JPS6221348Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an automatic coke sorting device, and more particularly to a device that automatically sorts out foreign particles contained in a product coke grain aggregate obtained from a coke manufacturing device during its transportation. .

During the coke production process, foreign particles such as brick pieces of furnace material may be mixed into the product coke particle aggregate obtained from coke manufacturing equipment. However, when this product coke grain aggregate is subsequently formed, for example, as an electrode for an electric furnace, if a coke grain aggregate containing foreign particles is used, holes may be formed in the formed electrode. Therefore, it was necessary to remove these foreign particles in advance from the product coke particle aggregate obtained from the coke production equipment.

Conventionally, removal of foreign particles from a product coke grain aggregate, that is, sorting, has been carried out by, for example, a person observing the product coke particle aggregate being conveyed on a belt conveyor and discovering foreign particles mixed therein. In some cases, the workers had to quickly remove them by hand. Therefore, this sorting work requires a great deal of effort and experience, and even then there is a risk of erroneously overlooking the inclusion of foreign particles, and thus the development of this type of automatic sorting device has been desired. However, it is difficult to distinguish these foreign particles, such as furnace materials, from coke particles even by using light, sound waves, or radio waves, and there is no automatic device that can reliably separate them without manual labor. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic coke sorting device that automatically sorts out foreign particles contained in a product coke particle aggregate obtained from a coke manufacturing device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the automatic coke sorting apparatus of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3 schematically show an embodiment of the automatic coke sorting apparatus of the present invention. The automatic coke sorting device 10 of the embodiment is as follows:
A belt conveyor 12 is provided for conveying product coke particle aggregates 11 obtained from a coke manufacturing apparatus (not shown), and an X-ray-proof cabinet 13 is disposed above the conveyance path by the belt conveyor 12. A soft X-ray tube 15 is arranged therein, which is irradiated towards the conveyor belt 14 .

On the soft X-ray irradiation line from the soft X-ray tube 15,
Below the conveyor belt 14, there are a plurality of detectors 16 that receive soft X-rays transmitted through the conveyor belt.
is installed. The plurality of detectors 16 are
They are arranged in a line transversely of the conveyor belt 14 as shown. However, the detectors may be arranged in two closely spaced rows in a staggered manner in the transverse direction of the conveyor belt. In short, it is necessary that the detector 16 be placed so as to correspond to the soft X-ray irradiation area on the conveyor belt 14 by the soft X-ray tube 15.

These detectors 16 are composed of a combination of a scintillator, that is, an element that converts X-rays into light upon receiving them, and a photoelectric conversion element, such as a photomultiplier or photodiode, that further converts this light into electric current. There is. Each such detector 1
6 is electrically connected to a signal processing device 17, and the signal processing device 17 is further electrically connected to a gate control device 18.

On the exit end side of the belt conveyor 12 that conveys the product coke grain aggregate 11 containing foreign particles, there is another belt conveyor 1 spaced apart from the exit end.
9 supply ends are installed. Between the outlet end of the former belt conveyor 12 and the supply end of the latter belt conveyor 19, there is a chute with the conveyor 19 side inclined downward in order to transfer the conveyed items from the outlet end of the conveyor 12 to the conveyor 19. A sorting gate 20 having a shape is provided. This sorting gate 20
is supported in a cantilevered manner by a shaft 21 which is attached to the end of the belt conveyor 12 and rotatably supported at a proper position, and is swung by the rotation of the shaft 21. As a result, this sorting gate 20 closes the leather between the two conveyors 12 and 19, and
The objects to be transported from the conveyor 12 can be fed to the conveyor 19, or the objects to be transported from the conveyor 12 can be fed to the conveyor 19 by swinging vertically downward as shown by the chain line in FIG. It acts by dropping it into the storage container 22. Sorting gate 2 like this
The selective operation of 0 is performed by the signal processing device 17 described above.
This is done by actuating a hydraulic cylinder device operatively connected to, for example, an arm coupled to the shaft 21 by actuation of the gate control device 18 on command from the shaft 21 .

Next, the operation of the automatic coke sorting apparatus of the above embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The coke grain aggregate 11, which is a product mixed with foreign particles from a coke manufacturing device, is conveyed by a belt conveyor 12, and is exposed to soft X-rays from a soft X-ray tube 15 during its conveyance.
Receives continuous radiation. At this time, the transmitted soft X-rays that have passed through the product coke grain aggregate on the conveyor belt 14 are received by the scintillator of the detector 16 and converted into light, which is further converted into electric current by the photoelectric conversion element. The signal is then supplied to the signal processing device 17.

