Calorific value measuring device and calorific value measuring method
10816413 ยท 2020-10-27
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
G01N25/20
PHYSICS
G01K17/04
PHYSICS
G01K17/06
PHYSICS
G01N29/024
PHYSICS
International classification
G01N25/20
PHYSICS
G01N29/024
PHYSICS
G01K17/06
PHYSICS
G01K17/04
PHYSICS
G01N21/41
PHYSICS
Abstract
It is an object of the present invention to provide a calorific value measuring device and a calorific value measuring method which enable highly reliable measurement of the calorific value of a by-product gas produced in a steelmaking process. In the present invention, with a by-product gas produced in a steelmaking process being employed as an object gas of which calorific value is to be measured, the refractive index and the sonic speed of the by-product gas are measured so as to compute a refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O from the value of the refractive index as well as a sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S from the value of the sonic speed. On the basis of the concentration X.sub.CO of carbon monoxide gas contained in the by-product gas, an error calorific value Q.sub.CO is computed by Equation (1) below using a value selected within a range of 0.08 to 0.03 as a calorific value equivalent coefficient . On the basis of the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O, the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S and the error calorific value Q.sub.CO which have been computed, the calorific value Q of the by-product gas is determined by Equation (2) below using a value selected within a range of 1.1 to 4.2 as a correction factor .
Claims
1. A calorific value measuring device for measuring a calorific value of a by-product gas produced in a steelmaking process, the calorific value measuring device comprising: a refractive index equivalent calorific value computation mechanism for computing a refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O [MJ/Nm.sup.3] based on a refractive index of a by-product gas that is a calorific value measurement object gas; a sonic speed equivalent calorific value computation mechanism for computing a sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S [MJ/Nm.sup.3] based on a sonic speed of the by-product gas; an error calorific value measuring mechanism for computing an error calorific value Q.sub.co [MJ/Nm.sup.3] exerting an influence on the sonic speed equivalent calorific value and the refractive index equivalent calorific value based on a first equation expressed as Q.sub.co=X.sub.co, wherein X.sub.co represents a concentration [vol % (volume percentage)] of carbon monoxide gas contained in the by-product gas and is a calorific value equivalent coefficient having a value selected within a range of 0.08 to 0.03; and a calorific value computation mechanism for computing a calorific value Q [MJ/Nm.sup.3] of the by-product gas based on a second equation expressed as
2. The calorific value measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the error calorific value measuring mechanism includes CO concentration measuring means for measuring a concentration of carbon monoxide gas contained in the by-product gas that is the calorific value measurement object gas.
3. The calorific value measuring device according to claim 2, wherein the CO concentration measuring means includes an infrared sensor.
4. A calorific value measuring method for measuring a calorific value of a by-product gas produced in a steelmaking process, the calorific value measuring method comprising: measuring a refractive index and a sonic speed of the by-product gas that is a calorific value measurement object gas and computing a refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O [MJ/Nm.sup.3] from a value of the refractive index, and computing a sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S [MJ/Nm.sup.3] from a value of the sonic speed; computing an error calorific value Q.sub.co [MJ/Nm.sup.3] exerting an influence on the sonic speed equivalent calorific value and the refractive index equivalent calorific value based on a first equation expressed as Q.sub.co=X.sub.co, wherein is a calorific value equivalent coefficient having a value selected within a range of 0.08 to 0.03 and X.sub.co represents a concentration [vol % (volume percentage)] of carbon monoxide gas contained in the by-product gas; and determining a calorific value Q [MJ/Nm.sup.3] of the by-product gas based on a second equation expressed as
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
(5) Now, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail below.
(6)
(7) The calorific value measuring device employs, as a calorific value measurement object gas, a by-product gas such as a coke oven gas, a blast furnace gas and a Linz-Donawitz converter gas, produced in a steelmaking process. The calorific value measuring device is configured to include, a calorific value measuring mechanism 20 for measuring a calorific value of the calorific value measurement object gas and with a display mechanism 40 for displaying information such as the calorific value of the calorific value measurement object gas, which are arranged in a common outer container 10. Here, in the present invention, by setting as appropriate the correction factor and the calorific value equivalent coefficient as will be described later, it is possible to measure any of the total calorific value (Gross) and the true calorific value (Net), which hereafter, except when specified otherwise, will be referred to simply as the calorific value.
