Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ 3
METHOD-AND APP~RATUS F~R INSPECTING
REFRACTO~Y LINING IN COKE OVEN
CHAMBERS AND THE LIKE
B~CKGROUND OF T~IE INYENTION
This inven~ion relates to a method and apparatus
for inspectiorl o~ ~he re~rac~ory lining of a high
t~mperature chamber ~uch as is commonly ~mployed in coking
chambers of a bat~ery of colce oveels, pneumatic steel
treatment vessels, reheat furnaces for metallic workpie~es
and the like~ More particularly, ~he present invention is
addressed to the inspection of such a refractory lining
while at a highly hea~ed state by transmitting video sig~al5
to a remote locaeion produced by a televisio~ camera ~hat
is moved along such refractory lining while the camera is
located wi~hin a ~hermally-protec~ive environmen~ formed
by an enclosure~ :
A typical coklng chamber in a co~e oven ba~tery
o~ present-day designs is approximately 2 ee~ wide, 12 to
18 ~eet high and 40 to 60 feet~long. In a coke oven bat~
tery~ the coking chambers ~cept those at ea~h end of the
battery have a coking chamber at each side thereo. When
a given coking chamber is pushed, ~h~ adjacent ~oking
chambers at each side thereof ha~e coal ~harg~s that have
been advanced pproximately midway througb the coking
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process. While inspec~ion o:f the refractory lining of a
coking chamber is ex~remely important7 ic must be carried
ou~ within a relatively short p~riod of time to not only
minimize production losses but also to avoid critîcal tem-
perature imbalances partieularly s ince there is an empty
coke oven chamber having side wal-ls which are an intQgral
part of the heating flues employed to heat ~he adjacent
coking chambers.
Presently, the inspection of a coking chamber
takes place immediately ater the coke has been pushed into
a transfer car at the coke side by a ram supported a~ the
machine side. An inspeetor then views ~he emptied oven
ch~mber from either the coke side or the machine side. The
time available to the inspector for viewing the refractory
lining is usually very short because the inspector is
exposed ~o intense thermal radia~on from the oven. In
this respect~ a coking chamber is heated ~o relatively high
temperatures and within the rangP of 1200F to ~100E'. The
inspector, therefore, quîckly vîews the înternal refrac~ory
surface o~ the oven chamber to observe any deterloration of
the reractory surace. The conditîon of the refractory
surface is usually deæcribed in writing after the inspection
by its appearance to the i.ndividual inspector. Such an
înspection procedure is critically dependent upon the
experience o~ the inspector and his ability to de~crib~ in
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term~ meaningful to others exactly what he~ in fact,observed during t~e relatively shor~ inspection period~
Moreover9 this inspection procedure is further complicated
by optical refraction caused by hot gases wi~hin the coking
chamber during the inspec~ion viewing period. Thus~
extremely important information for ti~ely maintenance and
pollutant-free operation of a coke oven bat~ery is presently
compiled in a very rudimentary manner. While the foregoing
descrlption has been addre~sed to the problems and diffi-
culties associated wi~h the inspection of a refrac~ory sur-
face of a coke oven chamber, the present invention is
equally applicable ~o the inspe~ion o the ref~actory
lining of other chambers including but not limîted to ves-
seLs for pneumatic steel refining, furnace~ ~or reheating
metallic workpieces and the like.
SUP~ RY OF TH~ INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to
provide an in~pection method and apparatus for viewing the
internal reractory surface of a chamber while at a rela-
tively high temperature in a manner which will:materiallyreduce ~he time required for such inspection while providing
more accurate and detailed inspection information regarding
the condit~on o~ the refractory surface~.
It i8 a ~urther object~of the present in~ention
to provide a method and apparatus for inspecting the rerac- -
tory lining of a high temperature chamber by moving a
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televisi~n camera in spaced-apart relation along the
refractory lining while the camera is located within a
thermally-protective environment provided by an enclosure
that includes means for cooling the optical lens of the
camera and in a manner whereby the camera is remotely
positioned and controlled at a location which preferably
includes a television monitor for the immediate viewing of
the video signal produced by the television camera.
It is another object of the present invention to
provide an inspection method and apparatus including a
television camera arranged within a thermally-protective
environment provided by a water-cooled enclosure that i$
rotatably and linearly displaced while carried by a movable
support member.
