JP4969929B2 - Blast furnace interior entry behavior detection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring a layer thickness and a descending speed of a blast furnace interior inclusion.

  In the steel industry, in a blast furnace, a coke as a reducing agent and a heat source and a sintered ore as a material to be reduced are charged in layers from the top of the furnace. This is because it aims to maintain a high space ratio in the layer and to increase the gas reduction efficiency by forming a layer. With the operation of the blast furnace, the charge located in the shaft portion descends downward, but the descending speed and the thickness of each layer constantly change. Since the fluctuation is not uniform in the vertical direction and circumferential direction in the blast furnace, the reaction in the blast furnace also changes with the fluctuation. For example, the gas flow path changes depending on the layer thickness distribution of the sintered ore, but if the gas flow drifts significantly, the circumferential descent balance breaks down, causing problems such as slips and blowouts, resulting in a blast furnace Normal operation cannot be maintained. Therefore, measuring the thickness of the charge in the blast furnace and the descending speed is extremely important for accurately grasping the behavior of the charge in the blast furnace and performing appropriate operation management and control.

  So far, various methods have been proposed as means for measuring the charge lowering speed and the layer thickness during operation of the furnace.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a measurement method based on the difference in electrical resistance between coke and sintered ore. This is a system in which a sensor in which an electrode is installed is brought into direct contact with an internal charge. However, this method requires a sensor insertion hole that penetrates the refractory from the iron skin, and the tip of the measurement system component that is inserted into the sensor insertion hole and that is composed of a sonde protrudes into the blast furnace. is there. Therefore, as the insert is lowered, the charged material is clogged or adhered to the measurement system parts, and it is difficult to maintain measurement accuracy. Further, since it is impossible to avoid wear and damage of the protruding portion due to the charged material, parts must be frequently replaced, and there is a problem of running cost in terms of maintenance. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the tip of the measuring system component may be an obstacle factor for smooth charge drop, and it is difficult to measure continuously and stably. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of measurement accuracy, the charges fall while having a complicated surface shape with a gap, as can be easily guessed from the fact that the charges are lumps of several tens to hundreds of millimeters. In some cases, it has been difficult to achieve stable measurement by bringing the electrode into contact with such a moving object constantly.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a method of detecting scattering by contents by irradiating neutrons from outside the blast furnace. This method has an advantage that there is no need for processing such as providing a hole in the furnace wall. However, since measurement is performed through an iron skin or a refractory that has neutron attenuation or scattering, there is a problem that the spatial measurement accuracy is low and it is difficult to detect the layer boundary with high accuracy.

  Moreover, what is common to the methods disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 is to measure only one point to be measured. As described above, since coke and sintered ore, which are measurement objects, are greatly different in size and shape, there is a problem that signals vary depending on the region to be measured. In order to increase the measurement accuracy, in the measurement region, for example, Patent Document 2, it is necessary to reduce the irradiation region of the neutron beam, but the measurement variation increases. On the other hand, if the irradiation area is enlarged, an averaged signal can be obtained, so that the measurement itself is stable, but the accuracy is lowered accordingly, and it is difficult to achieve both measurement stability and accuracy.

JP 52-14447 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-181509 “Ground surface sensing through plant foliage using an FM-CWradar”, Yonatan Noyman, Itzhak Shmulevich, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 15 (1996) 181-193

  In view of the problems of the prior art as described above, the object of the present invention is to provide a continuous and stable layer boundary between coke and sintered ore from outside the blast furnace without inserting a sensor into the blast furnace. It is to detect more accurately and measure the thickness and the descending speed of each layer.

  In order to solve these problems, the present invention irradiates microwaves in the direction of the blast furnace on the side of the blast furnace with a microwave transmitter installed outside the blast furnace, detects the distribution of reflected or scattered waves through the imaging system, and After the conversion, a means for recognizing the layer boundary by image processing is taken.

