DYNAMIC COOLING OF A METALLURGICAL FURNACE

Abstract

One embodiment is a cooling system for regulating temperature of a surface of a metallurgical furnace. The cooling system includes a plurality of spray conduits. Each spray conduit has one or more control valves and has a plurality of nozzles. A plurality of temperature sensors are disposed proximate the surface of the metallurgical furnace. A control system adjusts the control valves of the plurality of spray conduits in response to temperature information derived from the plurality of temperature sensors.

Description

Claims

1. A cooling system for regulating temperature of a surface of a metallurgical furnace, the cooling system comprising: a spray cool supply header disposed in a wall or a roof of the metallurgical furnace, the spray cool supply header having header valves to control an amount of coolant flowing therethrough;a plurality of spray conduits connected to and extending from the spray cool supply header, each spray conduit having one or more control conduit valves operable to control an amount of coolant to a plurality of nozzles, at least one spray conduit of the plurality of spray conduits arranged around a first zone of a plurality of zones in the wall or roof of the metallurgical furnace,;a plurality of sensors configured to detect the temperature of the surface within the wall or roof of the metallurgical furnace in each zone of the plurality of zones; anda control system coupled to the plurality of sensors, the header valves, and the one or more control conduit valves, the control system configured to adjust the flow of coolant through at least one spray conduit of the first zone relative to one or more of the spray conduits to a second zone.

2. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein adjusting the flow through the control conduit valves and the control header valves involves adjusting, turning on, turning off, increasing, and decreasing the flow of the coolant.

2. The cooling system of claim 2, wherein the control system adjusts the flow of coolant of the first zones to a high flow of cooling fluid and the second to a low flow of cooling fluid.

3. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors are thermal imaging cameras.

4. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to relatively provided an increased amount of coolant to the one or more of the spray conduits of the first zone relative to an amount of coolant to the one or more of the spray conduits of the second zone, the first zone having a high heat load and the second zone having a low heat load.

5. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein the control conduit valves and the control header valves are electrically coupled to the control system.

6. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors measure the temperature of the surface.

7. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors measure a temperature of the coolant collected after being sprayed on the surface.

8. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein the surface is selected from a group consisting of a roof, a sidewall, or a ductwork of the metallurgical furnace.

9. A method of cooling a surface of a metallurgical furnace, comprising: controlling an amount of coolant flowing through a control valve;spraying the coolant to a plurality of zones defined on a surface of the metallurgical furnace;sensing a change in temperature of a first zone of the plurality of zones defined on the surface of the metallurgical furnace; andchanging the amount of coolant flowing through the control valve to the first zone relative to a second zone of the plurality of zones based on the sensed changed in temperature.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein spray cooling is provided by spraying coolant from one or more spray conduits, each spray conduit having a plurality of nozzles.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the amount of spray cooling provided to the first zone relative to the second zone is changed by changing a flow of one nozzle relative to another nozzle of the plurality of nozzles.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one nozzle and the another nozzle are on a same spray conduit.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the one nozzle and the another nozzle are on different spray conduits.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the flow of the one nozzle relative to the another nozzle is increased due to an increased in a sensed increase in the temperature.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein changing the amount of coolant flowing comprises: adjusting the control valve to turn on, turn off, increase, and/or decrease the flow of the coolant.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the sensing of a change in temperature of a first zone is performed by a thermal imaging camera.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the surface is selected from a group consisting of a roof, a sidewall, or ductwork of the metallurgical furnace.