Disclosed is a system and a method for determining the thickness of a refractory material forming part of a manufacturing vessel, such as a furnace or ladle, using a surface profile scanning while the vessel is maintained at operating temperatures. The system and method are operative to determine the relative positionings of an internal surface and the corresponding external surface of such material, based on a plurality of surface profile data scans. Additionally, a computational algorithm can process these data and/or other data to determine certain flaws of the refractory material, including the presence of gaps within and bending or deformation of such material for a more accurate determination of its thickness. This provides a way to early warn a user of the risk of continuing operating the vessel, achieve a higher operational safety, and more accurately estimate both the remaining operational life and the maintenance plan of the vessel.
G01B 11/06 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques for measuring length, width, or thickness for measuring thickness
G01B 11/30 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques for measuring roughness or irregularity of surfaces
G01B 15/02 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electromagnetic waves or particle radiation, e.g. by the use of microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays or electrons for measuring thickness
G01B 15/08 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electromagnetic waves or particle radiation, e.g. by the use of microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays or electrons for measuring roughness or irregularity of surfaces
G01B 17/02 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic vibrations for measuring thickness
G01B 17/08 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic vibrations for measuring roughness or irregularity of surfaces
2.
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREDICTION OF OPERATIONAL SAFETY OF MANUFACTURING VESSELS
Disclosed is a system and a method for estimating a level of risk of operation of a manufacturing vessels used in the formation of certain materials. The system and method are operative to determine a condition and level of degradation of the refractory material of the vessel to early warn a user of the operational risk of continuing operating the vessel, based on thermal scanning and the use of artificial intelligence. The system is capable of determining the presence of certain flaws within the refractory material and the remaining thickness of such material by correlating the results of processing thermal data corresponding to the external surface of the vessel with a machine learning-based mathematical model, according to a set of operational parameters related to the melting process and data from the user.
Disclosed is a sensing system to evaluate and monitor the status of a material forming part of a refractory furnace, integrating an antenna and a grating structure that might be part of the furnace. The system is operative to identify flaws and measure the erosion profile and thickness of different materials, including refractory materials of an industrial furnace, using radiofrequency signals. The system is designed to integrate the antenna with a grating adjacent to an external furnace wall to improve the overall performance of the sensing system as compared to that of the antenna alone during an inspection of the furnace, even in regions of difficult access. Furthermore, the system comprises a mechanism to physically attach the antenna to the furnace grating or to modify the grating configuration around the antenna to improve the system performance for better estimating the remaining operational life and maintenance plan of the furnace.
Disclosed is an apparatus and method for evaluating a status of a refractory material in metallurgical vessels, including furnaces and ladles, wherein an external structure at least partly surrounding the refractory material impairs the propagation of radiofrequency signals. The apparatus and method are operative to identify flaws and determine the erosion profile and thickness of refractory material and the level or rate of penetration of molten material into the refractory material, using radiofrequency signals. The apparatus comprises an antenna embedded in the refractory material or positioned inside the chamber of the vessel designed to collect data associated with the propagation of radiofrequency signals transmitted by the antenna into the refractory material. Moreover, signal processing techniques allow determining the status of the internal wall of the vessel due to operational wear, age, and presence of flaws, cracks, corrosion, and erosion to improve the operational life and maintenance of the vessel.
G01B 15/02 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electromagnetic waves or particle radiation, e.g. by the use of microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays or electrons for measuring thickness
5.
System and method for evaluating a status of a material in metallurgical vessels
Disclosed is a system and method for evaluating a status of a refractory material in metallurgical vessels, including furnaces and ladles, wherein a slag buildup is formed on the surface of such material as a result of scrap accumulation and chemical reactions occurring during the melting of metals in such vessels. The system and method are operative to determine both a rate of degradation of the material under evaluation, including the thickness of such material, and a measure of the slag buildup to predict and extend the operational life and improve the maintenance plan of the vessel. The system is capable of determining the thickness of and the slag buildup on the entire material under evaluation by sampling a number of regions of such material with different types of sensors, characterizing the surface profile of such material, and using appropriate signal processing techniques and artificial intelligence algorithms.
