System and method for measuring charge profile in a metallurgical furnace - Patents.com

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments relate to a system for measuring a two-dimensional (2D) charge profile distribution in a metallurgical furnace. The system includes a thermal detection module configured to scan a top charge surface in the metallurgical furnace and capture thermal data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface. The system further includes a processing unit communicatively coupled to the thermal detection module. The processing unit is configured to receive data corresponding to the top charge surface from the thermal detection module. The processing unit is further configured to filter out noise from the data received by the thermal detection module corresponding to the top charge surface. The processing unit is further adapted to generate a 2D charge profile using the noise-removed data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of metallurgy. In particular, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to metallurgical furnaces. Further, embodiments of the present disclosure disclose methods and systems for measuring a charge profile inside a metallurgical furnace. [Background technology]

[0002] The iron making process using metallurgical furnaces such as blast furnaces can be considered as the primary process for providing the raw material for steel production. The operations carried out inside the blast furnace are considered as a black box. This is due to the fact that the implementation of any direct measurement techniques inside the blast furnace is hindered by the poor conditions inside the blast furnace. The blast furnace is an integrated part of the steel plant and any fault in the blast furnace can have a dramatic negative impact on the entire production.

[0003] Among all the factors that affect the operation of a blast furnace, the profile distribution of the surface of the charge inside the blast furnace is the most important factor to be measured. Such charge profile distribution helps to adjust the charge loading sequence to improve efficiency. Knowledge of the charge profile distribution of charge material in the blast furnace also greatly helps to improve the stability and control of the furnace operation. The charge profile distribution is directly influenced by the gas permeability, which is a result of the juxtaposition of the loading angle. Uniform gas permeability increases the steelmaking productivity and furnace life in high heat utilization furnaces. It is necessary to achieve accurate measurement of the charge profile distribution without risk of gas leakage and heavy maintenance load. However, high temperature and pressure as well as adverse atmospheres can adversely affect both the performance and the life cycle of the installed measurement mechanism. Due to the complex behavior of certain materials, it can be particularly difficult to understand the distribution of the charge material.

[0004] Acquiring the burden profile distribution of a blast furnace with high accuracy, resolution, and high data throughput is a challenging task in the field of metallurgy research. Many techniques for performing the measurement of the burden profile distribution include introducing multiple units with mechanical operations. However, the engineering costs of such techniques are prohibitive. Some conventional techniques rely on mathematical models and approximation methods for operating the blast furnace. Such modeling methods for measuring the burden profile distribution may be implemented using physical experimental methods or mechanism-based methods or data-driven methods. The application of measurement techniques using hardware components located inside the furnace has been hindered by the poor conditions inside the blast furnace. Also, building a compact size prototype for measuring the burden profile distribution lacks precision due to conditions such as real-time burden loading, high temperature environment, etc.

[0005] Several non-contact methods can be implemented to measure the charge profile distribution, including visual, interferometric, and time-of-flight techniques. Some other techniques use radio waves for measurement. However, radio waves have longer wavelengths and therefore the measurement resolution is insufficient.

[0006] Conventional radar is also susceptible to false echoes from various surrounding metallic structures that are typically present on industrial sites.

[0007] The information disclosed in this Background of the Disclosure section is intended only to enhance understanding of the general background of the present invention, and should not be construed as an admission or in any way suggestion that this information forms prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0008] One or more of the shortcomings of the prior art are overcome by the disclosed systems and methods, and additional advantages are provided through the systems and methods described in this disclosure.

[0009] Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure.Other embodiments and aspects of the present disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.

[0010] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a system for measuring a 2D charge profile distribution in a metallurgical furnace is disclosed. The system includes a thermal detection module configured to scan a top charge surface in the metallurgical furnace and capture temperature data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface. The system further includes a processing unit communicatively coupled to the thermal detection module. The processing unit is configured to receive data corresponding to the top charge surface from the thermal detection module. The processing unit is further configured to filter noise from the data received by the thermal detection module corresponding to the top charge surface. The processing unit is further adapted to generate a 2D charge profile using the noise-filtered data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the thermal detection module is disposed inside the enclosure. Further, a cooling unit is configured around the enclosure to cool the thermal detection module. The enclosure further includes a dust cleaning unit configured to clean dust settled on the enclosure.

[0012] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing unit includes a noise reduction unit, a data separation unit, and a heat map generation unit. The processing unit further includes a raw material identification unit.

