Sinter Plant/Briquette Production

In the sintering process, iron ore fines are mixed with lime and coke fines and then heated in a conveyor-type furnace until they are fused together to form a large cake.  Once fused together, the cake is then cooled and broken into small chunks.

In the sintering furnace, preheated furnace air is drawn through the bed.  This air reacts with the bed, causing it to generate heat and to smolder.  Infrared thermometers are used to control the furnace wall temperatures between about 2100 F / 1150 C (entry zone) and 1500 F / 825 C (exit zones), thereby producing a consistent process temperature.  In addition, the temperature of the sintered cake is measured upon exit from the heating zones.  Because the sintered product is such a poor conductor of heat, the surface cools quickly upon contact with ambient air.  Once exposed to ambient air, thin cracks into the core of the cake provide the only visual indication of the hot core temperature.  Therefore, the exceptionally high signal dilution capability of the Williamson dual-wavelength sensors is a valuable feature for this demanding application.