Copyright © IFAC 12th Triennial World Congress,

Sydney, Australia, 1993

HEAT BALANCE CONTROL OF AN IRONMAKING

BLAST FURNACE
V. PanJkovlc and C,J. Crlpps Clark
BHP Research. Newcastle Laboratories. P.O. Box 188. Wallsend. NSW 2287. Australia

Abstract: Heat balance control of the blast furnace is complicated by the multiplicity of
metallurgical reactions and delays in measurement and response to control actions . An on-line
process model was able to predict hot metal temperature hours sooner, thereby allowing more
timely actions. In a parallel investigation. rules in control schemes for metal temperature were
encapsulated in an Operator Guidance System ("OGS") and tested. The OGS met with operator
approval and was implemented as a back-up to the model.

Key Words: metallurgy, modelling, process control, expert systems, temperature control

1. INTRODUCTION The downstream process, steelmaking, requires hot

The blast furnace is a reactor for smelling and
reduction of iron ore (see Fig. 1). The feed charged
at the top of the furnace consists of ironbearing
materials ("ore"), coke and fluxes. Preheated air
("blast"), usually enriched with steam, oxygen and
fuel, is introduced under high pressure into the
furnace through nozzles ("tuyeres"). Combustion
of coke and supplementary fuel with the blast is
the main source of heat for reduction reactions and
melting of the ore. The molten iron ("hot metal")
and slag are discharged periodically through
tapholes at the base of the furnace .
. lump iron ore
..--_ _ _ : ~~~~((mera(ed iron ore
. coke
metal of consistent supply rate and quality
(composition and temperature). This is best
achieved by consistent and smooth operations, with
timely control actions. Reliable heat balance
control is essential in achieving this aim. Thermal
conditions inside the furnace have a strong
influence on the metal and slag compositions. A
serious heat deficit may cause a 'chilled hearth'
(freezing of metal and slag at the bottom of the
furnace), when production losses can amount to
millions of dollars. On the other hand, overheating
wastes energy on a large scale. Heat balance
control is considered to be the starting point in
developing an organised control system for the
blast furnace. This paper describes the experience
gained in development and implementation of such
schemes at the blast furnaces within BHP Steel.

2. BLAST FURNACE PROCESS CONTROL

2.1. Process Characteristics

Metal temperature and composition depend on the

careful balance of heat generated and required.
Deterioration of the balance can be overcome by
adjusting:
the tuyere injectants (e.g. fuel and steam) to
change the heat generated by combustion of
- preh~au:d ;ur the coke - this has a rapid effect on the
~ - ox.ygen
- steam process;
. fuel
the ratio of ore to coke in the feed - this
involves a delay of about four hours before
the change has any effect since it takes this
Figure 1. Ironmaking blast furnace long for the coke to reach the bosh region.

