Operation status determination apparatus and operation status determination method for vertical carbonization furnace

Abstract

To provide an operation status determination apparatus and an operation status determination method for a vertical carbonization furnace which can early detect an abnormality of a charge status of raw materials.SOLUTION: In an operation status determination apparatus for a vertical carbonization furnace according to the present invention, raw materials are charged from an upper part of a furnace body, thereafter, a high temperature gas is blown from a lower part of the furnace body to heat up and carbonize the raw materials, and a product is extracted from the lower part of the furnace body. The operation status determination apparatus comprises abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality of a charge status of the raw materials by using furnace body temperatures measured by plural temperature sensors installed in a circumferential direction of the furnace body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for determining the operational state of a vertical carbonization furnace. [Background technology]

[0002] In general, in a vertical carbonization furnace such as a ferro-coke carbonization furnace, raw materials are charged into the top of the furnace, and then high-temperature gas is blown into the bottom of the furnace to raise the temperature of the raw materials, carbonizing them, and extracting the product from the bottom. In such a vertical carbonization furnace, in order to ensure product quality and stable operation, it is important to control the temperature profile of the raw materials as they descend from the top to the bottom of the furnace. Against this background, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a technology for controlling the temperature distribution within a coke manufacturing facility. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-145468 [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] "Statistical Process Control Using Process Chemometrics", Manabu Kano et al., Systems / Control / Information, 2004, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 165-170 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In vertical carbonization furnaces, variations in the size, particle size, fineness, and other characteristics of the raw material charging may occur. In particular, when the furnace body is rectangular, with the thickness dimension being shorter than the other dimensions, variations in the raw material charging may occur in the width and thickness directions of the furnace body. When the raw material charging is uniform, the raw material is heated and carbonized almost uniformly. However, when the raw material charging is uneven, most of the gas blown in from the bottom of the furnace body flows through paths with low resistance, and the temperature rise and carbonization progress more rapidly in areas where more gas flows than in other areas. As mentioned above, in vertical carbonization furnaces, it is important to manage the temperature profile of the raw material as it descends from the top to the bottom of the furnace body. This also applies to the in-plane direction of the raw material charging. Therefore, it is desirable to quickly detect the temperature distribution along the same height of the furnace body due to variations in the raw material charging and have the operator take some kind of action. It is particularly important to detect abnormalities in the charging state of raw materials early on, as it is believed that such abnormalities will affect the temperature distribution of the raw materials in the vertical direction thereafter.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide an operating status determination device and an operating status determination method for a vertical dry distillation furnace that can detect abnormalities in the loading status of raw materials at an early stage. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The device for determining the operational status of a vertical dry distillation furnace according to the present invention is a device for determining the operational status of a vertical dry distillation furnace in which raw materials are charged from the top of the furnace body, and then high-temperature gas is blown in from the bottom of the furnace body to raise the temperature of the raw materials, dry distill them, and the product is extracted from the bottom of the furnace body.The device is equipped with an abnormality detection means for detecting abnormalities in the charging status of the raw materials using the furnace body temperature measured by multiple temperature sensors installed circumferentially around the furnace body.

[0008] The abnormality detection means preferably detects abnormalities in the charging state of the raw materials using the furnace body temperature measured by multiple temperature sensors installed at the same height position and circumferentially of the furnace body within a height range of 0.5 to 2.0 m below the charging surface of the raw materials.

[0009] The abnormality detection means may determine whether the raw material is being charged abnormally based on the degree of variation in the furnace body temperature measured by a plurality of temperature sensors.

[0010] The abnormality detection means may calculate Q statistics as the degree of variation in the furnace body temperature.

[0011] The method for determining the operational status of a vertical dry distillation furnace according to the present invention is a method for determining the operational status of a vertical dry distillation furnace in which raw materials are charged from the top of the furnace body, and then high-temperature gas is blown in from the bottom of the furnace body to raise the temperature of the raw materials, dry distill them, and the product is extracted from the bottom of the furnace body, and includes an abnormality detection step of detecting abnormalities in the charging status of the raw materials using the furnace body temperature measured by multiple temperature sensors installed circumferentially around the furnace body. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the operation state determination device and operation state determination method for a vertical carbonization furnace of the present invention, abnormalities in the charging state of raw materials can be detected at an early stage. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an operational state determination device for a vertical carbonization furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the temperature sensor group shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing time-series trends of temperature data and Q statistics in the example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, the configuration of an operational state determination device for a vertical carbonization furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an operational status determination device for a vertical carbonization furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the temperature sensor group 2 shown in FIG. 1. The operational status determination device for a vertical carbonization furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention is a device that detects abnormalities in the charging status (size, particle size, fineness, etc.) of raw materials in a vertical carbonization furnace, which charges raw materials from the top of the furnace body and extracts the product from the bottom of the furnace body. It is configured with an information processing device such as a general-purpose personal computer or a dedicated computer. As shown in FIG. 1, the operational status determination device for a vertical carbonization furnace according to one embodiment of the present invention 1 includes a temperature sensor group 2, a data collection device 3, an evaluation index calculation device 4, and an evaluation result display device 5. The evaluation index calculation device 4 functions as an abnormality detection means according to the present invention.

