DESCRIPTION

TITLE: Device and process for controlling a reheating furnace

Designation of the technical field concerned

The invention relates to a device and a method for controlling a furnace for reheating steel products. It applies in particular to the heating of long products and more particularly to flat products, in particular slabs. The device and the method according to the invention make it possible to quantify the total loss on ignition linked to the reheating of a product in the furnace, by determining the quantity of scale which has fallen into the furnace and that which is removed by a descaling machine located in downstream of the oven in the direction of product movement. They also make it possible to optimize the operation of the furnace and to reduce this loss on ignition.

Technical problems to which the invention responds

Upstream of the hot rolling mills for iron and steel semi-products such as billets, blooms or slabs, there are reheating furnaces. Within them, the metal is heated to a high temperature in a reheating furnace to facilitate the rolling operation. Important criteria for this heating and rolling process are the quality of the rolled product, the productivity of the plant and its operating cost.

In these reheating furnaces, there are traditionally many burners located along the side walls of the furnace, sometimes also in the vault, to provide the heating function. Their fuel supply consists mainly of natural gas, LPG or liquid fuel oil. However, with the increase in the price of these fuels, it has become common to burn fuels available on site, as by-products of the processes implemented on the site. These fuels have a lower calorific value and they contain more impurities, but they are much less expensive. This is the case for example of COG (for English Coke Oven gas) or BFG (for English Blast Furnace Gas). The fumes are evacuated from the oven by a suction system, via a heat recovery unit to preheat the combustion air supplying the burners. The hot fumes react with the surface of the product heated in the oven, resulting in the formation of surface layers of oxides. These layers are also called calamine layers. A distinction is made between primary scale, comprising scale detached and fallen into the furnace and that removed by the descaling machine located downstream of the furnace, before rolling, from secondary and tertiary scale formed during rolling. Primary scale is also expressed as non-adherent scale and adherent scale. The non-adherent scale from the underside of the products largely falls into the furnace. The descaling machine eliminates the non-adherent scale still present on the product, in particular on its upper face where most of it is present at the inlet of the descaling machine, and the adhering scale. By sticky primary scale is meant that which cannot be removed by the descaling machine and which therefore remains attached to the product at the outlet of the latter. The thickness of the sticky primary scale is a few tenths of a millimetre, whereas that of the adherent and non-adherent primary scale is expressed in millimetres.

The composition of the fumes depends on the type of fuel and the adjustment of the burners. It has a direct impact on the proportion of scale formed as well as on its chemical and mechanical properties. For example, according to the article "Scaling of carbon Steel in simulated reheat furnace atmospheres, VHJ Lee, B.GIeesin, DJ Young in 2004", the oxidation of carbon steel in hot fumes leads to linear kinetics in a certain range of air/gas ratios, and parabolic scale growth for high air/gas ratios. In addition, the loss of material resulting from the formation of scale, called "loss on ignition", has a considerable economic impact. By

For example, for a reheating furnace with an annual production capacity of 2.5 million tons, a carbon steel price of US$400/ton, a loss on ignition of 0.7 to 1% is equivalent to a loss of turnover of 7 to 10 million US $. Moreover, a not insignificant energy and environmental impact is also present if one takes into account the quantity of energy consumed, and the pollution generated, to manufacture the quantity of steel lost in scale and to recycle the scale recovered from the descaling machine. For this reason, it is important to limit the formation of scale during heating before rolling.

In the industrial world, numerical models are able to predict the loss on ignition for certain steel grades with defined and stable conditions. An example is the thesis of M. Husein Abuluwefa “Scale formation in a walking-beam Steel Reheat Furnace”, McGill University-1992. On the other hand, the actual operation of an oven is never perfectly stable, the heating curve of the product changes according to the actual production of the oven. Similarly, the composition of the flue gases changes according to the quality of the fuel, the precision of the regulating devices and instruments and the frequency of their calibration. In addition, each steel mill has its own steel recipe to meet a specific demand from the world market. Thereby,

Despite all the efforts implemented within various teams around the world, there is not yet a control system with the ability to:

• measure and control in real time the formation of primary scale,

· reduce loss on ignition.

