On-line and in situ monitoring of oxygen concentration and gas temperature in a reheating furnace utilizing tunable diode-laser spectroscopy.
Increased demands on energy savings and quality control in metallurgical processes have created incentives for new methods to monitor and control the process. In this paper we will present a field trial that shows the potential of tunable diode-laser spectroscopy (TDLS) for simultaneous contact free measuring and monitoring of the oxygen concentration as well as the gas temperature in a reheating furnace during production. The field trials were carried out at an oil-fueled reheating furnace during 7 weeks of production. The tunable diode-laser spectrometer was measuring in situ across the preheating zone and the soaking zone in the furnace. During the campaign the oxygen concentration and the gas temperature in the furnace environment were simultaneously monitored and instantaneous variations in these parameters could easily be recorded and subsequently correlated to actual changes in the process. Furthermore, the much shorter response-time of the TDLS technique compared with conventional measurement methods such as thermocouples and extractive gas analyzers was also demonstrated during the trials. The results show the potential for the TDLS technique to be used for energy savings as well as product quality improvements by controlling the burners in the reheating furnace. The results show that it would be possible to control and optimize the oxygen concentration with TDLS in the control loop of the reheating furnace.
D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis*; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D013696:Temperature
D010100:Oxygen