The gist of the present invention is as follows.
(1) A behavior detection device for a blast furnace interior that acquires microwaves from the side of the blast furnace to acquire an image of the blast furnace interior, and measures the movement of the blast furnace interior, first disposed opposite to the steel shell opening, blast furnace interior container received in the blast furnace refractories over only the reflected wave from the blast furnace interior container and sends microwaves into the iron skin opening The first microwave image acquisition means for acquiring the image of the first and the first microwave image acquisition means opposite to the second core opening provided below the first core opening. is disposed at a predetermined interval in the height direction, the blast furnace interior and sends microwaves into furnace shell opening of the second receives only the reflected wave from the blast furnace interior container in the blast furnace refractories over A second microwave image acquiring means for acquiring an image of the entry, and an output from the first microwave image acquiring means. Image processing is performed on each image based on the image to be output and the image output from the second microwave image acquisition unit, and a certain number or more of pixels having a luminance equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold are connected in the image. An image signal processing means for discriminating the coke layer and the sintered ore layer by making the area where the portion is a coke layer, measuring and outputting the descending speed of the blast furnace interior, and the blast furnace output from the image signal processing means A blast furnace interior entry behavior detection apparatus, comprising: display means for displaying a measured value of a descending speed of the interior entry.
(2) Each of the first microwave image acquisition means and the second microwave image acquisition means radiates microwaves into the blast furnace interior through the first or second iron skin opening. A two-dimensional microwave image detector for receiving a reflected wave of the microwave, extracting a reflected signal from the blast furnace interior, and outputting a two-dimensional image of the blast furnace interior, and the microwave An imaging system that forms an image of the reflected wave of the reflected wave on the two-dimensional microwave image detector, the two-dimensional microwave image detector comprising a one-dimensional or two-dimensional microwave detector for detecting the reflected wave. And a distance identification / image generation processing unit that identifies a reflected wave from the blast furnace interior from the output signal from the detector array, and generates and outputs a two-dimensional image. As described in (1) Behavior detection device of the blast furnace interior container.
(3) The microwave transmitter transmits a predetermined frequency-modulated microwave (FMCW), and the distance identification / image generation processing unit uses a FMCW ranging method to perform blast furnace loading with a predetermined process. The apparatus for detecting the behavior of a blast furnace interior entry according to (2), wherein the reflected microwave from the object is discriminated.
(4) The image signal processing means includes a blast furnace interior input image detected by the first microwave image acquisition means and a blast furnace interior input image detected by the second microwave image acquisition means. A shading correction processing unit that corrects uneven brightness in the image, a binarization processing unit that binarizes the shading-corrected image into 0 and 1 with the predetermined threshold, and a binarization processing unit A labeling processing unit for recognizing a region in which a portion in which 1 is embedded is continuous by attaching the same label and recognizing it as a lump, and a labeled image based on an image output from the labeling processing unit An area detection unit that distinguishes a coke layer and a sintered ore layer by making a coke layer an area where a certain number of pixel clusters exist in the coke layer, and a coke layer based on the output of the area detection unit (1)-(3) It consists of a behavior calculation part which detects the boundary with a condensate layer, and derives the moving speed from the time difference which the same boundary passes the 1st and 2nd microwave image acquisition means position. The behavior detection apparatus for a blast furnace interior entry according to one of the above.

  By installing the apparatus for measuring the behavior of inserts in the blast furnace of the present invention alone or by installing a plurality of them in the circumferential direction of the same height, the layer boundary between coke and sintered ore is continuously formed from outside the blast furnace. In addition, it is possible to detect stably and accurately and measure the thickness and descending speed of each layer.

  It is possible to grasp the descending speed of the inserts in each part of the furnace during operation, changes in the layer thickness of the sintered ore and coke, differences or non-uniformity, and the behavior of the inclination angle of the same layer. Depending on the behavior, for example, by controlling the amount of blown air and pulverized coal for each blower tuyere, and controlling the charge distribution from the top of the furnace, it is possible to perform accurate treatments according to the furnace conditions, and stable operation Can be maintained.

  The present invention irradiates microwaves toward the side of the blast furnace in the direction of the blast furnace with a microwave transmitter installed outside the blast furnace, and continuously and stably detects the layer boundary between coke and sintered ore. Technology.