More specifically, according to the present invention,
there is provided an inspection apparatus for inspecting the
refractory lining in a high temperature chamber of a coke
oven, a pneumatic steel treatment vessel, a reheat furnace
for metallic workpieces and the like before and/or after
treating the burden therein, the apparatus including the
combination of:
a movable member to advance within the chamber in a
direction along the refractory lining thereof,
support means externally of the chamber to carry the
movable member,
an enclosure including side walls normally forming a
substantially closed compartment, the enclosure being
supported by the movable member for movement within the
chamber, the enclosure including means for maintaining a
thermally-protective environment within the compartment
thereof,
drive means coupled to the movable member to displace
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the enclosure along the refractory l~ning of the chamber9
means carried within the compartment of the enclosure
for producing a video signal corresponding to at least a
portion of the refractory lining, the means including an
optical lens exposed to the ~efractory lining through an
- opening in the side wall of the enclosure,
means for cooling the optical lens,
means supported by the movable member to adjustably
: position the means for producing a video signal, and
receiver means for displaying the video signal produced
by the first means and corresponding to at least a portion
of the refractory lining.
The present invention also broadly provides a method
for inspecting the refractory lining of a high ~emperature
chamber in a coke oven, a Pneumatic s~eel treatment vessel, a reheat
furnace for metallic workpieces and the like before and/or
after treating the burden therein, the method including the
steps of:
producing:a thermally-protective environment for a
televisio;n camera which includes cooling the optical lens of
the camera,
supporting the thermally-protected television camera
externally of the high temperature chamber for adjustable
movement of the camera within the chamber,
displacing the thermally-protected television camera in
a spaced-apart location along the refractory lining within
the high temperature chamber only when the chamber is void
of a burden,
transmitting a video signal corresponding to a first
side wall portion of the refractory lining to a location
external of the high temperature chamber by directing the
lens for the camera toward the refractory lin-ing,
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displaying the video signal on a television receiver
means,
repositioning the thermally-protected camera and thereafter
transmitting a video signal from within the high temperature
chamber corresponding to a second side wall portion of the
refractory lining to a location external of the high temperature
chamber, and
displaying the video signal corresponding to the second
side wall portion of the refractory lining on a television
receiver means.
The method of the present invention is further
characterized by recording the video signal provided by the
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television camera on a magnetic storage medium doring each
one of a plurali~y o~ successive periods between operation
of the high temperature chamber.
Thes~ features and advantages of the present
inven~ion as well as o~hers will be moxe readily understood
when the following descrip~ion is read in light of the
accompanyi~g drawings~ in which;
Figure 1 is an elevational vlew, in section, o a
typical coke oven chamber to undergo inspec~ion according
to the method and apparatus of ~he present inven~ion;
Fig. 2 is a plan view~ in section, of the
inspection appara~us according ~o the present invention;
Fig. 3 is an elevational ~iew of the inspection
apparatus shown in Fig~ 2;
Fig. 4 is a plan view similar to Fig~ 2 but
illustrating modifications to the insp ction apparatus
according to ~he present invention;
Fig. S is a sectional view taken along line V-V
of Figo 4, and
Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a further embodi-
ment of the inspection apparatus according to the presentinvention.
Fig. 1 illustrates a coking chamber 10 which
e~tends in a generall~ horizontal direction ~nd forms one of
a plurality of spaced~apart and side-by-side coking chambers
in a coke oven battery. The coki~g chamber 10 includes a
refrac~ory hearth 11 located abo~e generators 12 used for
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regeneratively heating the coking chamber in a manner which
is well known in the art~ The chamber 10 is closed a~ its
opposite ends by removable doors, not showrl. The coking
chamber has vertical sid~ walls 13 formed by courses o
refractory brick or other forms of refractory material used
to transmit heat from heating flues that extend between
adjacent oven chambers. A roof 14, also made of refrac~ory
material, has charging openings 15 for feeding coal into
the oven chamber from a coal chsrging car mo~abLe along
10 the oven roof. A coke bench 16 is located above the ground
floor at the coke side of the oven. The coke bench 16
- includes rails ~or suppoxting a coke guide machine, not
shown, to guide ~he mass of coke pushed from the oven
ohamber into a soke transfer car after positioning along
rails 17 at the ~oke side of ~he oven cham~er~ At the
machine side of the coking ehamber, w~ich is opposite the
coke side, ~here is provided rails which carry a pushing
machine 1~ that includes a ram 19 and a drive ha~ing a
motor 20 to move a ram plate 21 into engagement with the
mass of coke in the oven chamber. The ram is usually con-
stru~ted in a manner such ~hat the coke engaging face of
the ram is hori~ontally displaced in ~he coke chamber to
the coke side thereof. The pusher machine al~o includes
a leveling bar 22 used in a well-known manner to level a
coal charge in an oven chamber.