By the way, coke has high soft X-ray penetration,
On the other hand, foreign substances such as furnace materials have a property of having extremely low penetration of soft X-rays. Therefore, if there are no foreign particles mixed into the product coke grain aggregate 11 that has passed through the soft X-ray irradiation area, the amount of soft X-ray transmission is large, and the output of the light converted by the scintillator is therefore large, resulting in photoelectric conversion. The current converted by the conversion element is also large. In the signal processing device 17, such signal changes from the detector 16 are successively averaged by an adder 26, and the averaged output signal from the adder 26 and the actual signal from the detector 16 are combined. are compared by the first comparator 23a and output the deviation as an absolute value. Here, sequentially averaging the signal changes from the detector 16 by the adder 26 means that if the current signal is R _NeW and the weighted average value of the signals calculated up to now is R _pld . ,ωR _NeW +(1−
ω) means calculating (weighted average) R _pld . This value is stored as R _pld . and,
The threshold value is determined by R _pld ·C (C is a variable setting value from 0 to 1).

According to this, the detection threshold value can be determined moment by moment according to the fluctuation of the base, so that it is possible to avoid a malfunction in which the fluctuation of the base is detected as a foreign object.

The above-mentioned deviation is then compared with a predetermined reference value by the second comparator 23b, and only when the deviation exceeds the reference value is a detection signal such as the waveform of FIG. 5b sent to the delay unit 24. put out. The delay device 24 is operated for a predetermined time t _p as shown in the waveform of FIG. 5c.
output the gate control signal with a delay of . This delay time t _p corresponds to the time for the product coke grain aggregate to reach the sorting gate 20 from the soft X-ray irradiation position,
Therefore, the distance between the soft X-ray irradiation position and the sorting gate 20 and the conveyor belt 1 of the belt conveyor 12
It depends on the movement speed of 4.

The gate control signal thus generated from the signal processing device 17 is sent to the gate control device 18 to instruct the opening of the sorting gate 20. As a result, the sorting gate 20 is operated to the position shown by the chain line in FIG. The foreign matter does not move and falls into the foreign matter container 22 and is contained therein. and,
After a predetermined period of time (several seconds) has elapsed, the opening operation of the sorting gate 20 by the gate control device 18 is released and the sorting gate 20 is closed unless a gate control signal is subsequently transmitted from the signal processing device 17. As a result, only the product coke grain aggregate 11 containing no foreign matter particles slides on the sorting gate 20 and is supplied to the belt conveyor 19.

According to the automatic coke sorting device of this embodiment, it is possible to reliably and continuously separate and remove foreign particles mixed in the product coke particle aggregate obtained from the coke manufacturing device without relying on manual labor. Moreover, even if there are some differences in the detection efficiency of each detector 16, and even if there are some fluctuations in the amount of soft X-ray transmission due to the aggregate of product coke grains flowing on the conveyor 12 during X-ray irradiation, There is no malfunction and more accurate detection is possible.

6 and 7 show another embodiment of the automatic coke sorting apparatus of the present invention.
In FIGS. 6 and 7 showing this embodiment, the same or corresponding parts as those in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In the automatic coke sorting device 30 of this embodiment,
Outlet end of belt conveyor 12 and belt conveyor 1
A relatively large step is provided between the supply end of 9 and
While the product coke grain aggregate falls from the outlet end of the belt conveyor 12 to the supply end of the belt conveyor 19, the presence of foreign particles is detected and sorted out using a method similar to that shown in FIG. That is, a soft X-ray tube 15 and a plurality of detectors 16 are arranged to sandwich the falling path of product coke grain aggregates 11 falling from the exit end of the belt conveyor 12, and a sorting gate 20 is placed directly above the supply end of the belt conveyor 19. It is located. This sorting gate 20 is normally positioned vertically downward so as to open the fall path for product coke grain aggregates, but it was found that foreign particles were mixed into the product coke grain aggregates falling from the exit end of the belt conveyor 12. In the same way as described above, the gate control device uses the gate control signal from the signal processing device 17 to swing the bottom end of the sorting gate 20 around its top end as shown by the chain line in FIG. 6 to follow the falling path. Close. As a result, some of the falling foreign matter grains and product coke grains collide with the sorting gate 20, are repelled, and fall into the foreign matter storage container 22.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 25 indicates a hopper for supplying the product coke grain aggregate to the belt conveyor 12.