Technical background

The formation of scale, during the passage of the steel in an industrial reheating furnace before rolling, results from the oxidation of the iron (contained in the steel) in contact with oxygen and other oxidizing gases of the products of combustion present in the oven.

Many causes contribute to making this phenomenon complex:

• Iron essentially has three degrees of oxidation which will be found in scale in the form of FeO, Fe304 and Fe203. Several intersecting reaction paths can lead to the formation of these oxides. The chemical and mechanical properties of each layer are different. Furthermore, the thickness of the scale is not uniform over the entire surface of a product.

• The kinetics of the different oxidation pathways vary according to the conditions present in the furnace, these not being homogeneous at all points of the furnace.

• Oxidation kinetics can also be affected by the chemical composition of the steel on the one hand, and by that of the fumes generated by the burners on the other. The composition of the fumes depends on both the type of fuel and the settings of the burners.

• The residence time of products in the oven and their temperature curve, and therefore exposure to oxidizing conditions, may also vary.

Technologies exist on the market to determine the coating thickness, such as ultrasound or ellipsometry. However, these are solutions that perform measurements in less constrained environments, including:

• at room temperature,

• in a transparent atmosphere,

• with a smooth coating surface condition,

• with a coating thickness of the order of a nanometer.

None of them answers all the problems of the subject:

• high temperature: up to 1280°C when removing from oven, • surfaces with coarse roughness showing irregularities,

• different chemical and mechanical properties for each scale layer.

One of the traditional methods to identify the loss on ignition is to place small samples above a product instrumented with thermocouples, and to heat them in the oven. After heating, the samples are recovered using specific tools in order to carry out measurements on them after their return to ambient temperature. This solution is complex to implement and presents risks for the operators who must recover the samples at the exit of the oven while the product and the samples are at high temperature.

Another classic method is to weigh the cold product before and after heating to determine the loss on ignition. This type of measure also requires significant preparatory work and resources.

WO2016125096 by the applicant describes a first solution for the continuous monitoring of the production of scale in a reheating furnace from data measured using optical laser sensors placed at the furnace outlet.

The device comprises at least one optical sensor placed at the outlet of the oven scanning the underside of the product, which makes it possible to produce a map of the relief of the latter during the scrolling of the product. Analysis of the relief mapping of the bottom surface of the product helps determine the amount of scale that has fallen into the furnace. The high points on the surface of the product correspond to the places where scale is still present on the product. Conversely, the low points correspond to the places on the surface of the product where the scale has come off and fallen into the furnace.

The device also comprises two sets of at least two optical sensors, one placed upstream of the descaling machine and the other downstream thereof, making it possible to determine the height of the product upstream and downstream of the descaling machine, and by difference of these heights, the quantity of scale fallen into the descaling machine.

Depending on the quantity of scale formed in the furnace determined using these sensors, a correction of the operating parameters of the furnace is carried out in order to reduce the quantity of scale formed during reheating.

This solution is not fully satisfactory, because, in practice, several sensors are necessary at the exit of the oven to cover the underside of the products over the entire width of the oven due to the constraints of installing the laser sensors at the level of the table. rollers and their narrow beam width. Complex image processing is necessary to reconstitute the cartography of the products from the images captured by the sensors arranged in parallel. Although an inclined screen is arranged above the sensors to protect them, this screen wears out quickly by the abrasion caused by the fall of calamine. In addition, over time, scale remains stuck to the inclined screen, which partially masks the surface of the products.

An object of the invention is to overcome all or part of the drawbacks of the state of the art, and/or to improve the flexibility and simplicity of controlling a reheating furnace while maintaining or improving the robustness and the cost of this control, of the maintenance and/or of the operation of the means by which this reheating furnace is controlled.

Summary of the invention

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is proposed a method for controlling a furnace for reheating steel products having an inlet and an outlet in a direction of travel of the product, comprising:

• formation of an infrared image by an infrared camera of an upper face of a product along its width and at least partly along its length when said product is placed on a predetermined pushing surface (located outside the oven and at the level of the oven outlet),

• digital processing including binarization (binarization can be performed by thresholding or segmentation) of the infrared image into two classes of pixels, a class of pixels which corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of adherent scale on the upper face of the product and the other class of pixels which corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of non-adherent scale on the face of the product,

• a determination of the quantities of non-adherent scale and adherent scale on the upper face of the product from the binarized image,

• modification of furnace control parameters based on the quantities of non-adherent scale and adherent scale determined.