  First, a technique for recognizing an object by transmitting and receiving microwaves will be described. Normally, microwaves radiated from an antenna are radiated with a specific radiation angle depending on the wavelength, antenna shape, and the like. When an antenna with a known radiation angle is used and geometrically arranged to irradiate the measurement target surface of the blast furnace, the radiation microwave is irradiated to the measurement target. Depending on the reflection, scattering, and absorption characteristics of the microwave to be measured, the path changes in a direction different from the direction in which a part of the emitted microwave is irradiated. At this time, microwaves (reflected microwaves) traveling in the blast furnace side direction toward the blast furnace side direction can be collected using an imaging system to form an image on a specific imaging plane. By arranging microwave detectors on this imaging plane in a planar shape or arranging a plurality of antennas, a signal intensity pattern is obtained by dividing the measurement target for each irradiation area, and this can be imaged. .

  Coke and sintered ore, which are charged into the blast furnace, are lumps having diameters of about 50 mm and about 10 mm, respectively, and have different surface shapes and physical properties. The surface of the coke has a relatively gentle curved surface, and has a high electrical conductivity in terms of physical properties, and acts as a specular reflector for microwaves. When the reflected wave is detected by irradiating the microwave, the reflection direction changes according to the inclination of the coke surface with respect to the microwave irradiation direction, or the solid angle of the reflected wave according to the surface irregularities. Changes. Of these, only the microwave component reflected in the solid angle guided to the image detector is detected. For example, if the surface has a gentle convex shape, the solid angle of the reflected microwave is large, that is, since it is reflected so as to diffuse, the intensity of the microwave returning to the lens or the reflecting mirror decreases. In this way, the intensity of the microwave detected by the image detector through the imaging system changes according to the shape of the surface to be measured. In the behavior detection apparatus for blast furnace interior according to the present invention, the intensity of such reflected microwaves can be scanned by arranging a microwave detector and a horn antenna in a one-dimensional manner or in a two-dimensional array. , And detecting as an image.

  The measurement object can be specified from the image thus obtained. As described above, since the coke surface changes gently, a region having a high detection intensity is detected with a relatively large area in the obtained image. On the other hand, since the sintered ore has unevenness of the order of several millimeters on the surface, microwaves are scattered and magnetite, which is one of the composition materials, acts as a microwave absorber. A large area with low signal strength is not generated. By measuring the reflection intensity distribution of the microwave from the difference in the shape of the substance and the scattering and absorption characteristics with respect to the microwave, it is possible to identify the substance in the measurement region and clearly detect the boundary between the layers. In detecting the boundary between the coke layer and the sintered ore layer, the image is binarized and subjected to a labeling process to obtain the position and area of a region having a certain or higher reflection intensity in the binarized image. Among these, a region having a block having a certain area or more is set as a coke layer, and a boundary can be detected by determining the presence or absence of coke.

Moreover, since the detection result of such a layer boundary is obtained for every measurement period, a descent speed and a layer thickness can be measured simultaneously by installing microwave transceivers at two locations in the vertical direction of the blast furnace. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, if the distance between the center positions of the respective detection devices is L, and the time difference when the layer crosses the center of the image is Δt, the speed of descent can be calculated by the velocity d = L / Δt, the time each layer of sintered ore is present in the position of the detecting device respectively t _c, When _{t o, v × t c,} v × t o each thickness of the coke or sinter in is required.

  Describe what can be observed from outside the reactor. The furnace top of the blast furnace and the furnace wall of the furnace belly have a structure in which an iron skin having a thickness of several tens of mm covers the outside of a refractory having a thickness of several hundred mm. Of these, the alumina-based sintered body, which is a refractory material, transmits microwaves of about 100 GHz or less over a wide temperature range from room temperature to 1200 ° C. Since the microwave radiated by the charge itself is weak, it is difficult to detect this from the outside of the wall, but if the microwave is irradiated from the outside of the furnace wall as in the apparatus of the present invention, the reflected wave is It can be detected through a refractory. Although it is necessary to make a hole in the iron skin that does not transmit microwaves, measurement can be performed without any processing of the refractory. Therefore, unlike the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, the present measuring device does not hinder the lowering of the charge.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 (a) shows a schematic configuration of a behavior measuring apparatus for behavior inside a blast furnace according to the present embodiment and a partial cross-sectional view of the blast furnace, and the first or second microwave in FIG. 1 (a). A detailed configuration of the image acquisition means 1 and 4 and an enlarged view of a local cross section of the blast furnace are shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the microwave image acquisition means 1, 4 includes a microwave transmitter 10 configured by a microwave generator 11 and a horn antenna 12 for irradiating the charge 23 with microwaves, a detector array 14, An imaging system 13 for forming an image of the microwave reflected on the surface of the charge on the surface on which the detector array 14 is arranged, and reflection by the blast furnace interior based on a detection signal of the reflected wave of the microwave. The distance identification / image generation processing unit 15 is configured to identify and image waves.

