Battery health assessment based on the quantification of cross-leakage

B Chakraborty, S K Kushwaha, SK Das, PK Jha, TK Das, AK Paul, A Gupta 1, RDCIS, SAIL, India A Prasad , P R
Deshmukh, BSP, SAIL, 2, India, M. Senapati, C Bhattacharya, RSP, SAIL, 3 India
Corresponding author : B Chakraborty, email: basudev@sail-rdcis.com
Key-words: cross-leakage, battery health, condition monitoring, excess air coefficient, waste gas analysis

Summary
As a coke oven battery ages, cracks and fissures
develop on the refractory wall separating the ovens
from the heating walls through which leakage of raw
gas takes place from the ovens to the heating walls
leading to chimney emissions. This cross-leakage is
an early indication of battery health and refractory
condition. Determination and grading of crossleakage can be an important part of maintenance
strategies that eliminate or delay capital
expenditure on new batteries or major battery
refurbishment with minimum effect on production
due to downtime. Conventionally, cross-leakage has
been visually estimated in terms of chimney
smoking or vertical flue inspection. However, these
methods are qualitative and subjective in nature.

oven wall condition if preventive action is not taken

at the right time when the initial cracks appear. The
appearance of these fine cracks leads to the start of
cross-leakage.
Bhilai Steel Plant already had in place a battery
condition monitoring system based on surveys of
flue temperature, oven wall condition and battery
structure expansion. Since cross-leakage is an
early indicator of oven wall condition, it was felt that
quantification of cross-leakage would allow it to be
added to this diagnostic system, making it more
effective in preventive and prompt maintenance
action.

This paper discusses a process that has been

developed for the quantification of cross-leakage
from individual ovens as well as coke oven battery
as a whole. Using this process, cross-leakages
from all the coke oven batteries of Bhilai Steel
Plant (BSP) were successfully determined. The
process was next used for regular monitoring of
health of 2 batteries at Bokaro Steel Plant and is
under implementation in other coke batteries
through out SAIL.

Introduction
The coking process is carried out in sealed, narrow,
externally heated chambers called ovens. Ovens
are erected in batteries of approximately 60-80
ovens placed side by side, with heating walls
between each oven. Anticipated life expectancy of a
coke oven battery with silica bricks construction is
of the order of 20 years or 150000 tons of coal
charge per oven. To prolong the life of the battery
beyond this requires continuous monitoring of its
health and taking prompt and effective corrective
measures wherever required. It can be seen from
figure 1 below that there is a rapid deterioration in

Figure 1: The progressive deterioration of oven wall

Experiments
To develop a quantitative process for the
determination
of
cross-leakage
based
on
combustion gas analysis, the heating systems of
the various coke oven batteries in BSP was studied
with a view to have an idea of the heating regime,
the differences in the heating systems of the
different batteries and to identify the appropriate
gas sampling points.
The coke plant of BSP has 10 coke oven batteries.
Coke oven batteries 1-8 are 4.3 M tall having 65
ovens in each battery and batteries 9 & 10 are 7 M
tall having 67 ovens each. Out of the 10 batteries,
two i.e. battery No. 4 & 6 are under cold repair /
rebuilding, and the rest are working. An average
coking period of 17 to 18 hours is maintained for the
batteries.
In batteries 1-8, heating system is twin flue
regenerative, compound PVR (Pair Vertical
recirculation) and side fired type while for Battery 9
& 10 the heating system is twin flue, regenerative,
compound PVR and under jet fired type. In the sidefired type, the gas is introduced through horizontal
gas ducts extending from both sides to the center of
each heating wall. Short connecting ducts lead
vertically upward to a replaceable nozzle brick at
the bottom of each of the vertical heating flues. In
the underjet type, the fuel gas is introduced into
each heating flue from the gas distribution piping in
the basement of the battery through gas ducts built
integrally into the regenerator division and flue
supporting walls. Each of these separate gas risers
is equipped with a regulating nozzle to control the
flow of gas to each flue. The air required for
combustion is taken into the sole flue at the base of
the regenerator chambers through an air box
equipped with small slats (finger plates) that can be
adjusted to regulate the amount of air taken in. The
waste gas is recirculated in the heating system. In
the heating wall, two flues operate as a pair. The
heating gas is burned with air in the ascending flue
while the waste gas flows in the descending flue to
the regenerators. The direction of gas flow in coke
oven flues in the heating wall is reversed by means
of changeover valves which are driven by a
reversing winch. From the regenerators the waste
gas is led via the sole flue to a waste gas channel
and a chimney and further to atmosphere.
In Batteries 1 - 8, either coke oven gas or blast
furnace gas is used for heating. Batteries 9 & 10
use mixed gas heating. Gas mixing station is
provided in both these batteries to mix blast furnace
gas with CO Gas.