In each of the embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 described above, the soft X-ray source and the detector 16
The following scintillators and photoelectric conversion elements are preferable.

That is, the soft X-ray tube used as a soft X-ray source has a window material of Be, an anode of W, a working voltage of 30 to 60 Kvp, and a working current of 2 to 5 mA. In addition, the scintillator is made of ZnS (Ag) and has a maximum fluorescent wavelength.
4500Å, fluorescence extinction time 10μ _sec , relative fluorescence efficiency 100
or NaI(I), maximum fluorescence wavelength 4100 Å, fluorescence dimming 0.25μ _sec , relative fluorescence efficiency.
200 of them. Furthermore, the photomultiplier as a photoelectric conversion element has a photocathode made of Sb-Cs, a cathode sensitivity of 70μA/Lm, and a current amplification factor of 7.1×10 ⁵
On the other hand, the photodiode is made of GaAsP element and has a sensitivity of 0.3A/W and a NEP of 3.2×10 ^-15 w/Hz〓
It is.

Furthermore, FIG. 8 shows still another embodiment of the automatic coke sorting apparatus of the present invention. In the automatic coke sorting device 40 of this embodiment, instead of the detector 16 consisting of a scintillator and a photoelectric conversion element shown in FIGS ^. /sec) X-ray fluorescence multiplier tube 27 and television camera (visible videocon) 2
TV camera 28 using a device that combines
The signal from the screen is sent to the monitor television 29 and the aforementioned signal processing device 17, and the sorting operation is monitored while watching the monitor television 29. The other components in this embodiment are the same as those in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-7.

Note that there are various modifications of the sorting gate as shown in FIGS. 9a to 9d. In other words, FIGS. 9a and 9b show that the part of the conveyor belt 14 containing foreign particles is blown away with air to remove the container 22.
2, and a device for blowing off falling foreign particles with air and putting them into the storage container 22. FIGS. 9c and 11d show a device in which a push plate is attached to the piston rod of a fluid pressure cylinder device, and the part of the foreign particles on the conveyor belt 14 is laterally removed by the push plate, and a device during falling. The figure shows a device in which a sorting gate is moved in and out of the falling path of the foreign particles by means of a fluid pressure cylinder device in order to expel them into the container 22.

The apparatus of the present invention has been described above in the case of using soft X-rays, but since an apparatus with a similar configuration may be used in the case of using low-energy gamma rays, the explanation will be omitted.

As explained above, according to the automatic coke sorting device of the present invention, it is possible to reliably sort and remove foreign particles mixed in the product coke particle aggregate obtained from the coke manufacturing device without relying on manual labor. This makes it possible to obtain pure product coke grains, thereby ensuring the quality of electrodes for electric furnaces formed from the product coke grains.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing the structure of an embodiment of the automatic coke sorting device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the automatic coke sorting device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the signal processing device in the automatic coke sorting device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along the line - in the figure. FIG. 6 is a front view schematically showing another embodiment of the automatic coke sorting device of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a sectional view schematically showing still another embodiment of the automatic coke sorting apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view and perspective view schematically showing various modifications of the sorting gate. 10, 30, 40... Coke automatic sorting device,
11... Product coke grain aggregate, 12, 19...
Belt conveyor, 15... Soft X-ray tube, 16... Detector, 17... Signal processing device, 18... Gate control device, 20... Sorting gate, 23... Comparator,
24...delay device, 26...adder.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A soft X-ray tube or a gamma ray irradiation device disposed near a conveyance route to irradiate a product coke grain aggregate obtained from a coke manufacturing device with soft X-rays or low-energy gamma rays during the conveyance; It is arranged at a position across the aggregate conveyance path to receive soft X-rays or low-energy gamma rays from the soft X-ray tube or gamma ray irradiation device, and is electrically connected in accordance with the amount of soft X-rays or gamma rays that pass through the product coke grain aggregates. a detector that outputs an output; an adder that successively averages changes in the output signal from the detector;
A comparator a that compares the averaged output signal from the adder and the output signal from the detector and outputs the deviation as an absolute value, and compares the deviation with a predetermined reference value, a signal processing device comprising a comparator b that generates a pulse signal for foreign matter detection when the deviation exceeds the reference value; and one of the product coke particle aggregates moving on the conveyance path in response to the pulse signal. What is claimed is: 1. An automatic coke sorting device comprising: a sorting device for taking out coke particles to another route, and automatically sorting out foreign particles contained in the product coke particle aggregate during the course of conveyance.