Claims:We claim:
1. A system (100) for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould (101) during continuous casting process, the system (100) comprising:
a plurality of thermocouples (103) configured on the mould (101);

a fuzzy module (105) associated with the plurality of thermocouples (103), configured to:
receive data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of the plurality of thermocouples (103) at a predefined time interval; and
determine, a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, wherein, the breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker; and
a control unit (107) configured to:
receive, real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples (103), wherein the plurality of thermocouples (103) are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould (101);
determine, possibility of occurrence of the sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data (209), wherein the conditions of the sticker signature comprises of a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures;
compare, the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold, upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker; and
indicate presence of the sticker in the mould (101), when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold.

2. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the temperature inputs comprises rate of the rise of the temperature and magnitude rise of the temperature.

3. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predefined time interval for receiving the temperature inputs is one second.

4. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data comprises a fuzzy input graph indicating a plurality of input temperature sets, a fuzzy output graph indicating a plurality of output breakoutability sets and a fuzzy associative matrix comprising a mapping of the plurality of input temperature sets and the plurality of output breakoutability sets.

5. The system (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the fuzzy associative matrix comprises a plurality of cells, wherein each of the plurality of cells comprises a value representing one of the plurality of output breakoutability sets.

6. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fuzzy module (105) determines the breakoutability index by:
determining a plurality of input temperature sets corresponding to the temperature inputs received from each of the plurality of thermocouples (103), and a degree of membership of each of the temperature inputs with the determined plurality of input temperature sets;
correlating the determined plurality of input temperature sets and the corresponding degree of membership with a fuzzy associative matrix to determine a plurality of output breakoutability sets corresponding to the plurality of input temperature sets; and
determining the breakoutability index corresponding to the determined plurality of output breakoutability sets.
7. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of layers of the mould (101) comprises a first layer (106a), a second layer (106b), a third layer (106c) and a fourth layer (106d), along a vertical segment of the mould (101).

8. The system (100) as claimed in claim 7, wherein a control unit (107) determines, possibility of occurrence of a sticker, at the second layer (106b), by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature, comprising:
a rise in temperature at the second layer (106b),
a fall in the temperature at the second layer (106b), and
at least two of the rise in the temperature at the first layer (106a), the fall in the temperature at the first layer (106a), and a cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b).

9. The system (100) as claimed in claim 7, wherein a control unit (107) determines, possibility of occurrence of a sticker, at the third layer (106c), by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising:
a rise in temperature at the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c),
at least one of a fall in the temperature at the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b),
at least two of a cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b), the first layer (106a) and the third layer (106c), and the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c), and
at least one of the rise in the temperature at the first layer (106a), the fall in the temperature at the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b), and the cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b), the first layer (106a) and the third layer (106c), and the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c).

10. The system (100) as claimed in claim 7, wherein a control unit (107) determines, possibility of occurrence of a sticker, at the fourth layer (106d), by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising:
a rise in temperature at the fourth layer (106d),
at least one of the rise in the temperature at the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c),
at least two of a fall in the temperature at the first layer (106a), the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c), and
at least four of a cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b), the first layer (106a) and the third layer (106c), the first layer (106a) and the fourth layer (106d), the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c), the second layer (106b) and the fourth layer (106d), and the third layer (106c) and the fourth layer (106d).

11. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (107) determines the rise in the temperature and the fall in the temperature at each of the plurality of layers based on a predefined rise threshold and a predefined fall threshold.

12. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (107) is further configured to trigger an alarm upon indicating the presence of the sticker in the mould (101), for initiating one or more rectifying actions.

13. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pre-stored data (209) comprises the conditions of the sticker signature to be evaluated for each of the plurality of layers.

14. A method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould (101) during continuous casting process, the method comprising:
receiving data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of plurality of thermocouples (103) configured on the mould (101), at a predefined time interval;
determining a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, wherein the breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker;
receiving real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples (103), wherein the plurality of thermocouples (103) are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould (101);
determining possibility of occurrence of the sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data (209), wherein the conditions of the sticker signature comprises of a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures;
comparing the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold, upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker; and
indicating presence of the sticker in the mould (101), when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold.
15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the temperature inputs comprises rate of the rise of the temperature and magnitude rise of the temperature.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the predetermined time interval for receiving the temperature inputs is one second.

17. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data comprises a fuzzy input graph indicating a plurality of input temperature sets, a fuzzy output graph indicating a plurality of output breakoutability sets and a fuzzy associative matrix comprising a mapping of the plurality of input temperature sets and the plurality of output breakoutability sets.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the fuzzy associative matrix comprises a plurality of cells, wherein each of the plurality of cells comprises a value representing one of the plurality of output breakoutability sets.

19. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein determining the breakoutability index comprises:
determining a plurality of input temperature sets corresponding to the temperature inputs received from each of the plurality of thermocouples (103), and a degree of membership of each of the temperature inputs with the determined plurality of input temperature sets;
correlating the determined plurality of input temperature sets and the corresponding degree of membership with a fuzzy associative matrix to determine a plurality of output breakoutability sets corresponding to the plurality of input temperature sets; and
determining the breakoutability index corresponding to the determined plurality of output breakoutability sets.

20. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the plurality of layers of the mould (101) comprises a first layer (106a), a second layer (106b), a third layer (106c) and a fourth layer (106d), along a vertical segment of the mould (101).

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein possibility of occurrence of a sticker is determined, at the second layer (106b), by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature, comprising:
a rise in temperature at the second layer (106b),
a fall in the temperature at the second layer (106b), and
at least two of the rise in the temperature at the first layer (106a), the fall in the temperature at the first layer (106a), and a cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b).

22. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein possibility of occurrence of a sticker is determined, at the third layer (106c), by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising:

a rise in temperature at the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c),
at least one of a fall in the temperature at the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b),
at least two of a cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b), the first layer (106a) and the third layer (106c), and the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c), and
at least one of the rise in the temperature at the first layer (106a), the fall in the temperature at the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b), and the cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b), the first layer (106a) and the third layer (106c), and the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c).
23. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein possibility of occurrence of a sticker is determined, at the fourth layer (106d), by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising:
a rise in temperature at the fourth layer (106d),
at least one of the rise in the temperature at the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c),
at least two of a fall in the temperature at the first layer (106a), the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c), and
at least four of a cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer (106a) and the second layer (106b), the first layer (106a) and the third layer (106c), the first layer (106a) and the fourth layer (106d), the second layer (106b) and the third layer (106c), the second layer (106b) and the fourth layer (106d), and the third layer (106c) and the fourth layer (106d).

24. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the rise in the temperature and the fall in the temperature at each of the plurality of layers are determined based on a predefined rise threshold and a predefined fall threshold.

25. The method as claimed in claim 14 further comprises triggering an alarm upon indicating the presence of the sticker in the mould (101), for initiating one or more rectifying actions.

26. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the pre-stored data (209) comprises the conditions of the sticker signature to be evaluated for each of the plurality of layers.

27. A system (100) for real-time detection of a mild sticker in a mould (101) during continuous casting process, the system (100) comprising:
a plurality of thermocouples (103) configured on the mould (101);
a fuzzy module (105) associated with the plurality of thermocouples (103), configured to:
receive, data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of the plurality of thermocouples (103) at a predefined time interval; and
determine, a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, wherein the breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the mild sticker; and
a control unit (107) configured to:
receive, real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples (103), wherein the plurality of thermocouples (103) are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould (101);
activate a first time window (238a), and a second time window (238b) relatively shorter than the first time window (238a), wherein current position of the second time window (238b) is at origin of the first time window (238a);
determine, possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data (209), for predefined number of instances within the second time window (238b), at the current position;
slide the second time window (238b) to a subsequent position from each current position, within the first time window (238a) and re-iterate the process of evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature for the predefined number of instances, until the second time window (238b) reaches an end of the first time window (238a);
determine the possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker based on the evaluated conditions of the sticker signature at each subsequent position of the second time window (238b) within the first time window (238a).
compare the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold, upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the mild sticker; and
indicate presence of the mild sticker in the mould (101), when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold.

