Claims:We Claim

1. An improved arrangement of hydraulic valve stands for mud-gun and drill machine operation at cast house of blast furnace, of the steel plant comprising of:

Hydraulic Valve Stand circuit including manifold, electrical solenoid operated proportional directional control valves with electronic amplifier card, Logic Cartridge Valves, Hydraulic check valve, Pressure compensator, Pressure reducing valve, Ball valve configured for swiveling and plugging operation of a mud gun in blast furnace cast house;
Pipelines, Isolation Valves, Fittings with isolation valves configured for effectively leak-proof isolation of the old valve stand as per valve position;
Electrical Controls including a plurality of controller card for the proportional DC valves connected to the PLC and gives control signal to the valves based on the process algorithm; and
Field Cabling configured for supplying power to the solenoids of the proportional DC valves for interfacing the system with existing PLC of the for controlling the system along with the blast furnace cast house operation.

2. The arrangement of hydraulic valve stands as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hydraulic circuit is configured for plugging of blast furnace tap hole by operating the mud gun swivel and plugging cylinders through the electrical solenoid operated proportional directional control valve.

3. The arrangement of hydraulic valve stands as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flow control and control of oil supply to the respective swivel and plugging cylinder is carried out by the respective proportional directional control valves and logic cartridge valves along with other said hydraulic components.

4. The arrangement of hydraulic valve stands as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pipelines are made of stainless steel material and provided with all necessary fittings etc.

5. The arrangement of hydraulic valve stands as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tappings for the new valve stand are taken from pipeline system for the manual hydraulic circuit and the new pipelines are of appropriate schedule as per the maximum system pressure.

6. The arrangement of hydraulic valve stands as claimed in claim 1, wherein the Isolation valves are configured to make the new hydraulic valve stand, effectively leak-proof isolation from the old valve stand with the help of the manual isolation valves.

7. The arrangement of hydraulic valve stands as claimed in claim 6, wherein new valve stands are brought to operation by operating the valves for their on-off arrangement as per the valve position table.

8. The arrangement of hydraulic valve stands as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic amplifier cards for the Proportional valves have been mounted in air cooled and dust proof enclosure for smooth operation and eliminating hazards.

9. The arrangement of hydraulic valve stands as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PLC based means are adapted for generating commands for controlling the new electrically controlled valve stand.

10. The arrangement of hydraulic valve stands as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said new valve stand with an improved hydraulic circuit is configured for operating in parallel with the old manual lever operated valve stand.

Dated: this 17th day of March, 2017.

(N. K. Gupta)
Patent Agent
Of NICHE
For SAIL

To,
The Controller of Patents,
The Patent Office, Kolkata.
, Description:AN IMPROVED ARRANGEMENT OF HYDRAULIC VALVE STANDS FOR MUD- GUN AND DRILL MACHINE OPERATION AT CAST HOUSE OF BLAST FURNACE IN STEEL PLANT

Field of Invention:

The present invention relates to an improved hydraulic arrangement for operation of mud gun in a blast furnace cast house and design of a new hydraulic valve stand thereof, the present invention also relates to an arrangement of piping and valves for effectively leak-proof isolation of the old hydraulic valve stand from the new hydraulic valve stand to affect the working of mud gun through the new hydraulic valve stand. In addition, the disclosed hydraulic valve stand has feature of electrically operated proportional direction control (DC) valves for electrical operation of the valve stand and other features.

Background of the Invention:

In the hostile environment of steel plants, there are areas where safety of equipment and operating personnel are of great concern due to close proximity of potential hazards like hot metal.

It is well known that, Mud gun and drill machine are most vital equipment for Blast Furnace Cast house of any steel plant. In the beginning of the process, the mud gun is used to pack the tap hole with mud. Then burden is charged in the blast furnace from the top and the process of iron making starts. Once the furnace is ready with the iron making, drill machine is used to drill through the tap hole and the liquid iron comes out from the tap hole. Mud gun swiveling and plugging operations are realized by hydraulics. However, the drill machine is positioned with hydraulics and the drill bit operates with pneumatics. The close proximity of the control desks from the tap hole possesses threat to the operating personnel. Also, the splashes from the flowing metal cause damage to the control desk, which affects the tapping operation, leading to reduced productivity.

Thus the existing control desk based operations of cast house equipments of a

Blast Furnace suffered from the following limitations:

i) Manual lever based operation of proportional valves from fixed control desk near the tap hole posed threat to the operating personnel as well as equipment.

ii) Any breakdown in the mud gun or drill machine adversely affected Blast

Furnace operation.

