Coking plants: level monitoringin coal silos and coke bunkers

•Levelmonitoring•Extremelydustyanddirtyatmospheres•Fullyautomaticfilling/drainageandstoragemonitoring

1. Background Cokeplantoperationsrefinecoal.Cokeproductsaregeneratedintheprocessandareadaptedtocertainrequirementsdependingontheintendeduse.Theseincludewatercontent,ashcontent,sulphurcontent,grainsize,solidityandabrasionresistance.Themostcommonendproductstodayareblastfurnacecokeandfoundrycoke.Thecoalisdeliveredbytrain.Conveyorbeltstransportthecoaltobestoredinthesiloswhichareastallas50m.Fromthesilos,thecoalisthentransferredagainbyconveyorbelttomixingandgrindingplantsandfromthereitspends15–30hoursincombustionfurnaces.Whenthecoalisheateduptoapprox.1000°C,thegaseouscomponentsarereleased.Oneofthethingsthecokingplantsusethegasreleasedforistocreateenergy.Theslakedandfinishedcoalisloadedintotrains.Thesetrainsfillthecokebunkerswiththefinished,partiallystillwarmcokeanditisthentransporteddirectlytobefiredinblastfurnaces,forexample.

2. Measurement requirements

Theextremelydustyanddirtyatmosphereplacesveryhighdemandsonmeasurementtechnology.Thisincludestheprecisemeasurementofthecoalstockinthesilos.Whenmeasuring,itisimportanttonotethatthesilosnarrowatthebottomlikeafunnel.Twomeasuringdevicesaretobeinstalledpercokestoragebinsothatthereisaclearmessagesentastohowfullthebinsare.

APPLICATION NOTE Minerals & Mining

Application 237 EN 2.indd 1 27.05.2010 9:19:27 Uhr

©KROHNE03/2010-237

-Su

bjecttoch

ange

with

outn

otice.

3. KROHNE solution

KROHNEprovidedOPTIWAVE6300Cradarlevelmeasuringdevicesfortheseapplications.ThankstotheFMCWradartechnology,theOPTIWAVElevelmeasuringdevicesfunctionwithagreatdynamicrange.Forthisreason,extremelydustyatmospheresandminimallyreflectivesurfaceshavenoaffectonthemeasuredvalues.FMCW=FrequencyModulatedContinuousWave

Becausemeasuringinthesiloshastoreachrighttothetipofthefunnel-shapednarrowingatthebottom,thedeviceswerefittedwitharotatingmechanism.Itwasalsonecessarytoextendtheantennasinordertobeabletoinstallthedevicesontheupto60cmthickconcreteslabs.Thedistancetotheinclinedchutesinthestoragebinsisapprox.5m.Thedevicesaresetupata90°angletothechutes.Themeasuringrangesareverysmall.Thecoalthatisdumpedinslidesdownthechutedirectlytoprocessing.

4. Customer benefi ts

Ourcustomersarenowinapositiontocompletelyautomatetheentiremanufacturingprocessincokingplants.Thecoalstockscanbecalledupatanytime.Becausepreviouslyusedmeasurementswereveryunreliable,whetherornotthecokestoragebinswereemptyorfull,avisualassessmentwasalwaysnecessarytogiveclearancetofillthecokestoragebin.

5. Product used

OPTIWAVE 6300 C • Radarlevelmeterforsolidapplications• 2-wireFMCW24...26GHzradar• Continuous,non-contactlevelmeasurement• Specificallydesignedformeasuringsolids• Installationwizardforsimplesetup• BasicversionwithDN80dropantennameasuresuptoaheightof30m• AlsoavailablewithDN150dropantennaformeasuringrangeupto80m

Monitoring of coke storage bin Monitoring of coal silo

APPLICATION NOTE

Contact

PleasevisitourwebsiteforacurrentlistofallKROHNEcontactsandaddresses.

Application 237 EN 2.indd 2 27.05.2010 9:19:32 Uhr