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A vibrational approach
IFAC-PapersOnLine to Slag
49-12 (2016) Sensing System:
1412–1417
A
A vibrational
vibrational
development approach
approach to
to
and industrial Slag
Slag Sensing
Sensing System:
System:
application
A
A vibrational
vibrational approach
approach to
to Slag
Slag Sensing
Sensing System:
System:
development
development and
and industrial
industrial application
application
development
development
A. Piccinini*.V.
and
Pesenti and
industrial
industrial
Campagnoni**.
application
application
S. Ierace***. F. Floreani****.
A. Piccinini*.V.
A. Piccinini*.V.
Piccinini*.V. Pesenti Pesenti Campagnoni**.
Pesenti Campagnoni**.
Campagnoni**.  S. Ierace***.
Ierace***. F.
S. Ierace***. Floreani****.
F. Floreani****.
Floreani****.
A.
A. Piccinini*.V. Pesenti Campagnoni**.  S.
S. Ierace***. F. F. Floreani****.
*Dipartimento di Ingegneria Gestionale,  dell'Informazione e della Produzione,

Università*Dipartimento
degli Studi
*Dipartimento di di Ingegneria
Bergamo,Dalmine,
di Ingegneria Gestionale,
BG
Gestionale, dell'Informazione e della Produzione,
24044Italy(e-mail:andrea.piccinini@intellimech.it)
dell'Informazione ee della Produzione,
Università *Dipartimento
*Dipartimento
degli Studi di di
di Ingegneria
Ingegneria
Bergamo,Dalmine, Gestionale,
Gestionale,
BG dell'Informazione
dell'Informazione e della
della Produzione,
Produzione,
24044Italy(e-mail:andrea.piccinini@intellimech.it)
Università ** ConsorzioIntellimech
degli Studi di , Bergamo,
Bergamo,Dalmine, BG24126Italy
BG (e-mail:valerio.pesenti@intellimech.it)
24044Italy(e-mail:andrea.piccinini@intellimech.it)
Università
Università ** degli
degli Studi
Studi di
di Bergamo,Dalmine,
Bergamo,Dalmine,
, Bergamo, BG
BG
BG24126Italy 24044Italy(e-mail:andrea.piccinini@intellimech.it)
24044Italy(e-mail:andrea.piccinini@intellimech.it)
(e-mail:valerio.pesenti@intellimech.it)
***
** ConsorzioIntellimech
ConsorzioIntellimech
ConsorzioIntellimech,, Bergamo, , Bergamo, BG 24126
BG24126Italy Italy (e-mail:stefano.ierace@intellimech.it)
(e-mail:valerio.pesenti@intellimech.it)
**
**ConsorzioIntellimech Bergamo, BG24126Italy (e-mail:valerio.pesenti@intellimech.it)
***
****
*** ConsorzioIntellimech,,,,Bergamo,
ConsorzioIntellimech
ConsorzioIntellimech
ConsorzioIntellimech Bergamo,BG24126Italy
Bergamo,
Bergamo, BG
BG 24126
BG 24126 Italy
24126 (e-mail:valerio.pesenti@intellimech.it)
Italy
Italy (e-mail:stefano.ierace@intellimech.it)
(e-mail:fabio.floreani@intellimech.it)
(e-mail:stefano.ierace@intellimech.it)
***
**** ConsorzioIntellimech
*** ConsorzioIntellimech
ConsorzioIntellimech
, Bergamo,
,,, Bergamo,
Bergamo, BG
BG
BG 24126
24126
24126 Italy
Italy
Italy (e-mail:stefano.ierace@intellimech.it)
(e-mail:stefano.ierace@intellimech.it)
(e-mail:fabio.floreani@intellimech.it)
****
**** ConsorzioIntellimech Bergamo, BG 24126 Italy (e-mail:fabio.floreani@intellimech.it)
ConsorzioIntellimech,, Bergamo,
****ConsorzioIntellimech Bergamo, BG BG 24126
24126 Italy Italy (e-mail:fabio.floreani@intellimech.it)
(e-mail:fabio.floreani@intellimech.it)
Abstract: Today the increased competitiveness of global market forces companies to provide products
Abstract:
and services
Abstract: Today
Today withthethequality
increased
increased competitiveness
standards ever higher
competitiveness of global
of global
at lower market
marketcosts. forces
forcesIn this companies
sense, to
companies to
bothprovide products
technological
provide products
Abstract: Today
Today withthethe increased
increased competitiveness of global market forces companies to provide products
Abstract:
and services
development
and services and
with quality
innovation,
quality ascompetitiveness
standards
standards strategic ever factor,
ever higher
higher of drive
global
at lower
at lower market
companiescosts.