  Since measurement objects (coke and sintered ore) having a size of about 10 mm are identified, an image resolution of at least 5 mm or less is required. Therefore, the wavelength of the irradiated microwave is 5 millimeters or less (frequency of 60 GHz or more). Is desirable. Moreover, since the coke size may be close to 100 mm among the measurement objects, it is desirable that the entire measurement region is about 200 mmφ or more. An antenna that radiates microwaves can irradiate the above-described measurement region by being installed several tens of millimeters away from the surface of the refractory when the spread angle is 30 degrees or more. The opening size at this time is about 10 mm.

  On the other hand, the detection system includes, for example, a single fixed-focus lens that is the imaging system 13, and a horn antenna 112 and a microwave detector 140 as shown in FIG. And a detector array 14 arranged in a row. The lens is a dielectric lens made of an organic material such as polyethylene, and may be generally used in the microwave region. The diameter of the lens is preferably 200 mmφ or more in order to cover the measurement region. If the normal line from the center of the measurement area of the target surface is referred to as a wave axis, the lens and the detection surface are arranged orthogonally about the axis (FIG. 1B). If the distance between the measurement target surface 31 and the imaging system (lens) 13 and the distance between the imaging system 13 and the horn antenna 112 are a and b, respectively, and the focal length of the imaging system is f, each distance ( a, b, f) are set based on the imaging conditional expression 1 / f = 1 / a + 1 / b. The imaging system (lens) 13 and the horn antenna 112 are arranged so as to be the distance. For example, in the case where a lens with f = 100 mm is used, it may be 200 mm apart. However, it is necessary to consider the thickness and refractive index of the refractory, and assuming that 100 mm and n = 1.8, respectively, the distance b increases by about 50 mm. Actually, it is desirable to provide a mechanism 17 for moving and adjusting the position of the lens and the image detector in the axial direction and adjust the position while confirming the image. Further, a parabolic mirror can be used in place of the lens to reduce power loss in the imaging system.

  The detection of the reflected wave of the microwave is performed by the detector array 14 in FIG. The individual microwave detectors 140 constituting the detector array 14 convert the intensity of the microwave reflected or scattered by the measurement target into a voltage signal and output the voltage signal. The output voltage signals of the individual microwave detectors 140 are input to the distance identification / image generation processing unit 15 to discriminate the signals due to the reflected waves from the blast furnace interior by a predetermined process to be described later. Based on the position of the wave detector 140, it is converted into image data.

  As the detector array for detecting the microwaves, a detector in which the microwave detectors 140 are arrayed in one dimension or two dimensions as shown in FIG. 2 can be used. In principle, the horn antenna 112 and the microwave detector 140 may be arranged in parallel as shown in FIG. 2A. Preferably, the horn antenna 112 and the microwave detector 140 are formed on the semiconductor substrate by photolithography as shown in FIG. A micro antenna 141, a microwave detection element 142, or the like may be formed in the antenna. In any method, the detector array 14 is arranged in a focal plane perpendicular to the wave axis, and processes the detection signal in association with the measurement position.

  In the configuration using the one-dimensional array, the scanning mechanism 16 is configured by a one-axis linear guide or the like, and the distance from the blast furnace side surface is kept constant within the imaging plane while being orthogonal to the array direction of the detector array. The array is moved in the direction of scanning. For example, when a one-dimensional antenna array in which a distance between antennas is 5 mm and 41 antennas are arranged is used, a stroke of ± 100 mm is scanned at a pitch of 5 mm around the axis. If scanning is performed at a pitch of 5 mm in a direction perpendicular to the array at a period of 100 milliseconds in a row, an image of 41 × 41 pixels can be obtained in about 4 seconds. Even if the descending speed of the charge is about 10 cm / min, an almost static image can be obtained. For example, the arrangement direction of the detector array may be horizontal and the scanning direction may be vertical, or conversely, the arrangement direction of the detector array may be vertical and the scanning direction may be horizontal. On the other hand, when a two-dimensional array is used, electronic scanning is possible, and the mechanical scanning mechanism 16 is not necessary. Like a normal CCD camera, a one-dimensionally transmitted signal is used for distance identification and image generation. An image can be obtained in real time (at intervals of 60 milliseconds) received by the processing unit 15.