28. The system (100) as claimed in claim 27, wherein the first time window (238a) is an interval of 60 seconds.

29. The system (100) as claimed in claim 27, wherein the second time window (238b) is an interval of 15 seconds.

30. A method for real-time detection of a mild sticker in a mould (101) during continuous casting process, the method comprising:
receiving data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of plurality of thermocouples (103) configured on the mould (101), at a predefined time interval;
determining a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, wherein the breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the mild sticker;
receiving real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples (103), wherein the plurality of thermocouples (103) are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould (101);
activating a first time window (238a), and a second time window (238b) relatively shorter than the first time window (238a), wherein current position of the second time window (238b) is at origin of the first time window (238a);
determining possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data (209), for predefined number of instances within the second time window (238b), at the current position;
sliding the second time window (238b) to a subsequent position from each current position, within the first time window (238a) and re-iterate the process of evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature for the predefined number of instances, until the second time window (238b) reaches end of the first time window (238a);
determining the possibility of the occurrence of the mild sticker based on the evaluated conditions of the sticker signature at each subsequent position of the second time window (238b) within the first time window (238a).
comparing the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold, upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the mild sticker; and
indicating presence of the mild sticker in the mould (101), when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold.
31. The method as claimed in claim 30, wherein the first time window (238a) is an interval of 60 seconds.

32. The method as claimed in claim 30, wherein the second time window (238b) is an interval of 15 seconds.

33. A system (100) for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould (101) during continuous casting process, the system (100) comprising:
a plurality of thermocouples (103) configured on the mould (101);

a fuzzy module (105) associated with the plurality of thermocouples (103), configured to:
receive data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of the plurality of thermocouples (103) at a predefined time interval; and
determine, a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, wherein, the breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker; and
a control unit (107) configured to:

receive real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples (103), wherein the plurality of thermocouples (103) are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould (101);
identify, influence of a peretectic reaction in a molten metal contained in the mould (101), on conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures, wherein, the influence of the peretectic reaction is identified, by,
determining, mean of absolute differences for successive time instances of the real-time temperature variation patterns occurring in a predefined time window (234); and
determining, the influence of the peretectic reaction based on the mean of the absolute differences;
inflate a predefined breakoutability threshold, to obtain a new breakoutability threshold, upon identification of the influence of the peretectic reaction on the conditions of the sticker signature;
determine, possibility of occurrence of the sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data (209);
compare, the breakoutability index with the new predefined breakoutability threshold, upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker; and
indicate presence of the sticker in the mould (101), when the breakoutability index exceeds the new predefined breakoutability threshold.

34. The system (100) as claimed in claim 33, wherein the control unit (107) determines the influence of the peretectic reaction when the real-time temperature variation patterns indicate the rise and the fall in the temperature to be more than a normal variation, based on the mean of the absolute differences.

35. The system (100) as claimed in claim 34, wherein the normal variation is a variation in the temperature that occurs in absence of the peretectic reaction in a molten metal contained in a mould (101).

36. A method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould (101) during continuous casting process, the method comprising:
receiving data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of plurality of thermocouples (103) configured on the mould (101), at a predefined time interval;
determining a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, wherein the breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker;
receiving real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples (103), wherein the plurality of thermocouples (103) are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould (101);
identifying influence of a peretectic reaction in a molten metal contained in the mould (101), on conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures, wherein, the influence of the peretectic reaction is identified, by,
determining mean of absolute differences for successive time instances of the real-time temperature variation patterns occurring in a predefined time window (234); and
determining the influence of the peretectic reaction based on the mean of the absolute differences;
inflating a predefined breakoutability threshold, to obtain a new breakoutability threshold, upon identification of the influence of the peretectic reaction on the conditions of the sticker signature;
determining possibility of occurrence of the sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature comprising the rise in the temperature, the fall in the temperature and the cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data (209);
comparing the breakoutability index with the new predefined breakoutability threshold, upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker; and
indicating presence of the sticker in the mould (101), when the breakoutability index exceeds the new predefined breakoutability threshold.

37. The method as claimed in claim 36, wherein the influence of the peretectic reaction is determined when the real-time temperature variation patterns indicate the rise and the fall in the temperature to be more than a normal variation, based on the mean of the absolute differences.

38. The method as claimed in claim 37, wherein the normal variation is a variation in the temperature that occurs in absence of the peretectic reaction in a molten metal contained in a mould (101).
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present subject matter relates generally to a field of metallurgy. Particularly, but not exclusively the disclosure relates to a continuous casting process. Embodiments of the disclosure disclose a system and a method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during the continuous casting process.
BACKGROUND
Continuous casting process is a metallurgical process involving continuous supply of a liquid metal, also referred to as a molten metal, into a mould. The molten metal may be solidified into a semi-finished billet. The continuous casting process is a critical link in steel making, that produces a steel slab as an end result. In the continuous casting process, liquid steel is continuously tapped into a mould, which may be rectangular in shape. The walls of the mould may be cooled by continuously supplying a coolant such as water, and an inner surface of each of the wall may be coated with a lubricating medium. When the liquid steel is tapped into the mould, the liquid steel that comes in contact with the lubricating medium of the mould solidifies to form a solid shell, while rest of the liquid steel may remain in liquid or semi-liquid state, thus forming a steel slab. The steel slab may be continuously extracted from the mould and may be directly subject to one or more secondary metallurgical operations.
During continuous casting process, abnormalities like sticker formation may be developed. Generally, a sticker formation may be initiated when molten metal such as liquid steel sticks to walls of the mould due to existence of gaps in the mould such as gaps between corners of the mould walls. On the other hand, the sticker may be formed in the mould when mould powder or lubricant does not penetrate into gaps of the mould properly. Such continued unwanted growth on the walls of the mould leads to stickers. The formation of stickers in the mould may weaken the shell of the casted steel slab or may form an underdeveloped shell. Due to the underdevelopment or weakening of the shell, the casted steel slab may not be able to sustain ferro static pressure, thereby resulting in breakout of liquid steel in the steel slab. Such breakouts may cause extreme loss of time, money and resources during the casting.
With on-going efforts many techniques have been proposed to indicate abnormalities during the continuous casting process. The existing techniques may include Breakout Prevention System (BPS) that may detect casting abnormalities such as stickers and cracks to prevent breakouts. The BPS uses temperature inputs, casting speed, steel chemistry, mould level, mould width and the like to determine breakoutability index that determines tendency of breakout using an intelligent fuzzy module. The intelligent fuzzy module maps physical phenomenon reflected in temperature time series to a fault severity or in other words breakoutability index, using a fuzzy associative matrix. An independent intelligent fuzzy module is created for each type of the breakouts such as stickers, cracks and thin shells. However, such existing techniques use temperature inputs received from adjacent thermocouples configured in the mould, which may work for detecting a well- developed sticker, but fails to detect mild stickers. Also, these existing techniques completely rely on the breakoutability index detected by the intelligent fuzzy module to trigger alarm. However, the breakoutability index may falsely determine the presence of a sticker in most of the scenarios, due to variation of temperature, occurrence of peretectic reactions which exhibit a similar behaviour on the temperature patterns as that of a sticker formation. Therefore, these techniques may trigger numerous false alarms, thus affecting the continuous casting process. Few other existing techniques determine casting abnormalities by tracking temperature of mould cooling water. However, temperature inputs of the mould cooling water may provide gross variation in heat transfer but may not help in accurately determining the casting abnormalities such as stickers and cracks that occur due to abnormality in local solidification. Therefore, by implementing the existing techniques, the breakoutability detection may be error prone and may lead to numerous false alarms due to configuration of inaccurate threshold limits, occurrence of peretectic reactions that exhibit temperature variations similar to that of casting abnormalities, occurrence of mild stickers that are difficult to detect and the like. The existing techniques do not provide a mechanism to reduce or eliminate false alarms triggered due to each of the above mentioned attributes.
The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above or any other limitation associated with the conventional arts.
The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the disclosure and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.
SUMMARY
One or more shortcomings of the prior art may be overcome, and additional advantages may be provided through the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages may be 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.

