Automation, Control, and Measurement

System of Coke Oven Plant

Automation, Control, and Measurement System of Coke Oven Plant

Metallurgical coke is used in iron and steel industry processes (primarily in blast furnaces)
for the reduction of e iron ore to iron and in foundries. Over 90 % of the total coke
production is dedicated to blast furnace operations. Foundry coke comprises most of the
balance and is used by foundries in furnaces for melting metal for casting. Foundry coke
production uses a different blend of coking coals, longer coking times, and lower coking
temperatures relative to those used for metallurgical coke.

Coke causes up to 50 % of the costs during the hot metal production. The cost
effective production of high quality coke is thus of prime importance for the
competitive ability of the iron production. Majority of coke is produced in the world
using the by-product coke oven batteries and most of the coke oven plants are integrated
with iron and steel production facilities. Under the present conditions of a sharp
competition and fluctuating coal bases, the reduction in the of production costs of
coke is one of the most important challenges which is faced by the iron and steel
industry.

The basic process of coke production in the coke oven plant (COP) is quite complex. The
thermal distillation takes place in groups of ovens called batteries. A battery consists
of a number of adjacent ovens with common side walls which are made of high quality
silica and other types of refractory bricks. The wall separating adjacent ovens, as well as
each end wall, is made up of a series of heating flues. At any time, half of the flues in a
given wall are burning gas while the other half are conveying waste heat from the
combustion flues to a ‘checker brick’ heat exchanger and then to the combustion stack.
Every 20 minutes to 30 minutes the battery ‘reverses’, and the waste heat flues
become combustion flues while the combustion flues become the waste heat flues.
This process provides more uniform heating of the coal mass. Automation, control

The operation of each oven is cyclic, but the battery contains sufficiently large number of
ovens to produce an essentially continuous flow of raw coke oven gas. The individual
ovens are charged and emptied at approximately equal time intervals during the coking
cycle. Coking proceeds normally for 15 hours to 18 hours to produce blast furnace
coke. During this period, volatile matter of coal distils out as coke oven gas. The coking
time is determined by the coal blend, moisture content of the coal, rate of under firing, and
the desired properties of the coke. When demand for coke is low, coking times can be
increased to 24 hours. Coking temperatures normally range from 900 deg to 1,100
deg C and are kept on the higher side of the range to produce blast furnace coke.
Air is prevented from leaking into the ovens by maintaining a positive back
pressure in the gas collecting main. The ovens are maintained under positive
pressure of around 10 mm water column in batteries by maintaining high hydraulic
main pressure. The gases and hydrocarbons which evolve during the thermal distillation
are removed through the off take system and sent to the by-product plant for recovery.

The coking is complete when the central temperature in the oven is around 950 deg
C to 1,000 deg C. At this point the oven is isolated from hydraulic mains and after proper
venting of residual gases, the doors are opened for coke pushing. At the end of coking
period the coke mass has a high volume shrinkage which leads to detachment of mass
from the walls ensuring easy pushing.

The important characteristics of the coke production

i) coking process is a batch process and operation of each coke oven is to

be based on integrated operational planning,
ii) coking process needs a minimum time which is quite large and hence
coke oven plant has a high inertia,
 iii) coking process has a directional flow and it is temperature and time
dependent,
iv) there are large number of variables available which interferes with the
coking process,
v) coking process is non linear with a number of parameters affecting the
process, and
vi) coking process takes place in a closed chamber with indirect heating
through heating walls making the measurement of temperatures very
complex.

COP ( COKE OVEN PLANT) is an important unit since it produces coke for the reduction
of iron ore in a blast furnace. It also produces coke oven gas which is used as fuel gas in
various units of integrated steel plant. The quality and output of the products of COP are
important since it provide stability to the operation of the iron and steel plant. Further COP
is highly energy intensive and there are several environmental issues which are
associated with the plant. COP is required to be equipped with automation, process
control, and measurement system for achieving optimum efficiency. The modular
design of the automation, control, and measurement system provides it flexibility for
meeting the specific requirements needed by a particular COP. Automating of the process
sequences also facilitates the long adjustments needed for meeting environmental
protection requirements.