Turning, now~ to Figs. ~ and 3~ according to
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the present inven~ion ~he ram 19 is used to suppor~ and
traverse a television camera 30 within the coking chamber
for inspec~ion oE ~he re~rac~ory lining thereof while in a
highly heated stateO Typically, the inspec~ion operation is
carried ou~ immediately af~er a soke pushing ope~ationO The
camera is protected from the adverse environment within the
coking chamber~ particularly ~he high temperature that may
be of the order of 2200DF during ~his period of time. The
television cæmera is per se well known in the art. The
camera has a rem~tely con~rollable zoom-type lens 30A that
is surrounded by a pipe 31 coupled to an airline 32 for
discharging air through openings in the side walls of the
pipe to cool the lens. The television camera is supported
within a box-like enclosure 33 that includes side walls
containing spaced~apart and parallel fluid conduc~ing pipes
or lines 33A that communicate with similar fluid conducting
lines in the top and floor walls. The lines 33A recei~e
and discharge coolan~ water conducted by lines 34 tha~
extend internally along a trunnion shaft 35 to a rotary
union 34A. ~ther supply lines, not shown, are connected to
the rotaxy union and ext nd along the ram 19 to the pushing
machine.
The trunnion shaft 35 is rotatably suppor~ed ~y
bearings carried in a bearing block 36 that is, in tur~
supported by carrier anms 37. The carrier arms are
received between guide plates forming part of an L~shaped
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support member 38~ The carrier arms 37 have threaded
bores that receive threaded shafts 39 ~hat are ro~a~ed by
sprocket wheels 39A coupled by a chain drive mo~or 40
carried by support member 38. The mo~or is employed ~o
rotate shafts 39 which, in turn, displaee ~he carrier arms
37 and trunnion shaft 35. In ~his way, the television
camera is movably positioned vertically along the face-
plate 21 o~ the ramO The L-shaped support member 38 includes
a spring-biased plunger 41 adapted to engage the back sur-
face of the pusher pla~e of the arm, as clearly shown in
Fig~ 3. The top member of the L-shaped support member is
supported directly upon the top surface of the pusher plate.
The L~shaped support member is removably supported by the
ram and held in an outwardly-spaced relation from the face
; of the pusher plate by a spacer foo~ 42Q
The enclosure 33 is rotatably positioned abou~ a
horizontal axis by a drive motur 43 ~hat include~ a
sprocke~ wheel on its dri~e output shaft that is coupled by a
chain to a sprocket w~eel 43A on the trunnion shaft 35~
The pusher car 18 includes an oper tor station
where controls for ~he apparatus and method of the present
invention are provided~ At this station~ for example, there
is included an air-coolant supply sys~em 50 or the optical
lens of the camera. A water-coolant supply ~ysltem 51 is
coupled to the lines 34 for circulation o coolant water i~
~he passageway 33A o~ the enclosure. ~n ele~ation control
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52 is used to control the operation o motor 40 and a
rotation control 53 is coupled to the motor 43 to control
rota~ion of the enclosure 33 and camera 30.