[0013] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the noise reduction unit comprises one or more filters to remove noise from the data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface. The data separation unit is configured to separate the data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface from the data of the furnace wall surface, dust, and steam. Further, the heat map generation unit is configured to generate a radiograph of the detected heat of the top charge surface.

[0014] In another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for measuring a charge profile distribution in a metallurgical furnace is described. The method includes scanning a top charge surface in the metallurgical furnace and capturing data corresponding to a profile of the top charge surface using a thermal detection module. The method further includes receiving, by a processing unit, the data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface from the thermal detection module. The processing unit is configured to filter out noise from the data received by the thermal detection module corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface. The processing unit uses the noise-filtered data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface to generate a 2D charge profile.

[0015] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a scan of the top charge profile is performed on the interior surface of a metallurgical furnace.

[0016] It should be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above can be used in any combination with each other. Some of the aspects and embodiments can be combined together to form further embodiments of the disclosure.

[0017] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

[0018] The novel features and characteristics of the present disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, together with its preferred modes of use, further objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: One or more embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like elements. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1a] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for measuring a burden profile distribution inside a blast furnace, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 1b] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for measuring a burden profile distribution inside a blast furnace, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 1c] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for measuring a burden profile distribution inside a blast furnace, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for measuring a top charge surface inside a blast furnace, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of example systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudocode, and the like may be substantially represented in a computer-readable medium and represent various processes that may be executed by such a computer or processor, whether or not a computer or processor is explicitly depicted. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The foregoing has outlined broadly the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the present disclosure that form the subject matter of the claims of the present disclosure are described below. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concepts and specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying other devices, systems, assemblies, and mechanisms for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features to the system believed to be characteristic of the present disclosure, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the drawings is provided for purposes of illustration and description only and is not intended to define the limits of the present disclosure.

[0022] According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a system for measuring a 2D charge profile distribution in a metallurgical furnace is described. The system includes a thermal detection module positioned on an inner circumference at the throat of the metallurgical furnace. The thermal detection module can be configured to scan a top charge surface in the metallurgical furnace and capture thermal data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface. In one embodiment, the scanning of the top charge profile is performed on an inner surface of the metallurgical furnace. The charge, generally referred to as a furnace charge of iron-bearing materials (e.g., iron ore pellets and sinter), coke, and flux (e.g., limestone), descends through a shaft where it is preheated and reacts with an ascending reducing gas to generate iron nuggets and slag that accumulate in the roadbed. Further, the system includes a processing unit communicatively coupled to the thermal detection module. The processing unit can include one or more processing units, integrally or individually associated with the processing unit. In one embodiment, the processing unit can include a noise reduction unit, a data separation unit, a heat map generation unit, and a raw material identification unit. The noise reduction unit associated with the processing unit includes one or more filters to remove noise from the data corresponding to the profile of the top charge furnace. Furthermore, the data separation unit is configured to separate the data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface from data of, but not limited to, furnace wall surface, dust, and steam. Similarly, the heat map generation unit generates a radiograph of the detected heat of the top charge surface. Also, the embodiments of the present disclosure describe a method for measuring a charge profile distribution in a metallurgical furnace. In the coming embodiments, the system and method will be elucidated in detail together with FIG. 1a to FIG. 2.

[0023] As used herein, "comprises...a," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, is intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that systems and methods comprising a list of components or steps do not include only those components or steps, but such systems or methods may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent in. In other words, one or more elements in an assembly preceded by "comprises...a" does not, without further constraints, preclude the presence of other or additional elements in the system.

[0024] "Comprise", "comprising" or any other variation thereof is intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a set-up, device, or method that includes a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps, but may include other components or steps that are not expressly listed or that are inherent to such set-up or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus preceded by "comprising" does not, without further constraints, exclude the presence of other or additional elements in the system or method.

[0025] In the following detailed description of embodiments of the present disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the present disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, with the understanding that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the following description is not to be construed in a limiting sense.