[0016] The temperature sensor group 2 is composed of multiple temperature sensors installed in the height and circumferential directions of the furnace body of the vertical carbonization furnace, and the temperature data of the furnace body measured by each temperature sensor is stored in a data collection device 3. The data collection device 3 is composed of a non-volatile memory device. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the furnace body 10 of the vertical carbonization furnace 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with the thickness dimension shorter than the dimensions in other directions, and the temperature sensors 2a that make up the temperature sensor group 2 are installed four each in the height and width directions on the front and back surfaces of the furnace body 10, for a total of 32 (= 4 × 4 × 2) temperature sensors 2a. FIG. 2 shows 16 temperature sensors 2a installed on the front side of the furnace body 10.

[0017] The uppermost temperature sensor 2a is preferably installed within a height range of 0.5 to 2 m below the material charging height H (see Figure 2), which is the height from the bottom surface 10a of the furnace body 10 to the material charging surface. When the designed particle size of the material to be charged is approximately 10 to 50 mm, the effect of abnormalities in the material charging state is likely to be reflected in the temperature at the position where the material exists after charging. For this reason, in order to ensure that the material is present and to detect changes in the material charging state early, it is preferable to install the uppermost temperature sensor 2a within a height range of 0.5 to 2 m below the material charging height H.

[0018] The evaluation index calculation device 4 is realized by the execution of a computer program by an arithmetic processing device in an information processing device constituting the vertical carbonization furnace operational state determination device 1. The evaluation index calculation device 4 calculates an evaluation index indicating the degree of variation in the temperature data of the furnace body measured by the temperature sensor group 2 stored in the data collection device 3 as an evaluation index of the raw material charging state. The method of calculating the evaluation index is not particularly limited, and any method can be used as long as it unifies multiple data to create an evaluation index. In addition, for example, an evaluation index calculated from the data to be processed by dividing the evaluation index calculated from a data group that is the stability limit value may be used to create an evaluation index, that is, processing (normalization) may be performed such that the evaluation index becomes 1 at the stability limit.

[0019] In this embodiment, the evaluation index calculation device 4 calculates Q statistics as an evaluation index indicating the degree of variation in the temperature data of the furnace body. Q statistics can be calculated using principal component analysis (see Non-Patent Document 1). Principal component analysis is a mathematical process that replaces (reduces the dimension of) multiple synchronized (multi-dimensional) data groups with a small number of variables that accurately reflect the characteristics of the original data while minimizing the loss of information contained in the original data groups. Synchronization refers to the cooperative behavior of operational variables with respect to the time progression or operational actions in the process. As shown in Figure 2, in this embodiment, 32 temperature sensors 2a are installed in the furnace body 10. Therefore, if principal component analysis is applied to replace the 32 temperature data points with several variables (principal component values) that accurately reflect the characteristics of the temperature data points, the charging status of the raw materials can be easily estimated by monitoring the small number of variables generated by principal component analysis without observing all 32 temperature data points. However, although Q statistics are used as the evaluation index in this embodiment, the evaluation index may be obtained by independent component analysis or by using a machine learning technique.

[0020] In the temperature data of the furnace body of the vertical carbonization furnace measured by the temperature sensor group 2, the first principal component value, which has the largest variance in principal component analysis, reflects the effects of operational loads and setting changes, such as changes in the flow rate of gas injected from the bottom of the furnace body. In contrast, the second principal component value and subsequent component values reflect the effects of other unstable conditions. Therefore, the evaluation index calculation device 4 evaluates the charging state of the raw materials using the second principal component value and subsequent component values. In this embodiment, the evaluation index calculation device 4 applies principal component analysis to the temperature data measured by the top temperature sensor or all installed temperature sensors, calculates the second principal component value with the largest variance among the components that exhibit asynchrony, and uses this value as the Q-statistic. However, if abnormal phenomena are significantly evident in the third principal component value and subsequent components, these values may also be used.