The automation, control, and measurement system is a modern user friendly tool which
helps in improving the productivity and stability of the COP. It helps in improving the
performance of the COP by addressing to the needs of the plant. It stabilizes production of
coke oven, helps in reaching of the anticipated result and has an immense practical value.
Its benefits include lower energy consumption through reduction in fuel gas
consumption, stabilize condition and operation of coke oven battery, produce
consistent quality of coke, reduce environmental emissions, increase battery life,
and result into ease in reporting and analysis of operational and maintenance data.
Automation, control, and measurement system is structured in the classic levels, from
Level 0 (field Level) up to Level 3 (management Level). The automation design of the
COP is normally divided into six basic equipment layers. Fig 1 shows hierarchy of coke
oven plant automation system.

Fig 1 Hierarchy of coke oven plant automation

See the Level 2 & 3 where it is indicating the Advancement for MIS / Analysis /
Autonomous controls

The electrical equipment, the control elements and the instrumentation are normally
connected to redundant remote I/O (input / output) units done by standard 4-20 mA and 24
DC interfaces. Intelligent subsystems are normally coupled with Profibus or Modbus. All
automation equipment is connected via a fibre optic plant network which runs through all
plant locations in which relevant equipment is placed. All data are collected and distributed
through this network, whereby data source and data target can be flexible connected with
each other using physical connections by patch panels and switches as well as logical
connections using a network management system. Through this network all systems are
able to communicate with each other.

Modern instrumentation and control equipment connected to ‘programmable logic

controllers’ (PLC) or ‘distributed control system’ (DCS) (Level 1) with operation stations
are standard facilities in the present day COP. Some of the COPs have additional
automation for advanced control and optimization functions. The automation of the by-
product plant (BPP) is normally carried out by another DCS which is specialized on
continuous control functions. Both the systems are normally coupled with each other
through Modbus and are designed as integrated control systems for achieving the control
for both, electrical and instrumentation equipment.

The automation, control, and measurement system enables an operation of the COP
through operator control stations, located in separate control rooms. Besides having
operator control stations for all major plant units, there are normally a number of control
rooms which are equipped with large size video screens, including split screen capacity,
audio paging systems, and intranet-access etc. The complete ‘network and system
configuration’ for the COP and the BPP include the COP remote I/O (input / output) level,
the COP-PLC-level, the COP-operation level and the system administration level with
server and network equipment. Also, there is the interface to the Level 3 systems. .

In the area of COP, an integrated DCS is used at the process control level. Many
applications in the COP are sequence control functions, which are best executed by
PLCs. Automation and process control for the coke oven battery heating and machines is
achieved using a level 2 control system which conducts various process model
calculations based on the processed data collected from a level 1 automation system. The
level-2 control system provides coke oven operators with an advanced, accurate and
easy-to-use support tool, which can be successfully used to improve both the operational
and environmental performances of the plant. Fig 2 shows Level 2 automation and
process control system for the COP.

Fig 2 Level 2 automation and process control system for coke oven plant

The process control technologies which are commonly used for the automation, control,
and measurement system of the COP are described below.

Oven pressure regulation system

At any given point of time, pressure inside individual ovens is different since they are at
different stages of coking periods. It is a known fact that ovens which are freshly charged
witness highest pressure while ovens which are nearing their coking time witness lowest
pressures.
This has two effects namely

(i) Ovens at a higher pressure in comparison to gas collecting main are more
prone to have fugitive emissions, and
(ii) Adjacent ovens operating at different pressures have different levels of stress
on the oven chamber walls thus, reducing the refractory life considerably.
(iii) In order to overcome these serious issues, it is important to regulate
pressures individual ovens so as to maintain a slightly negative pressure
throughout the coking period. This can be easily achieved by installing
oven pressure regulation system.

Within the 1990s, a first version of a single oven pressure regulation system was
developed by the DMT (Deutsche Montan Technologie GmbH) company in Germany.
Since then the system has been improved continuously based on the practical experience.
The improved oven pressure regulation system helps in the reduction of fugitive emissions
at the COP. Oven pressure regulation system has been accepted as a ‘best available
technique’ (BAT).

