Method and apparatus for operation control of melting furnace

An operation control method for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control method comprising:

• imaging a vicinity of a surface of molten slag heated by an amount of heat transferred from the heat source with imaging means to obtain an image;
• differentiating a high-temperature region in said image that is not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region in said image that is lower than the predetermined temperature;
• and
• controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that a size of said differentiated high-temperature region reaches a predetermined value;
• wherein said controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that a size of the differentiated high-temperature region reaches a predetermined value is carried out such that one of an amount of incineration ash supplied into the melting furnace and a total amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from said heat source is kept approximately constant per unit time, and the other of the amount of incineration ash supplied into the melting furnace and the total amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from said heat source is changed so that the size of said high-temperature region reaches the predetermined value.

An operation control method for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control method comprising:

• imaging a vicinity of a surface of molten slag heated by an amount of heat transferred from the heat source with imaging means to obtain an image;
• differentiating a high-temperature region in said image that is not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region in said image that is lower than the predetermined temperature;
• and
• controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that a size of said differentiated high-temperature region reaches a predetermined value;
• wherein said incineration ash contains incineration fly ash, said controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source includes generating a signal indicating an area ratio of an area of said high temperature region to an area of the low-temperature region, and controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source on a basis of the signal indicating the area ratio.

An operation control method for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control method comprising:

• imaging a vicinity of a surface of molten slag heated by an amount of heat transferred from the heat source with a television camera to obtain an electronic image;
• differentiating a high-temperature region in said electronic image that is not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region in said electronic image that is lower than the predetermined temperature;
• controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that a size of said differentiated high-temperature region reaches a predetermined value;
• and
• said predetermined temperature being about 1,300° C.;
• wherein said step of differentiating a high-temperature region from a low-temperature region is determined by a chromaticity of the electronic image, the high-temperature region is an image portion having a predetermined chromaticity, and the low-temperature region is an image portion not having the predetermined chromaticity;
• wherein said step of controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that a size of the differentiated high-temperature region reaches a predetermined value is carried out such that one of an amount of incineration ash supplied into the melting furnace and a total amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from said heat source is kept approximately constant per unit time, and the other of the amount of incineration ash supplied into the melting furnace and the total amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from said heat source is changed so that the size of said high-temperature region reaches the predetermined value.

An operation control method for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control method comprising:

• imaging a vicinity of a surface of molten slag heated by an amount of heat transferred from the heat source with a television camera to obtain an electronic image;
• differentiating a high-temperature region in said electronic image that is not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region in said electronic image that is lower than the predetermined temperature;
• controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that a size of said differentiated high-temperature region reaches a predetermined value;
• and
• said predetermined temperature being about 1,300° C.;
• wherein said step of differentiating a high-temperature region from a low-temperature region is carried out on a basis of a partial brightness of the electronic image;
• the high-temperature region is an image portion having a brightness not less than a predetermined value, and the low-temperature region is an image portion having a brightness less than the predetermined value;
• wherein said step of controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that a size of the differentiated high-temperature region reaches a predetermined value is carried out such that one of an amount of incineration ash supplied into the melting furnace and a total amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from said heat source is kept approximately constant per unit time, and the other of the amount of incineration ash supplied into the melting furnace and the total amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from said heat source is changed so that the size of said high-temperature region reaches the predetermined value.

An operation control method for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control method comprising:

• imaging a vicinity of a surface of molten slag heated by an amount of heat transferred from the heat source with a television camera to obtain an electronic image;
• differentiating a high-temperature region in said electronic image that is not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region in said electronic image that is lower than the predetermined temperature;
• controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that a size of said differentiated high-temperature region reaches a predetermined value;
• and
• said predetermined temperature being about 1,300° C;
• wherein said step of differentiating a high-temperature region from a low-temperature region is determined by a chromaticity of the electronic image, the high-temperature region is an image portion having a predetermined chromaticity, and the low-temperature region is an image portion not having the predetermined chromaticity;
• wherein said incineration ash contains incineration fly ash, said step of controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source includes generating a signal indicating an area ratio of an area of said high-temperature region to an area of the low-temperature region, and controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source on a basis of the signal indicating the area ratio.

