Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave Monitoring of Refractory Walls

Abstract

The refractory walls of glass tank furnaces degrade during their operational lifetime while premature furnace shutdowns may reduce productivity or even further damage the refractories due to temperature fluctuations. A systematic study using microwaves for wall thickness measurement under various conditions has been initiated with the adaptation of the Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave (FM-CW) Radar Technique. The system requires simple microwave hardware, which is designed to be portable allowing many measurements to be taken over the melt container surfaces yielding on-line information. The FM-CW technique can produce wall thickness data in real-time and basically requires a signal transmitter or horn which may also be made from high-temperature materials of appropriate dielectric constant. The horns could conceivably be permanently mounted at key locations in a glass tank melter or any industrial furnace, as the application of the technique can be expanded. This paper presents the design of such a microwave system as well as the results of some recent experiments for wall thickness measurement purposes.

Meeting Name

Science and Technology in Addressing Environmental Issues in the Ceramic Industry and Ceramic Science and Technology for the Nuclear Industry (2003: Apr. 27-30, Nashville, TN)

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Second Department

Materials Science and Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave (FM-CW) Radar Technique; Glass Tank Furnace; Microwave System; Refractory Walls; Electromagnetic Waves; Glass Furnaces; Microwaves; Permittivity; Raw Materials; Refractory Materials; Temperature Distribution; Waveform Analysis; Frequency Modulation

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1042-1122

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2003 American Ceramic Society, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Apr 2003

Link to Full Text

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