TECHNICAL FIELD
Present disclosure, in general, relates to field of metallurgy. More particularly the present disclosure relates to determination of exhaust gas flow rate in a pot sinter/sintering machine. Further, embodiments of the present disclosure discloses a flow rate measuring system to determine the exhaust gas flow rate in the sintering machine.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
Generally, in metallurgical industries such as iron and steel etc., raw materials are fed into blast furnaces to obtain the required product. The raw materials are generally agglomerated through sintering process where sintering machines are employed to convert raw materials into an agglomerated product, sinter, of suitable size for charging into the blast furnace. Since Sintering takes place under suction, sinter bed permeability plays a vital role in ensuring productivity of sintering machines. In order to check the permeability of a sinter bed of raw materials, pot test sintering set up is employed that gives indication of raw material behaviour.
Typically, air flowing through the sinter bed under suction affects flame front movement through the sinter bed. This air flow affects the flame front speed and temperature. Generally, the air flow is indicative as high velocity represents more permeability and less velocity represents high density of the sinter bed. Therefore, the air flow changes the permeability of the sinter bed and the productivity. Thereby, the flow rate of the exhaust gasses exiting the sintering machine is indicative of the permeability of the sinter bed or the raw material in the sintering machine. Thus, there is a necessity of such measurement.
Conventionally, in order to determine the flow rate of the exhaust gasses, a sensor is fixed over the outer surface of the exhaust to determine the pattern of flow or vibration within the exhaust. However, this type of measuring flow by determining variations in flow from outside the exhaust is less accurate and requires complex measurements to determine the flow rate.
Present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above or any other limitations associated with the known arts.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One or more shortcomings of the prior art are overcome by a system as claimed and additional advantages are provided through the system as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.
In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a flow rate measuring system to determine an exhaust gas flow rate in a sintering machine is disclosed. The system includes at least one sensor which is fixed upstream and downstream in an exhaust pipeline of the sintering machine. The at least one sensor is configured to detect flow of fluid in the exhaust pipeline. Further, the exhaust gas flow rate within the exhaust pipeline is measured by signals received from each of the at least one sensor fixed at upstream and downstream of the exhaust pipeline.
In an embodiment, the system includes a plurality of flanges which are positioned upstream and downstream in the exhaust pipeline . Further, the at least one sensor is fixed on the plurality of flanges positioned upstream and downstream in the exhaust pipeline .
In an embodiment, the plurality of flanges are defined with one or more slots to accommodate the at least one sensor. Further, the at least one sensor accommodated in the one or more slots are configured to contact the fluid within the exhaust pipeline.
In an embodiment, the system includes a locking mechanism to securely retain the at least one sensor within the one or more slots defined in the plurality of flanges.
In an embodiment, the plurality of flanges are defined with one or more grooves to route connecting lines extending from the at least one sensor.
In an embodiment, the system includes an enclosure which is configured to enclose and protect the at least one sensor and the connecting lines.
In an embodiment, the at least one sensor is a vibration sensor.
In an embodiment, the system includes a control unit which is configured to receive signals from the at least one sensor that is fixed at upstream and downstream of the exhaust pipeline to process

and determine the exhaust gas flow rate. Further, the system includes a display unit which is coupled to the control unit. The display unit is configured to display the signals and the exhaust gas flow rate received from the at least one sensor.
The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The novel features and characteristics of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:
Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic view of at least one sensor fixed upstream and downstream in an exhaust pipeline of a sintering machine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic view of a flow rate measuring system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic view of the at least one sensor retained by a locking mechanism, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the device illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter which forms the subject of the claims of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, the conception and specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying other devices, systems, assemblies, and apparatus for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that, such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristics of the disclosure, to its system, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusions, such that a system or a device that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or apparatus.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, same numerals have been used to refer to the same or like parts. The following paragraphs describe the present disclosure with reference to Figs. 1-3.
Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic view of the flow rate measuring system (100) [hereafter referred to as system (100)] provisioned in a pot sinter or a sintering machine (1) [hereafter referred to as sintering machine] to determine an exhaust gas flow rate in the sintering machine (1). The sintering machine (1) may include a ignition hood, a sinter pot having a sinter bed, a wind box, a blower or a fan and an exhaust pipeline (2). Further, the system (100) may include at least one sensor (4) which may be fixed at two or more locations on the exhaust pipeline (2) to detect flow of fluid