[0026] FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram illustrating a system (101) for measuring a burden profile distribution in a metallurgical furnace (104). The system (101) may be implemented in an example environment 100 that includes a blast furnace (104). The metallurgical furnace (104) may be a blast furnace (104) used for smelting to produce industrial metals. The metallurgical furnace (104) may be referred to as a blast furnace (104) and may be used interchangeably in upcoming embodiments. The industrial metals may include, but are not limited to, pig iron, lead, copper, and the like. The blast furnace (104) may be a vertical shaft furnace that produces liquid metal. The mixture may include, but is not limited to, at least one of metal ores, coke, limestone, hematite, and flux. The mixture may be referred to as a "burden" or "charge." Studies of the operation of the blast furnace (104) include measuring or determining a charge level distribution shape (also referred to as a burden profile distribution) inside the blast furnace (104). Such measurements can be used to effectively control gas injection into the blast furnace (104) and the smooth operation of the blast furnace (104). Thus, measurement of the burden profile distribution is a key step in the automated operation of the blast furnace (104). Measurement of the burden profile distribution involves accurately obtaining burden shape information in real time. The proposed system is configured to accurately obtain the burden profile distribution in the blast furnace (104) without affecting the operation of the blast furnace (104).

[0027] The system (101) for measuring a charge profile distribution in a blast furnace (104) comprises a thermal detection module (102). In one embodiment, the thermal detection module (102) is a heat sensor. The thermal detection module (102) is configured to scan a top charge surface in the blast furnace (104). Furthermore, the thermal detection module (102) is configured to measure a charge profile distribution inside the blast furnace (104) based on the scan. In one embodiment, the thermal detection module (102) may be disposed inside an enclosure. The enclosure may be configured with a cooling unit. In one embodiment, the cooling unit may be configured around the enclosure. The cooling unit may be provided around the enclosure to protect the thermal detection module (102) from a hostile environment inside the blast furnace (102). Furthermore, the enclosure also includes a dust cleaning unit adapted to clean dust settled on the enclosure. Dust can be continuously cleaned on the enclosure, thereby allowing interference-free scanning of the thermal detection module.

[0028] Further, the thermal detection module (102) may be communicatively coupled to the processing unit (103). Multiple scans may be performed using the thermal detection module (103) and processed by the processing unit (103). In one embodiment, the measurement of the charge profile distribution may be performed by the processing unit (103). For example, the thermal detection module (102) may be configured to receive heat signals. Beams of the heat signals are focused on the thermal detection module (102) from different directions. The thermal detection module (102) may include an array of receivers configured to receive the heat signals.

[0029] In one embodiment, as shown in Figures 1a and 1b, the thermal detection module (102) may be positioned on the interior surface of the top of the blast furnace (104). In such an embodiment, as shown in Figure 1c, the thermal detection module (102) may be oriented at a predefined angle on the interior surface to perform multiple scans. The orientation of the thermal detection module (102) is such that the entire area across the stockline (105) of the blast furnace (104) is scanned by the thermal detection module (102).

[0030] In one embodiment, the processing unit (103) is communicatively coupled to the thermal detection module (102). The heat signal received by the thermal detection module (102) may be provided to the processing unit (103) for processing and measuring a burden profile distribution inside the blast furnace (104). As shown in FIG. 1a, the processing unit (103) may be located outside the blast furnace (104). Thus, the processing unit (103) may not be affected by the higher temperature of the blast furnace (104). In one embodiment, the processing unit (103) may include a processor, an I / O interface, and a memory (not shown). In some embodiments, the memory may be communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor that, when executed, may cause the processing unit (103) to measure a burden profile distribution as disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the memory may include one or more modules and data. The one or more modules may be configured to perform steps of the disclosure using the data to measure a burden profile distribution. In one embodiment, each of the one or more modules may be a hardware unit that is outside the memory and may be coupled to the processing unit (103). In one embodiment, the processing unit (103) for measuring the charge profile distribution may be implemented in various computing systems, such as laptop computers, desktop computers, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, smartphones, tablets, e-book readers, servers, network servers, cloud-based servers, etc. In one embodiment, the processing unit (103) may be implemented in a cloud-based server or a dedicated server and may communicate with the heat detection module (102) via a communication network. The communication network may include, but is not limited to, a direct interconnection, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless network (e.g., using a wireless application protocol), the Internet, etc. In one embodiment, the processing unit 103 may be configured to receive and transmit data via an I / O interface.

