Implementation of an Integrated System for Coke Oven Battery Health Monitoring at Rourkela Steel Plant

• Published in: Coke and chemistry (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2021-05, Vol.64 (5), p.218-225
• Main Authors: Chakraborty, B., Tirkey, S., Mishra, S., Jha, P. K., Pankaj, P. K., Kumar, A., Ghosh, B., Sahoo, B. K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brickwork; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Coke ovens; Condition monitoring; Flues; Heat sources; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Iron and steel plants; Norms; Ovens & stoves; Production Efficiency and Product Quality; Prolongation; Service life; Thermal imaging
• ISSN: 1068-364X; 1934-8398
• DOI: 10.3103/S1068364X21050021

The prolongation of coke oven service life beyond 40 years has become the norm in coke ovens abroad. Unfortunately, the average service life of a coke oven battery in India is only about 20 years. This anomaly needs to be rectified. Simultaneously, with the recent introduction of stringent environmental norms for Coke Oven Batteries, oven health gathers more criticality, since oven health and environmental pollution are directly related. A system was introduced at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) of SAIL for monitoring and diagnosing battery condition in terms of the health of refractory brickwork and the bracing system. The refractory brickwork condition was monitored through cross-leakage measurement of the whole battery as well as individual flues. The condition of the bracing system was monitored through thermal imaging of the oven top focusing on the vulnerable areas where the bracing system (cross and longitudinal tie rods) is in close proximity to heat sources. At the same time, feedback was taken from the on-line pusher ram current measurement system to validate the first two observations. Using these three observations, an integrated battery health monitoring system was developed. The system helped RSP in taking timely preventive repair actions and improving battery health.