ON-LINE ULTRASONIC SYSTEM FOR MEASURING THICKNESS OF THE COPPER STAVE IN THE BLAST FURNACE

The blast furnace is used make molten iron from sintered ore and the cokes in the steel industry. Recently, the copper stave cooling system placed on inner face of the blast furnace body to protect the steel shell from heat. In the high temperature environment, the wear between the stave and the material makes the cooling stave thinning by the downward movement of the materials in the blast furnace. It was impossible to access the copper stave with the ultrasonic sensor for measuring thickness because the copper stave is covered with the steel shell and there is backing refractory between the stave and the steel shell. The unique ultrasonic sensor which can approach the cooling stave through the cooling line was developed to measure thickness. The thickness can be measured with portable ultrasonic thickness sensor and can be monitored continuously with embedded sensors.