(8) The calorific value measuring mechanism 20 includes, for example: a refractive index equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 21 for acquiring a refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O determined from the value of the refractive index of a calorific value measurement object gas; a sonic speed equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 25 for acquiring a sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S determined from the value of the sonic speed of the calorific value measurement object gas; an error calorific value measuring mechanism 30 for measuring an error calorific value Q.sub.CO caused by carbon monoxide gas on the basis of the concentration X.sub.CO [vol % (volume percentage)] of carbon monoxide gas contained in the calorific value measurement object gas; and a calorific value computation mechanism 35 for computing the value of the calorific value Q of the calorific value measurement object gas.
(9) The refractive index equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 21 include: refractive index measuring means 22 for measuring the refractive index of the calorific value measurement object gas; and refractive indexcalorific value converting means 23 having a function of determining the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O on the basis of the value of the refractive index measured by the refractive index measuring means 22.
(10) Taking advantage of the correlation between the refractive index and the calorific value of a specific gas in the calorific value measurement object gas, which is acquired in advance, for example, by plotting a graph, the specific gas being computed of only a combustible gas component (paraffinic hydrocarbon gas) without any incombustible gas component, and assuming that the value of the refractive index acquired for the calorific value measurement object gas is the refractive index of the specific gas, the refractive indexcalorific value converting means 23 computes the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O by contrasting the value of the acquired refractive index with the correlation.
(11) The sonic speed equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 25 includes: sonic speed measuring means 26 for measuring the propagation speed of sound waves in the calorific value measurement object gas (the sonic speed of the calorific value measurement object gas); and sonic speedcalorific value converting means 27 having a function of determining the value of the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S on the basis of the value of the sonic speed measured by the sonic speed measuring means 26.
(12) Taking advantage of the correlation between the sonic speed and the calorific value of a specific gas in the calorific value measurement object gas, which is acquired in advance, for example of only a combustible gas component (paraffinic hydrocarbon gas), by plotting a graph, the specific gas being composed without any incombustible gas component (for example, N.sub.2), and assuming that the value of the sonic speed acquired for the calorific value measurement object gas is the sonic speed of the specific gas, the sonic speedcalorific value converting means 27 computes the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S by contrasting the value of the acquired sonic speed with the correlation.
(13) The error calorific value measuring mechanism 30 includes, for example: CO concentration measuring means 31 for measuring the concentration of carbon monoxide gas contained in the calorific value measurement object gas; and CO concentrationcalorific value converting means 32 for computing an error calorific value Q.sub.CO caused by the concentration of the carbon monoxide gas.
(14) The CO concentration measuring means 31 is not limited to a particular one, but for example, may preferably be configured from one equipped with an infrared sensor for detecting the gas concentration of carbon monoxide gas depending on the level of attenuation of the quantity of infrared light caused by the infrared light being absorbed by carbon monoxide gas that is a gas to be sensed. Employing, as the CO concentration measuring means 31, one that takes advantage of a so-called non-dispersive infrared absorption method enables to make the influence of another miscellaneous gas contained in the calorific value measurement object gas as little as possible. This allows the concentration of carbon monoxide gas to be detected with high precision.
(15) On the basis of the detected value of the concentration X.sub.CO [vol % (volume percentage)] of the carbon monoxide gas, the CO concentrationcalorific value converting means 32 computes the error calorific value Q.sub.CO caused by the carbon monoxide gas by Equation (1) above under the condition of using a value selected within a range of 0.08 to 0.03 as the calorific value equivalent coefficient .
(16) Equation (1) above was acquired as follows. That is, first, for each of multiple sorts of test gases, for example, predominantly composed of methane gas and having mutually different carbon monoxide gas concentrations, the true calorific value Q.sub.a of each test gas is computed with the error calorific value Q.sub.CO term being 0 in Equation (2) above under the condition of the correction factor being 2.30, for example. Furthermore, for each of the test gases, the calorific value Q.sub.b is measured in conformity with JIS K2301:2011. Then, for example, with the calorific value Q.sub.b acquired in conformity with JIS K2301:2011 being employed as a true value, the results are plotted (denoted by marking crosses) with the vertical axis representing the error [MJ/Nm.sup.3, Net] to the true value of the calorific value Q.sub.a calculated under the aforementioned condition and the horizontal axis representing the concentration of carbon monoxide gas [vol % (volume percentage)].