  Next, a method for separating and removing the reflected microwave components from the front and back surfaces of the refractory and detecting only the signal from the coke layer or sintered ore layer in the distance identification / image generation processing unit 15 will be described in detail below. Explained. A variable capacity diode or the like is incorporated in the microwave generator 11 described above so that the frequency can be modulated. By directly transmitting a part of the generated microwave power to each detector of the detector array 14, an FMCW system (FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave): Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) commonly used in microwave rangefinders. ) Ranging function is added (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1). In the FMCW system, the frequency of the microwave is increased linearly with respect to time. If the frequency change margin at the time interval δt is δf, the relationship is δf / δt = G (constant). The frequency is increased from the minimum frequency fmin according to the above relationship, and when the frequency reaches the maximum frequency fmax, the original frequency fmin is restored, and frequency modulation is performed with such a sawtooth pattern. In distance measurement using the FMCW method, it is assumed that a microwave having a frequency f1 is transmitted and then received as a reflected wave after Δt seconds. At that time, the transmission frequency changes to f2 (= f1 + G · Δt). From the difference Δf between the transmission frequency f2 and the reflected wave reception frequency f1 at this time, the time (Δt) required for the reflected wave from transmission to reception can be calculated based on the relationship Δf = (f2−f1) = GΔt. it can. A transmission wave and a reception wave are mixed, a beat wave signal having a difference frequency is taken out, a frequency analysis is performed on the signal by FFT (Fast Fourier Transform), a difference frequency Δf is obtained, and a time difference Δt is calculated.

  In this embodiment, by providing the microwave transmitter / receiver to be scanned or arrayed with the frequency modulator and the mixing function, the spatial distribution of the distance to the object can be measured. At this time, the individual microwave detectors 140 (which may be the microwave detection elements 142) detect reflected or scattered waves for each location on the measured object 60 as signals as shown in FIG. The signal includes information on the reflection intensity of the microwave and the distance of the reflecting object by the distance measuring function. By integrating the signals detected in this way by applying a gate so as to detect only the signals far from the reflection peak 61 from the refractory surface and the reflection peak 62 from the back surface, which are always generated, the furnace wall The influence of can be suppressed. Furthermore, since a three-dimensional shape such as the curvature of the charge surface can be measured, the accuracy of identifying whether the measured object is coke or sintered ore is further improved.

  In this example, it is assumed that the iron shell and the furnace are separated by a refractory. However, when there is no refractory, the furnace is embedded by embedding the refractory in the opening of the iron shell. It is easy to measure without disturbing the interior entry.

  The configuration shown in FIG. 1B is a configuration in which the detection area is geometrically irradiated from the periphery of the blast furnace opening provided for detection, and the microwave transmitters are arranged in at least one direction. At this time, since the microwave transmitter must be arranged without blocking the imaging system for detection, irradiation is performed from an oblique direction. In this way, since the ratio of the microwaves reflected on the front and back surfaces of the refractory can be directly guided to the detection system, the ratio of the reflected and scattered components from the charge increases. Highly sensitive measurement is possible. Moreover, it becomes possible to capture the shape and size of the charged material more accurately by irradiating from two or more directions.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 4, the horn antenna 12 is shared for transmission and reception, and the surface of the refractory is irradiated in the vertical direction. In this method, the reflected wave from the front and back of the refractory is the background component, but only the refractory data with no charge is stored in advance and the difference from the detection signal is taken. It is possible to extract only the microwave signal reflected from. In this case, there is an advantage that only one opening of the iron core of the blast furnace is required.

  FIG. 3A shows an example of an image output by the distance identification / image generation processing unit 15 as described above and detected by the reflected wave of the microwave by the blast furnace interior.

