2014-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS 2014 Volume 2: Mineral Processing
| Editors: | Kongoli F |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2014 |
| Pages: | 446 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-1-987820-04-1 |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
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Variability Reduction And Efficiency Increase In Nickel Reduction Roasters Using Advanced Process Control
Ricardo Malagoni1; Rubens Gedraite1; Fran Sergio Lobato1; Davi Leonardo de Souza2;1UFU, Uberlandia, Brazil; 2UFTM, Uberaba, Brazil;
Type of Paper: Regular
Id Paper: 330
Topic: 2
Abstract:
The monitoring, evaluation and diagnosis of control loops have shown significant growth over the past few years. Considering that modern plants have hundreds of control loops, it is necessary to develop techniques that are able to monitor and evaluate these loops continuously in order to select those that would result in greater economic returns if properly tuned. In modern industries, it is common to use advanced control strategies and expert systems for production optimization. Through these systems, it is possible to determine the optimal set point for the control loops, to ensure the highest production rate by spending the least possible inputs and performing the whole operation with safety and quality. However, most of these optimization systems determines the set point for the SISO (Single Input, Single Output) PID control loop. Thus, the regulatory PID control is essential to ensure the stability of the system, following the set point determined with the best possible performance. However, it is noted that often the PID controllers do not exhibit adequate performance to ensure high performance necessary for the control systems. In the processing of minerals, the step of reducing the ore to the corresponding metallic state is executed in reduction furnaces. These ovens require strict control of its operating temperature, and are used for this control strategy applied to conventional combustion chambers associated with an advanced control system to optimize the operation. The control loop in question operates by manipulating the flow rates of air and fuel oil fed to the reduction furnace to ensure incomplete combustion with the formation of a reducing atmosphere (rich in carbon monoxide) and controlling its temperature. The present contribution proposes a semi-empirical mathematical modeling of the reduction furnace temperature. The obtained model refers to operating under typical conditions and was validated against experimental data collected during the production process. This model was implemented in the database of advanced control system and operated in conjunction with the digital control for distributed real-time execution. Subsequently, the model was implemented in MATLAB to study the influence of variations in the flow of fuel oil in the core temperature of the furnace. The preliminary results obtained using statistical analysis, demonstrate a significant improvement in the equipment performance.