ОБОБЩЕНИЕ ОПЫТА И РАЗВИТИЕ МЕТОДОВ ДИАГНОСТИКИ СОСТОЯНИЯ ФУТЕРОВКИ ДОМЕННЫХ ПЕЧЕЙ

Abstract

Acousto – Ultrasonic – Echo (AU-E) method of non-distractive testing of refractory lining conditions is developed by Hatch (Canada) to estimate refractory wear of blast furnaces and electrical smelters in non-ferrous and ferro-alloys industries. This system compliments the traditional modeling of heat transfer of blast furnace lining based on imbedded thermocouples data and additionally allows to determine location of cracks/anomalies and boundary between refractory lining and accretion. The limitations and accuracy of AU-E method are discussed and confirmed by comparison with physical measurements on cold furnaces. Improvement of the method allowed to take into account the influence of high temperatures, profile of the furnace and its dimensions and difference in the acoustic resistance of various layers of multilayer refractory lining on the regularity of wave propagation. The AU-E method is a reliable and non-destructive method for controlling the state of refractory masonry of smelting furnaces. The hardware and software of the AU-E system underwent a significant improvement, which made it possible to obtain measurement results with sufficient accuracy. Examples of AU-E method application to numerous furnaces in Russian Federation and around the Globe as well as some technological measures to prolong blast furnace campaign are presented and discussed. It was shown that results of several consecutive measurements allow estimation of the rate of refractory wear and prediction of the end point of blast furnace campaign. AU-E method is successfully applied for more than 70 blast furnaces around the World including blast furnaces of NLMK. CherMK, NTMK, ZapSib and MMK in Russian Federation and also for numerous copper, platinum, nickel and ferro-alloy smelters etc. © 2017, National University of Science and Technology MISIS. All rights reserved.