  In FIG. 3A, the upper half of the image shows the sintered ore layer region, and it can be seen that the reflected microwave image 51 from the sintered ore has small grains and low detection signal intensity. On the other hand, the lower half of the image shows a coke layer region, and in the reflected microwave image 50 from the coke, a region with high detection intensity is detected with a large area.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), on the side of the blast furnace, a first microwave image acquisition means and a second microwave image acquisition means are arranged below the blast furnace wall from which the iron skin has been removed. Set up. The image data output from the distance identification / image generation processing unit 15 in each microwave image acquisition unit is input to the image signal processing unit 2 configured by, for example, a computer and software for performing predetermined information processing. The input unit of the image signal processing means may be constituted by an A / D conversion board, for example.

  The image signal processing means 2 can calculate the cross-sectional areas of the sintered ore layers and coke layers, which are a plurality of measurement objects, using, for example, a binarization process and a labeling process that are general image processing techniques. Specifically, the configuration and processing flow of the image signal processing means 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3-2 and 8.

<Shading correction processing unit>
First, shading correction processing is performed on the detected image (S201, 201). In the detected image, an intensity difference caused by the imaging system may occur constantly (shading) between the center and the periphery of the image, and it is desirable to provide means for correcting this. Specifically, data obtained by measuring uniform refractories in advance is stored as a reference image, and the shading in the image is made uniform by subtracting the distribution of the reference image from the image actually obtained from the measurement target. Can be.

<Binarization processing unit>
Next, the image subjected to the shading correction is binarized (S202, 202). In the binarization, as shown in FIG. 3-1 (b), as an example of the result, for each part of the obtained image, 1 or more or less than a preset value, or 1 that is the logical sum of the two. This is a process of embedding 0 in other portions.

  FIG. 3-1 (b) is an image obtained by binarizing FIG. 3-1 (a) (image obtained by detecting the reflected wave of the microwave output from the distance identification / image generation processing unit 15) after shading correction. It is. Binarization was made into 0 and 1 with an intermediate value between the maximum value and the minimum value of the detected intensity in FIG.

<Labeling processing section>
Next, the binarized image thus obtained is labeled (S203, 203). Labeling is a process of attaching the same label to an area where a portion where 1 is embedded in a binarization process is connected and recognizing it as a lump.

<Area detection unit>
Next, based on the result of labeling, features such as the length, width, and area of the lump are numerically calculated to detect the area of coke and sintered ore. A method for detecting the boundary between the coke layer and the sintered ore layer will be described. For the sake of explanation, it is assumed that the horizontal direction indicates the horizontal direction of the blast furnace, the vertical direction indicates the vertical direction of the blast furnace, and the boundary between the coke and the sintered ore is horizontal. It is determined whether or not a lump with a certain area (for example, 40 pixels) or more exists in the labeled image. If it exists, the region corresponding to the image belongs to the coke layer, and if not, it belongs to the sintered ore layer. Output as. When the output value is sintering, the output value is switched to the coke layer at the timing when the lowest coordinate of the region of a certain area or more becomes the same value as the lower end of the image. In addition, when the output value is coke, the sinter is switched to the sintered ore layer at a timing when a region of a certain area or more no longer exists. By performing the above processing, it is possible to discriminate between a coke layer region where a relatively large-area lump exists and a sintered ore layer region where they do not exist, and a boundary between them can be detected (S204).

  Taking FIG. 3-1 (b) as an example, in the upper half of the sintered ore layer area, the area becomes almost zero after binarization, and the coke layer area in the lower half of the image is reflected from coke. A portion of the microwave image 50 appears as one lump having a relatively large area. From this image, the boundary 53 between the coke layer and the sintered ore layer can be detected.

<Behavior calculation unit>
Finally, the behavior calculation unit 205 calculates the position of the boundary in the image, and as the behavior of the blast furnace interior, the type of the layer (coke → sintered ore or sintered ore → coke), the descent speed of each layer, In addition, the image is output in association with the time when the image was taken (S205).

  The behavior of the coke layer and sintered ore layer output by the image signal processing means 2 is displayed on a computer display screen. Moreover, you may make it preserve | save in the database for blast furnace operation records.

  The apparatus for measuring the behavior of the blast furnace interior charge according to the present invention schematically shown in FIG. 1 was configured as follows, and the descending speed of the blast furnace charge and the layer thicknesses of coke and sintered ore were measured.