Disclosed herein is a system for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process. The system comprises a plurality of thermocouples configured on the mould. Further, the system comprises a fuzzy module associated with the plurality of thermocouples, configured to receive data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of the plurality of thermocouples at a predefined time interval. Upon receiving the temperature inputs, the fuzzy module determines a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. The breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker. Further, the system comprises a control unit configured to receive, real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples. The plurality of thermocouples are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould. Furthermore, the control unit determines possibility of occurrence of the sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data. The conditions of the sticker signature comprises of a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures. Upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker, the control unit compares the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold. Finally, the control unit indicates presence of the sticker in the mould, when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold.
Further, the present disclosure discloses a method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process. The method comprises receiving data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of plurality of thermocouples at a predefined time interval. Upon receiving the temperature inputs, the method comprises determining a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. The breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker. The method further comprises receiving real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples. The plurality of thermocouples are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould. Furthermore, the method comprises determining possibility of occurrence of the sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data. The conditions of the sticker signature comprises of a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures. Upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker, the method comprises comparing the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold. Finally, the method comprises indicating presence of the sticker in the mould, when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold.
Furthermore, disclosed herein is a system for real-time detection of a mild sticker in a mould during continuous casting process. The system comprises a plurality of thermocouples configured on the mould. Further, the system comprises a fuzzy module associated with the plurality of thermocouples, configured to receive data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of the plurality of thermocouples at a predefined time interval. Upon receiving the temperature inputs, the fuzzy module determines a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. The breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker. The system also comprises a control unit configured to receive, real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples. The plurality of thermocouples are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould. The control unit activates a first time window, and a second time window relatively shorter than the first time window. The current position of the second time window is at origin of the first time window. Further, the control unit determines possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data, for predefined number of instances within the second time window, at the current position. Furthermore, the control unit slides the second time window to a subsequent position from each current position, within the first time window and re-iterate the process of evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature for the predefined number of instances, until the second time window reaches an end of the first time window. The control unit further determines the possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker based on the evaluated conditions of the sticker signature at each subsequent position of the second time window within the first time window. Upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker, the control unit compares the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold. Finally, the control unit indicates presence of the mild sticker in the mould, when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold.
Further, disclosed herein is a method for real-time detection of a mild sticker in a mould during continuous casting process. The method comprises receiving data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of plurality of thermocouples at a predefined time interval. Upon receiving the temperature inputs, the method comprises determining a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. The breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker. Further, the method comprises receiving real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples. The plurality of thermocouples are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould. The method comprises activating a first time window, and a second time window relatively shorter than the first time window. The current position of the second time window is at origin of the first time window. Further, the method comprises determining possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data, for predefined number of instances within the second time window, at the current position. Furthermore, the method comprises sliding the second time window to a subsequent position from each current position, within the first time window and re-iterate the process of evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature for the predefined number of instances, until the second time window reaches an end of the first time window. The method further determines the possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker based on the evaluated conditions of the sticker signature at each subsequent position of the second time window within the first time window. Upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker, the method comprises comparing the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold. Finally, the method comprises indicating presence of the mild sticker in the mould, when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold.
Furthermore, disclosed herein is a system for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process. The system comprises a plurality of thermocouples configured on the mould. Further, the system comprises a fuzzy module associated with the plurality of thermocouples, configured to receive data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of the plurality of thermocouples at a predefined time interval. Upon receiving the temperature inputs, the fuzzy module determines a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. The breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker. Further, the system comprises a control unit configured to receive, real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples. The plurality of thermocouples are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould. Upon receiving the temperature variation patterns, the control unit identifies influence of a peretectic reaction in a molten metal contained in the mould, on conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures. The control unit determines the influence of the peretectic reaction by determining mean of absolute differences for successive time instances of the real-time temperature variation patterns occurring in a predefined time window. Further, the control unit determines the influence of the peretectic reaction based on the mean of the absolute differences. Upon determining the influence of the peretectic reaction, the control unit inflates a predefined breakoutability threshold, to obtain a new breakoutability threshold. The control unit further determines the possibility of occurrence of the sticker in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data. Upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker, the control unit compares the breakoutability index with the new predefined breakoutability threshold. Finally, the control unit indicates presence of the sticker in the mould, when the breakoutability index exceeds the new predefined breakoutability threshold.
Also, disclosed herein is a method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process. The method comprises receiving data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of plurality of thermocouples at a predefined time interval. Upon receiving the temperature inputs, the method comprises determining a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. The breakoutability index is indicative of occurrence of the sticker. Further, the method comprises receiving real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples. The plurality of thermocouples are arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould. Further, the method comprises determining the influence of the peretectic reaction by determining mean of absolute differences for successive time instances of the real-time temperature variation patterns occurring in a predefined time window. The influence of the peretectic reaction is determined based on the mean of the absolute differences. Upon determining the influence of the peretectic reaction, the method comprises inflating a predefined breakoutability threshold, to obtain a new breakoutability threshold. Further, the method comprises determining the possibility of occurrence of the sticker in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data. Upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker, the method comprises comparing the breakoutability index with the new predefined breakoutability threshold. Finally, the method comprises indicating presence of the sticker in the mould, when the breakoutability index exceeds the new predefined breakoutability threshold.
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 DIAGRAMS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG.1A shows an exemplary system for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.1B shows an exemplary representation of four layers of a mould in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.2A shows a detailed block diagram of components of a system for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.2B shows an exemplary fuzzy input graph indicating the plurality of input temperature sets in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.2C show an exemplary fuzzy output graph indicating the plurality of output breakoutability sets in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.2D shows an exemplary fuzzy associative matrix in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.2E shows a flowchart illustrating a method for determining breakoutability index by a fuzzy module in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.2F shows graph of exemplary temperature variation with time in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.2G – FIG.2H shows a graph illustrating temperature variation with time in a sliding window in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.2I shows a graph indicating temperature variation patterns along with a predefined time window in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.3A shows a flowchart illustrating a method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.3B shows a flowchart illustrating a method for real-time detection of a mild sticker in a mould during continuous casting process in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.3C shows a flowchart illustrating a method for detecting influence of the peretectic reaction and real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and
FIG.4 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.
It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes” or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device or method that includes 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 or method. 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 method.
Disclosed herein are a system and a method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process. In the present disclosure, sticker generally means a completely developed sticker, until otherwise specified. Generally, the sticker may be formed in the mould when mould powder or lubricant does not penetrate into gaps of the mould properly. The formation and propagation of the sticker in the mould attenuates growth of solid shell during the continuous casting process. The solid shell is formed when liquid steel tapped into the mould comes in contact with a lubricating medium present on walls of the mould. Due to presence of the sticker, the solid shell may be underdeveloped. When underdeveloped solid shell exits the mould , ferro static pressure of the liquid steel surrounded by the solid shell may lead to breakout of the liquid steel. Breakout of such solid shell cannot be prevented, and it may lead to various challenges during the continuous casting process. Also, avoiding formation of stickers in the mould may not be possible during the continuous casting process, however, early detection of presence of the stickers may help in avoiding the breakout of the liquid steel by performing rectifying actions such as reducing casting speed. In some embodiments, reducing the casting speed may allow the liquid steel to occupy the mould for a longer duration, thus enabling strong and complete development of solid shell that can withstand the ferro static pressure.

Therefore, to detect the presence of the stickers, the system disclosed in the present disclosure may comprise a plurality of thermocouples configured on the mould. Further, a fuzzy module configured in the system may receive data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from the plurality of thermocouples to determine a breakoutability index. In some embodiments, the temperature inputs may include, but not limited to, rise of temperature and magnitude rise of the temperature. In some embodiments, the breakoutability index may indicate probability of presence of a sticker in the mould. Existing techniques known in the art may confirm presence of the sticker directly based on the breakoutability index, without verifying correctness of the breakoutability index, thereby leading to false alarms. However, the present disclosure eliminates/reduces the occurrence of false alarms by further refining the breakoutability index prior to confirming the presence of the sticker.