In particular, there has been a need to developing a valve stand suitable for remote electrical signal based operation for cast house equipment such as mud gun of the Blast Furnace plant to avoid the above stated limitations and disadvantages of conventional manual controlling of the mud gun. The new valve stand also needed to be installed such that the old valve stand is totally isolated when the new valve stand is in operation.

Prior Art:

1. Fig. 1 describes the hydraulic circuit of the prior art of old manual lever operated piloting for proportional direction control (DC) valves for operation of the mud gun and drill machine in the blast furnace cast house. Fig. 2 describes the general arrangement of the said old manual lever operated valve stand.

2. In the earlier arrangement the hydraulic circuit was based on hydraulic valves arrangement suited for the manual lever operated piloting of the proportional DC valves for swivel and plugging operations. Also, there were no logic cartridge valves used to direct flow of oil to the proportional DC valves for swiveling as well as plugging.

3. In earlier arrangement, the proportional DC valves were situated at a room in the cast house and the operating levers were available in the control desk to control the pilot valves which in turn operated the proportional valve hydraulically. Operation with an electrical signal was not possible in the existing valve stand. The operator needed to go to the control desk to operate the manual levers to operate the mud gun during cast opening and closing.

4. The valve stand for operation of mud gun did not have provision for electrical signal based operation of the proportional DC valves and hence automated remote operation of the mud gun was not possible.

5. There was no pipeline and valve arrangement available for isolating the existing valve stand and attaching any other valve stand in the incoming hydraulic oil lines and connecting to the mud gun cylinder.

Object of the invention:

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of electrical solenoid operated proportional direction control valves based valve stand along with other components for automated electrical operation of the mud gun.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the electrically operated valve stand in place of the manual lever operated valve stand.

Yet another object is to provide an effectively leak-proof isolation system consisting of valves and pipelines for the new valve stand to isolate it from the old valve stand completely during the operation of mud gun through the new valve stand. The piping and valve arrangement ensures that while the new valve stand is in operation, no oil can flow through the old valve stand i.e. achieving effectively leak-proof isolation of the old valve stand.

Another object of the present invention is to enhance safety of operating personnel, as the close proximity of the control desks to the tap hole posed threat to them. The new valve stand provides means for remote electrical control of the mud gun to facilitate its operation without the operator going to the hazardous area of the control desk near the tap hole.

Another object of the present invention is to make maintenance of the hydraulic equipment for the mud gun and drill machine easier, as the approach to the equipment in control desk was not possible during metal tapping from tap hole.

Summary of invention:

Thus according to the main aspect of the present invention there is provided an improved hydraulic valve stand with arrangement of electrically operated proportional DC valves, logic cartridge valves and other components for swiveling and plugging operations of mud gun in a blast furnace cast house. The improved valve stand has improved design features of electrical solenoid operated proportional directional control valve with electronic amplifier card, Logic Cartridge Valves, Hydraulic check valve, Pressure compensator, Pressure reducing valve, Ball valve etc. as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. The piping network and valve system provides and effectively leak-proof isolation of the old valve stand from the new valve stand when the new valve stand is in operation as per the valves’ position

shown in Fig. 5.

The present invention relates to application of a hydraulic valve stand with improved configuration for electrical operation of a mud gun in the cast hose of a Blast Furnace in an effectively leak-proof piping and valve network. The old hydraulic valve stand is completely isolated and the new valve stand is in operation as per the valve position. The system ensures remote electrical signal based operation with the new hydraulic valve stand in working mode and ensures operator safety during hot metal tapping in blast furnace cast house. The accompanying features of Proportional valve amplifiers mounted in air cooled and dust proof enclosure and a PLC based means adapted for generating commands for controlling and interlocking the machines make the hydraulic system suitable for remote electrical signal based operation. The system can also be applied for any other blast furnace mud-gun and drill machine operation.

Therefore such as herein described there is provided an improved arrangement of hydraulic valve stands for mud-gun operation at cast house of blast furnace, of the steel plant comprising of: Hydraulic Valve Stand circuit including manifold, electrical solenoid operated proportional directional control valves with electronic amplifier card, Logic Cartridge Valves, Hydraulic check valve, Pressure compensator, Pressure reducing valve, Ball valve configured for swiveling and plugging operation of a mud gun in blast furnace cast house; Pipelines, Isolation Valves, Fittings with isolation valves configured for effectively leak-proof isolation of the old valve stand as per valve position; Electrical Controls including a plurality of controller card for the proportional DC valves connected to the PLC and gives control signal to the valves based on the process algorithm and Field Cabling configured for supplying power to the solenoids of the proportional DC valves for interfacing the system with existing PLC of the for controlling the system along with the blast furnace cast house operation.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates the prior Art of Manual Lever Operated Proportional Direction