  Microwaves generated from the microwave generator 11 pass through the horn antenna 12 and are radiated into the air. The microwave generator is composed of a Gunn diode and an electric circuit that drives the Gunn diode, and generates a 94 GHz microwave. Microwaves are radiated from the antenna tip with a divergence angle of about 30 degrees. These are installed on the gonio stage so that the angle can be adjusted in the vertical direction of the furnace.

  The opening of the iron skin is about 220 mmφ, and a dielectric lens having a focal length of 100 mm and a diameter of 200 mm is fitted 150 mm from the surface of the refractory. The lens is installed on a microstage arranged so as to be movable in the wave axis direction, and the position can be adjusted. A detector array 14 is installed at a distance of about 200 mm along the wave axis from the lens surface. The detector array uses a one-dimensional array element as shown in FIG. 2B, and a horn antenna and a Schottky diode are produced on a silicon substrate. The individual antenna size is about 2.5 mm, the antenna interval is about 3 mm, and 41 antennas are arranged in the width direction. The overall size is approximately 120 mm × 40 mm × 0.5 mm thick. These are arranged so that the antenna array is horizontal in the direction perpendicular to the wave axis direction, and are installed on a uniaxial linear stage movable in the vertical direction on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis. This stage has a stroke of ± 150 mm. The detector array and the linear stage are installed on a manual stage whose position can be adjusted in the wave axis direction, and can be adjusted to an optimal position while viewing the image.

  The above microwave transmitter / receiver, imaging system, linear stage, and the like are installed in a sealed 300 × 400 × 400 mm sealed container for use outdoors. Two sets of these were installed 500 mm apart in the vertical direction of the furnace.

  A PC (personal computer) is used as the image signal processing means, and the position of the detector array is controlled via GPIB to capture the current position. The image generation processing unit uses a 48ch A / D conversion board, and a 41ch digital signal associated with the stage position is input to the PC. In the PC, the above-described series of processing is continuously performed, and the processing result is transmitted and displayed on the PC as the display means by the wireless LAN.

  In the present example, the above-described image measurement was performed at a cycle of 4 seconds by moving an approximately 120 mm square portion at a pitch of 3 mm. FIG. 6 shows an image after shading correction and before binarization processing. (A) is a coke layer, (b) is an example of an image of a sintered ore layer. The white plot shows the portion with the strongest signal intensity, hereinafter, the signal intensity decreases as the color approaches black. In the coke layer, a lump with a large signal intensity and a large area is observed, whereas in the sintered ore layer, most of the lump is absorbed, the signal intensity is low, and a large lump is not observed. In this example, the image shown in FIG. 6 is subjected to S202 (binarization processing) and S203 (labeling processing), and a region where a relatively large block is observed is defined as a coke layer, and the boundary between both layers is determined in time series. Automatic detection was performed by the method described in S204 above. FIG. 7 is a measurement example in which the time when the boundary of each layer passes through the center position in the vertical direction of each sensor is plotted. It can be seen that the boundary obtained from the upper and lower sensors has a difference in time passing through each position. In the example shown in the figure, it took 260 seconds for the layer boundary moving from the sintered ore to coke to advance by 500 mm, so it was found that the descent rate was 115 mm / min. Also, based on this, the thickness of each layer calculated from the above formula could be measured with a very high accuracy of a coke layer of 564 mm and a sintered ore layer of 535 mm in the portion shown in the figure.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of this Embodiment, and a part of blast furnace cross section. It is a figure which shows the example of the detector array which receives the microwave in this Embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of the image process in the image signal processing means in this Embodiment, (a) is a figure before a binarization process, (b) is a figure after a binarization process. It is a figure which shows an image processing procedure. It is a conceptual diagram which measures the layer boundary of a blast furnace charge by this Embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which measures the layer boundary of a blast furnace charge by this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the microwave image of the blast furnace charge image | photographed in the Example. It is a figure which shows the behavior of the blast furnace charge detected in the Example. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the image signal processing means in this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st microwave image acquisition means 2 Image signal processing means 3 Display means 4 2nd microwave image acquisition means 10 Microwave transmitter 11 Microwave generator 12 Horn antenna 13 Imaging system 14 Detector array 15 Distance identification Image generation processing unit 16 One-dimensional detector array scanning mechanism 17 movable adjustment mechanism 18 isolator 19 microwave window 20 housing (waterproof box)
21 Irradiated microwave 22 Reflected and scattered microwave 23 Charge 23a Sintered ore layer 23b Coke layer 24 Refractory 25 Iron core 31 Measurement area 32 Wave axis 50 Reflected microwave image from coke 51 Reflected microwave from sintered ore Image 52 Area 1 that has become 1 by binarization processing 53 Boundary between coke layer and sintered ore layer 60 Object 61 Reflected peak from refractory surface 62 Reflected peak from refractory back surface 63 Reflected peak from object to be measured 112 Horn antenna (for detection)
140 Microwave detector 141 Microantenna 142 Microwave detection element 143 DC amplification element