(17) Note that
(18) As an example of the calorific value equivalent coefficient , to measure the total calorific value of the calorific value measurement object gas, the calorific value equivalent coefficient can be set to 0.0475, for example. On the other hand, to measure the true calorific value of the calorific value measurement object gas, the calorific value equivalent coefficient can be set to 0.0629, for example.
(19) The calorific value computation mechanism 35 computes the value of the calorific value Q of the calorific value measurement object gas by Equation (2) above under the condition of using a value selected within a range of 1.1 to 4.2 as the correction factor on the basis of the value of the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O acquired by the refractive index equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 21, the value of the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S acquired by the sonic speed equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 25, and the value of the error calorific value Q.sub.CO caused by the carbon monoxide gas acquired by the error calorific value measuring mechanism 30.
(20) The correction factor is the value of the ratio of the measurement error in the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S caused by a miscellaneous gas being contained in the calorific value measurement object gas to the measurement error of the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O, and is selected corresponding to the composition of the calorific value measurement object gas.
(21) In Equation (2) above, a value selected within a range of 1.1 to 4.2 is employed as the correction factor , and in particular, a value selected within a range of 2.20 to 2.60 is preferably employed.
(22) When the value of the correction factor is excessively small, it is not possible to sufficiently correct the measurement errors occurring in the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O and the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S, so that the finally acquired value of the calorific value Q of the calorific value measurement object gas may have a measurement error caused by the miscellaneous gas being contained. On the other hand, when the value of the correction factor is excessively large, the measurement errors occurring in the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O and the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S may not be appropriately corrected, so that the finally acquired value of the calorific value Q of the calorific value measurement object gas may have a measurement error.
(23) In the foregoing, a numeral 11 in
(24) In the aforementioned calorific value measuring device, a part of a by-product gas such as a coke oven gas, a blast furnace gas or a Linz-Donawitz converter gas is sequentially supplied, as the calorific value measurement object gas, from the calorific value measurement object gas inlet 11 to each of the sonic speed measuring means 26 of the sonic speed equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 25 and the refractive index measuring means 22 of the refractive index equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 21. Furthermore, for example, a reference gas such as air is supplied from the reference gas inlet 12 to the refractive index measuring means 22 of the refractive index equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 21. In the sonic speed equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 25, the sonic speed measuring means 26 measures the sonic speed of a by-product gas, and on the basis of the result, the value of the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S is determined by the sonic speedcalorific value converting means 27. Furthermore, in the refractive index equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 21, the refractive index measuring means 22 measures the refractive index of the by-product gas, and on the basis of the result, the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O is determined by the refractive indexcalorific value converting means 23.
(25) On the other hand, all the other part of the by-product gas introduced from the calorific value measurement object gas inlet 11 is supplied to the CO concentration measuring means 31 of the error calorific value measuring mechanism 30. In the error calorific value measuring mechanism 30, the CO concentration measuring means 31 measures the concentration X.sub.CO [vol % (volume percentage)] of carbon monoxide gas contained in the by-product gas. On the basis of the acquired value of the concentration X.sub.CO [vol % (volume percentage)] of the carbon monoxide gas, the error calorific value Q.sub.CO caused by the concentration of the carbon monoxide gas is determined by the CO concentrationcalorific value converting means 32 by Equation (1) above under the condition of using a value selected within a specific range as the calorific value equivalent coefficient .
(26) On the basis of the value of the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O, the value of the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S and the value of the error calorific value Q.sub.CO, which have been acquired as mentioned above, the calorific value Q of the by-product gas is computed by the calorific value computation mechanism 35 by Equation (2) above under the condition of using a value selected within a specific range as the correction factor , and the result is displayed on the display mechanism 40.
(27) Note that the by-product gas and the reference gas are discharged out of the device via the gas exit unit 13.
