Comparison Between Vessel Vibration and Audiometry for Slopping Control in the Top-Blown BOS Process

Excess slag foam growth is a frequent problem in the BOS process. In the worst case, foam is forced out of the vessel and this phenomenon, commonly called slopping, not only results in loss of valuable metal yield but also in equipment damage and lost production time. In order to minimize slopping, accurate estimation of the foam level inside the vessel is an important part of BOS process control. In the top blown BOS vessel, slopping control is achieved using both static and dynamic measures. The most common implemented technique for dynamic foam height estimation and slopping control is the audiometer system. An alternative method, vessel vibration monitoring, has been investigated as part of the work in a RFCS funded research project called IMPHOS. In order to judge the usefulness of this method, parallel vibration and audio measurements have been carried out on 130 tonne as well as on 300 tonne BOS vessels. The results show that during stable process conditions there is good agreement between the two methods with regard to foam height estimation and, as vessel vibration and audiometry are largely independent of each other, a combination of the two is likely to increase significantly the accuracy of slopping prediction.