With a control method according to the invention, it becomes possible to control the furnace taking into account the respective quantities of non-adherent and adherent scale on the surface of a product, and therefore to adapt one or more control parameters accordingly. .

Although only one face of the product is observed by the camera, the invention makes it possible to correct a determination of the temperature of the unobserved face obtained by calculation, by means of a correction factor determined from a difference between on the one hand the effective temperature of the observed face obtained by the camera and on the other hand a temperature of the observed face obtained by calculation.

The method according to the invention may also comprise a determination of a ratio of quantity of adherent scale to quantity of non-adherent scale.

The binarization can be carried out by thresholding the light intensity of the pixels.

Since the light intensity of a pixel is representative of the surface temperature of the product at the pixel level, thresholding is an efficient method of classifying pixels.

The method may include digital processing to determine a loss on ignition of the product.

The determination of the loss on ignition and the knowledge of the respective quantities of the two types of scale on the upper surface make it possible to determine a first approximation of the quantity of non-adherent scale from the lower surface that has fallen into the furnace, which is important information. for kiln production management.

As a first approximation, we can for example assume that the ratio r between non-adherent scale and adherent scale is the same on the upper face and the lower face, and knowing the loss on ignition pF, we can deduce the mass mCPNS of non-adherent scale fallen into the oven, which can be written mCPNS = r * pf/2, if we also consider that the lower mass is equal to the upper mass and that the loss on ignition is homogeneous on both sides.

Preferably, the method comprises comprising a measurement of the height of the product by two sensors arranged, respectively, upstream and downstream of a descaling machine located downstream of the furnace, and a digital processing to determine the loss on ignition of the product by determining the difference in height of the product between the upstream and downstream of said descaling machine.

It is thus possible to refine the determination of the loss on ignition.

The sensors can be optical sensors, which are well suited to the needs and to the operating conditions of an installation for reheating iron and steel products.

The method according to may also comprise, when the upper face is imaged by the infrared camera, a determination of the quantity of scale on the lower face of the product which has fallen into the furnace by digital simulations from the quantities of non-adherent scale and scale adhesive on the upper surface of the product obtained from the binarized image, from the determined loss on ignition, and from a correlation of these results with readings of the operation of the furnace and a law for predicting the formation of scale .

The correlation of the measured results with the readings of the furnace operation makes it possible to refine the furnace control strategy.

According to one possibility, the method comprises a step of reducing the loss on ignition and the quantity of scale fallen into the furnace for a second product, the reheating of which is carried out after that of a first product by modifying the operating parameters of the furnace. depending on the loss on ignition of the first product during its passage through the furnace and the quantity of calamine determined

Advantageously, the scale formation prediction law can be modified by self-learning.

The method may include a step of reducing the loss on ignition and the quantity of scale fallen into the furnace for a second product, the reheating of which is carried out after that of a first product by modifying the operating parameters of the furnace as a function of the loss on ignition of the first product during its passage through the furnace and the amount of scale determined.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is proposed a device for controlling a furnace for reheating steel products having an inlet and an outlet in a direction of travel of the product, comprising:

• an infrared camera provided to form an infrared image of an upper face of a product along its width and at least partly along its length when said product is placed on a predetermined removal surface (located outside the oven and at the exit of the oven),

• a digital processing module arranged to carry out a binarization of the infrared image into two classes of pixels, one class of pixels which corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of adherent scale on the face of the product and the other class of pixels which corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of non-adherent scale on the face of the product,

• a module for determining the quantities of non-adherent scale and adherent scale on the upper side of the product from the binarized image,

• a module for modifying furnace control parameters based on the quantities of non-adherent scale and adherent scale determined.

According to one embodiment, the furnace may be part of a steel plant comprising a pushing table (also called an evacuation table, preferably with a roller) forming the predetermined pushing surface)

The product scrolls under the camera and it is thus possible to reconstitute the complete image of the product.