The most important technological improvements because of the oven pressure

regulation system are

(i) The oven pressure is decoupled from the collecting main pressure,
(ii) The collecting main operates with negative pressure,
(iii) The pressure inside each oven is controlled individually,
(iv) Charging gases are sucked off by negative collecting main pressure, and
(v) The conventional valve is replaced by a so called ‘fix cup’ valve.

In the oven pressure regulation system, the ‘fix cup’ is installed between the standpipe and
the crude gas collecting main. By means of the closure plug is equipped with a regulating
device and connected to a control rod. In its extension, the standpipe gooseneck
terminates in a so called crown tube, protruding with the crown slots existing therein into
the ‘fix cup’. Also installed in the standpipe gooseneck are two spraying nozzles which on
the one hand provide for cooling the hot crude gas and on the other hand for wetting the
gas collecting main to prevent encrustation of tar and other deposits. In addition, by way of
the quick filling valve, the ‘fix cup’ can be quickly flooded while a coke oven has been
disconnected from the gas collecting main. Fig 3 shows oven pressure regulation system.

Fig 3 Oven regulation system

The regulation of the oven pressure is carried out by a variable pressure resistance for the
generated crude gas, created by slots in the crown tube. The slots are opened more or
less by means of a variable water level in the ‘fix cup’. The water level is influenced by the
overflow regulation device, which maintains a certain water level within the ‘fix cup’
depending on the set-point of the oven chamber pressure. The water level in the ‘fix cup’
is directly related to the position of the passage piston of the overflow regulation device.
The drive of the overflow-regulation device is a pneumatic cylinder which is connected
with the overflow regulation device by a rod. The pneumatic cylinder is controlled by a
both side working positioner, receiving its information from a control system, which
processes the oven pressure measurement.

The oven pressure is measured within the gooseneck, from where it is transmitted to the
control system. During the carbonizing time the oven pressure is increased stepwise from
around +3 mm H2O (0.3 mbar) at the beginning of the carbonizing time, when the amount
of generated crude gas and the danger of emissions are on its highest level, to around
+16 mm H2O (1.6 mbar) at the end of the carbonizing time, when the amount of generated
crude gas is dropping against zero and hence the danger of emissions is very low. The
final adjustment of the set-points is normally carried out after pressure measurements
behind the oven doors at oven sole level at the time of commissioning of the COP. The
objective is to adjust the oven pressure in such a way that the lowest possible
pressure in the oven can be achieved at all times without creating suction behind
the doors at oven sole level.

The gas collecting main is normally located on the pusher side of the coke oven battery. It
consists of three sections. Each collecting main section is normally equipped with two gas
bleeders to be able to discharge crude gas directly at the battery in case of an emergency.
Water sealed valves form the closure between gas collecting main and the atmosphere.
The bleeder valves are pneumatically driven and open automatically at a pre-defined
maximum pressure in the gas collecting main. Ignition of the crude gases is effected by an
electrical arc system which starts ignition immediately before opening of the bleeder
valves. The collecting main pressure is controlled by a control valve in each of the off-take
mains. The negative pressure provided from the exhauster, is throttled upstream of the
control flap so that merely as much crude coke oven gas is released as is needed to
maintain the defined pressure in the gas collecting main.

The HMI (human machine interface) of the oven pressure regulation system consists of
multiple operator displays which enables the battery operator to monitor and adjust the
system (in automatic mode) and if necessary to operate the system in manual mode (i.e.
in case of emergency). All process values like oven pressure, water level inside the fix-
cup, status of all control elements, last coking time, status messages, etc. are shown. If
switched to manual operation, all operation functions like ‘connect to charge’, ‘back to
regulate’, ‘close the standpipe lid’ etc. can be manually initiated within the proper operation
sequence. Some interlocking sequences are still active to avoid harmful operation
mistakes. Manual operation without PLC-control and interlocking sequences can only be
done from the pneumatic control panel which is located directly in front of the respective
standpipe. A trend display for each oven can be selected at the HMI, which shows the
main process values in terms of time.