costs. forces
toIn companies
In invest
this
this sense, to
both
in development
sense, bothprovide products
technological
of smart
technological
and
and services
servicesthat with
with quality
quality standards
standards ever higher
everefficiency
higherdrive at
at lower costs. toIn this
this sense, both technological
development
applications
development and
and innovation,
allows to increase
innovation, as strategic
as strategic
global factor,
factor, andlower
drive companies
improves
companiescosts. thetoInquality,
invest
invest sense,
in
understood
in both as
development
development technological
of smart
of smart
satisfaction
development
development
applications and
and
that innovation,
innovation,
allows to increase
increaseas
as strategic
strategic
global factor,
factor,(CCP),
efficiency drive
drive companies
companies
and improves
improves theto invest
toquality,
invest
quality, in
in development
development
understood of smart
ofSystem
smart
as satisfaction
satisfaction
of the client.that
applications In allows
Continuous to Casting Production
global efficiency and for example, the this means Slag Sensing
understood as
applications
applications
of the client. that
that
In allows
allows
Continuous to
to increase
increase
Casting global
global efficiency
efficiency
Production (CCP),and
and improves
improves
for example, the
the quality,
quality,
this understood
understood
means Slag as
as
Sensingsatisfaction
satisfaction
System
(SSS)
of the improvement
client. In in
Continuousorder to
Casting obtain better
Production purity(CCP),of molten
for steel
example, and thisat the
meanssame Slagtime to
Sensing reduce
Systemthe
of
of
(SSS) the
the client.
client.
improvement In
In Continuous
Continuous
in order Casting
Casting
to obtain Production
Production
better purity(CCP),
(CCP),of for
for
molten example,
example,
steel and this
thisat means
means
the same Slag
SlagtimeSensing
Sensing
to System
System
reduce the
maintenance
(SSS) improvementcosts associated
in order to with the
obtain implantation
better purity of of casting.
molten After
steel an
and at overview
the same of SSS
time currently
to reduce used
the
(SSS)
(SSS) improvement
improvement in
in order
order to obtain better
better purity of molten steel
steel and at
at the
theofsame time to reduce the
maintenance
in industry,
maintenance costspaper
this
costs deals to
associated
associated with
with
with obtain
the
vibrational
the purity
implantation
implantation analysis of casting.
of
of molten
casting. After
and characterization
After and
an overview
an overview same
theof time currently
of process
SSS
SSS to ofreduce
currently CCP the
used
usedto
maintenance
maintenance
in industry, costs
costs
this associated
associated
paper deals with
with
with the
the implantation
implantation
vibrational analysis of
of casting.
casting.
and After
After an
an
characterization overview
overview of theof
of SSS
SSS
process currently
currently
of CCP used
usedto
develop
in industry, an
industry, this on-line
this paper real-time
paper deals
deals with application
with vibrational of vibrational
vibrational analysisanalysis and method for
and characterization slag
characterization of detection.
of the At first
the process
process oftime domain
of CCP
CCP to to
in
in
andindustry,
develop
develop frequency
an thisdomain
an on-line
on-line paper deals application
real-time
analysis
real-time with is vibrational
application performedof analysis
of vibrational
vibrational
to and characterization
method
characterize
method theforvibrations
for slag detection.
slag of
detection. theAt
Atprocess
associated first oftheCCP
time
with
first time domain to
plant,
domain
develop
develop an on-line
an on-line real-time application of vibrational method for slag detection. At first time domain
and frequency
subsequently,
and frequency thereal-time
domain
ondomain base analysis application
of obtained
analysis is performed
is performedof vibrational
results, to
a to
control methodthe
characterize
algorithm
characterize thefor slag detection.