The furnace control device may comprise two sensors arranged, respectively, upstream and downstream of a descaling machine located downstream of the furnace, and a digital processing module configured to determine the loss on ignition of the product by determining the difference in height of the product between the upstream and the downstream of the said descaling machine. As said previously, the sensors can be optical sensors.

According to a third aspect of the invention, an installation is proposed comprising:

• a steel product reheating furnace,

• a furnace control device according to the second aspect of the invention, or to one or more of its improvements.

When the installation includes a pushing table, the pushing table can form the predetermined pushing surface.

When the installation includes a descaling machine, the control device may include the two aforementioned sensors arranged, respectively, upstream and downstream of a descaling machine located downstream of the furnace, and the control device may include a digital processing module for determining the loss on ignition of the product by determining the difference in height of the product between the upstream and downstream of said descaling machine.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a computer program product is proposed comprising instructions which lead an installation according to the third aspect of the invention, or one or more of its improvements, to execute the steps of the method according to the first aspect of the invention, or one or more of its improvements.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable medium, on which the computer program product according to the fourth aspect of the invention is recorded.

The invention includes both primary scale measurement functions and scale formation prediction and control functions, all in real time. It thus combines physical measurements taken in real time by sensors and digital modeling for processing the data collected and prediction. It optimizes the product heating process by reducing the formation of primary scale.

According to particular embodiments of the invention, the method or the device comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken separately or in any technically possible combination(s):

• A device for acquiring images of part of the upper face of a product coming out of an oven in the infrared spectrum by means of an infrared camera.

• A system for processing a plurality of images of parts of the upper face of a product coming out of an oven in the infrared spectrum, making it possible to reconstitute an image of the entire surface of said product.

• A system for determining the surface covered by non-adherent scale on the upper face of a product coming out of a furnace from an image in the infrared spectrum of the surface of said product.

• A system for determining the surface covered by non-adherent scale on the underside of a product coming out of a furnace obtained by digital simulation from an image in the infrared spectrum of the surface of the upper face of the product correlated with operating readings of the oven.

• A device for measuring the height of scale detached from a product in a descaling machine placed downstream of a furnace by means of optical sensors placed upstream and downstream of the descaling machine.

• A system for determining the loss on ignition of a product from the height of scale detached from a product in a descaling machine placed downstream of a furnace.

• A software application to process data from an infrared camera and optical sensors in real time to optimize the reliability and accuracy of the quantity of primary scale determined.

• A module for acquiring and processing the characteristics of each product (material, dimensions, etc.) as well as its thermal path in the oven.

• A module for acquiring and processing the characteristics of the atmosphere in the vicinity of each product during heating in the oven.

• A model for predicting the loss on ignition built from measurements of the furnace process and measurements of the loss on ignition.

• A module providing guidance to the furnace control system to intelligently heat products in the furnace to minimize scale growth during heating.

• A module allowing the extraction of information concerning the growth of scale and its morphology from massive and varied data of the furnace, without requiring the intervention of an operator.

• A module accumulating in real time both furnace operating data and ignition loss measurements to reinforce the reliability of a model for predicting and monitoring the loss on ignition.

Brief description of figures

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear during the reading of the detailed description which will follow for the understanding of which reference will be made to the appended drawings in which:

[FIG .1] is a schematic side view of a conventional installation for reheating a steel product showing the installation of an infrared camera according to an embodiment of the invention;

[Fig.2] is a right view of Figure 1 also showing the installation of an infrared camera and optical sensors according to an embodiment of the invention;

[Fig.3] is a schematic view of a section of a product illustrating the scale present on the surface of the product at 4 successive stages;

[Fig.4] is a schematic side view illustrating the positioning of an infrared camera according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

[Fig.5] is a schematic view illustrating the mapping of the primary scale at the furnace outlet of the upper face of a product obtained by an infrared camera according to the invention;

[Fig.6] is a schematic view illustrating a digital processing of the cartography of the primary scale leaving the furnace to determine the ratio between the adherent scale and the non-adherent scale according to the invention;

[Fig.7] is a schematic view illustrating a flowchart of the steps of the method according to the invention;

[Fig.8] is a schematic side view illustrating the positioning of an optical sensor according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

[Fig.9A] is a schematic view of the positioning of an optical sensor according to Figure 8 but in top view;