within the exhaust pipeline (2). The two or more locations on the exhaust pipeline (2) may be locations at upstream and downstream along the length of the exhaust pipeline (2). In an embodiment, the at least one sensor (4) may be a vibration sensor. The vibration sensor may be in the form of a piezo-electric crystal which may work in two principles namely as a pressure sensor and an accelerometer. The at least one sensor (4) may be fixed on the exhaust pipeline (2) such that a portion of the at least one sensor (4) may be in contact with the fluid within the exhaust pipeline (2).
Further, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the system (100) may include a plurality of flanges (3) which may be positioned at two or more locations, that is at upstream and downstream of the exhaust pipeline (2). In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one sensor (4) may be fixed on each of the plurality of flanges (3) to detect flow of fluid within the exhaust pipeline (2). Additionally, each of the plurality of flanges (3) may be defined with one or more slots. The one or more slots may be configured to accommodate the at least one sensor (4). The at least one sensor (4) which may be accommodated in the one or more slots may be adapted to contact the fluid flowing within the exhaust pipeline (2). In an embodiment, the one or more slots may allow contact between the at least one sensor (4) and the fluid such that the at least one sensor (4) may receive pressure from the fluid so that the flow may be detected. Additionally, as seen in Fig. 3, the system (100) may include a locking mechanism (7) to securely retain the at least one sensor (4) in the one or more slots of the plurality of flanges (3). The locking mechanism (7) may include a plurality of fasteners which may be fixed around the at least one sensor (4) and may contact the at least one sensor (4) to securely retain the at least one sensor (4) in the one or more slots.
Referring back to Fig. 2, the system (100) may include a control unit (CU). The control unit (CU) may be configured to receive signals from each of the at least one sensor (4) fixed upstream and downstream of the exhaust pipeline (2) and process the received signals to determine the exhaust gas flow rate. The control unit (CU) and the at least one sensor (4) may be communicatively coupled to each other through connecting lines (5). In an embodiment, the connecting lines (5) may be including but not limited to wires, optic fibers and the like which may be configured to transfer signals. In an embodiment, the plurality of flanges (3) may be defined with one or more grooves to route the connecting lines (5) which may be extending from the at least one sensor (4) to the control unit (CU) without causing damage. Furthermore, the system (100) may include an

enclosure which may be configured to enclose and protect the at least one sensor (4) and the connecting lines (5). The enclosure may be configured to protect the at least one sensor (4) and the connecting lines (5) from high temperature and other parameters which may affect signal transmission and may cause damage. In an embodiment, the enclosure may extend from the exhaust pipeline (2) to the control unit (CU) in the system (100).
Further, the system (100) may include a display unit (6) which may be communicatively coupled to the control unit (CU). The display unit (6) may be configured to display the real-time or recorded signals and the exhaust gas flow rate received from the at least one sensor (4).
It should be noted that in an exemplary embodiment, as seen in the Figs. 1-3 the construction, profile, arrangement, layout and connections of the system (100) should not be construed as a limitation as the system (100) may include any other type of construction, profile, arrangement, layout and connection or any other combinations for measuring flow rate.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the control unit (CU) may be a centralized control unit for operating the sintering machine (1) or a dedicated control unit to operate the system (100). The control unit (CU) may be implemented by any computing systems that is utilized to implement the features of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the control unit (CU) may include a receiving module which may be configured to receive the signals transmitted by the at least one sensor (4). Further, the control unit (CU) may include a processing module which may include at least one data processor for executing program components for executing user or system generated requests. The processing module may be a specialized processing module such as integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing modules, digital signal processing modules, etc. The processing module may include a microprocessor. Additionally, the processing module may be configured to receive data or signals from the receiving module. Furthermore, the control unit (CU) may include an activation module which may be configured to receive data or signals from the processing module and transmit the received signals to the display unit (6).
In some embodiments, the control unit (CU) may be disposed in communication with one or more memory devices (e.g., RAM, ROM etc.) via a storage interface. The storage interface may connect

