Electrostatic Precipitator Dust Control

Challenge Details

In the Sinter Plant of Tata Steel Kalinganagar, we have Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) for dust control. In the  'Process ESP' and 'Plant Dust ESP', we are unable to monitor online the

a. Inlet flow (Design Specs for Process ESP- 384 cubm/s, For Plant Dust ESP Design Specs- 184 cubm/s)

b. Inlet Dust Loading (Design Specs for Process ESP -  1 gm/Nm3 ;  Design Specs for Plant Dust ESP-  15 gm/Nm3). 

c. Inlet Pressure - 170mbar (max)

Typical Analysis of Dust(Physical):    

+0.25 mm= 4%;

+0.15mm= 38%;

+0.075mm= 40%;

-0.075mm= 18%

Important typical Chemical Constituents are:

Fe ~ 50%;

Loss of Ignition ~ 10%;

CaO = 9%;

Chlorides = 0.9%;

Oil = 1.2%;

K2O = 5%

The ESP are located before the inlet of chimneys at Sinter Plant to scrub the emission of waste gasses. There are two chimneys at our plant - One chimney is dedicated for Process ESP and is designed for a maximum dust Emission level of 50mg/Nm3. The other chimney is meant for Dedusting Systems (Work Area Environment) and is designed for 50mg/Nm3 max. Presently, we are monitoring the outlet dust emissions and it is well within norms (< 50mg>

It is beneficial to know the inlet parameters (flow and dust loading) as it helps in optimizing the process and on an overall basis. This will also ensure improved reliability from ESP.

Currently, the input parameters to ESP is not measured quantitatively. It is important to measure both inflow and inlet loading of dust.. We are not sure of the values for the inlet parameters (Items (a) and (b) above, of the Electrostatic Precipitator). They are not being monitored.

Since measurement systems for these parameters were not available for the beginning, none of the solution options have been tried out before.

Constraints

Monitoring instruments should be fairly accurate and reliable, taking into consideration this work environment (of Sinter Plant). Rugged and low maintenance

Success Criteria

The solution should measure accurately the inlet dust load and inflow speed