Coal moisture analyzer

A number of moisture measurement systems are available. However, the reliable

method to measure the coal moisture on-line is to use ‘microwave with area weight
compensation’. Microwaves are a highly accurate way to measure moisture due to the
fact that microwaves are highly selective to water. They penetrate the material to be
measured. Water molecules are naturally polar which causes the microwaves to weaken
and slow down significantly. The dielectric constant of the material indicates the influence
on the microwaves. The dielectric constant of water is 20 times larger in comparison
to other materials. This results in a strong interaction of the microwaves with water which
are then measure as attenuation and phase shift.

For ensuring that reflection and resonance do not affect the measurement, multiple
frequencies are used and evaluated. Hence irregular influences of geometry changes, as
the layer thickness of the material in spite of a compensation for area weight are nearby
eliminated. The phase shift measurement is additionally needed since it is less influenced
by several disturbances and results thus in a better accuracy. Hence a combination of
attenuation and phase-shift further results in a reduction of disturbances, which
additionally improves the accuracy. By combining to measure phase shift and attenuation,
a precision better than 0.2 % can be achieved which from the measurement ‘point of view’
is sufficient to use the moisture value for heating control.

If the bulk density varies, which is the case operating with different coal blends and
different grain size distributions, an additional radiometric measuring unit is needed. The
layer thickness and bulk density has an impact on the measurement results. It can be
largely eliminated by normalizing attenuation and phase shift to the mass per unit area,
which is determined by gamma-ray transmission measurements. In this transmission
measurement, the weakening of the gamma-ray intensity, which depends on the area
weight, is measured. As a result, a density-independent moisture signal can be obtained,
ensuring the highest possible precision for optimal process control. If at the same time the
coal layer thickness is measured close to the gamma-ray source e.g. with an ultrasonic
level sensor, the bulk density of the coal can be determined (area weight multiplied with
the layer thickness is the bulk density). The set-up of coal moisture measurement system
is shown in Fig 4. Besides, the equipment shown in the set-up, some more items are
needed to make the system work.

Fig 4 Set up of coal moisture measurement system

The microwaves are transmitted using a pair of so called horn antennas. One is installed
above the belt and the other is installed below the belt. Due to this transmission geometry,
a large percentage of the whole volume is measured. This provides a very accurate
representation of the moisture content throughout the coal layer. Hence, the moisture
inside the full coal layer is measured and not only the surface moisture.
The gamma ray source (Nuclide Cs 137) is installed below the belt. It is to be as close as
possible to the microwave emitting horn antenna so that the same coal portion at the
same place and time are referenced with each other (attenuation and phase shift are
correlated with area weight in real time). Vertically centered to the gamma ray source is
the gamma ray detector (Scintillation detector) installed above the belt. The two horn
antennas, gamma-ray source and the gamma ray detector are connected with special high
frequency signal cables to an evaluation unit which correlates and calculates moisture and
bulk density in real time. Reference curves obtained from multiple calibration tests (on-line
moisture over laboratory moisture) are stored in the evaluation unit for multiple coal
consistence or blends. These integrated reference lines ensures reliable compensation of
environmental influences. In this way the water content and bulk density of the coal can be
very accurately determined.

The measurement works best, if the surface of the coal is straight and flat. Hence, it is
necessary to put some flattening equipment in front of the measurement set-up. The
flattening of the coal surface is done in two steps. First, a heavy steel plate is used as a
scraper. The maximum excursion of the scraper is limited by chains to avoid that the
scraper comes into contact with the rubber belt. Weights can be added to the scraper to
set the scraping force and adjust the paving path. Second, a sledge, also limited in its
movement by chains, levels the remaining bumps. If the coal level on the belt is very high
or piles of coal are approaching, the scraper or the sledge can spill coal from the belt.
Hence, containments made from rubber-belt material are placed on each side of the belt.
A flat coal surface is necessary for getting reliable signals.

Automatic chamber wall temperature measurement system

The automatic chamber wall temperature measurement system consists of a coke

chamber wall temperature measurement system through air cooled fibre optic cables and
attached pyrometers mounted on the ‘cold’ rear end ram beam of the pusher car. The
temperatures of the walls are measured when the ram passes through the oven. They are
converted and evaluated to enable the supervision of the temperature and heat
distribution of the battery in longitudinal, transversal and vertical direction. This can be
performed by checking cross wall temperatures, longitudinal battery temperatures, vertical
heat distribution, temperature development in terms of time, wall-heating checks etc. Fig 5
shows the principle of the automatic chamber wall temperature measurement system.