593
The blast furnace presents many difficulties for
process control. Its throughput is large (several
thousand tonnes of solids and millions of cubic
metres of gas daily). The process is dominated by
large and variable time constants and long delays.
Co-existing gases, solids and/or liquids interact in a
complex way involving the heat balance, liquids
drainage, shape and position of melting zone, gas
flow etc. Measurements are prone to substantial
errors because of the high-pressure, high-
temperature and dusty environment. Many
important process variables cannot be measured
directly, while the analysis of samples of raw
materials, metal and slag can be subject to delays.
Feed-forward changes arc made when known
perturbations occur. However, the final
adjustments are feed-hack relative to the actual
change and are mainly based on:
direct measurement of metal temperature
("HMT"), which is subject to a delay of about
four hours because of hold up in the hearth and
the need to have the wphole open for at least
an hour before a reliable sample or temperature
can be obwined;
change in charging rate - this occurs soon after
the cause but is difficult to measure quickly
and unambiguously;
change in top gas analysis - this suffers
minimal delay but requires extreme precision
in measurement and the interpretation depends
on a comprehensi ve model and gcxld daw.
Development of timely control schemes must !lIke
account of the delays in :
that material affected by the change becoming
available to sample;
obtaining sufficient data to identify the
existence of the change above the inherent
noise of the signal;
the corrective action !liking effect.
To a large extent, process control is in the hands of
operators and will probably stay so. In the past,
the furnaces were running less efficiently, with
large reserves of thermal inertia, and the quality
requiremenL'i were less strict. However, with the
increased demands for high quality products and
energy savings, the allowable margin of error has
been rapidly decreased. More efficient control
strategies have been required and the directions of
research can be broadly categorised as:
development of more accurate and reliable
models for timely prediction of the changes in
furnace operation; and
improvement in the uniformity and
consistency of control actions.
2.2 Development of Models
There are three basic types of model (but many
variations exist within each):
Statistical, 'black box' models.
594
- Thermochemical models, steady-state or
dynamic, based on first principles, using heat
and mass balance equations to calculate
parameters useful for control.
- More rigorous and comprehensive models, that
include heat and mass balances, transport
phenomena, heat, mass and momentum transfer
etc.
Swtistical models are based on historic daw and are
of little use if the operating regime is changed.
They do not contribute much to the understanding
of the process. Rigorous models are expensive and
computer intensive, hence difficult to run on-line.
However, thermochemical models can be run
successfully on-line and plant implementations
have been reported (Hatano et al., 1982).
Note that the control action is generally applied
manually and that it may be based on "rules" for
interpreting observations and/or model output.
These rules are often derived from off-line trials
with combinations of various models.
2.3. Improvement of Uniformity and Consistency
of Control Actions
Final decisions on control actions remain with the
operators because some unquantifiable factors may
be relevant. This allows for incorrect
interpretation, irrespective of the quality of the
measurements or the accuracy of the model
predictions. Often different operators interpret
similar information in different ways, which leads
to nonuniformity and inconsistency of control
actions. Ultimately, it increases variability in the
mewl temperature and chemistry.
The use of standard operating procedures ("SOPs"),
incorporating the standardised control rules, is
necessary but not sufficient for uniformity. They
may not be entirely satisfactory because of
incompleteness or inconsistency and the difficulty
in identifying the relevant rules to apply to the
existing set of conditions.
Developments of computers and artificial
intelligence have enabled implementation of the
standardised control schemes in the form of
operator guidance systems ("OGSs"). An OGS
eliminates differences between operators, which
reduces variability of the furnace operation.
Additional advantages include the flexibility to
update and maintain the knowledge built into the
system and the ability to implement more
sophisticated control algorithms than is possible
with manual control practices. Today, OGSs are
used on most Japanese blast furnaces and
significant improvements have been reported
(Nakajima et al., 1988; Otsuka et al., 1990).
 3. HEAT BALANCE CONTROL OF BLAST
FURNACES AT BHP
BHP operates six blast furnaces in three planLs.
Control schemes based on measured hot metal
temperature, charging mte and inLerpretations of top
gas analysis have been developed, more or less
separately between plants and even within onc