The video signal from ~hP television camera is
transmitted to a ~elevisio~ receiver 54. '~he video signal
is also delivered ~o a ~agne~ic storag~ medium, preferably
to a video recorder 55 that is co~nected to an audio
amplifier 5$A that supplies an audio input signal to ~he
recorder or the identification of the particular oven
chamber that is undergoing in~pection as well as the parti-
cular time at which ~he inspection occurredO A camera and
lens control 57 is connected to ~he television camera 30
and the zoom-type lens 30A for ON and ~FF control and elose
inspection of a particular surface area o~ the refractory
liningO
Figs~ 4 and 5 illustrate a gyroscope moun~ing
arrangement for support of the tele~ision camera 30 within
the enclosurP 33O A four-bearing gimbal pla~form 60 forms
an att~chment structure of the camera. The gimbal plat~orm
60 incl~des an outer rectangular frame 61 having aligned
bearing suppor~s 62 a~ opposite sides of ~he frame suppor-
ted by the side wall of the enclo~ure 33. The other
opposite sides of ~he ~rame 61 carry aligned bearing sup--
ports 63 of an inner rectangular plate 64. One side o~
the television camera i~ attached to the plate 64~ A
gyroscope 65 is~attached by a mounting plate 66 to the
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othe~ side of the -~elevision camera. The gyroscope is
operated pneumatically by directing a stream of air from a
nozzle 67 onto a finned gyroscope wheel 65A to rotate it at
a spePd o:E, for example, 20, 000 revolu~.ions per minute, By
this construction and arrang2ment of parts~ mechanîcal
shocks produced by the ram dri~e and movement of the ram
are dampened or otherwise isolated from ~he tele~ision
camera. In Fig. 4, thP optical system for the television
camera includes a viewing prism 68 which is cooled by a
streæm of air in a manner similar to that previously deseri-
bed for cooling ~he lens of the television camera. ThQ
~iewing prism is employed to permit viewing o~ opposite
: side walls of a coke chamber at the same time.
In Fig. 6, therP is illustrated a modi~ied form
of apparatus to carry out the inspec~ion of a coke oven
chamber while in its highly hea~ed state. The various
parts formin~ the coke oven chamber are identi:ied with the
same reerence numerals as previously identiied in regard
to the coke oven chamb~r shown in Figs. 1 and 2~ Instead
of employing the ram 19 as previously described to support
and traverse the television camera wi~hin the coke oven
chamber fGr inspection of the refractory lining thereo-~,
the modifiGation illus~rated in Fig. 6 inclu~es the use of
an extendible boom on a wheeled vehicle for traversing the
TV camera along the chamber walls within the coke oven
chamber. It is ~o be u~derstood that the previously
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described television camera 30 within the box-like enclosure
33 and the various parts described in regard thereto are
employed according to the embodimen~ of Fig~ 6~ The trun-
nion shaft 35 is coupled to the outer end of a telescopic
boom 70, The boom includes a plurality of ~ubes 71 adap~ed
to slide one within the other. A piston and cylinder
assembly 7~ located wi~hin the tubes 71 is coupled by i~s
rod end to the outermost extending tube9 and at its cylinder
end, a clevis or similar type of connec~ion is used ~o moun~
~he assembly within the tube having the largest diameter.
A motor-driven screw and nut may be used lnstead of the
piston and cylinder assembly 72 to move the tubes in a
telescoping manner. The boom 71 is supported between pairs
oE rollers 73 and 74. A motor 7S is coupled to one of the
rollers 73 to advance and retract the boom along the truck
76 relative ~o a coke oven chamberO The boom is supported
by the truck 76 which is steerable and self-powered. It
is deemed unnecessary to specifically describe the well-
known manner by which an industrial ~ype truck is s~eered
and powered.
The rollers 73 and 74 are carried at the forward
~nt rearward portions of ~he truck by vertical 5uppor~s
73A and 74A, respecti~ely~ The support 74A is vertically
extendible by a~piston and cylinder assembly, not shown,
to raise the suppor~ rollers 74 above rvllers 73. In ~his
way~ the TV camera 30 is raised a~ the end of the boom
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toward the roo~ 14 for close observation of the side walls
13 adjacent the roof 14. The boom extends from th~ truck
in an incl.ined manner as shown by the phantom-line position.
The supports 73A and 74~ are lo~ated a~ one lateral side of
the truck and opposi~e thereto a control console 77 i~
located, This console includes ~he TV receiver 54, vidPo
recorder 55~ audio amplifier 55A and control for the camera
and lens 57, all as previously described. Moreover, addi-
~ional apparatus to be hereinafter described7 is preferably
included in th~ control console 77. ~ w~eeled carriage 78
is connected by a vertical suppor~ post 79 which is, in
turn, attached by a s~eeve 80 to the trunnion shaft 35 or
suppor~ing the outer end of the boom 70. The wheeled
earriage is moved upon the ove~ hearth 11 by the boom but
lifted from the hea~th when the boom is xaised by rollers
74 as pre~iously described. The wheeled carriage 78 and
post 79 minimize cantilever forces imposed upon the truck
as the boom is extended ~o traverse the '~V camera along
the entire length of the coke oven chamber:. A position.
transducer is employed to provide an indication of the
re~ative displacement of the TV camera wi~hin ~he coke oven
chamber. Motor 75 is coupled to a pulse genera~or ~1 which
in turn, delivPrs a pulse outpu~ signal ~o a counter ~2.