Fig 5 Principle of automatic chamber wall temperature measurement

The light intensity radiated from the oven wall is detected by a fibre optic cable at each
measuring point. This measuring point consists of a housing thermally insulated against
radiation and heat conducted by the ram head. The housing accommodates the fibre optic
cable holder, air routing system for an optimum cooling effect, fibre optic cable, and
compressed air feed connection. The fibre optic cable is permanently attached in relation
to the ram. Compressed air is allowed to pass along the fibre optic cable protecting it
against overheating and dirt, and clearing the passage between light the guide housing as
it blows out into the oven chamber.

Several hundred data points (raw data) are measured by each pyrometer during one push
process transmitted to a PLC in the electrical room of the pusher machine and correlated
with the related distance information from the ram drive system. The raw values are
compressed to build one average temperature value per heating flue for each pyrometer.
These values (in total 6 x number of heating flues) together with the oven number of the
respective push, the time of pushing, and the levelling are temporarily saved in the storage
medium of the designated automatic chamber wall temperature measurement system PLC
station on the pusher machine. The values so determined are transmitted through the fibre
optics from the pusher machine to the COP PLC for oven machines which receives the
data and stores those data in a database.

Whenever needed, the operator can select and evaluate temperature data from the
archive by using a comprehensive menu system which is integrated in the HMI of the COP
PLC for oven machines available on all the server client PCs. Automatic alarms are
generated if threshold values are exceeded. The operator is able to check at regular
intervals or in case of an alert the temperature distribution within the battery block to
detect maladjustments of the under firing system which can lead to under coking of the
coal in specific areas of the coke mass resulting in bad coke quality and pollution during
pushing.

Besides alerting to problems in the crosswall, the vertical temperature distribution is

especially important in high oven chambers. This is achieved by a long flame over the full
height of the flue. The flame is influenced by the gas and air distribution to the heating flue
which has to be properly adjusted. Changes in the air distribution (i.e. changes in the stack
draft) without proper counter-measures can have disturbing influences to the length of the
flame (vertical heat distribution) and ultimately can lead to uneven coking, to roof carbon,
and worst of all ultimately to ‘sticker ovens’. Automatic chamber wall temperature
measurement system is able to quickly detect vertical heating problems while taking
temperatures in three levels of the oven chamber during each push. Detection of these
problems helps to improve the heating system which leads to better environmental
protection, higher coke quality, higher production efficiency (gas / energy savings) and
less stress to the brickwork (longer service life of the battery).

The heating evaluation of single walls or ovens, the oven wall temperatures from
automatic chamber wall temperature measurement system can be condensed to provide a
mean battery temperature, which can be used as an input for battery heating control.

Automatic monitoring system of the pushing force

Together with the measurement of the chamber wall temperatures, while the pusher ram
pushes the coke out of an oven, concurrently the torque needed for this action is
measured on the ram drive motor. These values are measured while the pusher ram
pushes the hot coke out of the oven. The torque is provided from the frequency converter
unit which controls the motor speed and motor torque and is converted in the PLC for
oven machines into a pushing force. The system is called ‘automatic monitoring system of
the pushing force’ and provides outstanding information about the mechanical
maintenance situation of the ram drive system and the coking condition of the coke cake.
If the ram force increases over a period of time, a mechanical or a heating problem can be
expected which calls for attention and further evaluation for trouble shooting.

Graphics of the automatic monitoring of the pushing force can be called up on the HMI of
the PLC for oven machines by the operators for process control and as a trouble-shooting
tool. The plant managers select the data of the automatic monitoring of the pushing force
from a long term archive for process monitoring, optimization and historical surveys. The
pushing force curves show the same profile which means a pushing force peak in the
beginning to break the coke loose from the wall and get the coke cake moving. After this
initial peak, the pushing force is much lower, just enough to keep the coke cake moving
along the length of the oven. As soon as the pusher ram shoe enters the oven, a new but
smaller peak develops. This support shoe slides over the oven sole and put additional
friction onto the bricks which have to be counteracted by the ram drive, leading to an
increase of the pushing force needed. This is the normal situation during each pushing.