plant because of differences in instrumentation etc.
All control procedures arc contained in SOPs,
which process supervisors arc expected to follow,
though they may take other action if justified.
A thermochemical model, "HMB" (for Heat and
Mass Balance) has been insullled on blast furnaces
No.3 ("BF3") and No.4 ("BF4") in NewcasLle, and
on furnace No.5 in Port Kembla, and work has
begun on blast furnace No.2 at Whyalla. The main
motivation for development of HMB was the poor
predictive ability of the schemes based on charge
rate and metal temperature (their inability to predict
sudden cooling has led to several chilled hearths in
the past). Concurrently, a set of pre-HMB SOPs
has been converted into an OGS and is being used
at BF3. Though these arc separate activities at this
stage, it is planned that they will be linked so that
the OGS will interpret various HMB outputs in
conjunction with the other control schemes.
4. CONTROL USING THE HEAT AND MASS
BALANCE MODEL
4.1. Basics of HMB
HMB is a detailed two-stage, static,
thermochemical computer model of the blast
furnace process. It was developed for off-line use,
including evaluation of furnace operation, checking
of consistency of instrumenLation, comparing
alternative operations and general planning . The
"MONITOR" mode of calculation was incorporated
to calculate the hot metal temperature etc. from the
most appropriate data available. These comprise
the analyses of all feeds (ores, coke, fluxes and
tuyere injectants), the top gas analysis and tuyere
injectant rates and temperatures. These suffice to
calculate a mass balance and, using assumed rates
of heat loss, the heat balances can be closed to
predict the metal and slag temperatures . Other
parameters arc also calculated, such as top gas
temperature, predicted ore/coke in the burden and
some metallurgical quantities which can be
examined for feasibility, as a check of the
reliability of the data.
The assumed heat losses arc estimated in the
"CALIBRATION" calculation mode of HMB using
output temperatures to close the heat balance. This
mode also estimates leaks in the hot blast supply
mains. This enables measured injecutnt flowrates
to be corrected.
595
The "MONITOR" calculation is done every 24 or
30 minutes, depending on the furnace, with
appropriately filtered data. The "CALIBRAnON"
mode is run after midnight each night using the
previous day's data, to update the estimates of heat
losses etc.
4.2. Off-Line Trials
Prior to on-line tests and implementation,
extensive off-line trials were conducted with 45
days of data from BF4. The purpose of the trials
was to investigate processing of input data,
filtering of HMB results, lead time of prediction,
factors reinforcing or negating HMB predictions
and the applicability of statistical process control
("SPC") principles in assessing HMB results.
Similar, but less extensive trials were conducted
with BF3 data . These trials are required for each
furnace because of difference in size, feed and
operation. Furnace No.5 at Port Kembla is at this
stage now.
SPC was used primarily for detection of special
cases and investigation of the circumstances in
which they occur. The special cases were defined
as:
"misses" (measured HMT outside control
limits, predicted HMT inside, or both outside
the limiL~ , but in opposite directions);
"hits" (both predicted and measured HMT
outside control limits in the same direction);
"false alarms" (predicted HMT outside control
limits, measured HMT inside);
"underreactions" (measured HMT outside a
control limit and predicted HMT inside control
limits, but 20 0 C or less from that control
limit); and
- "overreactions" (predicted HMT outside a
control limit and measured HMT inside control
limits, but 100C or less from that cOnLrol
limit).
X-charts were used, since one sample (HMT
predicted every half an hour) makes a subgroup
(Messina, 1987). Trials were performed both with
filtered and unfiltered predicted HMT. Some
authors do not recommend the use of filtered values
since samples become correlated (Messina, 1987).
However, the use of an exponentially weighted
moving average ("EWMA") is recommended if
observations arc autocorrelated (Montgomery and
Mastrangelo, 1991). These authors claim that the
presence of autocorrelation has a serious impact on
the performance of control charts by increasing the
frequency of false alarms (note that some of their
views arc disputed in discussions attached to their
paper).
While their results were not known at the time of
the trials, the same problems were experienced.
Control limits determined by the classical SPC
approach were too narrow, increasing the frequency
of special events. They had to be established on a
trial-and-error basis for both filtered and unfiltered
observations. Analysis of the predicted HMT
showed that autocorrelation between successive
observations was 0.6-0.8. In most of the periods
observed, the predicted HMT was not normally
distributed , the shape being much more peaked and
skewed to the low temperature side. Similar
results were obtained for the same observations
filtered using EWMA with a smoothing coefficient
of 0.5, though their distributions were closer to
normal.
