Wireless Dip Temperature Lance for provisioning hot metal analytics of blast furnaces

ABSTRACT

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Hot-metal
• dip temperature lance
• wireless transmitter
• thermocouple

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).