Monitoring Blast Furnaces and Other Process Vessels by Acoustic Emission (AE) Monitoring Technique
(Room 404)
08 May 19
9:30 AM
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10:00 AM
Acoustic Emission (AE) is an advanced non-destructive testing (NDT) and evaluation (NDE) technique that has been utilized to detect formation of cracks, and discontinuities and boundaries in the shell and the refractory lining of the blast furnace. The methodology incorporates the use of sensors or sensors (e.g. piezoelectric ceramics or fiber optics) as part of the monitoring system.
The generation of a crack releases energy in the form of a stress wave(s) that would be detected by AE sensors on the blast furnace shell. Characterization of the properties of structural components (e.g. stress wave speed of the shell, refractory lining) permits identification and determination of the properties of the sources of cracks, and their propagation, (e.g. location, intensity, quality) in real-time.
Hatch’s AE, NDT and NDE systems have been used to detect process changes in the blast furnaces and similar vessels. Additionally, these systems can be adapted to other applications. For example, AE sensors can be installed on tuyeres to detect and evaluate their behavior and performance based on the AE signals, and cross correlation of the results between the tuyeres.