These findings are hardly surprising. The X-charts
are designed for normally distributed, independent
observations. These assumptions are often invalid
in continuous chemical processes with inertial
elements like tanks, reactors etc., with
observations sampled at a time period less than the
hold-up time in the relevant part of the process
(Shaw, 1990; Harris and Ross , 1991). This
applies in our case, when a predicted HMT is
obtained every 30 minutes but the feed takes about
two hours to pass through the relevant reaction
zone, depending on its radial location in the bosh.
The filtered predicted HMT was used for
performance review. The unfiltered values were too
spiky, resulting in false alarms and overreactions,
and the spikes could mask trends. A smoothing
coefficient of 0.5 was chosen by trial and error to
achieve a balance between effective filtering and
acceptable lag. A median filter appeared to be very
efficient for the rejection of outliers; however, it
introduced unacceptable lag.
Table I Analysis Qfthe soecial cases at BF4
during the off-line trial
hits 16
misses 2 boundaries 25 0 C apart. The control action is
false alanns 2 governed by the number of points in the zone. For
underrcactions 3 example, 8 consecutive points above aim in the
overreactions 11
operation problems 19
unreliable HMT measurements 10
problems with top gas analyser 4
Analysis of the specia l cases is shown in Table 1.
Intervals when data quality was bad were
disregarded , as well as tran sient periods after the
furnace shutdowns. Misses and false alarms were
counted only if operation or measu rement problems
were not reported at the time they occurred.
Special cases unrelated to the real changes in HMT
are listed in the last three rows. Such cases are the
major factors that may affect predictions of H MB
causing misses and false alarms.
All phenomena that affect LOp gas composition are
potentially dangerou s for H M B performance .
596
These problems are not caused by the model
deficiencies. On the other hand, they were often
recognised through the abnormal HMB behaviour
(oscillations, very sharp changes of predicted HMT
or unrealistic values of calculated variables). The
trial confirmed the capability of the
"CALlBRA nON" mode of HMB to detect
problems with data integrity.
The lead time of prediction was determined by
applying time series analysis to sequences of
predicted and measured HMTs. Applying different
lag times to the temperatures, it was found that the
correlation was a maximum for lag times of 3.5-
4.5 hours at both furnaces. Analysis of HMB
performance in terms of hit-and-miss analysis was
not applicable to BF3 due to its stable performance
and the absence of special cases.
4.3. On-Line Performance
HMB has been used regularly for heat balance
control of BF4 since June 1991. The SPC scheme
has been used for the following reasons:
- it has been successfully applied to blast furnace
control (Ricketts, 1984; ShullZ and Duncan,
1989);
- it is not advisable to apply a complex model-
based control scheme until the behaviour of the
model is sufficiently understood;
- the process is critical and the conservative
approach is preferred; and
- it is simple and intuitively clear, which is
important in processes where the operators
make the final decision.
The control scheme has been described by
Goldsworthy et al. (1992) . Broadly, it is based on
the Shewart control chart containing 4 zones
centred around the aim temperature, with zone
innennost zone requires a heat change equivalent to
-5°C, while 2 consecutive points above aim in the
outermost zone requires a change equivalent to
-35°C.
Performance in terms of hits and misses, as used in
the off-line trials, is not readily analysed because of
the effects of heat changes made in accordance with
HMB predictions. However, results at 4BF are
very encouraging. Several potential hearth
chillings were successfully predicted and avoided
(an example is shown in Fig. 2). Secondly, there
was a slight decrease in the standard deviation of
hot metal silicon content but, more importantly,
the silicon cost penalty index (economic penalty
associated with increased flux consumption at the
steel making department for processing hot metal
quality outside specifications) decreased from 23 to
15 (Goldsworthy et al., 1992).
When the classical SPC rules were applied to knowledge has improved the operation of the
determine the control limits at BF3, the zones furnaces . However, the number of SOPs (more
were too narrow (only 15 0 C). Off-line trials with than 10 volumes for some furnaces) and the grey
zone widths of 20 0 C and 25 0 C and the rules used areas they often contain are serious problems. An
on BF4 were applied. Results are shown in Table analysis of a 15-day period found that only 38% of
2. Comparison of the recommended control actions for heat balance control were strictly in
actions against the furnace conditions indicated that accordance with the SOP. Three main causes of
the deviations from the SOP were identified:
changes associated with a zone width of 20 0 C
- Incompleteness of SOP. A number of
would be too frequent and too large.
uncommon situations were not covered.