vibrations
is vibrations
developed and the At related
associated
associated first time
with
with thedomain
software
the plant,
plant,is
and
and frequency
frequency
subsequently, domain
domain
onto the base analysis
analysis
ofclosing
obtained is
is of performed
performed
results, a to
to
controlcharacterize
characterize
algorithm the is vibrations
theis vibrations
developed associated
associated
and thethe relatedwith the
the plant,
withsoftware
related softwareplant,is
coded,
subsequently,in orderon drive
the base theof obtained the nozzle
results, a valve
control in a real industrial
algorithm developed application.
and is
subsequently,
subsequently,
coded, in orderon
in order tothe
onto the base
base
drive theof obtained
ofclosing
obtained
closing of theresults,
results,
the nozzleaa control
control
valve in algorithm
algorithm
in is
is developed
developed and
and thethe related
related software
software is is
©
coded,
2016,
coded, inIFAC
order to drive
(International
drive the
the Federation
closing of
of of
the nozzle
Automatic
nozzle valve
valve Control)
in aaa real
real industrial
real
industrial
Hosting by
industrial
application.
application.
Elsevier Ltd.
application. All rights reserved.
Keywords: vibrational slag detection, ladle slag carry-over,
coded, in order to drive the closing of the nozzle valve in a real industrial application. continuous casting process, control algorithm,
Keywords:
real-time
Keywords:system, vibrational
vibrationalindustryslag detection,
slagautomation,
detection, ladle ladle slag
quality
ladle carry-over,
slagassessment. continuous
carry-over, continuous
continuous casting casting process,
casting process, control
process, control algorithm,
control algorithm,
algorithm,
Keywords:
Keywords:
real-time vibrational
vibrational
system, industryslag
slag detection,
detection,
automation, ladle slag
slag
quality carry-over,
carry-over,
assessment. continuous casting process, control algorithm,
real-time
real-time system, industry automation, quality assessment.

real-time system,system, industry
industry automation,
automation, quality quality assessment.
assessment.
 slag detection in CCP. Aiming at this purpose, the first part
1. INTRODUCTION 
 slag
of
slag detection
this
detection in
work presents
in CCP.
CCP. anAiming
overview
Aiming at
at this purpose,
of SSS
this purpose, the
currently
the first
usedpart
first in
part
1.
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION slag detection in CCP. Aiming at this purpose, the first part
In the last few years, 1. INTRODUCTION
globalization and more stringent slag
of
of detection
this
industry,
this work
work in
presents
focusing
presentsCCP.on anAiming
the
an overview at
functional
overview this
of
of purpose,
SSS
principle,
SSS the
currently
the
currently first
used
pros
used part
andin
in
1. INTRODUCTION of this work presents an overview of SSS currently used in
In the last
requirements few
push years,
managers globalization
to optimize and
all more
systems stringent
involved of
the this
industry,
cons
industry, work
of presents
focusing
each
focusing on
approach.
on an
the
the overview
functional
After
functional of
that, SSS
principle,
a currently
the
vibrational
principle, the used
pros and
analysis
pros andin
In
In the
the last
last few
few years,
years, globalization
globalization and
and more
more stringent
stringent industry, focusing on the functional principle, the pros and
In their
the organizations
last few industry,
the
and cons
a focusing
of each
characterization on
approach.the
of functional
the After
process that,principle,
of a the
vibrational
CCP is pros and
analysis
implemented
requirements
in
requirements push years,
push managers
managers globalization
(Fasanotti to
to optimize
et al. 2014).
optimize and
all
all systemsmore
In
systems stringent
this involved
scenario the
involved the cons
cons of
of each
each approach. After that, aa vibrational analysis
requirements
requirements
in
thetheir
efficiency
push
push managers
and managers
organizations the (Fasanotti
products
to
to optimize
optimize
et al.
quality
all
all systems
2014).
play systems
anIn this involved
role the
involved
essentialscenario and
and cons each approach.
of develop
aa characterization
in order to
characterization approach.
a of
of the
real
the
After
After
process
time
process
that,
that,of
systemof
vibrational
aCCP
vibrational
of
CCP is
Vibrational
is
analysis
analysis
implemented
implemented Slag
in
in their
their organizations
organizations (Fasanotti
(Fasanotti et
et al.
al. 2014).