If the graphic stands out of the regular profile with multiple pushing peaks along the
pushing path then the first peak repeats itself multiple times during one push. The reason
can be the pushing stopped several times and resumed again as the ram travelled through
the oven. Mechanical problems on the coke guide needs these stops. With each restart,
the pusher drive system has to regain the force to get the coke cake moving again. Four
peaks indicate that the pusher ram stopped and restarted four times after the initial ‘break
off peak’. This example shows that the pushing force measurement is a useful tool to
detect and document operational problems during pushing.

Automatic scheduling and control system of oven machines

Process control and monitoring of operation of COP also includes the preparation of a
pushing schedule and screen display of the oven machines operation performance. For
this purpose a very advanced pushing and charging schedule program called ‘automatic
scheduling and control system of oven machines’ as part of the COP automation system is
used. Pushing and charging times for each oven are calculated and optimized, transferred
to the oven machines and signalled to the operators. The actual data of the pushing and
charging operation is feed back to the scheduling system to update the calculation.

The ‘automatic scheduled and control system of oven machines’ can handle normal
production planning as well as all types of special operation (i.e. compensation of
breakdown or decreased production). A re-calculation can be triggered and remade
anytime when there is a change in production data or there is any operating trouble.
Several strategies are available to handle a loss of production. The loss can be accepted
or made up by increasing production with shortening the coking time in a careful and
secure manner for keeping best heating performance and production. Hence, changes in
the schedule automatically influence the calculated nominal heat within the heating control
model.
The pushing and charging schedule can be calculated for several days in advance in a
special simulation mode for advanced production planning. The system is interlocked with
the oven pressure regulation system to handle the disconnection from the collection main
for pushing and reconnection to the collection main for charging. Fig 6 shows the main
function and operation system philosophy as well as the operation displays. The computer
screen on the right side has normally three displays. The first display is called ‘oven
status’, which displays for each oven the next push / charge-times, last push / charge
times, time in cycle as bar graphs with multiple colours, and charging weight etc. The
second display is for the calculated schedule which shows the pushing and charging
cycles in chronological order for the next few days in advance. The third display shows the
pushing and charging history as a report.

Fig 6 Automatic scheduling and control of oven machines

Automatic control system of battery heating

Automatic control system of battery heating is a theoretical calculation model which

determines the needed energy for heating of the battery. The model is dynamically
updated by the actual production performance (adapting to delays, ‘speed up’, lost
production, etc.) and the actual heating performance (adapting is based on actual heating
flue, coke or wall temperatures which are outside of the target range). The energy
requirements determined by the ‘automatic control system of battery heating’ model are
the set point for the heating system. The energy needed for the battery heating in this
case is controlled by changing the heating time (varying a pause time between reversals).

Automatic control system of battery heating is shown in Fig 7. The figure also shows a
trend graph of the heating control results. Whenever the coking time changes (green
arrow), the energy quantity control reacts by creating a new set point for the energy input
(yellow arrow), mainly by changing the pause time (blue arrow). In the example given, the
pause time is increased from around 200 seconds to around 275 seconds by the model to
match a declining energy demand (red curve)) due to a general increase in the coking
time (green curve) from 28.9 hours to 30.1 hours. The rise of the ‘mean battery
temperature’, measured by the automatic chamber wall temperature measurement system
(pink dotted arrow), also needs a reduction of heat, which lowers the energy set point
even further. The total reduction of energy (yellow curve) leads to a reduction of the ‘mean
battery temperature’ (pink arrow). However, this happens with a time delay due to the
reaction time needed to bring the energy from the heating flue to the coke.
 Fig 7 Automatic control system of battery heating

For making both temperatures measured at different places in the brickwork comparable
to each other, the heating flue temperatures are extrapolated by the heat transfer rate to
oven wall temperatures. The ‘automatic control system of battery heating’ model is able to
keep the quantity of heating energy under control, ensures less energy consumption and a
quick and automatic response to operation troubles which holds the battery temperatures
in balance, reducing heating problems and pushing emissions.