Ramón Martín Duarte’s research while affiliated with Cenim - Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalurgicas and other places

Refractory wear and skull growth on the hearth walls and the bottom of the blast furnace have been researched. A series of thermocouples were installed in the hearth, and the temperature measurements were recorded in a structured query language every minute. A heat transfer model was used to study the temperature evolution and hearth wear profile using a commercial software package (MATLAB version 5.0) based on computational fluid dynamics. The location of the 1150uC isotherm in the hearth lining has been calculated. An online monitoring tool was used to analyse the temperature distribution in the hearth and offers, to the plant operators, periodic information on the refractory state. Electromotive force (EMF) probes were installed in the hearth to estimate the variations in the liquid level in the hearth and to determine the thermal state (TS) evolution. Good correlation is seen between EMF and TS, and the EMF amplitudes in the different tapholes follow and even precede the local TS.

The presence of thermocouples in the lining of crucibles has become a general practice in the new construction of blast furnaces. The Nodal Wear Model (NWM) has also emerged as an instrument that, while using experimental data, obtains nodal variables whose experimental measurement is not possible: global coefficient of pig-iron/refractory heat transfer [formula] and nodal temperature Ti. Starting from these nodal properties, the wear of the lining or the growth of scabs may be controlled, independently of the mechanisms responsible for them. In the same way, the properties and influence zone of the dead man in the hearth of the blast furnace may be calculated, along with those regions where the fluid is allowed to move without any other restrictions than the ones of the corresponding viscous flow (raceway hearth region).

The presence of thermocouples in the lining of crucibles has become a general practice in the new construction of blast furnaces. The Nodal Wear Model (NWM) has also emerged as an instrument that, while using experimental data, obtains nodal variables whose experimental measurement is not possible: global coefficient of pig-iron/refractory heat transfer h pig−iron/lining g−i and nodal temperature T i . Starting from these nodal properties, the wear of the lining or the growth of scabs may be controlled, independently of the mechanisms responsible for them. In the same way, the properties and influence zone of the dead man in the hearth of the blast furnace may be calculated, along with those regions where the fluid is allowed to move without any other restrictions than the ones of the corresponding viscous flow (raceway hearth region).

The adaptation of blast furnaces to the new technologies has increased the operation information so that the sensor information can be known at every moment. However this often results in the supply of excessive data volume to the plant operators. This paper describes an industrial application for self-organized maps (SOM) in order to help them make decisions regarding blast furnace control by means of pattern recognition and the matching of temperature profiles supplied by the thermocouples placed on the above burden. The classification of patterns via easy color coding indicates to the operator what the blast furnace operational situation is, thus making the necessary corrections easier.

Improvements developed in an electric furnace design for the production of refined ferromanganese (low carbon ferromanganese), using the Nodal Wear Model (NWM), are detailed in this paper. Likewise, the NWM can be used as an instrument which is able to simulate situations that have not yet been carried out on industrial scale and to predict, for example, the performance of the electric furnace lining, under operational conditions that could form a cold wall/bottom. Finally, the NWM has been applied to simulate and predict (refractory repair consumption) the operations of patching or hot repair during the furnace campaign.

The presence of thermocouples in the lining of crucibles has become a general practice in the new construction of blast furnaces. The Nodal Wear Model (NWM) has also emerged as an instrument that, while using experimental data, obtains nodal variables whose experimental measurement is not possible: global coefficient of pig-iron/refractory heat transfer h pig−iron/lining g−i and nodal temperature T i . Starting from these nodal properties, the wear of the lining or the growth of scabs may be controlled, independently of the mechanisms responsible for them. In the same way, the properties and influence zone of the dead man in the hearth of the blast furnace may be calculated, along with those regions where the fluid is allowed to move without any other restrictions than the ones of the corresponding viscous flow (raceway hearth region). Obecność termopar w wyłożeniu garu wielkiego pieca, stało się powszechną praktyką w jego nowoczesnych konstrukcjach. Węzłowy Model Zużycia, staje się narzędziem, które korzystając z danych doświadczalnych, uzyskuje zmienne węzłowe, dla których pomiar bezpośredni jest niemożliwy: całkowity współczynnik przenikania ciepła między surówką, a wyłożeniem ogniotrwałym h surwka/wyoenie g−i oraz temperaturę węzłową T i . Począwszy od tych własności węzła, zużycie wyłożenia lub powiększanie się narostów, może być kontrolowane, niezależnie od mechanizmów odpowiedzialnych za ich zachodzenie. W ten sam sposób, mogą zostać wyliczone własności i wpływu martwego koksu w garze wielkiego pieca, wzdłuż obszarów, gdzie ciecz może poruszać się bez ograniczeń innych niż te odpowiadające przepływowi lepkiemu (strefa na poziomie dysz w garze pieca).