Claims (4)

An apparatus for detecting behavior of a blast furnace interior entry that acquires an image of the blast furnace interior entry by transmitting and receiving microwaves from a side surface of the blast furnace, and measures the movement of the blast furnace interior entry,
Opposite the first furnace shell opening of the side surface of the blast furnace is arranged, the blast furnace refractory over and receives only the reflected wave from the blast furnace interior container and sends microwaves into the iron skin opening First microwave image acquisition means for acquiring an image of a blast furnace interior entry;
Opposing to the second core opening provided below the first core opening, the first microwave image acquisition means is disposed at a predetermined interval in the height direction, second microwave image acquiring means for acquiring an image of the blast furnace interior container and to send microwave receives only the reflected wave from the blast furnace interior container to blast furnace refractories over the second furnace shell opening When,
Based on the image output from the first microwave image acquisition unit and the image output from the second microwave image acquisition unit, each image is subjected to image processing, and the luminance in the image is predetermined. Image signal processing means that distinguishes the coke layer from the sintered ore layer by measuring the region where there is a portion where more than a certain number of pixels are connected to a certain number or more as a coke layer, and measures and outputs the descending speed of the blast furnace interior When,
A blast furnace interior entry behavior detection apparatus, comprising: display means for displaying a measured value of a descending speed of the blast furnace interior entry output from the image signal processing means. The first microwave image acquisition means and the second microwave image acquisition means are each a microwave transmitter that irradiates microwaves into the blast furnace interior through the first or second iron skin opening,
A two-dimensional microwave image detector for receiving the reflected wave of the microwave, extracting a reflected signal from the blast furnace interior, and outputting a two-dimensional image of the blast furnace interior;
An imaging system for imaging the reflected wave of the microwave on the two-dimensional microwave image detector;
The two-dimensional microwave image detector is a detector array in which the microwave detectors that detect the reflected waves are arranged one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally;
2. The distance identification / image generation processing unit for identifying a reflected wave from the blast furnace interior entry from an output signal from the detector array, and generating and outputting a two-dimensional image. The blast furnace interior entrance behavior detection device described. The microwave transmitter transmits a predetermined frequency modulated microwave (FMCW),
3. The blast furnace interior entrance according to claim 2, wherein the distance identification / image generation processing unit discriminates the reflected microwave from the blast furnace charge by a predetermined process using an FMCW ranging method. Behavior detection device. The image signal processing means includes
Shading for correcting brightness unevenness in each image of the image of the blast furnace interior detected by the first microwave image acquisition unit and the image of the blast furnace interior detected by the second microwave image acquisition unit A correction processing unit;
A binarization processing unit that binarizes the shading-corrected image into 0 and 1 with the predetermined threshold;
A labeling processing unit for recognizing the image output from the binarization processing unit as a lump by attaching the same label to a region where a portion where 1 is embedded is connected;
A region detection unit that determines a coke layer and a sintered ore layer by using, as a coke layer, a region in which a lump of pixels of a certain number or more exists in the labeled image based on the image output from the labeling processing unit; ,
A behavior in which the boundary between the coke layer and the sintered ore layer is detected based on the output of the region detection unit, and the moving speed is derived from the time difference at which the same boundary passes through the first and second microwave image acquisition means positions. The behavior detection device for a blast furnace interior entry according to claim 1, comprising a calculation unit.