To the Use of Thermal Imagers in Solving the Topical Problems of Thermal Physics at a Metallurgical Enterprise

This paper formulates and substantiates the list of topical problems of thermal physics in relation to hazardous production facilities that constantly arise and require prompt solutions at a metallurgical enterprise. Many problems can be successfully solved using optoelectronic equipment, such as a thermal imager. Thermal imager allows to scan the entire object completely without contact. Topical tasks that can be solved with the help of a thermal imager: monitoring and evaluation of the probability of trouble-free operation of the steel ladle lining during its heating, wear resistance of the converter during oxygen purging of the metal melt, spills of the metal melt from the converter, damage of the exit edges of the nozzles of gas-air burners, determination of the surface temperature of the walls of various furnaces, etc. In the converter, electric steel-making and other workshops, with the help of a measuring thermal imager or pyrometer, it is possible to monitor heat leaks from the production premises, to obtain the distribution of the local heat transfer coefficient on various parts of the thermal surface. It is also possible to predict the temperature condition in emergency situations, confirm the requirements for the thermal mode of the operated object, identify and control ingots and billets with regard to their grain size and uniformity in the ingot cross-section, etc. Paper presents the examples of thermograms obtained both for the steel ladle and for other objects. Formulated list and experimentally confirmed solutions of thermal problems clearly show that with the help of a thermal imager it is possible to quickly, efficiently, and reliably solve the complex problems of heat exchange and heat transfer in the subdivisions of a metallurgical enterprise.