The heating arrangement consists of 24

flues in battery 1 to 8 and 32 flues in battery 9 & 10
along the length of the heating wall.
The ovens are maintained under positive pressure
by maintaining high hydraulic main pressure of 7
MM water column in Batteries 1 to 8 and 14 MM
water column in Battery 9 &10.
Based on the study of the heating system, points
were identified for the sampling of waste gas to
determine cross-leakage. Two methods were tried
out for the determination of cross-leakage based on
the analysis of the combustion products. In the first
method, for oven wise cross-leakage determination,
waste gas samples from the regenerator sole flue
were analysed both during heating-off and heatingon conditions. Similarly, for determining crossleakage of the whole battery, gas samples from the
chimney base were analysed both during heatingoff and heating-on conditions. These values were
used
in
an
equation
developed
using
stoichiometrical calculations to arrive at the
percentage cross-leakage from respective points.
In the second method, cross-leakage from
individual heating walls were determined by
analysis of the combustion products from the top
and bottom of individual flues and calculating crossleakage on the basis of difference in excess air
coefficient obtained from these two points.

Inspection
flue

Regenerator
sole flue

Regenerator
Top

To Chimney

Figure 2 : Waste gas sampling points

Determination of cross-leakage from individual

ovens
For the determination of cross-leakage from
individual ovens, waste gas samples were drawn
from the regenerator sole flue of particular ovens. A
portable flue gas analyzer was used for the analysis
of the flue gas. The analyzer was capable of
measuring oxygen and high values of carbon
monoxide. Most importantly, the infrared sensor
used in the analyser enabled the direct
measurement of CO2 in flue gas. The gas sample
was drawn into the analyser via a standard probe
and hose connected to the input connection on the
side panel of the analyser.
For the first few experiments the ovens were
selected based on existing visual information, age
of the battery and the progress of coking so that a
wide range of cross-leakage values could be
obtained and the developed equations for
quantification of cross-leakage could be validated.
Other conditions like whether the reducer plug for
accessing the gas sample was free or jammed also
played a part in the selection of ovens. After the first
trial for validation, generally, freshly charged ovens
were selected to get the maximum cross-leakage
values. For a few ovens, the cross-leakage profile
through its entire coking cycle was determined.
Determination of cross-leakage from coke oven
battery
For determining cross-leakage of the whole battery,
gas samples were collected from the chimney base
both during heating-off and heating-on conditions.
However, the girth of the chimney at the base being
more than 5 metres with a wall thickness of around
a metre, the standard probe of 1.2 metres was
insufficient. So, a 3 m long probe was specially
designed for the purpose. At the same time, the

Oven No.

Time after charging

Cross-leakage

(Type)
331
332
509(new)
510(new)
764(old)
763(old)
837(old)
836(old)
341
341
507(new)
509(new)

(in minutes)
140
65
45
25
190
240
20
120
60
120
1050
960

(%)
4.51
6.81
3.98
5.04
10.79
7.07
14.50
6.19
7.07
5.48
0.44
0.35

suction of the sample pump inside the analyzer was

maximized . This obviated the need for an external
pump. Using this attachment, gas samples from the
chimney base both during heating-off and heatingon conditions were successfully analysed for all the
batteries.

Determination of cross-leakage using second

method
Cross-leakage from individual heating wall was
determined by analysis of the combustion products
from the top and bottom of individual flues and
calculating cross-leakage on the basis of difference
in excess air coefficient obtained from these two
points. Gas sample from the top of the flue was
collected from the oven top by opening the
inspection lids of a few non-burning flues and
inserting a high temperature ceramic probe through
a cast iron sleeve. Gas sample from the bottom of
the flue was collected from the regenerator top port
hole using the high temperature probe.