In some embodiments, refining the breakoutability index comprises evaluating conditions of a sticker signature in real-time temperature variation patterns received from the plurality of thermocouples, based on a pre-stored data. In some embodiments, the pre-stored data may be pre-generated based on analysis of characteristics of approximately 1250 stickers, that include approximately 200 mild stickers. In some embodiments, the mild stickers referred herein may be underdeveloped stickers which are in initial stages of formation. Therefore, detecting the mild sticker may facilitate early detection of sticker formation.

The pre-stored data thus generated provides mandatory conditions of the sticker signature, which when occur in real-time, confirms the presence of the sticker in the mould. In some embodiments, refining of the breakoutability index based on the pre-stored data enables detecting the presence of the sticker with 99.99% accuracy and also reduces the false alarms triggered due to occurrence of events such as peretectic reactions, mould level fluctuation, casting speed variations and the like. Further, the present disclosure discloses determining presence of the mild stickers in the mould. Generally, mild stickers are difficult to be detected due to extremely slow propagation in the mould. Therefore, the present disclosure provides a sliding window concept that may detect the mild stickers accurately. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides a method of differentiating temperature variation patterns occurring due to peretectic reactions and the temperature variation patterns occurring due to formation of the sticker in the mould. Therefore, the present disclosure completely eliminates false alarms triggered due to occurrence of peretectic reactions. Also, of the system eliminates false alarms and helps in accurate determination of the presence of the sticker, including mild stickers, makes the present disclosure extremely reliable.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the invention.

In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

FIG.1A shows an exemplary system for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

The system 100 includes a mould 101, thermocouple 1031 to thermocouple 103n (also referred as plurality of thermocouples 103), a fuzzy module 105 and a control unit 107. The present disclosure may be described in accordance with a continuous casting process of a steel slab. However, this should not be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure, since the present disclosure may be applicable to continuous casting process of metals or alloys other than steel.

The mould 101 may be a solid structure that allows flow of a molten metal tapped into the mould 101. As an example, the molten metal may be liquid steel which may be continuously tapped into the mould 101, to form a steel slab. As an example, the mould 101 may be rectangular in shape defining a mould cavity in an inner surface. The mould 101 may be configured with a cooling arrangement on an outer surface. A coolant like water may be continuously circulated through the cooling arrangement to cool the inner surface of the mould 101. The temperature difference between the inner surface of the mould 101 and the molten metal results in solidification of at least an outer layer of the molten metal. The plurality of thermocouples 103 may be configured on the outer surface of the mould 101.

In some embodiments, the fuzzy module 105 may receive data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from the plurality of thermocouples 103 via a communication network (not shown in the FIG.1A). As an example, the communication network may be at least one of a wired communication network and a wireless communication network. As an example, the temperature inputs may include, but not limited to, rate of the rise of the temperature and magnitude rise of the temperature. In some embodiments, the fuzzy module 105 may receive the temperature inputs at a predefined time interval. As an example, the predefined time interval for receiving the temperature inputs may be one second. Further, the fuzzy module 105 may use the temperature inputs to determine a breakoutability index, which is indicative of occurrence of a sticker, based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. In some embodiments, the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data may include, but not limited to, a fuzzy input graph indicating a plurality of input temperature sets, a fuzzy output graph indicating a plurality of output breakoutability sets and a fuzzy associative matrix comprising a mapping of the plurality of input temperature sets and the plurality of output breakoutability sets.

Further, the control unit 107 associated with the plurality of thermocouples 103 may be associated with an Input/Output (I/O) interface 111 and a memory 113 as shown in the FIG.1A. In some embodiments, the I/O interface 111 and the memory 113 may be present within the control unit 107. The I/O interface 111 may receive real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples 103 arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould 101. In some embodiments, the plurality of layers represent number of rows in which the plurality of thermocouples 103 are arranged on the mould. As an example, if the plurality of thermocouples are arranged in four rows on the mould 101, then the plurality of layers of the mould 101 would be four. An exemplary representation of the four layers of the mould 101 is shown in the FIG.1B. The present disclosure is described by considering four layers of the mould 101 comprising a first layer 106a, a second layer 106b, a third layer 106c and a fourth layer 106d. However, this should not be construed as a limitation, since the present disclosure would be applicable to more than or less than four layers. Further, the I/O interface 111 may receive the breakoutability index from the fuzzy module 105. In some embodiments, the fuzzy module 105 may be externally associated with the control unit 107 as shown in the FIG.1A. In some other embodiments, the fuzzy module 105 may be integrated in the control unit 107. In some embodiments, the real-time temperature variation patterns and the breakoutability index received by the I/O interface 111 may be stored in the memory 113.

Further, the control unit 107 may determine, possibility of occurrence of the sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data. In some embodiments, the conditions of the sticker signature may include, but not limited to, a rise in temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures. In some embodiments, the cross-over of the temperatures may indicate intersection of temperature values received from the plurality of thermocouples 103 arranged in different layers of the plurality of layers. Further, in some embodiments, the pre-stored data may include, but not limited to, the conditions of the sticker signature to be evaluated for each of the plurality of layers. When the evaluation of the condition of the sticker signature yields a positive result indicating the possibility of occurrence of the sticker, the control unit 107 may compare the breakoutability index determined by the fuzzy module 105 with a predefined breakoutability threshold. In some embodiments, when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold, the control unit 107 may indicate the presence of the sticker in the mould 101 by triggering an alarm. When the evaluation of the condition of the sticker signature yields a negative result indicating no possibility of occurrence of the sticker, the control unit 107 may discard the breakoutability index and continue with next cycle.

In some embodiments, when the evaluation of the condition of the sticker is negative, but the breakoutability index is high, then the temperature variations may have occurred due to influence of peretectic reactions. The control unit 107 may detect the influence of the peretectic reactions by determining absolute difference of successive time instances of the real-time temperature variation patterns occurring in a predefined time window. Determining the influence of the peretectic reaction is explained in detail as part of FIG.2A.

Further, the control unit 107 may determine mild stickers that slowly propagate in the mould 101. Mild stickers mark initial formation stages of the sticker. Therefore, determining mild stickers enable early detection of the stickers, that is a most preferable stage to initiate damage control or remedial actions, since controlling the mild stickers may be relatively easy than controlling a completely developed sticker. The control unit 107 may determine the mild stickers based on a sliding window concept. In some embodiments, the sliding window concept may include, but not limited to, a first time window and a second time window relatively shorter than the first time window. In some embodiments, current position of the second time window may be at origin of the first time window. Determining the mild stickers based on the sliding window concept is explained in detail as part of FIG.2A.

FIG.2A shows a detailed block diagram of components of a system 100 for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould 101 during continuous casting process in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to description of the FIG.1A, the fuzzy module 105 associated with the plurality of thermocouples 103 may determine the breakoutability index based on the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. Components of the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data i.e. a fuzzy input graph, a fuzzy output graph and a fuzzy associative matrix are explained below in detail.

An exemplary fuzzy input graph indicating the plurality of input temperature sets is as shown in the FIG.2B. As shown in the FIG.2B, X-axis of the fuzzy input graph represents seven input sets mentioned below:
Input temperature set 1: -1 to – 0.33
Input temperature set 2: -0.66 to 0
Input temperature set 3: -0.33 to 0.15
Input temperature set 4: 0 to 0.33
Input temperature set 5: 0.15 to 0.45
Input temperature set 6: 0.33 to 0.75
Input temperature set 7: 0.45 to 1

Y-axis (not shown in the FIG.2B) indicates degree of membership of an input value to the plurality of input temperature sets, that varies between 0 to 1.