[0031] In one embodiment, the processing unit (103) comprises a noise reduction unit, a data separation unit, a raw material identification unit, and a heat map generation unit. The noise reduction unit (not shown) comprises one or more filters for removing noise from the data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface. The data separation unit is configured to separate the data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface from the data of the furnace wall surface, dust, and steam. The heat map generation unit may be configured to generate a radiograph of the detected heat of the top charge surface. Furthermore, the raw material identification unit associated with the processing unit (103) is configured to determine the type of raw material in the blast furnace (104). Generally, coke and ferrous charge are used as charge materials in the blast furnace (104). Sinter, pellets, and lump ore are used to make the ferrous charge. The emissivity of coke particles and ferrous charge particles is significantly different. The emissivity of coke and ferrous charge particles is easily distinguishable using the thermal detection module (102). Radiographs are created using this emissivity data that easily distinguishes between materials of different colors. A raw material identification unit associated with the processing unit (103) uses machine learning tools to automatically identify the material type and processes the live radiographs to detect the exact coordinates of the different materials in relation to the blast furnace (104) dimensions.

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for measuring a burden profile distribution in a blast furnace 104.

[0033] The steps of the method for measuring the burden profile using the proposed system (101) can be performed in real time without modifying the regular operation of the blast furnace (104). Moreover, the method is performed using a system (101) comprising a thermal detection module (102) and a processing unit (103). The thermal detection module (101) is configured to perform regular or continuous scans.

[0034] In block 201, the thermal detection module (102) of the system (101) may be configured to perform a scan inside the blast furnace (104) to capture thermal data of the top charge surface. In one embodiment, the electronics associated with the thermal detection module (102) may be located inside a dust cleaning and cooling enclosure to withstand the harsh conditions inside the blast furnace (104). Furthermore, a cooling unit may be additionally provided to cool the thermal detection module (102). In one embodiment, the scan may be performed by receiving a signal from inside the blast furnace (104). The thermal detection module (102) eliminates the need for moving parts inside the blast furnace 104 to perform the scan. The thermal detection module (102) may be located on an interior surface at the top of the blast furnace (104). In one embodiment, the thermal detection module (102) may be located at a predefined angle on the interior surface to perform the scan. In one embodiment, the thermal detection module (102) may be positioned at the top of the blast furnace (104) along the longitudinal axis of the blast furnace (104). The placement of the thermal detection module (102) should be optimal to scan the entire area inside the blast furnace (104).

[0035] As shown in block 202, when performing the scan, the processing unit (103) of the system (101) may be configured to measure a burden profile distribution of the blast furnace (104). In an embodiment, the processing unit (103) may be electronically coupled with the optical unit (102) to receive the heat signal and measure the burden profile distribution based on the received heat signal. In an embodiment, one or more techniques known to those skilled in the art may be implemented in the processing unit (103) to measure the burden profile distribution. In an embodiment, the processing unit (103) may output a 2D burden profile distribution from the scan upon processing the received heat signal.

[0036] In block 203, the processing unit (103) is configured to filter out noise from the thermal data generated by the heat map generating unit. The thermal data corresponds to a profile of the top charge surface. However, the captured thermal data still includes noise resulting from dust, which needs to be filtered out to obtain clean data. One or more filters are used to reduce noise from the captured data. The noise is included due to, for example, multiple reflections from the wall surface of the blast furnace (104), dust, and / or steam. The noise reduction may also include separating data of the charge profile of the top charge surface from data of the furnace wall, dust, and / or steam. In an exemplary embodiment, a sigma filter may be used to remove noise. Furthermore, machine learning (ML) or deep learning (DL) techniques may be used to remove noise. For example, unsupervised clustering techniques may be used to detect outliers in the data and isolate the outliers. In another example, a convolutional neural network (CNN) may be used to remove noise from the point cloud data. In yet another example, K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) can be applied. In one embodiment, ML or DL ​​techniques can be applied to 2D data.

[0037] The data with the noise filtered out is unstructured data. Further processing is required to obtain coordinates for the top charge surface and eliminate points due to dust and blast furnace walls, which are converted into structured data by the data conversion means. The data conversion means is configured with coordinate shifting logic for the structured points. The tip of the thermal detection module (102) can be considered as the reference origin of the coordinates, and the new origin is shifted along the centerline of the furnace at the height of the design stock level of the furnace. The one or more filters are configured to identify points that are on the walls of the furnace by comparing them with the points generated for the walls of the furnace. The one or more filters are also configured with a multi-frame comparison method, where data from multiple frames captured by the thermal detection module (102) within a predefined time frame (e.g. 5 seconds) are compared. While static points from the top charge surface are retained, dynamic points due to dust particles in these frames are identified and removed. The resulting data is only for the top furnace surface.