(28) Then, as described above, when the calorific value of the by-product gas is measured on the basis of the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O and the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S, selecting only the value of the correction factor expressed by the ratio of the measurement error of the sonic speed measuring means 26 to the measurement error of the refractive index measuring means 22 cannot compensate the measurement errors occurring in the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O and the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S, caused by a miscellaneous gas. The inventors have found the reason for this by focusing the influence by carbon monoxide gas as a miscellaneous gas contained in the by-product gas, i.e., it was found that other miscellaneous gases such as nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide gas have substantially a constant magnitude in the error calorific value even when the concentrations of these gases are changed, whereas the error calorific value due to the carbon monoxide gas is changed proportionally in relation to the concentration of the carbon monoxide gas. Then, it was found that the calorific value of the by-product gas can be measured with high precision by making a correction depending on the concentration X.sub.CO [vol % (volume percentage)] of the carbon monoxide gas.
(29) Thus, according to the aforementioned calorific value measuring method, it is possible to compute, on the basis of the result acquired by measuring the concentration X.sub.CO [vol % (volume percentage)] of the carbon monoxide gas contained in the by-product gas, by Equation (1) above, the error calorific value Q.sub.CO caused by the concentration X.sub.CO [vol % (volume percentage)] of the carbon monoxide gas under the condition of using a value selected within a specific range as the calorific value equivalent coefficient . As a result, compensated are the measurement errors of the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O and the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S caused by the miscellaneous gas of carbon monoxide gas and other gases contained in the by-product gas, that is the calorific value measurement object gas. It is thus possible to measure the calorific value Q of the by-product gas with high reliability.
(30) Then, according to the calorific value measuring device of the present invention in which such a calorific value measuring method is executed, the calorific value Q of the by-product gas can be measured with high reliability. Furthermore, since the calorific value Q of the by-product gas can be continuously acquired corresponding to the actual situation, it is possible to immediately detect a variation in the calorific value Q resulting from a variation in gas composition even in the presence of the variation in the gas composition, for example, even in the occurrence of a variation in the concentration of carbon monoxide gas contained in the Linz-Donawitz converter gas.
(31) Furthermore, the aforementioned calorific value measuring device is configured such that multiple sorts of measuring means (sensors) which constitute the calorific value measuring mechanism 20, having mutually different detection principles, such as the refractive index equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 21, the sonic speed equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 25 and the error calorific value measuring mechanism 30, are provided in the common outer container 10. This simplifies the construction and operation of the measurement system. Furthermore, since not much time is required for measurement, and no time lags are accompanied for computations of the refractive index equivalent calorific value Q.sub.O and the sonic speed equivalent calorific value Q.sub.S as well as and the error calorific value Q.sub.CO, it is possible to measure the calorific value Q of the by-product gas in real time.
(32) In the foregoing, the embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment, but various modifications may be made thereto.
(33) For example, the CO concentration measuring means in the error calorific value measuring mechanism is not limited to one that takes advantage of a so-called non-dispersive infrared absorption method, but may also be provided with another gas sensor that is capable of detecting the concentration of the carbon monoxide gas. Furthermore, the calorific value measuring device itself is not required to include the CO concentration measuring means, but may also be configured to allow an appropriate CO concentration measuring device to measure the concentration of carbon monoxide gas contained in the calorific value measurement object gas and then the concentration data thus acquired to be inputted.
(34) Now, example experiments of the present invention will be described below.
Example Experiment 1
(35) As test gases, a coke oven gas (COG), a blast furnace gas (BFG) and a Linz-Donawitz converter gas (LDG) that had the compositions shown in Table 1 below were prepared.
(36) For each of these three sorts of test gases, the refractive index, the sonic speed (density) and the concentration of carbon monoxide gas were measured using a gas refractometer with a refractive index sensor, a gas densimeter with a sonic speed sensor and a gas concentration meter with an infrared sensor, respectively.