[Fig.9B] is a schematic view of the positioning of an optical sensor according to an alternative embodiment, but in side view;

[Fig.10] is a schematic view of the device for determining the loss on ignition according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

[Fig.11] is a diagram illustrating the accuracy of the optimized law for determining the loss on ignition according to the invention;

Detailed description of the invention

The embodiments described below being in no way limiting, variants of the invention may in particular be considered comprising only a selection of characteristics described, subsequently isolated from the other characteristics described, if this selection of characteristics is sufficient. to confer a technical advantage or to differentiate the invention from the state of the prior art. This selection includes at least one feature, preferably functional without structural details, or with only part of the structural details if only this part is sufficient to confer a technical advantage or to differentiate the invention from the state of the prior art .

In the remainder of the description, elements having an identical structure or analogous functions will be designated by the same references.

Figures 1 and 2 show the principle of a steel product rolling installation. In Figure 1, a roller table 3 brings a product 2 facing a furnace 4 for reheating steel products. Upstream of roller table 3 in the direction of movement of product 2, a loading machine 1, for example with fingers, picks up product 2 and places it in oven 4 on transfer rails (not shown).

As it passes through the oven, the product 2 gradually heats up according to a predetermined heating curve, defining a thermal path, for example to be brought from ambient temperature to a removal temperature at the oven outlet typically between 1050 °C and 1300°C.

A heated product 5 is taken out of the oven 4 by a pushing machine 7, for example with fingers, and is placed on another table 6 with rollers which evacuates it to a rolling mill (not shown).

FIG. 2 shows the table 6 with rollers for discharging the heated product 5 after it leaves the furnace 4. This product is moved by the table 6 with rollers towards a descaling machine 8. In FIG. 2, the product within the descaling machine 8 is numbered 5'. The product 5' is exposed in the descaling machine 8 to jets of water 9, 10 at high pressure. The high pressure water jets are respectively oriented on an upper part and a lower part of the product 5'. These water jets are arranged to loosen the primary scale present on the surface of the product 5' and to evacuate the latter along a circuit 11 towards settling tanks (not shown) for its recovery.

After descaling by the descaling machine 8, the product is brought to the input of a rolling machine 12. In the rolling machine, the product is referenced 5”. The 5” product passes through two rolling sections 12a, 12b. The rolling sections 12a, 12b are arranged to obtain a sheet of the desired thickness from the 5” product.

According to the embodiment represented, the device for determining the loss on ignition of the scale produced by the reheating comprises sensors arranged at the outlet of the furnace 4 and at the level of the descaling machine 8. This device combines physical measurements and the result numerical modeling carried out by computer programs.

It is designed to compare the amount of scale produced with limits set according to the heating mode and the nature of the steel heated in the furnace. This comparison makes it possible to develop a corrective heating strategy capable of maintaining, or reducing, the scale produced within the desired quantity and quality limits.

Figure 3 represents a cross-sectional view of a product showing schematically the scale present on the product at different stages of the process:

• sub-figure A: Product 2 upstream of the reheating furnace. We consider that the surface is not covered with scale (in practice, it may include adherent scale formed during earlier stages).

• sub-figure B: Product 5 at the reheating furnace outlet in the theoretical case where no scale has fallen from the underside of the product (in practice, this case B does not occur for a furnace with tubular beams). Starting from the center of the product, the latter is covered on these two lower and upper faces with a layer of sticky primary scale (CPCS on the upper face and CPCI on the lower face), followed by a layer of adherent primary scale (CPAS on the upper face and CPAI on the lower face) then a layer of non-adherent primary scale (CPNS on the upper face and CPNI on the lower face). In theory, after the sticky primary scale layer, it is possible to have only adherent primary scale or only non-adherent primary scale. In practice, this does not happen.

• sub-figure C: Product 5 leaving the reheating furnace in the case where all the non-adherent scale on the underside of the CPNI product has fallen into the furnace. The fall of the non-adherent scale in the furnace is facilitated by the contacts between the product and the mechanics of transport of the product and the movement of translation between the entrance and the exit of the furnace. In practice, non-adherent scale may still be present on the underside of the product at the exit of the oven and fall from the product between the oven and the descaling machine. However, as this is in small quantity, it is not taken into account.