[0038] When acquiring the 2D charge profile distributions of the multiple scans, the processing unit (103) may be configured to perform an interpolation of the 2D charge profile distributions measured for adjacent diameters from the multiple diameters to determine one or more interpolated charge profile distributions. One or more techniques known to those skilled in the art may be implemented in the processing unit (103) to perform the interpolation.

[0039] In one embodiment, the scanning and measurement of the burden profile distribution may be performed during regular operation of the blast furnace (104). In one embodiment, the system may be configured to automatically operate at regular time intervals to perform the method (200). In one embodiment, the system (101) may be configured to perform the steps upon receiving a trigger from a user associated with the blast furnace (104). In one embodiment, the burden profile distribution measured by the system (101) may be used to control the amount of gas / hot air injected into the blast furnace (104). In one embodiment, the burden profile distribution measured by the system (101) may be provided to a control unit to automatically control the injection of gas / hot air by analyzing the burden profile distribution.

[0040] In block 204, the processing unit (103) generates a 2D burden profile using the noise-free processed data. A 2D top surface extraction means may be coupled to the data conversion means. The 2D top furnace surface extraction means may be configured to store coordinates for the 2D top burden surface measured at any instant. A layer profile visualization means may be coupled to the 2D top furnace surface extraction means configured to generate a 2D profile using the top burden surface of the continuous charge thrown into the furnace. The 2D layer profile generator may use a volume balance mechanism that lowers the 2D layer based on the volume of the charge thrown into the furnace for the charge to generate a resulting 2D layer profile in the blast furnace. A charge lowering speed calculator means may be coupled to the 2D top burden surface extraction means and configured to compare coordinates of multiple 2D top burden surfaces measured at a predefined frequency within a predefined duration for the charge thrown into the furnace. Further, the burden descent velocity is calculated at each point along the surface of the top furnace surface. The burden descent velocity calculation means is configured with visualization means for low descent velocity and highlight areas of high descent velocity.

[0041] The method 200 may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions. Generally, computer-executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types.

[0042] The order in which the method 200 is described should not be construed as a limitation, as any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks can be deleted from the method without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.

[0043] An embodiment of the present disclosure includes a thermal detection module (102) arranged to perform multiple scans. Therefore, the need for moving parts for efficient scanning may be eliminated. Furthermore, mechanical errors caused by such moving parts are also reduced. Also, the system can be operated at any time without interfering with the normal operation of the blast furnace.

[0044] One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a compact system that is located inside the blast furnace, with the treatment portion located outside the blast furnace. Therefore, the proposed system can easily fit any geometry of the blast furnace. Also, the system (101) is protected from the harsh conditions inside the blast furnace.

[0045] An embodiment of the present disclosure is provided to perform efficient scanning and measurement of the charge profile distribution. Higher resolution of the charge profile distribution can be achieved by performing interpolation of the data acquired from the scanned area.

[0046] "An embodiment," "embodiment," "embodiments," "the embodiment," "the embodiment," "one or more embodiment," "some embodiments," and "one embodiment" mean "one or more (but not all) embodiments of the invention," unless otherwise specified.

[0047] The words "including," "comprising," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless expressly stated otherwise.

[0048] The listing of enumerated items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly stated otherwise.

[0049] The terms "a," "an," and "the" mean "one or more" unless otherwise specified.

[0050] A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. Rather, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the present invention.

[0051] It will be readily apparent that when a single device or article is described herein, multiple devices / articles (whether they cooperate or not) may be used in place of the single device / article. Similarly, when multiple devices or articles are described herein (whether they cooperate or not), it will be readily apparent that a single device / article may be used in place of the multiple devices or articles, or a different number of devices / articles may be used in place of the number of devices or programs shown. The functionality and / or features of a device may alternatively be embodied by one or more other devices not explicitly described as having such functionality / features. Thus, other embodiments of the invention need not include the device itself.

[0052] The operations depicted in FIG. 2 depict certain events occurring in a certain order. In alternative embodiments, certain operations may be performed in a different order, modified, or removed. Furthermore, steps may be added to the logic above and still be consistent with the described embodiment. Additionally, operations described herein may occur sequentially or certain operations may be processed in parallel. Still further, operations may be performed by a single processing unit or by distributed processing units.

[0053] Finally, the language used herein has been selected primarily for readability and instructional purposes, and not to delineate or limit the subject matter of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that arise in applications based on the invention. Accordingly, the disclosure of embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

[0054] While various aspects and embodiments are disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limited in true scope by the following claims.