(37) On the basis of the acquired values of the refractive index, the sonic speed and the concentration value of the carbon monoxide gas, the value of the total calorific value of each test gas was computed by Equation (1) and Equation (2) above, where the correction factor was 2.27 and the calorific value equivalent coefficient was 0.0475. Then, with the value of the calorific value acquired in conformity with JIS K2301:2011 being a true value, the relation between the measured value of the calorific value (measured calorific value) and the true value was examined. The results of the coke oven gas (COG), the blast furnace gas (BFG) and the Linz-Donawitz converter gas (LDG) are denoted in
(38) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 COMPOSITION [vol %] N.sub.2 CO CO.sub.2 CH.sub.4 H.sub.2 COG 5.03 7.48 3.49 27.44 56.56 BFG 55.00 21.98 20.52 0 2.50 LDG 21.49 58.50 18.51 0 1.50
Example Experiment 2
(39) As test gases, used were multiple sorts of gases which were mixture gases (M gases) prepared by mixing the aforementioned coke oven gas (COG) and the aforementioned blast furnace gas (BFG) with appropriately varied mixing ratios of the coke oven gas (COG) and the blast furnace gas (BFG). Except for this, the same method as that of Example Experiment 1 was followed to measure the total calorific value of each test gas. Then, with the value of calorific value acquired in conformity with JIS K2301:2011 being employed as a true value, the relation between the measured calorific value and the true value was examined. The results are denoted in
Example Experiment 3
(40) As test gases, used were multiple sorts of gases which were mixture gases (M gases) prepared by mixing the aforementioned coke oven gas (COG) and the aforementioned Linz-Donawitz converter gas (LDG) with appropriately varied mixing ratios of the coke oven gas (COG) and the Linz-Donawitz converter gas (LDG). Except for this, the same method as that of Example Experiment 1 was followed to measure the total calorific value of each test gas. Then, with the value of the calorific value acquired in conformity with JIS K2301:2011 being employed as a true value, the relation between the measured calorific value and the true value was examined. The results are denoted in
Example Experiment 4
(41) As test gases, used were multiple sorts of gases which were mixture gases (N gases) prepared by mixing the aforementioned blast furnace gas (BFG) and the aforementioned Linz-Donawitz converter gas (LDG) with appropriately varied mixing ratios of the blast furnace gas (BFG) and the Linz-Donawitz converter gas (LDG). Except for this, the same method as that of Example Experiment 1 was followed to measure the total calorific value of each test gas. Then, with the value of the calorific value acquired in conformity with JIS K2301:2011 being employed as a true value, the relation between the measured calorific value and the true value was examined. The results are denoted in
Example Experiment 5
(42) As test gases, used were multiple sorts of gases which were mixture gases (M gases) prepared by mixing the aforementioned coke oven gas (COG), the aforementioned blast furnace gas (BFG) and the aforementioned Linz-Donawitz converter gas (LDG) with appropriately varied mixing ratios of the coke oven gas (COG), the blast furnace gas (BFG) and the Linz-Donawitz converter gas (LDG). Except for this, the same method as that of Example Experiment 1 was followed to measure the total calorific value of each test gas. Then, with the value of the calorific value acquired in conformity with JIS K2301:2011 being employed as a true value, the relation between the measured calorific value and the true value was examined. The results are denoted in
Comparative Example Experiments 1 to 5
(43) To each of the plurality of test gases employed in Example Experiment 1 to Example Experiment 5, no correction was made by the concentration of carbon monoxide gas contained in the test gas (Q.sub.CO=0 in Equation (1) above). Except for this, the same method as that of Example Experiment 1 was followed to measure the total calorific value of each test gas. Then, with the value of the calorific value acquired in conformity with JIS K2301:2011 being employed as a true value, the relation between the measured calorific value and the true value was examined. The results are shown in
(44) As can be seen clearly from the results above, in Example Experiment 1 to Example Experiment 5, it was confirmed that the calorific value (total calorific value) of the test gas could be measured with high precision by making a correction depending on the concentration of the carbon monoxide gas contained in the test gas. In contrast to this, for Comparative Example Experiment 1 to Comparative Example Experiment 5, it was confirmed that due to the influence of the carbon monoxide gas, there occurred a measurement error at a level that could not be practically neglected.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
(45) 10 outer container 11 calorific value measurement object gas inlet 12 reference gas inlet 13 gas exit unit 20 calorific value measuring mechanism 21 refractive index equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 22 refractive index measuring means 23 refractive indexcalorific value converting means 25 sonic speed equivalent calorific value measuring mechanism 26 sonic speed measuring means 27 sonic speedcalorific value converting means 30 error calorific value measuring mechanism 31 CO concentration measuring means 32 CO concentrationcalorific value converting means 35 calorific value computation mechanism 40 display mechanism