2014). In
In this
this scenario
scenario and a characterization of the process of CCP is implemented
in
thetheir organizations
efficiency and
order toanddecrease the (Fasanotti
products et
productional.
quality 2014).
play an
costs In this
essentialscenario
and keep role and
in
in a
order
Detection
ordercharacterization
to
to develop
(VSD)
develop for a of
real
aa realthe
real process
time
time system
application.
systemof CCP
of
of is implemented
Vibrational
Vibrational Slag
Slag
the
the efficiency
efficiency and the
the products
products quality
quality play
play an
an essential
essential role
role in order to develop real time system of Vibrational Slag
the
in efficiency
order
competitiveness to and the
decrease
and products
high standards quality
production play
(Saniukcosts an
costs essential
and
et al. 2014). role
keep in order
Detection
Detection (VSD) to develop
(VSD)
(VSD) for for a
for aa realreal
real time
real application.system
application.
application. of Vibrational Slag
in
in order
order to
to decrease
decrease production
production costs and
and keep
keep Detection
in
In order
competitiveness
particular, to
this decrease
and
is high
crucial production
standards
in (Saniuk
industries where costs
et al.
the and
2014).
main keep
profit Detection (VSD) 2. for
SLAG a real application.
SENSING SYSTEM
competitiveness
competitiveness and
and high
high standards
standards (Saniuk
(Saniuk et
et al. 2014).
competitiveness
In particular,
derives from this theand is
sale high
crucial
of row standards
in (Saniuk
industries
material orwhere
crude et al.al.
the 2014).
2014).
main
product, since Nowadays the 2.
profit 2. SLAG
SLAG SENSING
SENSING SYSTEM
In
In particular,
particular, this
this is
is crucial
crucial in
in industries
industries where
where the
the main
main profit
profit 2.development
2. SLAG
SLAG SENSINGSENSING and SYSTEM
application of SSS at
SYSTEM
SYSTEM
In
theparticular,
derives
derives from
margin
from this
ofthe
the is
sale
gain
sale crucial
of
is
of row
based
row in industries
material
on
material or
efficiency
or where
crude
crude andthe main
product,
low
product, profit
since
costs-
since Nowadays the development and application of SSS at
derives from the sale of row material or crude product, since industrial level have become widespread, providing the
derives
the
the from
margin
revenues
margin ratioof
ofthe sale is
gain
(Vozňáková,
gain of based
is rowJanovská
based material
on
on or Vilamová
efficiency
&
efficiency crudeand and product,
low
2011).
low For Nowadays
since
costs-
costs- Nowadays
Nowadays
industrial
possibility
the
the
the
level
of
development
development
development
have
increasing become
the
and
and
and
purity
application
application
application
widespread,
of molten
of
of
of
providing
steel and
SSS
SSS
SSSat
at
at
at
the
the
the margin
margin
revenues ratioof
of gain
gain
(Vozňáková, is
is based
based on
on
Janovská efficiency
efficiency
& Vilamová and
and low
low
2011).costs-
costs-
For industrial
industrial level
level have
have become
become widespread,
widespread, providing
providing the
the
this kind of
revenues ratio industry,
ratio (Vozňáková, due
(Vozňáková, Janovská to the high
Janovská & fixed
& Vilamová and
Vilamová 2011). maintenance
2011). ForFor industrial
possibility
same time level
of
to have
increasing
reduce thebecome
the purity
maintenance widespread,
of molten
costs providing
steel and
associated at the
with
revenues possibility of of increasing
increasing the the purity
purity of of molten
molten steelsteel and
and atat the
the
revenues
this
costs,
this it ratio
kind
kind of (Vozňáková,
industry,
is industry,
of necessary dueforto
due toJanovská high &
the high
practitioners
the Vilamová
fixed
fixed and 2011). For
and maintenance
move maintenance
toward an possibility
possibility
same time
the casting of
to increasing
reduce
process the
(Tan the purity
maintenance
et al. 2010).of molten
costs
Different steel and of
associated
types atwith
the
on-
this
this
costs,kind
kind
it of
of
is industry,
industry,
necessary due
due forto
to the
the high
high
practitioners fixed
fixed and
and
move maintenance
maintenance
toward an same
same time
time to
to reduce
reduce the
the maintenance
maintenance costs
costs associated
associated with
with
increased
costs, it plant
is efficiency
necessary for (Overall
practitioners Equipment move Efficiency)
toward an same
the
line time to
casting
system, reduce(Tan
process
depending the
onetmaintenance
theal. 2010).