r--.----- --.----.--.-----
Predicted HMT
1
- Ambiguities in SOP, Certain control actions
are not always clearly defined in the SOP.

--Iv T t~· I
Insufficient knowledge of SOP, Sometimes
the right actions are not made in situations

,,~c ~,,~c
clearly described in the SOP.
::
The OGS developed and tested at 3BF is based on
1

an SOP for heat balance control with three control

1,300

....l....--~~, _ - - - ' _ _ _ _ • •• __ J schemes:

25OCTll "OOOO 28CX:T" IZ:OO charge rate scheme, based on the deviation of
Measured HMT the furnace fceding rate from the aim rate;
metal temperature scheme, based on the
deviation from the aim HMT; and
flame temperature scheme, which adjusts
ore/coke to bring injectants into balance.

Broadly, the first two schemes adjust the injectant

rates to make rapid changes to the heat input while
the third is used to maintain injectant rates at or
near the optimum, allowing for the delay in effect
Fig. 2. Hearth chilling on October 25, 1991 of any change in ore/coke.
(+35 0 C and -15 0 C are magnitudes of
The OGS is based on heat balance indicators
heat changes)
inferior to HMB predictions (charge rate and metal
temperature). However, these measurements rely
on much simpler and more robust instrumentation
Table 2 Freguency and average size of control
and the OGS is very useful as a backup to HMB
actions for trial zone widths
based control (HMB is out of use for 5%-10% of
the time at 4BF and even more at 3BF, which has
Zone width Total No of Average size older gas chromatographs). The development and
actions of an action implementation of an OGS is faster and cheaper
20 0 C 23 14.1oC than installing the on-line HMB , so it is a good
25 0 C 21 1O.7 o C solution for furnaces without the HMB control or
lacking adequate instrumentation. Note that an
It is unlikely that a heat and mass balance model OGS for interpretation of HMB output would use
robust against instrumentation and operation the flame temperature part of the existing control
problems will be ever developed . These difficulties scheme and would incorporate the current OGS as a
have been also encountered in Sumitomo Metal backup. It would also check consistency and
Industries (Otsuka et al., 1990). Though reality of various additional parameters only
successful, their model also appeared to be available through HMB.
unreliable in such circumstances. The problem
was solved by the introduction of an expert system The OGS comprises separate knowledge bases for
for detection of problematic situations, when the each of the three control schemes and a "calculator"
heat balance control would be passed from the module to recommend changes in the furnace
model to some more robust (but less efficient) inputs necessary for achieving the required heat
strategy. This is seen as a good approach to our changes. It takes into account limits of different
problem. injectants and keeps their ratio within specified
boundaries. It also calculates important operational
parameters. It should be noted that, at this stage,
5. OPERATOR GUIDANCE SYSTEMS the OGS does not perform control changes: it just
recommends them. Furnace operators have the
The SOPs contain control procedures and are also right to decide how to apply the recommendations.
used for interpretation of the outputs of different The interface with the operators received particular
models, including HMB. This systematisation of attention.

597
A six-day plant trial with the OGS was held on
BF3 in August, 1991. Before the trial, meetings
were held with furnace operators and operation
engineers. It was made clear that the OGS aimed
to assist the operators, and not to replace them.
The OGS project itself had very strong support
from blast furnace management.
The criterion of success was compliance of the
recommendations and heat changes with the SOP,
since the trial period was too short to make any
significant conclusions about the reduction in the
variability of the metal temperature and
composition. During the trial, 75% of heat
changes related to the SOP strictly followed that
SOP. It is a statistically significant improvement
over the results achieved with the manual control
practices (38%).
The OGS has been in regular use since September
1992. Strong emphasis is put on the maintenance
of the knowledge bases (Panjkovic et al., 1992). It
is envisaged that most of the maintenance will be
carried out by the ironmaking operation engineers,
which is more direct and less expensive than using
professional programmers.
6. CONCLUSIONS
Two different developments in the control of hot
metal temperature in an iron blast furnace have
been applied with success. The first is an on-line
static mass and energy balance model of the process
which uses the available virtually delay-free data,
notably the tuyere injectant rates and top gas
composition, to calculate hot metal temperature
and other process characteristics from the
thermochemistry of the process. While it depends
on instruments being highly accurate, it is able to
reliably predict major temperature changes some
hours in advance of their direct measurement.
Work is continuing on improving the
interpretation, thereby accelerating responses and
appropriate control action. It is now in use or
being installed on four of the six BHP blast
furnaces .
An operator guidance system embodying the
standard operating procedures for the three current
control schemes on BF3 was tried and
implemented. It gained acceptance by operators and
improved the accuracy of their interpretation and
application of the complex rules. The production
version incorporates the facilities for rule update by
ironmaking supervision and built-in cheCking of
rules for contradictions and incomplete knowledge .
When more experience has been accumulated with
the interpretation of the additional information
from the on-line model, the next step will be to
include procedures for its use into the overall
operator guidance system for heat balance control.
598
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