Abstract
A prototype of combustion zone monitoring system as been developed and installed into tuyeres of the blast furnace. The system consists of CCD(charge coupled device) cameras, sonic flow meters, an image processor and a personal computer. The personal computer collects raceway luminance data and operational data from the image processor that is connected to the color CCD camera from the blast furnace process computer, respectively. In addition, the sonic flow meters supply coal injection rate data to the personal computer. Then, the personal computer evaluates the combustion conditions with the raceway inspection algorithm. This integrated monitoring system allows us to detect abnormal raceway conditions and the clogging status of coal injection pipe. The image processing techniques of the system enable us to effectively monitor unburnt coal sticking to tuyere tip and injection lance wear conditions. Such a developed system ensures rapid and precise raceway inspection. The image processing capability of the system has helped operator to early detect both the unburnt coal sticking problem and the errosion problem of injection lance. Furthermore, the system could control the abnormal raceway condition based the the analysis results obtained from combustion monitoring.