FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for automatic identification of coke
ovens for auto positioning systems in coke plants of steel industries.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Definition of terms used:
Image processing: is the field of engineering which is a subset of machine vision
whereby, a camera is used for obtaining images, which are then processed using
various algorithms to obtain the desired information from the images.
Cross Correlation of Signals: is a measure of similarity of two waveforms as a
function of a time-lag applied to one of them. This is also known as a sliding dot
product or inner-product. It is commonly used to search a long duration signal
for a shorter, known features.
Binary Encoded Plate: is a plate which consists of slots which depict the l's
and this binary number on the plate is actually the binary equivalent of a decimal
number. Hence, this process is called binary-encoding.
Coke plants are one of the highly challenging areas in steel plants and to
automate the identification of the coke ovens, different techniques are known to
be used. The major limitation of coke plant automation is the extreme
environmental conditions prevalent in the plant location such as high
temperature, humidity and so on. Coke ovens are used for converting the coal to
coke for use in steelmaking. Hence, identification of a coke oven allows auto
positioning of the door extraction cars which inturn extract the door of the oven
to push the converted coke into the bin.
Image Processing techniques are more advantageous in particular when
mechanical identification systems of coke ovens are used. The known mechanical
systems use an electronic encoder with a plurality of binary encoded plates
which identifies the coke oven based on the change in voltage signals. The major
limitation of using a mechanical system is that, this system is placed in the
bottom of the door extraction car which is prone to damage due to heat, dust
and even collision and other mechanical damages. This requires repeated
changing of the encoder, thereby recurring costs.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention to propose a method for automatic
identification of coke ovens for auto positioning systems in coke plants of steel
industries, which is enabled to track binary coded plates disposed on each of the
coke ovens.
Another object of the invention is to propose a method for automatic
identification of coke ovens for auto positioning systems in coke plants of steel
industries, which is capable of calculating decimal equivalent of the binary
coding.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Image processing techniques ([2] and [3]) are known to be applied in various
areas nowadays. According to the invention, for identification of a coke oven, a
specific binary encoded plate is used. For the purpose of identifying the location
of the coke ovens, an improved encoder plate is placed on each of the coke
ovens which contain slots. These slots represent the binary l's and O's which are
used to identify the coke ovens, so that each coke oven has a unique
identification number. This process of having binary digits on a plate is known as
binary encoding on the plate. Since, these are solid mild steel plates; there would
be no disturbances in the identification process due to harsh environmental
conditions or dust and dirt accumulation.
The identification process of the binary encoded plates is done using the
inventive concept that the rectangular plate has definite geometry and hence,
this geometry can be detected using edge detection algorithms. A camera with
an insulated enclosure is positioned inside the door extraction car which is
enabled to recognize the plate. To achieve this, a template image of the slots is
used and compared with the image used for such identification. The camera has
a frame rate of 120 frames per second and by this, the plate can be identified
even when the door extraction care is moving. Hence it is very advantageous to
use such an application for coke oven identification.
The present invention is based on Correlation search methodology in which
template images are searched in a base image at a particular scale. If right
templates are found, then calculations are done with the indexes to find out that
whether the template are found at the particular position. If presence of the
plate is confirmed, then an equivalent value is computed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
Figure 1 shows a detailed process flow-chart for identification of the coke oven
according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, the process comprises the steps of fixing the binary
encoded plates on the coke oven which are then captured by a CCD camera.
The images thus captured are then sent to a processor which contains an image
processing algorithm that is used to decode the decimal number from the binary
encoded plate. Once this is completed, the data from the computer is sent to a
central server where the data is stored over a period of time. Hence, this data is
used for coke oven identification.
PATENT REFERENCES
Other References
[2] A.K. Jain, Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing, Prentice Hall
Publishing.
[3] Jae S. Lim, Two dimensional signals and image processing, Prentice Hall
Publishing.
WE CLAIM:
1. A method for automatic identification of coke ovens for auto positioning
systems in coke plants of steel industries, comprising the steps of:
configurating a plurality of rectangular-shaped solid steel plate,
each having slots representing the binary l's and O's;
placing at least one encoded plate on each of the coke ovens to
assign a unique identification number to each coke oven;
disposing at least one camera protected by an insulated enclosure
inside a door-extraction care, the camera capturing images of the encoded
plates;
a processor having a memory device and a computer program, the
memory device having pre-stored template images, the processor receiving the
captured images from the camera being operably connected, and comparing the
pre-stored template images and the captured images after decoding the decimal
number from the binary encoded plate; and
transmitting the processed data from the processor to a central
server for storing the data for coke-oven identification.

The invention relates to a method for automatic identification of coke ovens for
auto positioning systems in coke plants of steel industries. For the purpose of
automatic identification of the coke ovens, a specially designed plate is placed on
the coke ovens which contain slots. These slots represent the binary 1's and 0's
which are used to identify the coke ovens, so that each coke oven has a unique
identification number. This process of having binary digits on a plate is known as
binary encoding on the plate. Since, these are solid mild steel plates, there would
be no disturbances in the identification process due to harsh environment
conditions or dust and dirt accumulation. The Image processing algorithm is
based on cross correlation search methodology, and enabled to search and
identify the plates in the images captured by a CCD camera. Thus, the coke
ovens can be identified by the unique numbers by which the plates can be
identified. Furthermore, since this camera arrangement is made in the moving
door extraction cars at coke plants, then the complete cycle of coke ovens for
logistical purposes can be determined and used for analysis.