Monitoring the Blast furnace working state by a combination of innovative measurement techniques

At blast furnace B at Salzgitter Flachstahl a series of innovative measuring techniques are installed to monitor the processes at the blast furnace top, making this furnace one of the best equipped furnaces in Europe. These techniques comprise full 2D measurement of the temperature profile of the top gas shortly above the burden surface, 3D radar scan of the whole burden surface and online measurement of the dust concentration in the top gas. After more than 5 years’ experience with most of these techniques, they enable to better understand the complex chemical and physical interrelations occurring in the BF stack between the ascending process gas and the descending solid burden. A couple of examples of incidents that were monitored are presented in this article, including influences of charging programmes on top gas temperature profiles and influences of disturbed gas solids interaction on the BF working state. The new measuring techniques with tailor-made data processing enable the operators to gain a better picture of the processes currently occurring in the blast furnace, consequently supporting them in keeping the blast furnace operation as stable and efficient as possible.