to memory devices including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives and the like.
In an operational embodiment, as seen in Fig 2, the sintering machine (1) in the operating condition produces exhaust gasses. The exhaust gasses may be a fluid containing particles in at least one of gaseous, liquid and solid form. The exhaust gasses may be collected and may be channelized through the exhaust pipeline (2). The vibrations detected by each of the at least one sensors (4) corresponds to flow of the fluid within the exhaust pipeline (2). Further, the signals from each of the at least one sensors (4) may be received by the control unit (CU). The control unit (CU) upon receipt of the signals from each of the at least one sensors (4), compares the signals and measures the time interval between the signals to determine the flow rate of the exhaust gasses. The flow rate of the exhaust gasses determined by the control unit (CU) may be utilized to measure the permeability of the raw material or the sinter bed in the sintering machine (1).
For example, the control unit (CU) may be configured to determine the flow rate based on the formula:
Flow=Distance of upstream and downstream sensors / (Time interval between the similar peaks or crests of sensors’ output signals)
In an embodiment, the output signal of each of the at least one sensors (4) positioned upstream and downstream has maximum and minimum values. The peak and crest mean, maximum and minimum values of output signals of each of the at least one sensors (4) respectively. Once a Digital Storage Oscilloscope (DSO) is in single/standstill mode, the delay between similar peaks of vibration sensors is detected.
In an embodiment, the flow rate may be determined by finding average delay followed by velocity calculation from average delay and average velocity. Further, the flow rate or the velocity of the fluid within the exhaust pipeline (2) may be determined in two ways namely manual and correlation technique. In manual technique, the delay between the similar peaks of the sensor outputs may be calculated and then the flow rate or the velocity may be determined by the ratio of spatial distance between the sensors and delay. Additionally, the flow rate or the velocity may be determined by applying a correlation technique using a software readily available in the market.

In an embodiment, the system (100) enables measurement of flow rate or velocity in larger diameter pipelines which are difficult to measure by conventional techniques.
In an embodiment, the system (100) is simple to construct and easy to maintain. Further, the system (100) utilizes low-cost vibration sensor for the at least one sensor (4) which reduces the cost of the system (100).
In an embodiment, the system (100) enables a user to determine the sinter bed permeability based on the flow rate or the velocity of the exhaust gasses measured. Thereby, productivity which may be dependent on permeability can be increased by the measured flow rate or velocity.
It should be imperative that the construction and configuration of the system and any other elements or components described in the above detailed description should not be considered as a limitation with respect to the figures. Rather, variation to such structural configuration of the elements or components should be considered within the scope of the detailed description.
Equivalents:
With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.
It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such

phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”
In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.
While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope being indicated by the following claims.

Referral Numerals:
Reference Number Description
100 System
1 Sintering machine
2 Exhaust pipeline
3 Flange
4 Sensor
5 Connecting line
6 Display unit
CU Control unit
7 Locking mechanism

We Claim:
1. A flow rate measuring system (100) to determine an exhaust gas flow rate in a sintering
machine (1), the system (100) comprising:
at least one sensor (4), the at least one sensor (4) is fixed upstream and downstream in an exhaust pipeline (2), wherein the at least one sensor (4) is configured to detect flow of fluid in the exhaust pipeline (2);
wherein the exhaust gas flow rate is measured by signals received from each of the at least one sensor (4) fixed at upstream and downstream of the exhaust pipeline (2).
2. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1 comprises a plurality of flanges (3) positioned upstream and downstream in the exhaust pipeline (2).
3. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor (4) is fixed on the plurality of flanges (3) positioned upstream and downstream in the exhaust pipeline (2).
4. The system (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plurality of flanges (3) are defined with one or more slots to accommodate the at least one sensor (4).
5. The system (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the at least one sensor (4) accommodated in the one or more slots are configured to contact the fluid within the exhaust pipeline (2).
6. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1 comprises a locking mechanism (7) to securely retain the at least one sensor (4) within the one or more slots defined in the plurality of flanges (3).
7. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of flanges (3) are defined with one or more grooves to route connecting lines (5) extending from the at least one sensor (4).
8. The system (100) as claimed in claim 7, comprises an enclosure which is configured to enclose and protect the at least one sensor (4) and the connecting lines (5).

9. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor (4) is a vibration sensor.
10. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, comprises a control unit (CU) configured to receive signals from the at least one sensor (4) fixed at upstream and downstream of the exhaust pipeline (2) to process and determine the exhaust gas flow rate.
11. The system (100) as claimed in claim 10, comprises a display unit (6) coupled to the control unit (CU), to display the signals and the exhaust gas flow rate received from the at least one sensor (4).