[0021] Specifically, first, the evaluation index calculation device 4 applies principal component analysis to the time series data of temperature data measured in the operation section where the raw material charging state is normal, and generates time series data of the second principal component value. Note that this normal operation section must include temperature data at the stability limit, that is, the limit at which the operation can be determined to be normal. Next, the evaluation index calculation device 4 calculates the maximum value of the second principal component value in the normal operation section. Calculating the maximum value of the second principal component value for the normal operation section is equivalent to calculating the fluctuation range of the sensor data when operating normally and the maximum deviation from the normal operation range, that is, the value of the stability limit.

[0022] Next, the evaluation index calculation device 4 evaluates the raw material charging state using an index obtained by dividing the second principal component value calculated from the temperature data of the processing target by the maximum value of the second principal component calculated from the temperature data of the normal operating section. For example, if the index value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the evaluation index calculation device 4 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the raw material charging state. Then, the evaluation index calculation device 4 outputs information indicating the determination result and related data (temperature data, evaluation index value, etc.) that serves as the basis for the determination to the evaluation result display device 5. The evaluation result display device 23 is composed of a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and displays the information output from the evaluation index calculation device 4. If information indicating an abnormality has occurred in the raw material charging state is displayed on the evaluation result display device 5, the operator takes a predetermined action.

[0023] As is clear from the above explanation, in one embodiment of the present invention, the device for determining the operational status of a vertical dry distillation furnace, the evaluation index calculation device 4 detects abnormalities in the raw material loading status using the furnace body temperature measured by multiple temperature sensors installed circumferentially around the furnace body, thereby enabling early detection of abnormalities in the raw material loading status. [Example]

[0024] In this example, Q statistics were calculated using temperature data measured by eight temperature sensors installed at the top of the furnace circumferential direction. Anomalies in the material charging status were identified based on the calculated Q statistics. Figure 3(a) shows the time series trend of the measured temperature data. Although eight temperature data points were originally measured, one temperature sensor failed, so Figure 3(a) shows the remaining seven temperature data points. During the time range shown in Figure 3(a), three large variations in the temperature data occurred due to occasional charging of materials with particle sizes smaller than the specified value. Figure 3(b) shows the Q statistics calculated from the temperature data shown in Figure 3(a). As shown in Figure 3(b), the Q statistics significantly changed and exceeded the threshold value 1 when variations in the temperature data occurred. This confirmed that abnormalities in the material charging status could be detected early by monitoring the time series changes in the Q statistics and determining that an abnormality in the material charging status has occurred when the Q statistics exceed a threshold value (1 in this example) determined based on operational performance.

[0025] Although the present invention has been described above as an embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the descriptions and drawings that form part of the disclosure of the present invention. In other words, other embodiments, examples, and operational techniques that can be made by those skilled in the art based on the present invention are all included in the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0026] 1. Vertical carbonization furnace operating status determination device 2 Temperature sensors 2a Temperature sensor 3 Data collection equipment 4. Evaluation index calculation device 5. Evaluation result display device 10 Furnace body 10a Bottom H Raw material charging height

Claims

1. The device for determining the operational status of a vertical carbonization furnace is configured to charge raw materials from the top of the furnace body, then blow in high-temperature gas from the bottom of the furnace body to raise the temperature of the raw materials, carbonize them, and extract the product from the bottom of the furnace body, an abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality in the charging state of the raw materials using the furnace body temperature measured by a plurality of temperature sensors installed in the circumferential direction of the furnace body; A device for determining the operating status of a vertical carbonization furnace.

2. The device for determining the operational state of a vertical dry distillation furnace as described in claim 1, wherein the abnormality detection means detects abnormalities in the charging state of the raw materials using the furnace body temperature measured by multiple temperature sensors installed at the same height position and circumferentially of the furnace body within a height range of 0.5 to 2.0 m below the charging surface of the raw materials.

3. 3. The operating state determination device for a vertical dry distillation furnace according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality detection means determines an abnormality in the charging state of the raw materials based on the degree of variation in the furnace body temperature measured by a plurality of temperature sensors.

4. 4. The apparatus for determining the operational state of a vertical dry distillation furnace according to claim 3, wherein the abnormality detection means calculates a Q statistic as a degree of variation in the furnace body temperature.

5. A method for determining the operational status of a vertical carbonization furnace in which raw materials are charged into the upper part of the furnace body, and then high-temperature gas is blown into the lower part of the furnace body to raise the temperature of the raw materials, carbonize them, and extract a product from the lower part of the furnace body, comprising: An abnormality detection step of detecting an abnormality in the charging state of the raw materials using the furnace body temperature measured by a plurality of temperature sensors installed in the circumferential direction of the furnace body, A method for determining the operating status of a vertical carbonization furnace.

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