An exemplary fuzzy output graph indicating the plurality of output breakoutability sets is as shown in the FIG.2C. As shown in the FIG.2C, X-axis of the fuzzy output graph represents nine output sets mentioned below:

Output breakoutability set 1: -1 to 0
Output breakoutability set 2: -0.5 to 0.2
Output breakoutability set 3: 0 to 0.4
Output breakoutability set 4: 0.2 to 0.5
Output breakoutability set 5: 0.4 to 0.6
Output breakoutability set 6: 0.5 to 0.7
Output breakoutability set 7: 0.6 to 0.8
Output breakoutability set 8: 0.7 to 0.9
Output breakoutability set 9: 0.8 to 1

Y-axis (not shown in the FIG.2C) indicates degree of membership of an output value to the plurality of output breakoutability sets, that varies between 0 to 1.
An exemplary fuzzy associative matrix comprising the mapping of the plurality of input temperature sets and the plurality of output breakoutability sets is as shown in the FIG.2D. In some embodiments, rows of the fuzzy associative matrix indicate the rate of rise of the temperature and columns of the fuzzy associative matrix indicate the magnitude rise of the temperature. The fuzzy associative matrix is a 7x7 matrix wherein each cell of the 7x7 matrix of the fuzzy associative matrix contains a value which is equal to one or other number of output breakoutability sets numbered from 1 to 9. As an example, top right corner cell may contain a value ‘9’ as this cell corresponds to ‘100’ breakoutability values. In some embodiments, value “0” may indicate absence of the sticker in the mould 101. On the other hand, value “100” may indicate presence of a severe sticker in the mould 101. Similarly, values between 0-100 indicate varying level of severity of stickers present in the mould 101.
In some embodiments, upon receiving the temperature inputs from the plurality of thermocouples 103, the fuzzy module 105 may perform functionalities in accordance with logical flow as shown in the FIG.2E. At block 251, the fuzzy module 105 may normalize the temperature inputs into a scale of {-1,1}. At block 253, the fuzzy module 105 may subject the normalized temperature inputs to the fuzzy input graph shown in the FIG.2B. The fuzzy module 105 may determinie a plurality of input temperature sets corresponding to the temperature inputs received from each of the plurality of thermocouples 103, and a degree of membership of each of the temperature inputs with the determined plurality of input temperature sets. In some embodiments, the fuzzy module 105 may determine two input temperature sets to which the normalized temperature inputs belong and the degree of membership of the normalized temperature inputs to the determined two input temperature sets.
As an example, consider the temperature input i.e. rate of rise of the temperature is 1.5. Consider that the normalized temperature input of the value 1.5 is 0.3. Upon subjecting the value 0.3 to the fuzzy input graph, the fuzzy module 105 may determine that the value 0.3 belongs to the input temperature sets 4 and 5. Further, the fuzzy module 105 may determine the degree of membership of the value 0.3 with the input temperature sets 4 and 5 as 0.3 and 0.7 respectively. Similarly, for the temperature input i.e. magnitude rise in the temperature, the fuzzy module 105 may determine two input temperature sets and two degrees of membership.
At block 255, the fuzzy module 105 may correlate the determined plurality of input temperature sets and the corresponding degrees of membership with the fuzzy associative matrix as shown in the FIG.2D. Based on the correlation, the fuzzy module 105 may determine a plurality of output breakoutability sets corresponding to the plurality of input temperature sets in accordance with the corresponding degrees of membership. Further, the fuzzy module 105 may determine a breakoutability index corresponding to the determined plurality of output breakoutability sets. The breakoutability index may indicate occurrence of a sticker in the mould 101.
At block 257, the fuzzy module 105 may de-fuzzify the breakoutability index i.e. the breakoutability index may be converted into a form that the temperature inputs were initially received by the fuzzy module 105. As mentioned above, the breakoutability index may be numerical value ranging from 0 to 100, where value “0” may indicate absence of the sticker and value “100” may indicate presence of a most severe sticker in the mould 101.
At block 259, the breakoutability index obtained in block 257, may be refined based on a pre-stored data. In some embodiments, a control unit 107 associated with the fuzzy module 105 may refine the breakoutability index. In some embodiments, refining the breakoutability index may include verifying correctness of the breakoutability index prior to confirming the presence of the sticker only based on the breakoutability index. The process of refining the breakoutability index may result in eliminating or reducing the occurrence of false alarms, in other words, the process of refining may increase strike rate which indicates number of true alarms triggered out of a total number of alarms triggered.
In some implementations, the control unit 107 may include data 203 and modules 205 related to the system 100. As an example, the data 203 is stored in a memory 113 associated with the control unit 107. In some embodiments, the data 203 may include input data 207, pre-stored data 209 and other data 225. In the illustrated FIG.2A, modules 205 are described herein in detail.

In some embodiments, the data 203 may be stored in the memory 113 in form of various data structures. Additionally, the data 203 can be organized using data models, such as relational or hierarchical data models. The other data 225 may be stored data, including temporary data and temporary files, generated by the modules 205 for performing the various functions of the control unit 107.
In some embodiments, the data 203 stored in the memory 113 may be processed by the modules 205 of the control unit 107. The modules 205 may be stored within the memory 113. In an example, the modules 205 communicatively coupled to the control unit 107 may also be present outside the memory 113 as shown in FIG.2A and implemented as hardware. As used herein, the term modules 205 may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.
In some embodiments, the modules 205 may include, for example, a receiving module 231, a sticker signature evaluating module 233, a sticker detecting module 235, a sliding window module 237, a peretectic reaction detecting module 239 and other modules 241. The other modules 241 may be used to perform various miscellaneous functionalities of the control unit 107. It will be appreciated that such aforementioned modules 205 may be represented as a single module or a combination of different modules.
In some embodiments, the receiving module 231 may receive the breakoutability index from the fuzzy module 105. Further, the receiving module 231 may receive real-time temperature variation patterns from plurality of thermocouples 103 associated with the control unit 107, arranged in plurality of layers on the mould 101. The plurality of layers may include, but not limited to, a first layer 106a, a second layer 106b, a third layer 106c and a fourth layer 106d. The breakoutability index and the temperature variation patterns received by the receiving module 231 may be stored as the input data 207. Exemplary temperature variation patterns may be as shown in FIG.2F.
In some embodiments, the sticker signature evaluating module 233 may determine possibility of occurrence of the sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns with the pre-stored data 209. In some embodiments, the conditions of the sticker signature comprises of a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures. As an example, consider a sticker originates at meniscus of the mould 101 and descends downward along a vertical segment of the plurality of thermocouples 103 belonging to the plurality of layers. When a sticker occurs in the mould 101, the real-time temperature variation patterns may show significant rise and fall in the temperature and also the cross-over of the temperatures as shown in the FIG. 2F, which otherwise would be flat. Therefore, as the sticker descends downwards through the plurality of layers of the mould 101, different conditions of rise in the temperature, fall in the temperature and the cross-over of the temperatures may be observed. The Table 1 below shows a list of conditions that may be observed at the different layers of the mould 101 during the propagation of the sticker.
Conditions observable at second layer 106b Conditions observable at third layer 106c Conditions observable at fourth layer 106d
1. Rise in temperature at first layer
2. Fall in temperature at first layer
3. Rise in temperature at second layer
4. Fall in temperature at second layer
5. Cross-over of temperatures at first and second layers
1. Rise in temperature at first layer
2. Fall in temperature at first layer
3. Rise in temperature at second layer
4. Fall in temperature at second layer
5. Rise in temperature at third layer
6. Cross-over of temperatures at first and second layers
7. Cross-over of temperatures at first and third layers
8. Cross-over of temperatures at second and third layers
1. Fall in temperature at first layer
2. Rise in temperature at second layer
3. Fall in temperature at second layer
4. Rise in temperature at third layer
5. Rise in temperature at fourth layer
6. Cross-over of temperatures at first and second layers
7. Cross-over of temperatures at second and third layers
8. Cross-over of temperatures at first and fourth layers
9. Cross-over of temperatures at second and third layers
10. Cross-over of temperatures at second and fourth layers
11. Cross-over of temperatures at third and fourth layers

