System and Method of Operating a Batch Melting Furnace

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019360067-A1
Application number	US-201815989945-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 25, 2018
Priority date	May 25, 2018
Publication date	Nov 28, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method of controlling a metal melting process in a melting furnace, including determining at least one furnace parameter characterizing a melting furnace, adding a charge containing solid metal into the melting furnace, detecting at least one charge parameter characterizing the charge, firing a burner into the melting furnace to provide heat to melt the charge, and exhausting burner combustion products from the furnace, detecting at least one process parameter characterizing progress of melting the charge, calculating a furnace efficiency based on the at least one furnace parameter, calculating a predicted process pour readiness time based on the at least one charge parameter, the at least one process parameter, and the furnace efficiency, and controlling the metal melting process based on the predicted process pour readiness time.

First claim

1 . A system for controlling a metals melting process in a batch melting furnace comprising:
a melting furnace comprising a chamber configured and arranged to receive a charge containing solid metal, a burner configured and arranged to provide heat of combustion to the charge in the chamber, and a passage to exhaust burner combustion products from the chamber, wherein the melting furnace is characterized by at least one furnace parameter; at least one sensor to detect at least one charge parameter characterizing a charge added to the furnace; at least one sensor to detect at least one process parameter characterizing progress of a melting process in the furnace; and a controller having a processor configured to:
calculate a furnace efficiency based on the at least one furnace parameter;
calculate a predicted process pour readiness time based on the at least one charge parameter, the at least one process parameter, and the overall efficiency; and
control operation of the furnace based on the predicted process pour readiness time.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one sensor to detect at least one output parameter characterizing output of the melting process; wherein the controller is further programmed to calculate the overall efficiency based on the at least one furnace parameter and the at least one output parameter.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
record the at least one output parameter for multiple prior melting processes; and calculate the overall furnace efficiency based on the recorded at least one output parameter for multiple prior melting processes.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one charge parameter includes one or more of: charge weight, flux weight, flux composition, volatile contaminant content, expected yield, initial temperature, tapping temperature, pouring temperature, charge size, charge shape, charge surface-to-volume ratio, charge material composition, and charge melting temperature.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the passage to exhaust burner combustion products includes a flue; and
wherein the at least one process parameter includes one or more of: burner firing rate, reactant enthalpy rate, exhaust enthalpy rate, flue temperature, furnace wall temperature, fuel heating value, flue exit combustion intensity, baghouse temperature, flue gas composition, flue duct temperature, furnace door temperature, furnace door gap size, furnace shell temperature, furnace chamber temperature, charge melt rate, furnace heat loss, elapsed melt operation time, and charge visual appearance.

6 . The system of claim 5 ,
wherein when the furnace is a rotary furnace, the at least one process parameter further includes one or more of: furnace rotation speed, rotation motor current, rotation motor torque, and furnace vibration; and wherein when the furnace is a reverberatory furnace, the at least one process parameter further includes one or more of: gas pressure for bubbler gas stirring applications, roof temperature, wall temperature, floor temperature, speed of circulation of the melt, energy expended in circulation of the melt, and melt temperature inside the furnace chamber.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one furnace parameter includes one or more of: furnace type, furnace size, furnace condition, furnace age, refractory type, refractory age, scrap history, fuel cost, oxidizer cost, flux cost, and furnace operating procedures.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to calculate the predicted process pour readiness time by:
calculating a theoretical energy requirement based on the at least one charge parameter; calculating a target fuel consumption based on the theoretical energy requirement and the furnace efficiency; calculating an actual fuel consumption based on the at least one process parameter; and calculating the predicted process pour readiness time based on comparing the target fuel consumption with the actual fuel consumption.

9 . A method of controlling a metal melting process in a melting furnace, comprising:
determining at least one furnace parameter characterizing a melting furnace; adding a charge containing solid metal into the melting furnace; detecting at least one charge parameter characterizing the charge; firing a burner into the melting furnace to provide heat to melt the charge, and exhausting combustion products from the furnace through a passage; detecting at least one process parameter characterizing progress of melting the charge; calculating a furnace efficiency based on the at least one furnace parameter; calculating a predicted process pour readiness time based on the at least one charge parameter, the at least one process parameter, and the furnace efficiency; and controlling the metal melting process based on the predicted process pour readiness time.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
detecting at least one output parameter characterizing output of the melting process; and calculating the overall furnace efficiency based on the at least one furnace parameter and the at least one output parameter.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
recording the at least one output parameter for multiple prior melting processes; and calculating the overall furnace efficiency based on the recorded at least one output parameter for multiple prior melting processes.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the at least one charge parameter includes one or more of: charge weight, flux weight, flux composition, volatile contaminant content, expected yield, initial temperature, tapping temperature, pouring temperature, charge size, charge shape, charge surface-to-volume ratio, charge material composition, and charge melting temperature.

13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the passage to exhaust burner combustion products includes a flue; and
wherein the at least one process parameter includes one or more of: burner firing rate, reactant enthalpy rate, exhaust enthalpy rate, flue temperature, furnace wall temperature, fuel heating value, flue exit combustion intensity, baghouse temperature, flue gas composition, flue duct temperature, furnace door temperature, furnace door gap size, furnace shell temperature, furnace chamber temperature, charge melt rate, furnace heat loss, elapsed melt operation time, and charge visual appearance.

14 . The method of claim 13 ,
wherein when the furnace is a rotary furnace, the at least one process parameter further includes one or more of: furnace rotation speed, rotation motor current, rotation motor torque, and furnace vibration; and wherein the furnace is a reverberatory furnace, the at least one process parameter further includes one or more of: gas pressure for bubbler gas stirring applications, roof temperature, wall temperature, floor temperature, speed of circulation of the melt, energy expended in circulation of the melt, and melt temperature inside the furnace chamber.

15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the at least one furnace parameter includes one or more of: furnace type, furnace size, furnace condition, furnace age, refractory type, refractory age, scrap history, fuel cost, oxidizer cost, flux cost, and furnace operating procedures.

16 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
calculate the predicted process pour readiness time by:
calculating a theoretical energy requirement based on the at least one charge parameter;
calculating a target fuel consumption based on the theoretical energy requirement a

Assignees

• Air Prod & Chem

Inventors

• Gangoli Shailesh Pradeep
• Guha Avishek
• Gupta Anshu
• Hendershot Reed Jacob
• Gallagher Michael J
• Lawrence Martin
• Tlamicha Petr

Classifications

• C22B7/003 Primary

  only remelting, e.g. of chips, borings, turnings; apparatus used therefor · CPC title

• F27M2003/13

  Smelting · CPC title

• C22B1/005 Primary

  Preliminary treatment of scrap (C22B1/02 - C22B1/26 take precedence) · CPC title

• C03C1/002

  Use of waste materials, e.g. slags · CPC title

• C03B5/225

  Refining (C03B5/18 takes precedence {; Refining agents C03C1/004}) · CPC title