Inordertostabilisetheoperationoftheblastfurnaceandtoraiseitsoperationefficiency,researchworksfortheapplicationofmicrowaveandlaserscanningtechnologiestothemeasurementhavebeenintensivelycarriedoutatChinaSteelCorporation(CSC).Tomonitortheburdenprofileduringtheoperation,amicrowaveburdenprofilemeasuringsystemwasdeveloped.Thesystemconsistsofaradarunit,asignalprocessingsystem,andadrivingdevicewhichiscapableofrotatingtheradartoscantheburdensurfaceinaspecifieddirection.Anitrogencoolingsystemwasdesignedtoprotectthemeasurementsystem.AprototypeburdenprofilemeterwassuccessfullytestedinNo.1blastfurnacein2008,andapermanentonewasinstalledatNo.3blastfurnace.ThesystemhasprovidedusefulinformationforadjustingthechargingsequenceinNo.3blastfurnace.Foranotherapplication,3-Dlaserscanningtechnologyisemployedtomonitortheblastfurnaceliningcondition.Tothisend,adataregistrationmethodhasbeendeveloped,throughwhichtwomeasuredrangeimagessensedatdifferentperiodandlocationscanbefittedintothesamecoordinatesystem.Inpractice,theerosionoftheblastfurnaceliningcanbeestimatedwhenthecurrentinnerprofileiscomparedwiththattakenbeforetheblow-inoperation.ThistechnologyisalsoadoptedtoevaluatetheperformanceofgunningoperationintheblastfurnacesatCSC.