Table 1
By analysing characteristics of approximately 1250 stickers, that include approximately 200 mild stickers, the pre-stored data 209 that includes the conditions of the sticker signature to be evaluated for each of the plurality of layers are pre-generated. The pre-stored data 209 includes only the conditions that are most necessary among all the conditions shown in the Table 1.
In some embodiments, the conditions provided by the pre-stored data 209 for evaluating the sticker signature at the second layer 106b may include, but not limited to:
- a rise in the temperature at the second layer 106b;
- a fall in the temperature at the second layer 106b; and
- at least two of the rise in the temperature at the first layer 106a, the fall in the temperature at the first layer 106a, and the cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer 106a and the second layer 106b.
When each of the above mentioned conditions for second layer 106b are identified, the possibility of occurrence of the sticker would be 80%.
In some embodiments, the conditions provided by the pre-stored data 209 for evaluating the sticker signature at the third layer 106c may include, but not limited to:
- a rise in the temperature at the second layer 106b and the third layer 106c;
- at least one of a fall in the temperature at the first layer 106a and the second layer 106b;
- at least two of the cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer 106a and the second layer 106b, the first layer 106a and the third layer 106c, and the second layer 106b and the third layer 106c; and
- at least one of the rise in the temperature at the first layer 106a, the fall in the temperature at the first layer 106a and the second layer 106b, and the cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer 106a and the second layer 106b, the first layer 106a and the third layer 106c, and the second layer 106b and the third layer 106c.
When each of the above mentioned conditions for third layer 106c are identified, the possibility of occurrence of the sticker would be 70%. In some other scenario where the number of conditions observed for third layer 106c are increased and further satisfied, the possibility of occurrence of the sticker would also increase to 85%.
In some embodiments, the conditions provided by the pre-stored data 209 for evaluating the sticker signature at fourth layer 106d may include, but not limited to:
- a rise in temperature at the fourth layer 106d;
- at least one of the rise in the temperature at the second layer 106b and the third layer 106c;
- at least two of a fall in the temperature at the first layer 106a, the second layer 106b and the third layer 106c; and
- at least four of a cross-over of the temperatures of the first layer 106a and the second layer 106b, the first layer 106a and the third layer 106c, the first layer 106a and the fourth layer 106d, the second layer 106b and the third layer 106c, the second layer 106b and the fourth layer 106d, and the third layer 106c and the fourth layer 106d.
When each of the above mentioned conditions for fourth layer 106d are identified, the possibility of occurrence of the sticker would be 80%.
In some embodiments, the sticker signature evaluating module 233 may evaluate the conditions of the sticker signature, as mentioned above, in the real-time temperature variation patterns to determine possibility of occurrence of the sticker in the mould 101. In some embodiments, the sticker signature evaluating module 233 may determine the rise in the temperature and the fall in the temperature at each of the plurality of layers based on a predefined rise threshold and a predefined fall threshold. In other words, only when the rise in the temperature and the fall in the temperature are observed to be above the predefined rise threshold and the predefined fall threshold respectively, the sticker signature evaluating module 233 may determine occurrence of the rise and the fall in the temperature. When the evaluation of the conditions of the sticker signature yields a positive result indicating the possibility of occurrence of the sticker, the sticker detecting module 235 may be activated. When the evaluation of the condition of the sticker signature yields a negative result indicating no possibility of occurrence of the sticker, the sticker signature evaluating module 233 may discard the breakoutability index and continue with next cycle.
In some embodiments, the sticker detecting module 235 may compare, the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold. The sticker detecting module 235 may indicate the presence of the sticker in the mould 101 when the breakoutability index detected by the fuzzy module 105 exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold. Further, the sticker detecting module 235 may trigger an alarm upon indicating the presence of the sticker in the mould 101, for initiating one or more rectifying actions. In some embodiments, the one or more rectifying actions may be reducing casting speed such that the liquid steel may get sufficient time to stay in the mould 101, thereby resulting in formation of a thick shell. In some other embodiments, the one or more rectifying actions may include troubleshooting techniques such as enhancing lubrication to remove the sticker from the mould 101 prior to the next cycle of the continuous casting process.
Further, early detection of the sticker formation is always desirable during the continuous casting process. The system 100 of the present disclosure is configured to detect the sticker in early stages of formation, and such stickers may be called as mild stickers. In some embodiments, the mild stickers may be underdeveloped stickers which are in initial stages of formation. The mild stickers may propagate at a very low speed from one layer of the mould 101 to another layer of the mould 101. As an example, the mild stickers may require more than 60 seconds to reach a subsequent layer.
To determine the mild stickers, initially, the fuzzy module 105 may detect the breakoutability index using the temperature inputs, based on the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, as already explained above in detail. Further, the receiving module 231 may receive the breakoutability index from the fuzzy module 105 and the real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples 103. However, the method of evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns may vary for detecting the presence of the mild stickers.
Generally, the sticker signature evaluating module 233 may evaluate the conditions of the sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns for a time window of approximately 20 seconds. The time window of approximately 20 seconds may be apt for detecting the presence of completely developed stickers. Since the mild stickers propagate at a very low speed from one layer to another layer, the time window of approximately 20 seconds may not detect the presence of the mild stickers in the mould 101.
Therefore, to detect the presence of the mild stickers in the mould 101, the control unit 107 may activate a sliding window module 237. The sliding window module 237 may initially activate a first time window 238a, and a second time window 238b relatively shorter than the first time window 238a as shown in the FIG.2G. As an example, the first time window 238a may be an interval of 60 seconds. As an example, the second time window 238b may be an interval of 15 seconds. Further, the sticker signature evaluating module 233 may determine the possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker, in each of the plurality of layers by evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature for predefined number of instances within the second time window 238b, at the current position. As an example, consider the predefined number of instances is three. The sticker signature evaluating module 233 may evaluate the conditions of the sticker signature for three instances in the 15 second time window. Further, the sliding window module 237 may slide the second time window 238b to a subsequent position from the current position as shown in the FIG.2H and may yet again evaluate the conditions of the sticker signature for three instances in the 15 second time window. Similarly, the sliding window module 237 may slide the second time window 238b until the second time window reaches an end of the first time window 238a and may evaluate the conditions of the sticker signature for three instances in the 15 second time window. Upon reaching the end of the first time window 238a, the sticker signature evaluating module 233 may determine the possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker based on the evaluated conditions of the sticker signature at each subsequent position of the second time window 238b within the first time window 238a.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, the sliding window module 237 may stop sliding the second time window 238b within the first time window 238a, when the sticker signature evaluating module 233 positively determines the possibility of the occurrence of the mild sticker. In other words, when the temperature variation patterns adhere with the conditions of the sticker signature for three instances within the 15 second time window, the sliding window module 237 may stop sliding the second time window 238b to subsequent position.
Upon positively determining the conditions of the sticker signature in the temperature variation patterns using the sliding window concept, the sticker detecting module 235 may follow the same process performed for the completely developed stickers, i.e. the sticker detecting module 235 may compare, the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold. The sticker detecting module 235 may indicate the presence of the mild sticker in the mould 101 when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold. Further, the sticker detecting module 235 may trigger an alarm upon indicating the presence of the mild sticker in the mould 101, for initiating the one or more rectifying actions. In some embodiments, detecting the mild stickers in the mould 101 may be extremely helpful, since necessary remedial actions can be taken to prevent the development of the mild sticker.
Further, in some scenarios, during solidification of a molten metal, i.e. the liquid steel into a thick shell, peretectic reactions may occur. A peretectic reaction is a reaction where a solid phase and liquid phase together form a second solid phase at a particular temperature and composition. The occurrence of the peretectic reactions may result in wavy behaviour of the real-time temperature patterns, i.e., the real-time temperature patterns may indicate significant rise and fall in the temperature. This wavy behaviour of the real-time temperature patterns may create an illusion of the possibility of occurrence of the sticker, thereby leading to generation of false alarms. Therefore, the significant rise and fall in the temperature caused due to the occurrence of the peretectic reaction should be differentiated from the significant rise and fall in the temperature caused due to the occurrence of the sticker.
The fuzzy module 105 may detect the breakoutability index using the temperature inputs, based on the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, as already explained above in detail. Further, the receiving module 231 may receive the breakoutability index from the fuzzy module 105 and the real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples 103. However, prior to evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns, the control unit 107 may activate a peretectic reaction detecting module 239 to detect influence of the peretectic reaction on the conditions of the sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns.
Referring to FIG. 2I which illustrates a graph of the real-time temperature variation patterns, consider a predefined time window 234 to determine the influence of the peretectic reaction. As shown in the FIG.2I, X-axis of the graph indicates the real-time temperature variation patterns representing time instance at which the temperature inputs are collected, and Y-axis of the graph represents temperature input at the corresponding time instance.
In some embodiments, the peretectic reaction detecting module 239 may determine absolute differences of successive time instances of the real-time temperature variation patterns within the predefined time window 234. As an example, the absolute differences may be determined for 50 time instances within the predefined time window 234. Further, the peretectic reaction detecting module 239 may determine mean of the absolute differences determined in the predefined time window 234. Based on the mean of the absolute differences, the peretectic reaction detecting module 239 may determine whether the rise and the fall in the temperature is more than a normal variation. In an embodiment, the normal variation is a variation in the temperature that occurs in absence of the peretectic reaction in a molten metal contained in the mould 101. In some embodiments, when the rise and the fall in the temperature is more than the normal variation, the graph may indicate a wavy pattern of the temperature inputs, thus determining the influence of the peretectic reaction on the conditions of the sticker signature. Therefore, the peretectic reaction detecting module 239 may infer that the wavy pattern of the temperature inputs is due to the influence of the peretectic reaction and not due to the presence of the sticker. Further, upon identification of the influence of the peretectic reaction on the conditions of the sticker signature, the peretectic reaction detecting module 239 may inflate the predefined breakoutability threshold, to obtain a new predefined breakoutability threshold.
As an example, consider the mean of the absolute differences is 75 and the breakoutability threshold is 70. In this case, the mean of the absolute differences is greater than the breakoutability threshold, which may result in false detection of presence of the sticker in the mould 101. Therefore, the peretectic reaction detecting module 239 may inflate the predefined breakoutability threshold to a higher value, for example, 85 from 70, in real-time. Inflating the predefined breakoutability threshold may reduce the possibilities of false detection of the presence of the sticker.
Further, the sticker signature evaluating module 233 may evaluate the conditions of the sticker signature, with the pre-stored data, as already explained above in detail for the completely developed stickers. Upon positively determining the conditions of the sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns, the sticker detecting module 235 may compare, the breakoutability index with the new predefined breakoutability threshold. The sticker detecting module 235 may indicate the presence of the sticker in the mould 101 when the breakoutability index exceeds the new predefined breakoutability threshold. Further, the sticker detecting module 235 may trigger an alarm upon indicating the presence of the sticker in the mould 101, for initiating the one or more rectifying actions.
The methods disclosed in flowcharts shown in the FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform functions or implement abstract data types.