Control Valve based System in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates the General Arrangement of Prior Art of Valve Stand for Manual Lever Operated and Piloted Proportional Direction Control Valve based System in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3 illustrates the Hydraulic Circuit Diagram of the New Valve Stand with Electrical Solenoid Operated Proportional Direction Control Valve and Cartridge Valves arrangement for Direction and Flow Control in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 4 illustrates the General Arrangement Drawing of the New Valve Stand in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 5 illustrates the Pipeline and Valve Arrangement for leak-proof Isolation of old valve stand during operation of the mud-gun through the new valve stand in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention:

The herein disclosed invention of Improved Arrangement of Hydraulic Valve Stands for Blast Furnace Mud-Gun at Cast House of Blast Furnace in Steel Plant comprises:

Hydraulic Valve Stand Proper–The improved valve stand comprises manifold, electrical solenoid operated proportional directional control valves with electronic amplifier card, Logic Cartridge Valves, Hydraulic check valve, Pressure compensator, Pressure reducing valve, Ball valve etc. and other hydraulic components as per circuit shown in Fig. 3 for swiveling and plugging operation of a mud gun in blast furnace cast house. The general arrangement of the valve stand is shown in Fig. 4.

Pipelines, Isolation Valves, Fittings etc.–The said valve stand is installed in parallel with the old existing manual proportional valve arrangement in a pipeline network with isolation valves to achieve an effectively leak-proof isolation of the old valve stand as per valve position as shown in Fig. 5. Material of pipelines is stainless steel. Pipelines have been provided with all necessary fittings etc. Tappings for the new valve stand have been taken from pipeline system for the existing manual hydraulic circuit. The new pipelines are of appropriate schedule as per the maximum system pressure. Isolation valves have been provided to make the new hydraulic valve stand to have effectively leak-proof isolation from the old valve stand with the help of the manual isolation valves so that while the new valve stand is in operation no oil can flow through the old valve stand.

Electrical Controls–The controller card for the proportional DC valves is connected to the PLC and gives control signal to the valves based on the process algorithm.

Field Cabling– Associated control cables have been provided for supplying power to the solenoids of the proportional DC valves for interfacing the system with existing PLC of the for controlling the system along with the blast furnace cast house operation.

The hydraulic circuit is having improved design for plugging of blast furnace tap hole by operating the mud gun swivel and plugging cylinders. The new valve stand system comprises electrical solenoid operated proportional directional control valve with electronic amplifier card, Logic Cartridge Valves, Hydraulic check valve, Pressure compensator, Pressure reducing valve, Ball valve etc. as shown in Fig.
3.The flow control and control of oil supply to the respective swivel and plugging cylinder has been achieved by the respective proportional directional control valves and logic cartridge valves along with other hydraulic components. The general arrangement of the new valve stand is shown in Fig. 4.

The improved hydraulic valve stand is installed with a pipeline network with isolation valves for effectively leak-proof isolation arrangement of the new valve stand from the old valve stand. Fig. 5 describes the Piping and Instrumentation diagram of the new arrangement of the valve stands. The new valve stands can be brought to operation by operating the valves for their on-off arrangement as per the valve position table in the Fig. 5.

The improved hydraulic valve stand has been installed at a safe location where there is no hazard of proximity to the hot metal coming out from blast furnace tap hole. Therefore the maintenance of the valve stand, and valves and piping network for isolation of the old and new valve stands has become easier. The system is also configured for remote electrical operation of mud gun at cast house of blast furnace in steel plant. The electronic amplifier cards for the Proportional valves have been mounted in air cooled and dust proof enclosure for smooth operation and eliminating hazards. Further also provided PLC based means is adapted for generating commands for controlling the new electrically controlled valve stand.

The main inventive features of improved arrangement are the new valve stand with an improved hydraulic circuit for operation of the mud gun in Blast Furnace

cast house with its pipeline and valve arrangement for effectively leak-proof isolation from the old existing manual lever operated valve stand.
Although the foregoing description of the present invention has been shown and described with reference to particular embodiments and applications thereof, it has been presented for purposes of illustration by way of examples and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the particular embodiments and applications disclosed. It will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that a number of changes, modifications, variations, or alterations to the invention as described herein may be made, none of which depart from the spirit or scope of the present invention. The particular embodiments and applications were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such changes, modifications, variations, and alterations should therefore be seen as being within the scope of the present invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.