the "Tulachermet" Company, and other concerns. The readings of the sensors have been metrologically certified and are independent of the consumption of coolant water on the tuyere. The readings are directly related to the consumption of hot blast and natural gas and the amount of coke in the hearth. The working temperatures of the tips of tuyeres measured by the sensors within the range 150-300C correspond (after conversion to absolute values based on a special algorithm) to actual tuyere temperatures within the range 1900-2400C. The readings can be used to evaluate the thermal performance of the hearth (predict the temperature of the pig iron and its content of silicon at tapping), determine if injected carbon-bearing additions (natural gas, coke-oven gas, fuel oil, emulsions, pulverized coal) are distributed efficiently among the tuyeres, and diagnose the operation of the tuyere equipment (the tuyere proper and the tuyere jacket). A tuyere with an improved design of sensor was used to develop several variants of automatic control systems to regulate and distribute carbon-bearing additions among the different tuyeres of a blast furnace. Models, algorithms, and software were developed for computer information systems. Figure 2 presents a video record of the operation of an automated system for regulating and distributing the flow of natural gas by tuyere on blast furnace No. 6 (BF-6) at the "Azovstal '" combine. The system is based on domestic multichannel measuring instrument Sh-711 (equipment monitoring device EMD), an industrial computer, and a device to regulate and distribute the flow of natural gas among the different tuyeres. The system includes sensors to monitor gas flow rate at each tuyere and overall gas flow on the furnace, as well as actuators to regulate gas flow at each tuyere. Much of the equipment of the system is located in the furnace control room inside the heating control panel. The monitor of the system on BF-6 (see Fig. 2) shows the thermal operating regime of the 18 tuyere regions in the hearth (corresponding to the number of tuyeres with built-in sensors on the furnace). The screen displays the temperature of the tips of the tuyeres and the rate of flow of natural gas. Lines of data extending from the center of the diagram (see Fig. 2) digitally show the running temperatures of the tuyere tips (from left to right),, the absolute values of the temperatures of the corre "Chermetavtomatika" Institute, Central Scientific Research Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy (TsNIIchermet), and the "Azovstal'" Combine. Translated from Metallurg, No. 4, pp. 30-31, April, 1998. 136 0026-0894/98/0304-0136520.00 1998 Plenum Publishing Corporation

Fig. 1. Tuyere with built-in temperature sensor to monitor the thermal regime of the tuyeres of a blast furnace.

Diag. [] Time: 10:55:36

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Regime []

Total. 16173 Specified 17896

2o8 2218 957 =931

229 2232 921=931 ~

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243 2237943

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~ [ - - - ' 4 - ~

~ 8 1

2196

179 21,,1017
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" 222- 938 =931

2230 902 =931 2229 870 <931 249 2240 967 =931

measu rement: 041

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Fig. 2. Video record of the operation of an automated system to monitor and regulate the flow of natural gas (based on the readings of temperature sensors built into the tuyeres; the notation is explained in the text).

sponding tuyere regions in the hearth, and running values of natural gas flow rate relative to the specified value for each tuyere. The top part of the diagram shows values of total gas flow for the furnace, the specified gas flow, and the average temperature for the furnace (based on the readings of all of the temperature sensors). The symbol "diag." in the upper right corner of the diagram makes it possible to display temperature or flow rate, while the symbol "regime* makes it possible to change the operation of the system over to a regime in which natural gas is automatically distributed uniformly by tuyere. The program that runs the system generates video or audio signals in the event any of the indicated parameters (on the extensions of the diagram) exceed the ranges specified for the thermal operating regime of the furnace. The automated system can also display the "history" of operation of the furnace at each tuyere (Fig. 3). For example, Fig. 3a shows the readings of the temperature sensor (curve 1) of tuyere No. 14 on BF-6 at the moment water from a failed tuyere plate entered the corresponding region of the hearth (curve 2 shows the current rate of gas flow at the tuyere and curve 3 shows the specified flow rate, with tspc being the specified temperature limit for the sensor in C and r being the time of operation of the furnace in minutes). Figure 3b shows a diagram of the thermal shocks experienced by the tuyere and recorded by the sensor. These shocks were caused by molten smelting products falling on the tuyere. Here, the temperature of the tip of the tuyere rose to 570C. Figure 3c shows parameters of the dynamic characteristic illustrating the effect of stoppages and restarts of natural gas flow (curve 2) on the readings of the temperature sensor of the tuyere (curve 1). The true values of the readings of each monitored parameter in the system at any moment of time are indicated by the position of the cursor. 137

Date/Time:
Temp. Flow rate 14 14 190 616
549 SoecifiCa|ion 14

21:04:1995-11:44:43
Max: Max:
Max:

300 200
1200

Min: Min:
Min:

0 0
0

Date/Time:
Temp. 14 Flow rate 14 Specification 14 570 670 549

I0:04:1995-20:15:21
Max: 300

aVlax: Max:

1200 1200

tMin: IMin: .Min:

0 100 0

t'C

t" Spec.

2
! I

Date/Time:
I Te'mp, I0 Flow rate 10 5peCt|ICattOlt 10 213 30 0

18:04:1995-06:08:51
Max: Max: ,Mat: 300 1200 1200 Min: Min: Mit'l: 0 0 0

Fig. 3. Video record of the "history" of operation of a furnace (based on the readings of temperature sensors built into the tuyeres; the notation is explained in the text).

Use of the automated system to monitor and regulate the thermal regime in the tuyere regions of a blast furnace alleviates the nonuniformity of the temperature field of the hearth in the circumferential direction (the deviation from the mean temperature is less than 50C), improves the use of the hearth gases (increasing the degree of CO use by 1%), and reduces unit coke consumption relative to the base value by as much as 10 kg/ton coke. The decrease in coke consumption is realized as a result of better use of the carbon-bearing additions and reducing gases in the furnace. Equipping blast furnaces with the new computer system makes it possible to reduce the consumption of scarce blastfurnace coke by up to 2%. The exact configuration and mode of operation of the equipment of the system, installed on a "turnkey" basis, are tailored to suit the technical and financial requirements of the customer.

138

REFERENCES
|.

2.

I. F. Kurunov, A. G. Mikhalevich, V. G. Makienko, et al., Avt. Svid. No. 842107 SSSR. Temperature Sensor for Blast-Furnace Tuyeres. Byul. Izobr., No. 24 (1981). V. G. Makienko, Yu. V. Serov, B. I. Ashpin, et al., "New equipment for diagnosing the operation of blast-furnace hearths," Metallurg, No. 10, 27 (1998).

139