• sub-figure D: 5” product leaving the descaling machine. All non-adherent and adherent primary scale still present on the product entering the descaling machine has been removed. Only the sticky CPCS CPCI primary scale remains on the product.

According to the embodiment represented in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, an infrared camera 20 is located in the vicinity of the oven, on the product delivery side.

The infrared camera 20 is positioned above the heated product 5 when the latter is placed on a predetermined pushing surface.

In the example shown, the predetermined pushing surface is formed by the roller table 6. Also, the infrared camera is positioned near the roller table 6 for discharging the products to the descaling machine 8.

According to a variant of the embodiment shown, the infrared camera could be placed below the heated product 5.

The infrared camera's photosensitive sensor uses optoelectronic properties, ie the ability to react to a variation in light intensity. Advantageously, the camera is chosen, and it is positioned at a distance from the roller table, so that its field of vision P20 covers the entire width of the widest product heated in the oven.

This type of rolling installation being generally used for long products, such as slabs, the field of view of the infrared camera does not generally allow the entire length of the products to be covered with good measurement accuracy.

As shown in Figure 5, successive images are taken during movement of the product on the roller table at a frequency sufficient to obtain a partial overlap of the product between two successive images of a portion 5.1, 5.2, 5.n of the product. A digital processing of the successive images carried out by a computer program, called “Image Processing”, makes it possible to constitute an image of the entire product. This type of processing can be likened to that of constructing a panorama from several photographs showing areas of overlap.

Alternatively, at least two infrared cameras are used to cover the entire width of the widest product heated in the oven.

The discrimination between the adherent primary scale CPAS and the non-adherent primary scale CPNS can be carried out from an image processing of the entire product. The emissivity of adherent and non-adherent scale being substantially the same, the light intensity emitted by a surface of the product is directly representative of its temperature. The light intensity emitted by non-adherent scale is significantly lower than that of adherent scale due to a lower temperature. Thus, the image formed by an infrared camera of the surface of the product covered with non-adherent scale appears dark and the image formed by an infrared camera of the surface of the product covered with adherent scale appears light. Indeed, the non-adherent scale

cools faster than adhering scale when the product leaves the oven, not benefiting, or to a lesser extent, from a heat input from the core of the product. The image formed by an infrared camera of the surface of the product thus appears mottled, with a greater or lesser proportion of dark zones depending on the quantity of non-adherent scale. The setting of the infrared camera is adjusted so that the distinction between dark and light areas is marked.

A digital processing is carried out on this image by a computer program, for example implemented within a digital processing module (S2), to map the distribution of the non-adherent scale on the upper face of the product and to determine a overall ratio between adherent and non-adherent scale on it.

The digital processing thus carries out a binarization of the infrared image into two classes of pixels, one class of pixels which corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of adherent scale on the face of the product and the other class of pixels which corresponds to the pixels associated to the presence of non-adherent scale on the face of the product.

To this end, the binarization of the infrared image can be carried out by thresholding or by one or more image segmentation operations, for example by means of a segmentation based on the regions, a segmentation based on the contours, a segmentation based on a classification or a thresholding of the pixels according to their intensity, possibly adaptive, or on a fusion or cooperation of the first three.

The S2 module can further be configured to determine the amounts of non-adherent scale and adherent scale on the face of the product from the binarized image.

It is thus possible to modify, by means of a particular module (not shown), one or more furnace control parameters based on the quantities of non-adherent scale and of adhered scale determined.

FIG. 6 illustrates the result of the digital processing to determine the aforementioned ratio for three examples of products having different proportions of non-adherent scale. The proportion of non-adherent scale is the highest in the example of figure 6.1 and is the lowest for the example of figure 6.3. The right part of each of the sub-figures of FIG. 6 illustrates these proportions with partial views of the upper face of these products, the non-adherent scale being represented in black. The result of the digital processing carried out by the digital processing module (S2) takes the form of a histogram illustrated in the left part of the figure, with the product temperature on the abscissa (according to the light intensity received by the pixels of the camera ) and on the ordinate the number of pixels having this temperature.