An operation control method for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control method comprising:

• imaging a vicinity of a surface of molten slag heated by an amount of heat transferred from the heat source with a television camera to obtain an electronic image;
• differentiating a high-temperature region in said electronic image that is not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region in said electronic image that is lower than the predetermined temperature;
• controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that a size of said differentiated high-temperature region reaches a predetermined value;
• and
• said predetermined temperature being about 1,300° C;
• wherein said step of differentiating a high-temperature region from a low-temperature region is carried out on a basis of a partial brightness of the electronic image, the high-temperature region is an image portion having a brightness not less than a predetermined value, and the low-temperature region is an image portion having a brightness less than the predetermined value;
• wherein said incineration ash contains incineration fly ash, said step of controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source includes generating a signal indicating an area ratio of an area of said high-temperature region to an area of the low-temperature region, and controlling the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source on a basis of the signal indicating the area ratio.

An operation control apparatus for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control apparatus comprising:

• a television camera placed to be able to image a vicinity of a surface of the molten slag, which is heated by the heat source, through an opening extending through a furnace wall of the melting furnace;
• a camera controller connected to the television camera to control the television camera so that a predetermined image signal is obtained with the television camera;
• a signal generator-indicator that processes the obtained image signal to differentiate a high-temperature region of the image that has a temperature not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region of the image that has a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature, and generates a high-temperature region signal corresponding to a size of the high-temperature region;
• and
• a heat quantity controller that varies the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that the high-temperature region signal reaches a predetermined value;
• wherein said signal generator-indicator determines the high-temperature region and the low temperature region by a partial brightness of the image or a chromaticity of the image;
• wherein said opening extending through a furnace wall is an opening extending through a furnace wall near a ceiling of the melting furnace, and said incineration ash contains incineration fly ash.

An operation control apparatus for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control apparatus comprising:

• a television camera placed to be able to image a vicinity of a surface of the molten slag, which is heated by the heat source, through an opening extending through a furnace wall of the melting furnace;
• a camera controller connected to the television camera to control the television camera so that a predetermined image signal is obtained with the television camera;
• a signal generator-indicator that processes the obtained image signal to differentiate a high-temperature region of the image that has a temperature not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region of the image that has a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature, and generates a high-temperature region signal corresponding to a size of the high-temperature region;
• a heat quantity controller that varies the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that the high-temperature region signal reaches a predetermined value;
• and
• an ash quantity measuring device that measures an amount of incineration ash supplied to said melting furnace per unit time and generates an incineration ash quantity signal, wherein said heat quantity controller varies the amount of heat applied per unit quantity of incineration ash on a basis of a high-temperature region ratio signal.

An operation control apparatus for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control apparatus comprising:

• a television camera placed to be able to image a vicinity of a surface of the molten slag, which is heated by the heat source, through an opening extending through a furnace wall of the melting furnace;
• a camera controller connected to the television camera to control the television camera so that a predetermined image signal is obtained with the television camera;
• a signal generator-indicator that processes the obtained image signal to differentiate a high-temperature region of the image that has a temperature not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region of the image that has a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature, and generates a high-temperature region signal corresponding to a size of the high-temperature region;
• and
• a heat quantity controller that varies the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that the high-temperature region signal reaches a predetermined value;
• wherein said heat source, which applies an amount of heat to the incineration ash, is a transfer type plasma torch having a cylindrical cavity electrode and a graphite electrode in a bottom wall of the melting furnace, air is supplied into a cavity of the cylindrical cavity electrode, and a voltage is applied between the cylindrical cavity electrode and the graphite electrode, whereby a plasma arc jet is emitted toward a top surface of molten ash from an opening below the cylindrical cavity electrode.

An operation control apparatus for a melting furnace having a supply opening for incineration ash, a discharge opening for molten slag, and a heat source for applying an amount of heat to supplied incineration ash, said operation control apparatus comprising:

• a television camera placed to be able to image a vicinity of a surface of the molten slag, which is heated by the heat source, through an opening extending through a furnace wall of the melting furnace;
• a camera controller connected to the television camera to control the television camera so that a predetermined image signal is obtained with the television camera;
• a signal generator-indicator that processes the obtained image signal to differentiate a high-temperature region of the image that has a temperature not lower than a predetermined temperature from a low-temperature region of the image that has a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature, and generates a high-temperature region signal corresponding to a size of the high-temperature region;
• and
• a heat quantity controller that varies the amount of heat applied to the incineration ash from the heat source so that the high-temperature region signal reaches a predetermined value;
• wherein said opening extending through a furnace wall is an opening extending through a furnace wall near a ceiling of the melting furnace, and said incineration ash contains incineration fly ash.