functional costs
Different associated
principle, types
haveof with
on-
been
costs, it is necessary for practitioners move toward an the
the casting process (Tan et al. 2010). Different types of on-
costs,
increased
also
increased
it isplant
trying
increased tonecessary
plant
plant
the for
efficiency
use
efficiency
efficiency
practitioners
(Overall
technology
(Overall
(Overall
Equipment
upgrade
Equipment
Equipment
move toward
sensors an
of Efficiency)
Efficiency)
Efficiency)
or line the casting
casting
system,
developed.
line system,
process
process
depending
depending
(Tan
(Tan on
on
et
etthe
the
al. 2010).
2010). Different
al.functional
functional Different
principle,
principle,
types
types
have
have
of on-
ofbeen
on-
been
increased
also
generic
also trying plant
to
hardware
trying to efficiency
use
use the
(Yurish,
the (Overall
technology
Kirianaki
technology &Equipment
upgrade
Myshkin
upgrade of
of Efficiency)
sensors
2005).
sensors Oneor
or line
line system,
system,
developed. depending
depending on
on the
the functional
functional principle,
principle, have
have been
been
also Certainly the most widely used is electromagnetic detection
alsothetrying
generic
of
generictrying
most
to
hardware
use
torelevant
hardware the
use(Yurish,
(Yurish,
technology
thesector
technology
Kirianaki
with this
Kirianaki
upgrade
upgrade
&
& Myshkin
characteristic
Myshkin
of sensors
of 2005).
sensors
2005). is One
or
or developed.
the
One developed.
developed.
Certainly the most
generic hardware (Yurish, Kirianaki & Myshkin 2005). One method, that
Certainly the uses
most anwidely
widely used
electromagnetic
used is
is electromagnetic
sensor (Julius, detection
electromagnetic Theissen
detection
generic
of
of the
the hardware
most
metallurgic
most relevant
industry,
relevant(Yurish,
a sector
capital
sector Kirianaki
with
intensive
with &
this
this Myshkin
characteristic
process
characteristic 2005).
with is
need
is One
the
of
the Certainly
Certainly
method, the
the
that most
most
uses an widely
widely used
used
electromagnetic is
is electromagnetic
electromagnetic
sensor (Julius, detection
detection
Theissen
of the most relevant sector with this characteristic is & Block 1986). The operation principle behind its
of
highthe mostindustry,
metallurgic
efficiency
metallurgic relevant
plants.aa In
industry, sector
capital with
this sector,
capital this
intensive
intensive in whichcharacteristic
process
process with
a better
with is the
need the
quality
need of
of
method,
method,
method,
& Block
functionality
that
that
that
uses
uses
uses
1986).
is
an
an
an
to
electromagnetic
electromagnetic
electromagnetic
The
observe operation
the
sensor
sensor
sensor
principle
difference
(Julius,
(Julius,
(Julius,
of
Theissen
Theissen
Theissen
behind
magnetic its
metallurgic
metallurgic industry,
industry, a capital intensive process with need of
of & & Block
Block 1986).
1986). The
The operation
operation principle
principle behind
behind its
its
high
of
high
high
efficiency
material
efficiency
efficiency
is plants.a In
plants.
required
plants.
capital
In
In
this
(Zhang
this
intensive
this sector,
& Thomas
sector,
sector,
in
in
process
in which
which
which
2003),
a
withthe need
aa better
better
better
quality
casting
quality
quality & Block
functionality
conductivity
functionality 1986).
ofis
is to
steel
to The
observe
and
observe operation
slag the
while
the principle
difference
they
difference pass of
of behind
magnetic
through
magnetic its
the
high
of
phase
of efficiency
material
is crucial
material is plants.
is required
required
for qualityIn this
(Zhang
(Zhangand, sector,
&
& in which
Thomas
asThomas
critical 2003),
part
2003), aofbetter quality
the casting
casting
casting,
the the sensor functionality
functionality is to
is steel observe
to observe the difference of magnetic
of material is required (Zhang & Thomas 2003), the casting conductivity
conductivity (Qiu of of steel
1988). The
and largethe
and slag
slag while difference
they of
diffusion
while they pass ofthrough
passthis magnetic
through the
posterior
the
of material
phase
monitoring
phase is
is is
crucial
and
crucial required
for
thequality
for (Zhang
control
quality and,
and, of&as
the
as Thomas
critical
slag during
critical 2003),
part
part of
of the casting
casting,
the
casting, the
the conductivity
conductivity of steel The and slag while they pass through the
phase is crucial for quality and, as critical part of casting, the sensor
method
sensor is dueof
(Qiu
(Qiu tosteel
1988).