In other words, for each abscissa of the histogram, we have on the ordinate the quantity of surface units of the product having this temperature. On this diagram, a predetermined temperature threshold TL delimits the scale according to its nature. The sum of the pixels whose temperature is lower than TL, on the left part of the histogram, corresponds to the surface of the upper face of the product covered by non-adherent scale. The sum of the pixels whose temperature is higher than TL, on the right part of the histogram, corresponds to the surface of the upper face of the product covered by adherent scale. The TL temperature can be determined from tests on samples. It is for example 950°C.

In other words, the aforementioned ratio can be determined as the ratio of the surface between 0° C. and the predetermined temperature TL to the surface between the predetermined temperature TL and a predetermined pushing temperature, of the curve representing the quantity of pixels as a function of a pixel intensity.

In other words, the aforementioned ratio can be determined as the ratio of the integral between 0°C and the predetermined temperature TL to the integral between the predetermined temperature TL and a predetermined pushing temperature, of the curve representing the quantity of pixels depending on a pixel intensity.

The images obtained by the infrared camera also provide information on the actual temperature of the product as it leaves the oven. It is thus possible to determine the temperature profiles over the width and the length of the product as well as the stability of the pushing temperature of the products which successively push. This information can be used to adjust the operation of the furnace in order to obtain a stable temperature and the desired product temperature profile, for example by adjusting the power of the burners and/or their operation in long flame or short flame mode.

With reference to FIG. 7, the furnace monitoring and control system 60 has real-time information on the operation of the furnace, in particular one or more measurements of the ambient temperature inside the furnace, the temperature of the fumes, the oxygen content of the fumes, the operating regimes of the burners, the operating mode of the burners when this can change, for example between a short flame mode and a long flame mode for the same power output, the dimensions of the product and its composition. This information is used for numerical simulations in order to estimate the evolution of the environment in the vicinity of each point of the surface of the product during the stay of the product in the furnace and to simulate the formation of scale by means of physicochemical models.

The data recorded by the oven control and command system 60, combined with the temperatures of the product measured at the oven outlet by means of the infrared camera, make it possible to estimate the evolution of the temperature map of the product since its entry. in the oven until it is removed from the oven by means of mathematical models. It is thus possible to calculate a curve illustrating the thermal path followed at each point of the surface of the product.

Besides the infrared camera, the invention is also based on the use of optical sensors for thickness measurements. They are used to quantify the amount of primary scale that is removed by the descaling machine. Thus, the invention comprises at least two optical sensors, one placed upstream of the descaling machine and the other downstream thereof. They make it possible to determine the height of the product upstream and downstream of the descaling machine, and by difference of these heights, knowing the dimensions of the product, to calculate the quantity of scale removed in the descaling machine.

As shown in Figure 2, according to a first example of the layout of the optical sensors according to the invention, a first sensor 30 is placed on the side of the upper face of the product upstream of the descaling machine and a second sensor 40 is placed on the side of this same upper face of the product downstream of the descaling machine. For each point in the area scanned by a sensor, a distance measurement is performed with an accuracy of the order of a micrometer. We will only describe the first sensor 30 below, knowing that the arrangement of this sensor is identical to that of the second sensor 40. Similarly, we will describe below optical sensors placed in line with a product resting on a table with rollers, knowing that the product can rest on any other reference surface.

As shown in Figure 8, according to the first example of layout of the optical sensors, the sensor 30 placed above the product is arranged vertically to a roller 14 of the roller table of the descaling machine on which the products circulate. . The sensor is placed on one side of the product so that its measurement field covers at least part of the upper face of the product, when a product is present under the sensor, and at least part of the upper generatrix of said roller ( or a reference surface). It is placed at a predetermined distance from the roll, for example between 250 and 1000 mm. The sensor 30 makes it possible to determine the distance between the upper face of the product 5 and the upper generatrix of the roller 14, this distance corresponding to the height of the product.

As represented in FIG. 9A, the sensor is advantageously inclined by an angle alpha, in the horizontal plane, relative to the longitudinal axis of said roller, for example by an angle of 5° to 85°. This inclination makes it possible to guarantee that the beam of the sensor covers at least one point 18 the upper generatrix of the roll. Indeed, if the sensor were arranged with its measurement field parallel to the axis of the roller, it would be necessary to have a perfect vertical alignment of the sensor with respect to the roller so that the sensor 30 sees the upper generatrix of the roller and not a generator placed on a lower plane.