The order in which the methods are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the methods. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the methods can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.

As illustrated in the FIG.3A, the method 300a includes one or more blocks illustrating a method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process.

At block 301, the method 300a may include receiving, by a fuzzy module 105, data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of plurality of thermocouples 103 configured on the mould 101, at a predefined time interval. In some embodiments, the temperature inputs may include, but not limited to, rate of rise of the temperature and magnitude rise of the temperature.

At block 303, the method 300a may include determining, by a fuzzy module 105, a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. The breakoutability index may be indicative of occurrence of the sticker. In some embodiments, the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, may include, but not limited to, a fuzzy input graph indicating a plurality of input temperature sets, a fuzzy output graph indicating a plurality of output breakoutability sets and a fuzzy associative matrix comprising a mapping of the plurality of input temperature sets and the plurality of output breakoutability sets.
At block 305, the method 300a may include receiving, by a control unit 107, real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples 103 arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould 101.

At block 307, the method 300 may include determining, by the control unit 107, possibility of occurrence of the sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data 209. In some embodiments, the conditions of the sticker signature comprises of a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures.

At block 309, the method 300 may include comparing, by the control unit 107, the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold, upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker.

At block 311, the method 300a may include indicating, by the control unit 107, presence of the sticker in the mould 101, when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold. Further, the control unit 107 may trigger an alarm to indicate the presence of the sticker in the mould 101 and to initiate one or more remedial actions.

As illustrated in FIG.3B, the method 300b includes one or more blocks illustrating a method for real-time detection of a mild sticker in a mould during continuous casting process.

At block 315, the method 300b may include receiving, by a fuzzy module 105, data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of plurality of thermocouples 103 configured on the mould 101, at a predefined time interval. In some embodiments, the temperature inputs may include, but not limited to, rate of rise of the temperature and magnitude rise of the temperature.

At block 317, the method 300b may include determining, by the fuzzy module 105, a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. The breakoutability index may be indicative of occurrence of the sticker. In some embodiments, the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, may include, but not limited to, a fuzzy input graph indicating a plurality of input temperature sets, a fuzzy output graph indicating a plurality of output breakoutability sets and a fuzzy associative matrix comprising a mapping of the plurality of input temperature sets and the plurality of output breakoutability sets.
At block 319, the method 300b may include receiving, by a control unit 107, real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples 103 arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould 101.

At block 321, the method 300b may include, activating, by the control unit 107, a first time window 238a, and a second time window 238b relatively shorter than the first time window 238a. In some embodiments, current position of the second time window 238b is at origin of the first time window 238a.

At block 323, the method 300b may include, determining, by the control unit 107, possibility of occurrence of the mild sticker, in each of the plurality of layers, by evaluating conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data 209, within the second time window 238b, at the current position. In some embodiments, the conditions of the sticker signature may be evaluated for predefined number of instances within the second time window 238b.

At block 325, the method 300b may include, sliding, by the control unit 107, the second time window 238b to a subsequent position from each current position, within the first time window 238a. In some embodiments, upon sliding the second time window 238b to the subsequent position, the control unit 107 may re-iterate the process of evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature for the predefined number of instances, until the second time window 238b reaches end of the first time window 238a.

At block 327, the method 300b may include, determining, by the control unit 107, the possibility of the occurrence of the mild sticker based on the evaluated conditions of the sticker signature at each subsequent position of the second time window 238b within the first time window 238a.

At block 329, the method 300b may include, comparing, by the control unit 107, the breakoutability index with a predefined breakoutability threshold, upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the mild sticker.

At block 331, the method 300b may include indicating, by the control unit 107, presence of the sticker in the mould 101, when the breakoutability index exceeds the predefined breakoutability threshold. Further, the control unit 107 may trigger an alarm to indicate the presence of the sticker in the mould 101 and to initiate one or more remedial actions.

As illustrated in FIG.3C, the method 300c includes one or more blocks illustrating a method for detecting influence of the peretectic reaction and real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process.

At block 335, the method 300c may include receiving, by a fuzzy module 105, data pertaining to temperature as temperature inputs from each of plurality of thermocouples 103 configured on the mould 101, at a predefined time interval. In some embodiments, the temperature inputs may include, but not limited to, rate of rise of the temperature and magnitude rise of the temperature.

At block 337, the method 300c may include determining, by the fuzzy module 105, a breakoutability index using the temperature inputs based on predefined fuzzy breakoutability data. The breakoutability index may be indicative of occurrence of the sticker. In some embodiments, the predefined fuzzy breakoutability data, may include, but not limited to, a fuzzy input graph indicating a plurality of input temperature sets, a fuzzy output graph indicating a plurality of output breakoutability sets and a fuzzy associative matrix comprising a mapping of the plurality of input temperature sets and the plurality of output breakoutability sets.
At block 339, the method 300c may include receiving, by a control unit 107, real-time temperature variation patterns from the plurality of thermocouples 103 arranged at each of plurality of layers of the mould 101.

