Application of Online Infrared Thermometers in Iron and Steel Smelting Plants
Measurement of Internal Temperature in Hot Blast Ducts
The temperature measuring device of this system is basically similar to the vault temperature measurement system. The infrared probe equipped with a protection device is installed at the original jack for thermocouples on the hot blast duct. Through the sealing window of the protection device and the reserved jack for the original thermocouple, the infrared probe aims at the interior of the hot blast duct to measure the internal temperature. As the temperature measuring probe of the system is mounted outside the sealing window, the entire temperature measurement system is completely isolated from the hot air inside the duct. Therefore, probe replacement and other maintenance operations can be carried out without affecting the operating state of the hot blast inside the duct.
Conventional thermocouples, by contrast, can only be replaced under blast shutdown conditions. Besides, thermocouples are consumable parts with a high failure rate. This temperature measurement system effectively reduces thermocouple consumption and cuts down equipment operation costs. At present, it has been widely applied by enterprises including Benxi Steel, Chengde Steel and Laiwu Steel, delivering remarkable economic benefits.
Measurement of Tapping Molten Iron Temperature
The JTCIN series infrared thermometer measures molten iron temperature at the furnace front in the following way: the infrared temperature probe fitted with an air blowing sleeve is fixedly mounted on a bracket 5 to 15 meters away from the molten iron channel and aligned toward the trough for continuous scanning and measurement of molten iron in each furnace batch. The temperature signals collected by the probe are transmitted to a recorder for temperature curve printing or to a computer for data analysis.
The most prominent advantage of this system is the automatic and continuous temperature monitoring for each batch of molten iron, which eliminates human interference caused by manual insertion temperature measurement. Analysis of recorded temperature curves and computer-processed data accurately reflects the temperature variation trend of molten iron in each heat and enables direct reading of the maximum temperature per batch.
The application of online infrared thermometers in ironmaking plants provides a solid basis for production management and process optimization. This system is currently in service at enterprises such as Echeng Iron & Steel and Shougang Group, and has gained high recognition from end users.