The measurements taken from the sensors 30, 40 are separated into two phases. The first phase, called “Baseline measurement”, is carried out when there is no product. The system continuously scans the roller surface of the roller table to detect both the vibration of the roller, and the distance between the sensor and the top of the roller. The measurements are recorded and processed by a computer program to define the actual distance between the sensor and the top of the roller. This step can be likened to a calibration step without product. The second phase, called “Product measurement”, is carried out during the passage of a product on the roller table. Taking into account the measurements taken during the first phase, also called the calibration step,

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 9B, the optical sensors 30, 40 are placed substantially on one of the sides of the product. The sensors are arranged so that their measuring fields cover the side of the product. The thickness measurement of the product is thus carried out directly.

CLAIMS

1. Method for controlling a furnace (4) for reheating steel products (5) having an inlet and an outlet in a direction of travel of the product, comprising:

o formation of an infrared image by an infrared camera (20) of an upper face of a product (5) along its width and at least partly along its length when said product is placed on a predetermined pushing surface, o digital processing comprising a binarization of the infrared image into two classes of pixels, one class of pixels which corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of adherent scale on the face of the product and the other class of pixels which corresponds to the associated pixels the presence of non-adherent scale on the upper face of the product,

o a determination of the quantities of non-adherent scale and adherent scale on the upper face of the product from the binarized image,

o a modification of furnace control parameters based on the quantities of non-adherent scale and adherent scale determined.

2. Control method according to the preceding claim, further comprising a determination of a ratio of quantity of adherent scale to quantity of non-adherent scale.

3. Control method according to claim 1 or 2, in which the binarization is carried out by thresholding the light intensity of the pixels.

4. Control method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising digital processing to determine a loss on ignition of the product.

5. Control method according to the preceding claim, comprising a measurement of the height of the product by two sensors arranged, respectively, upstream and downstream of a descaling machine (8) located downstream of the furnace (4), and a digital processing to determine the loss on ignition of the product by determining the difference in height of the product between the upstream and the downstream of the said descaling machine (8).

6. Furnace control method according to one of the two preceding claims, comprising, when the upper face is imaged by the infrared camera, a determination of the quantity of scale on the lower face of the product which has fallen into the furnace by digital simulations at from the quantities of non-adherent scale and adherent scale on the upper surface of the product obtained from the binarized image, from the determined loss on ignition, and from a correlation of these results with operating readings of the furnace and a scale formation prediction law.

7. Method according to the preceding claim, in which the scale formation prediction law is modified by self-learning.

8. Method according to one of the three preceding claims, comprising a step of reducing the loss on ignition and the quantity of scale fallen into the furnace for a second product whose reheating is carried out after that of a first product by modification furnace operating parameters according to the loss on ignition of the first product during its passage through the furnace and the amount of scale determined.

9. Device (60) for controlling a furnace (4) for reheating steel products (5) having an inlet and an outlet in a direction of travel of the product, comprising:

o an infrared camera (20) provided to form an infrared image of an upper face of a product (5) along its width and at least partly along its length when said product is placed on a predetermined unloading surface,

o a digital processing module (S2) arranged to carry out a binarization of the infrared image into two classes of pixels, one class of pixels which corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of adherent scale on the face of the product and the other class of pixels which corresponds to the pixels associated with the presence of non-adherent scale on the face of the product,

o a module (S2) for determining the quantities of non-adherent scale and of adherent scale on the upper face of the product from the binarized image, o a module for modifying furnace control parameters from the quantities of non-adherent scale adherent and adherent scale determined.

10. Control device according to the preceding claim, further comprising two sensors arranged, respectively, upstream and downstream of a descaling machine (8) located downstream of the furnace (4), and a digital processing module configured to determine the loss on ignition of the product by determining the difference in height of the product between the upstream and downstream of said descaling machine.

11. Installation comprising:

o a steel product reheating furnace (4),

o a furnace control device according to any one of the preceding device claims.

12. Computer program product comprising instructions which lead an installation according to the preceding claim to execute the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.