[0055] equivalent word With respect to the use of substantially any plural and / or singular terminology herein, those skilled in the art can substitute the plural for the singular and / or the singular for the plural as appropriate depending on the context and / or application. Various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for the sake of clarity.

[0056] Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that, in general, the terms used herein, and particularly in the appended claims (e.g., the body of the appended claims), are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," etc.). Those of ordinary skill in the art will further understand that where a specific number of introduced claim recitations are intended, such intent will be expressly set forth in the claim, and that in the absence of such recitation, such intent does not exist. For example, as an aid to understanding, the appended claims below may include the use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce the claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed as suggesting that the introduction of a claim statement with the indefinite article "a" or "an" implies limiting any particular claim that includes such an introduced claim statement to an invention that includes only one such statement, even if the same claim includes the introductory phrase "one or more" or "at least one" and an indefinite article such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should typically be construed to mean "at least one" or "one or more"), and the same is true for the use of definite articles used to introduce a claim statement. In addition, even if a specific number of introduced claim statements is explicitly recited, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that such a statement should typically be construed to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the plain statement "two statements" without other modifiers typically means at least two statements or more than two statements).Additionally, in instances where a convention similar to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, such convention is generally intended in the sense that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" includes, but is not limited to, A only, B only, C only, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). In instances where a convention similar to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, such convention is generally intended in the sense that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" includes, but is not limited to, A only, B only, C only, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that virtually any disjunction and / or phrase expressing two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, contemplates the possibility of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both of the terms. Additionally, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B."

[0057] Additionally, when features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of a Markush group, those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosure is also described in terms of any individual members or subgroups of members of the Markush group.

[0058] While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

[0059] [Table 1]

Claims

1. A system (101) for measuring a 2D burden profile distribution in a metallurgical furnace (104), comprising: a thermal detection module (102) configured to scan a top charge surface in the metallurgical furnace (104) and capture thermal data corresponding to a profile of the top charge surface; a processing unit (103) communicatively coupled to the thermal detection module (102), receiving data corresponding to the top charge surface from the thermal detection module (102); filtering out noise from the data corresponding to the top charge surface received by the thermal detection module (102); and generating a 2D charge profile using the data corresponding to a noise filtered profile of the top charge surface; A processing unit (103) configured as: A system (101).

2. The system (101) of claim 1, wherein the thermal detection module (102) is disposed within an enclosure.

3. The system (101) of claim 2, wherein a cooling unit is configured around the enclosure.

4. The system (101) of claim 1, wherein the enclosure comprises a dust cleaning unit configured to clean dust that has settled on the enclosure.

5. The system (101) of claim 1, wherein the thermal detection module (102) is a heat sensor.

6. The system (101) of claim 1, wherein the processing unit (103) comprises a noise reduction unit, a data separation unit, and a heatmap generation unit.

7. The system (101) of claim 1, wherein the processing unit (103) comprises a raw material identification unit.

8. 7. The system (101) of claim 6, wherein the noise reduction unit comprises one or more filters to remove the noise from the data corresponding to a profile of the top charge furnace.

9. 7. The system (101) of claim 6, wherein the data separation unit is configured to separate the data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface from furnace wall surface, dust, and steam data.

10. The system (101) of claim 6, wherein the heat map generation unit generates a radiograph of the detected heat of the top charge surface.

11. A method for measuring a 2D charge profile distribution in a metallurgical furnace (104), comprising the steps of: scanning a top charge surface within the metallurgical furnace (104) and capturing data corresponding to a profile of the top charge surface using a thermal detection module (102); receiving, by a processing unit (103), data corresponding to the profile of the top charge surface from the thermal detection module (102); filtering out noise from the data received by the thermal detection module (102) corresponding to a profile of the top charge surface by the processing unit (103); and generating, by said processing unit (103), a 2D charge profile using said data corresponding to a noise filtered profile of said top charge surface; A method comprising:

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the scan of the top charge profile is performed on an interior surface of the metallurgical furnace (104).

13. 12. The method of claim 11, comprising separating the data of the profile of the top charge surface from data of furnace wall surfaces, dust, and steam.

14. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the 2D charge profile is generated using the data based on a charge drop calculated using a volume of a charge provided to the metallurgical furnace (104).

15. The method of claim 11, comprising identifying raw material by a raw material identification unit associated with the processing unit (103).

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