At block 341, the method 300c may include identifying, by the control unit 107, influence of a peretectic reaction in a molten metal contained in the mould 101, on conditions of a sticker signature comprising a rise in the temperature, a fall in the temperature and a cross-over of the temperatures. In some embodiments, the control unit 107 may initially determine mean of absolute differences for successive time instances of the real-time temperature variation patterns occurring in a predefined time window 234. Further, the control unit 107 may determine the influence of the peretectic reaction when the real-time temperature variation patterns indicate the rise and the fall in the temperature to be more than a normal variation, based on the mean of the absolute differences.
At block 343, the method 300c may include inflating, by the control unit 107, a predefined breakoutability threshold, to obtain a new breakoutability threshold, upon identification of the influence of the peretectic reaction on the conditions of the sticker signature.
At block 345, the method 300c may include, determining, by the control unit 107, the possibility of the occurrence of the sticker, by evaluating the conditions of the sticker signature comprising the rise in the temperature, the fall in the temperature and the cross-over of the temperatures in the real-time temperature variation patterns with a pre-stored data 209.

At block 347, the method 300c may include, comparing, by the control unit 107, the breakoutability index with the new predefined breakoutability threshold, upon positive determination of the possibility of the occurrence of the mild sticker.

At block 349, the method 300c may include indicating, by the control unit 107, presence of the sticker in the mould 101, when the breakoutability index exceeds the new predefined breakoutability threshold. Further, the control unit 107 may trigger an alarm to indicate the presence of the sticker in the mould 101 and to initiate one or more remedial actions.

FIG.4 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.
In some embodiments, FIG.4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 400 for implementing embodiments consistent with the present invention. In some embodiments, the computer system 400 can be a server that comprises a control unit 107 (also referred as a processor 402 in this FIG.4) that is used for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process. The processor 402 may include at least one data processor for executing program components for executing user or system-generated business processes. The processor 402 may include specialized processing units such as integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, etc.
The processor 402 may be disposed in communication with input devices 411 and output devices 412 via I/O interface 401. The I/O interface 401 may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio, analog, digital, stereo, IEEE-1394, serial bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), infrared, PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component, composite, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), Radio Frequency (RF) antennas, S-Video, Video Graphics Array (VGA), IEEE 802.n /b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), Global System For Mobile Communications (GSM), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax, or the like), etc.
Using the I/O interface 401, computer system 400 may communicate with input devices 411 and output devices 412.
In some embodiments, the processor 402 may be disposed in communication with a communication network 409 via a network interface 403. The network interface 403 may communicate with the communication network 409. The network interface 403 may employ connection protocols including, without limitation, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc. Using the network interface 403 and the communication network 409, the computer system 400 may communicate with plurality of thermocouples 410 (a…..n), a fuzzy module 413. The communication network 409 can be implemented as one of the different types of networks, such as intranet or Local Area Network (LAN) and such within the organization. The communication network 409 may either be a dedicated network or a shared network, which represents an association of the different types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc., to communicate with each other. Further, the communication network 409 may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 402 may be disposed in communication with a memory 405 (e.g., RAM, ROM, etc. not shown in FIG.4) via a storage interface 404. The storage interface 404 may connect to memory 405 including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc., employing connection protocols such as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), fibre channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive, Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state drives, etc.
The memory 405 may store a collection of program or database components, including, without limitation, a user interface 406, an operating system 407, a web browser 408 etc. In some embodiments, the computer system 400 may store user/application data, such as the data, variables, records, etc. as described in this invention. Such databases may be implemented as fault-tolerant, relational, scalable, secure databases such as Oracle or Sybase.
Operating system 407 may facilitate resource management and operation of computer system 400. Examples of operating systems include, without limitation, APPLE® MACINTOSH® OS X®, UNIX®, UNIX-like system distributions (E.G., BERKELEY SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION® (BSD), FREEBSD®, NETBSD®, OPENBSD, etc.), LINUX® DISTRIBUTIONS (E.G., RED HAT®, UBUNTU®, KUBUNTU®, etc.), IBM®OS/2®, MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® (XP®, VISTA®/7/8, 10 etc.), APPLE® IOS®, GOOGLETM ANDROIDTM, BLACKBERRY® OS, or the like. User interface 406 may facilitate display, execution, interaction, manipulation, or operation of program components through textual or graphical facilities. For example, user interfaces may provide computer interaction interface elements on a display system operatively connected to computer system 400, such as cursors, icons, check boxes, menus, scrollers, windows, widgets, etc. Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) may be employed, including, without limitation, Apple® Macintosh® operating systems’ Aqua®, IBM® OS/2®, Microsoft® Windows® (e.g., Aero, Metro, etc.), web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX®, Java®, Javascript®, AJAX, HTML, Adobe® Flash®, etc.), or the like.
Computer system 400 may implement web browser 408 stored program components. Web browser 408 may be a hypertext viewing application, such as MICROSOFT® INTERNET EXPLORER®, GOOGLETM CHROMETM, MOZILLA® FIREFOX®, APPLE® SAFARI®, etc. Secure web browsing may be provided using Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTPS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), etc. Web browsers 408 may utilize facilities such as AJAX, DHTML, ADOBE® FLASH®, JAVASCRIPT®, JAVA®, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), etc. Computer system 400 may implement a mail server stored program component. The mail server may be an Internet mail server such as Microsoft Exchange, or the like. The mail server may utilize facilities such as ASP, ACTIVEX®, ANSI® C++/C#, MICROSOFT®,. NET, CGI SCRIPTS, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT®, PERL®, PHP, PYTHON®, WEBOBJECTS®, etc. The mail server may utilize communication protocols such as Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), MICROSOFT® exchange, Post Office Protocol (POP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), or the like. In some embodiments, the computer system 400 may implement a mail client stored program component. The mail client may be a mail viewing application, such as APPLE® MAIL, MICROSOFT® ENTOURAGE®, MICROSOFT® OUTLOOK®, MOZILLA® THUNDERBIRD®, etc.
Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present invention. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computer-readable medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., non-transitory. Examples include Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, non-volatile memory, hard drives, Compact Disc (CD) ROMs, Digital Video Disc (DVDs), flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.
In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a system and a method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process with utmost accuracy by preventing or eliminating the possibility of triggering false alarms. The present disclosure achieves this accuracy along with prevention of the false alarms by refining breakoutability index determined by the fuzzy module by evaluation conditions of the sticker signature with a pre-stored data.
The present disclosure provides a sliding window concept that detects mild stickers present in the mould with utmost accuracy.
The present disclosure provides a feature wherein influence of the peretectic reactions on the conditions of the sticker signature in real-time temperature variation patterns is determined, thereby reducing false alarms that may be triggered due to the influence of the peretectic reaction.
Equivalents:
A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the invention. When a single device or article is described herein, it will be apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein (whether or not they cooperate), it will be apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of the invention need not include the device itself.

The specification has described a system and a method for real-time detection of a sticker in a mould during continuous casting process. The illustrated steps are set out to explain the exemplary embodiments shown, and it should be anticipated that on-going technological development will change the manner in which particular functions are performed. These examples are presented herein for purposes of illustration, and not limitation. Further, the boundaries of the functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternative boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed. Alternatives (including equivalents, extensions, variations, deviations, etc., of those described herein) will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings contained herein. Such alternatives fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosed embodiments. Also, the words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other similar forms are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open-ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

Referral numerals

Reference Number Description
100 System
101 Mould
103 Plurality of thermocouples
105 Fuzzy module
106a First layer
106b Second layer
106c Third layer
106d Fourth layer
107 Control unit
111 I/O interface
113 Memory
203 Data
205 Modules
207 Input data
209 Pre-stored data
231 Receiving module
233 Sticker signature evaluating module
234 Predefined time window
235 Sticker detecting module
237 Sliding window module
239 Peretectic reaction detecting module
241 Other modules
400 Exemplary computer system
401 I/O Interface of the exemplary computer system
402 Processor of the exemplary computer system
403 Network interface
404 Storage interface
405 Memory of the exemplary computer system
406 User interface
407 Operating system
408 Web browser
409 Communication network
410 Plurality of thermocouples of the exemplary computer system
411 Input devices
412 Output devices
413 Fuzzy module of the exemplary computing system