3-Dimension Burden Surface Imaging System with T-shaped MIMO Radar in the Blast Furnace

This paper presents a T-shaped MIMO radar imaging system for use within a Blast Furnace. A T-shaped MIMO antenna array consisting of 32 antenna elements has been developed. A dielectric loaded waveguide is employed as the antenna element. The antenna has good mechanical hardness and is resistant to dust and high temperature. A cooling system, employing a combination of Nitrogen and water, has been designed for this application. The function of cooling system is to maintain the temperature inside the radar between 30 degrees C and 65 degrees C whilst the outside temperature varies from 80 degrees C to 200 degrees C. A pilot study has been conducted using a prototype version of the radar system installed upon the coke surface. In this way it was possible to obtain measurement results concerned with a real burden surface distribution. These results have been carefully compared with results obtained via computer simulation.