1988). an highand value
The slag
large
large while they
diffusion
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Copyright © 2016 IFAC to realize an on-line real-time application for 1412
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Copyright © 2016,
2016 IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control)
IFAC 1412 Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©under
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Copyright 2016 responsibility
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10.1016/j.ifacol.2016.07.768 1412
 IFAC MIM 2016
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out and failure, involving in short life time and high
maintenance costs.
A different approach is used in infrared detection method,
which uses thermal image camera, to evaluate the difference
of emissivity between steel and slag (Wittchen et al. 2008). In
spite of the reliability of this method, its applications are
limited to unprotected pouring (Więceket al. 2012).
An experimental posterior method is the supersonic detection
method instead: it is based on different supersonic reflection
characteristics between steel and slag (Kupperman, Reimann
& Abrego-Lopez 1985). Like in electromagnetic detection
method, also in this case, the sensor is placed in a very high
temperature area with high probability of damage.
The last method mentioned in literature is the weighing
detection method (Dewinter 1996), based on estimating the
weight of slag in the ladle. This method requires an elevated
accuracy in ladle weight estimation that limits its diffusion.
In order to overcome the limits described by these
techniques, a vibration slag detection method has been
developed in this paper, aims at applying a simple and less
expensive method for casting process, ensuring the material
quality and the system efficiency.
3. VIBRATIONAL SLAG DETECTION
The casting systems, used in CCP, are complex installations,
consisting of multiple functional units, such as molten steel
supply system, molding system, cooling system and cutting
system. In particular, as shown in Fig. 1, the first one is
composed by ladle, which contains molten metal coming
from furnaces, and tundish, that allows a reservoir of metal
while ladles are switched during the casting process. Molten
steel flows from the ladle to the tundish through a nozzle
valve: in order to keep the temperature homogeneous within
the metal, generally the flow is isolated from external
environment by a refractory shroud. Flow control is
implemented by an operation arm, that sets the section of the
nozzle valve affected by the flow.
Fig. 1. Components of molten steel supply system.
Empirically it is observed that the casting process produces
vibrations in the operation arm. It is clear that a part of these
vibrations is attributable to noise of environment or workmen
operation, while a part of these is attributable to the vibration
of the shroud, due to shock action of steel stream (Tan, Li &
Pan 2009). Several papers also reports that with suitable pre-
processing of vibration signal, it is possible to isolate the
1413
weak vibration of the shroud. The amplitude of this vibration
is proportional to the nozzle opening and to the density of the
material (Tan & Zhang 2014). This last observation is the
heart of VSD; in fact due to their different density, the flow
of the slag in the nozzle induces a vibration amplitude which
is lower than the one observed with pure steel. It necessary to
emphasize, also, that the way the system vibrates is an
intrinsic characteristic of the plant.
Consequently with a tri-axial accelerometer, which acquires
vibrational signal, and an industrial computer, that processes
and monitors acquired signal, it is possible distinguish pure
molten steel from mixed steel with slag, increasing final
product quality and cleaning of the CCP.
In literature several articles deal with slag detection through a
posteriori processing of vibrational signal, hard to apply in
the industrial context, while no significant studies have been
found about real-time on-line detection. Therefore, starting
from above considerations, a preliminary study is performed
to characterize the vibrations associated with the plant,
considering signal acquisition, data analysis and
determination of the suitable filtering. On the base of
obtained results a control algorithm is developed, adapted to
detect in real time the attenuation of the vibration amplitude,
and is coded, in order to drive the closing of the valve nozzle
in a real application.
3.1 Acquisition Set-up
In order to perform preliminary analysis of the vibrational
signal, an appropriate acquisition system is developed. It
consists of a tri-axial accelerometer, located on the operation
arm, an industrial computer and a software program.
Taking into account the working temperature and the
frequency bandwidth, a piezoelectric ceramic accelerometer
TAA2230, whose main technical specifications are reported
in Table 1, is chosen as the most suitable sensor to measure
vibrations.
