Automated Monitoring of Physical Processes of Formation of Burden Material Surface and Gas Flow in Blast Furnace

The paper is devoted to the issues of energy saving automatic control of radial burden distribution in the blast furnace throat. The main idea consists in control with prediction of the control resulting on the basis of automatic monitoring of burden surface texture. The paper develops the mathematic description of burden surface texture on the blast furnace throat by means of substantiation of minimum quantity of general indicators of the mixture being closely related to the main parameters of blast furnace processes. It is the first time that the optimum value of hoper depth in burden surface at 0.14 – 0.2 of throat diameter determined, the methods of its stabilization at the rate are substantiated, the new regularity of burden surface formation on the operating blast furnace throat is shown as consisting in the fact that the hoper depth on the surface is mainly changed responding the process of material charge rather than bulk material descent after the charge. It was also substantiated for the first time that radioisotopic methods for current control of burden distribution on the blast furnace throat provide timely formation of control actions for gas flow stabilization. The principle of self-tuning was theoretically substantiated for monitoring system of gamma profilometer responding to the monitoring conditions with respect to high penetration and random character of gamma rays. The principle enables significant improvement of accuracy, quick-response and radiological safety of gamma profilometer operation. The possibility of determination of burden surface texture on the throat of operating blast furnace and distribution of burden components according to infrared radiation of the surface without application of radiation hazardous monitoring means was proved for the first time.