Results and discussion

In the first experimental trial, our aim was to
validate the equations developed for the
quantification of cross-leakage. This was achieved
by determining the cross-leakage of
freshly
charged ovens, ovens ready to be pushed, ovens of
newly built battery, ovens with a history of crossleakage and ovens on different heating fuels and
comparing these values with expected ones. As
shown in table 1, it was found that the crossleakage values for freshly charged ovens were high
compared to the ovens which were ready. Similarly
the cross-leakage values of older ovens were
generally higher than those of new ovens. Thus It
can be safely assumed that the experimental crossleakage values obtained are correct.

Table 1 : Cross-leakage from individual ovens

The cross-leakage profile of an oven with the
progress of coking is shown in figure 3. As can be
seen, cross-leakage is maximum after charging and
goes on decreasing for the next 6 hours after which
it flattens out. This pattern can be explained by the

Cross-leakage =

Vex1 - Vex2
-----------------Vt

Where, Vex1 and Vex2 are the required volumes of

excess air per m3 of fuel gas at cross over flue and
regenerator top respectively and Vt is the theoretical
volume of air per m3 of fuel gas.

Time after charging, in minutes

Using this process the cross-leakage of only 1 wall

could be determined. It was found that this method
is quite cumbersome compared to the first method
and was not found to be practicable in industrial
condition for regular measurements.

Figure 3 : Cross-leakage through coking cycle

fact that after the oven is pushed and before it is
charged, the ingress of air burns out the layer of
pyrolytic carbon deposited on the walls which was
sealing the fine cracks on the wall surface. At the
same time, the evolution of gas is maximum for the
first few hours after charging, creating more gas
pressure. The combination of these two factors
maximizes cross-leakage just after charging which
progressively goes down as the cracks are again
sealed up slowly and the gas pressure reduces
after a few hours.
The cross-leakage values from each coke oven
battery is shown in table 2. It can be seen that the
cross-leakage for battery 1 and 10 after a gap of 1
after charging
(in minutes)
month hasTime
increased.
This was
due to the fact that
some of the ovens in both the batteries were under
Table 2 : Cross-leakage from batteries, BSP
temporary shutdown during that period which
caused the pyrolytic carbon on these oven walls to
burn off exposing the cracks and consequently led
to an increase in cross-leakage. Therefore, if the
cross-leakage index has to be used for periodic
oven wall condition monitoring, it has to be ensured
that the battery is in normal condition.
Cross-leakage determination was also tried out for
a few walls using the second method based on the
difference in excess air ratios at the top and bottom
of a heating wall. The excess air ratio was found to
be lower at the regenerator top level compared to
that at the cross-over flue. This indicates that some
amount of air has been consumed for burning raw
gas which must have leaked in. The difference in
excess air ratio can be converted into crossleakage using the formula:

Figure 4 : Cross-leakage at Battery 1, BSL

The
cross-leakage
quantification
process
developed at BSP was next used to monitor the
health of 2 batteries at BSL over a period of 1 yearFebruary, 2012 to March, 2013. It was found that
Battery
% cross% cross% crossNo
leakage
leakage
leakage
Day-1
Day-2
Day-30
1
11.82
11.99
15.32
2

9.06

9.01

7.91

7.85

7.62

8.27

3.40

3.59

3.06

12.72

12.73

12.19

10.03

9.96

8.76

6.03

6.30

6.58

10

5.95

6.15

8.27

the cross-leakage from battery 1 showed a sudden

increase from December, 2012. This was analysed
and found to be due to falling off of moisture plugs
from some of the ovens in that battery. Remedial

action was taken and cross-leakage reduced to

earlier levels. This showed that this process can be
a very useful tool in battery health monitoring .

Conclusion
A process has been developed for the quantification
of cross-leakage from individual ovens as well as
coke oven battery as a whole. Using this process,
cross-leakages from a number of individual ovens
and all the coke oven
batteries of Bhilai Steel
Plant were successfully determined. Further, the
metod was validated and its usefulness in battery
health monitoring demonstrated in 2 batteries at
BSL. Plans are afoot for inclusion of this parameter
in the condition based monitoring system for
assessment of battery health at all SAIL coke
plants.

Abbreviations
1. BSP : Bhilai Steel Plant
2. BSL : Bokaro Steel Limited
3. SAIL : Steel Authority of India Limited

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