The pulse output signal corresponds to increments o a pre~
selected distance through which the boom is e~ended. A
similar pulse genera~or 83 is coupled to the rod end of
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piston and cylinder assembly 72 to detec~ incrementallengths through which the boom 70 is extended. The pulse
outpu~s from both pulse genera~ors 81 and 83 are ~ed to the
counter 82. The output signal from the counter 82 is in the
~orm of a signal corresponding to the actual displacement of
the TV camera relative ~o a fixed position of the truck 76
i.e.~ at the machine side of the coke o~en chamber. The
output signal :from counter 82 is fed to a converter 84
which may be a matrix arrang~ment of diodes or other well-
known forms of conversion circuî~ry to an analog signal~This analog signal is fed to a digital display 85 and/or
combined by the picture ~ube control circuit 86 fox dis-
play by the monitor together with the video signal corres-
ponding to the side wall of thP coke oven chamber from the
TV camera. The picture tube control 86 receives ~he ou~
put signal from the TV camer~ which is, in ~urn, coupled
to a camera control circuit 87. Beeause of the relatively
narrow width of a coke oven cham~er according to present-
day designs~ i~e. 3 2 feet as prev~ously described, to
20 enable ~he produc~ion of a meaningful video display of a
side wall of the coke oven chamber on a monitor, the optics
- for the TV camera should be carefully chosen, In ~hls regard7
- suitable state-of-the-art lenses may be used with the
standard 525-scan line cameraO Remote control of a mirror
or prism in front of the camera lens will perm1t viewing
opposite side walls of the coke oven chamber at different
times. To achieve a display with a very high resolu~ion, a
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1050-scan line TV camera and video display monitor may be
used whereby the resolution is increased by a factor o~ 4.
A 1050-scan line c~mera and display monitvr are well known
in the art and commercially available in the industry.
The wheeled ~ruck 76 and boom 70 for supporting
the TV camera while loca~ed within the pro~ec~.ive environ-
ment of the enclosure 33 enable the inspection of a cokP
oven chamber a~ any desired period of time without requiring
the use of the pusher ræm as employed according to the
em~odiments of Figs. 1-5. In ~his regard~ ~he pusher car
is commonly employed to effect pushing operations with a
number of coke oven chambers forming part of a battery.
The use of the ram for inspec~ion purposes may be unaccep~
able in certain instances. Moreover, the residence time by
the ram within a given coke oven chc~ber during a coke push~
ing opera~ion is usuaLly relatively shor~ so that the ram
does not become distorted by the intense heat within the coke
oven chamber. Since the ram is expensive and an indispens-
able part of the coke oven battery, its use to carry out
inspection operations may be objectionable but this is
overcome by using the wheeled truck and boom illustrated
in Fig. 6
It will be apparen~ to ~hose skilled in ~he ar~
in view of the foregoing that other forms of apparatus may
be employed ~o position a television c~mera wlthin a heate~
coking chamber or the like with equal success. It is
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preferred that the camera be capable of rotation through360 to permit viewing of the roof 9 side walls and the
hearth of ~he oven chamber. Vertical indexing of the camera
by the motor-driven screws permi~s viewing of different
portions of the side walls as the pusher is moved orward
and backward horizontally along the oven chamber. During
the înspection of the reractory lining, the camera can
readily be posi~ioned to more closely observe suspec~ed
damaged areas of ~he refractory lining by ei~her employing
the zoom control of the lens or by posi~ioning the cam~ra
and the thermally-protec~ive closure more closely to the
refractory lining.
Although the inven~ion has been shown in
connection with a certain specific embodimen~, it will
be readily apparen~ to thQse skilled in ~he art tha~
various changes in form and arrangement of par~s may be
made to suit requ~rements without departlng from the spirît
and scope of the invention~
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