G01B 15/02 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electromagnetic waves or particle radiation, e.g. by the use of microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays or electrons for measuring thickness
G01B 11/30 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of optical techniques for measuring roughness or irregularity of surfaces
Disclosed is an improved system and method to evaluate the status of a material. The system and method are operative to identify flaws and measure the erosion profile and thickness of different materials, including refractory materials, using electromagnetic waves. The system is designed to reduce a plurality of reflections, associated with the propagation of electromagnetic waves launched into the material under evaluation, by a sufficient extent so as to enable detection of electromagnetic waves of interest reflected from remote discontinuities of the material. Furthermore, the system and method utilize a configuration and signal processing techniques that reduce clutter and enable the isolation of electromagnetic waves of interest. Moreover, the launcher is impedance matched to the material under evaluation, and the feeding mechanism is designed to mitigate multiple reflection effects to further suppress clutter.
G01B 15/02 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electromagnetic waves or particle radiation, e.g. by the use of microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays or electrons for measuring thickness
F27D 21/00 - Arrangement of monitoring devicesArrangement of safety devices
Disclosed is a system to evaluate and monitor the status of a material forming part of an asset, such as a refractory furnace. The system is operative to identify flaws and measure the erosion profile and thickness of different materials, including refractory materials of an industrial furnace, using radiofrequency signals. The system is designed to integrate software with a plurality of sensors and additional hardware to collect data during an inspection of the furnace, even in regions of difficult access. Furthermore, the system comprises a software management subsystem configured to implement signal processing techniques to process the data collected and generate reports to visualize the status, estimate the remaining operational life, and determine the level of penetration of molten material into the surrounding layers of the furnace. Moreover, the system's software enables a user to monitor the status of the furnace both locally and remotely.
F27D 21/00 - Arrangement of monitoring devicesArrangement of safety devices
G01B 15/02 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electromagnetic waves or particle radiation, e.g. by the use of microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays or electrons for measuring thickness
Disclosed is an improved device and method to evaluate the status of a material by scanning an area that overlaps a region of the material under evaluation. The device and method are operative to identify a leakage of a first material into a second material, such as a molten material surrounded by a refractory material, to measure the thickness of the second material, using electromagnetic waves, and to generate images. The device is designed to reduce a plurality of reflections associated with the propagation of electromagnetic waves launched into the material under evaluation, by a sufficient extent so as to enable detection of electromagnetic waves of interest reflected from remote discontinuities present in between the device and the enclosed material. Furthermore, the device can be configured to scan areas of interest in either a portable or fixed configuration, manually in a standalone mode or as part of an automated system.
G01M 3/16 - Investigating fluid tightness of structures by using fluid or vacuum by detecting the presence of fluid at the leakage point using electric detection means
G01M 3/40 - Investigating fluid tightness of structures by using electric means, e.g. by observing electric discharges
Disclosed is an improved system and method to evaluate the status of a material. The system and method are operative to identify flaws and measure the erosion profile and thickness of different materials, including refractory materials, using electromagnetic waves. The system is designed to reduce a plurality of reflections, associated with the propagation of electromagnetic waves launched into the material under evaluation, by a sufficient extent so as to enable detection of electromagnetic waves of interest reflected from remote discontinuities of the material. Furthermore, the system and method utilize a configuration and signal processing techniques that reduce clutter and enable the isolation of electromagnetic waves of interest. Moreover, the launcher is impedance matched to the material under evaluation, and the feeding mechanism is designed to mitigate multiple reflection effects to further suppress clutter.
G01N 17/02 - Electrochemical measuring systems for weathering, corrosion or corrosion-protection measurement
G01B 7/06 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques for measuring length, width, or thickness for measuring thickness
G01B 15/02 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electromagnetic waves or particle radiation, e.g. by the use of microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays or electrons for measuring thickness
F27D 21/00 - Arrangement of monitoring devicesArrangement of safety devices
Disclosed is a system and method to aid in these inspections that avoid the disadvantages of the prior art. The system and method are operative to take thickness measurements of, and thus evaluate the condition of, materials including but not limited to refractory materials, operating in frequency bands that result in less loss than previously known technologies, and utilizing a system configuration and signal processing techniques that isolate the reflected signal of interest from other spurious antenna reflections, particularly by creating (through the configuration of the antenna assembly) a time delay between such spurious reflections and the actual reflected signal of interest, thus enabling better isolation of the signal of interest. Still further, the antenna assembly is intrinsically matched to the material to be probed, such as by impedance matching the antenna to the particular material (through knowledge of the dielectric and magnetic properties of the material to be evaluated) to even further suppress spurious reflections.
G06F 15/00 - Digital computers in generalData processing equipment in general
G01B 15/02 - Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electromagnetic waves or particle radiation, e.g. by the use of microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays or electrons for measuring thickness
F27D 21/00 - Arrangement of monitoring devicesArrangement of safety devices
patents