Table 1. Main technical specifications of the sensor
Tri-axial accelerometer TAA2230
Parameter Value
Frequency range 1 – 15000 Hz
Sensitivity 100 mV/g
Dynamic range +/- 50g peak
Temperature range -50 – 151 °C
The accelerometer is connected by wires to NI CompactRIO,
by National Instruments, an industrial program automation
controller that combines an open embedded architecture with
small size and ruggedness. In CRIO the acquisition software,
coded in LabVIEW and composed by acquisition module and
data storage module, runs. G language represents the best
solution to implement an acquisition module on the hardware
provided by the company. The CRIO communicates by wired
connection with the existent Siemens PLC, that governs all
the actuator of the plant. The PLC knows all the information
exchanged by foundry units, consequently it communicates to
CRIO the casting process status data, in order to synchronize,
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with a trigger signal, the starting and the stopping of the
vibration acquisition. The development of the trigger is
required to overcome noise induces by the end casting
activities, such as ladle placement and operational arm
movement. All data collected, relating to the accelerometric
signal, are stored in a suitable format, in order to facilitate
subsequent analysis, and combined by the information
concerning steel type, to evaluate material effect.
3.2 Data Analysis
The literature reports that the transition of the slag from the
ladle to the tundish is due to the formation of a sink vortex,
that sucks the slag into the nozzle (Tan et al. 2010).
Consequently in the vibration signal three main principal
pouring status can be identified (Tan & Zang 2014): pure
molten steel status, the stable state before sink vortex
formation, mixing slag status, the unstable state in which sink
vortex appears and vibration amplitude becomes smaller, and
all slag status, the stable state after vortex penetration.
In industrial applications, the closing time of the nozzle valve
is the result of a trade-off between the amount of lost steel in
the ladle and the amount of passed slag in the tundish.
Therefore it is usual to associate the stop of the steel flow
with the advent of mixing slag status end.
Consequently collected vibration signals are analysed in
order to identify suitable solutions, for detecting the
attenuation associated to mixing slag status. Initially a
frequency domain analysis is performed either using the
Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT), able to return the
spectrogram of the time signal (Chikkerur, Cartwright &
Govindaraju 2007), either using the Discrete Wavelet
Transform (DWT), a more refined tool for increasing
temporal and frequency resolutions (Lang 1998).
Fig. 2. Spectrogram of the signal.
The analysis indicates that every vibrational signal acquired
has the following characteristics, as reported in spectrogram
of Fig. 2, in which red tones represent high vibrational
amplitude, while yellow and green tones represent low ones:
 Vibration signal presents several interesting
harmonic components: the most significant, with
high information content, are in low frequency,
while those in high frequency have a low SNR ratio
and therefore difficult to use;
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 In low frequency there are two components, whose
frequency band varies according to the type of steel
and, more relevant, the amplitude of these vary with
the different phases of the casting process;
 It seems that the attenuation of one of these occurs
just prior to detection of the slag, while the
attenuation of the other one occurs immediately after
the total closing of the nozzle valve.
Consequently it is assumed that the first low-frequency
component of vibration, whose frequency is a function of the
casting steel, has to be monitored to detect the attenuation.
3.3 Data Filtering
Generally the continuous casting environment is very noisy,
due to the presence of gantries, cranes and metallurgical
equipment (Tan, Li & Pan 2009): during its operation, they
cause vibrations that interfere with the vibration signal
relative to the flow of the molten steel, making the detection
of the attenuation difficult. Thus it is necessary a signal de-
noising aimed at eliminating these disorders of signal.
In this context, three types of denoising have been designed:
Wavelet denoising, based on the principle of multi-resolution
analysis (Qiu et al. 2006), Chebyshev filter, a low-pass
elliptic filter, and Butterworth filter, optimized for gain
flatness in the pass-band (Karki 2000). Each of the filters
above has been tested on the original signal and evaluated, on
the base of the ability to emphasize attenuation of vibration
amplitude associated to slag carry-over status, with
compatible computational load.
Fig. 3. Denoising effect.
The conducted analysis has shown that:
 Wavelet denoising, with a proper configuration of
thresholds, is the most effective tool to perform
signal filtering, due to its high resolution both in
time and frequency; however it is very wasteful in
terms of computational performance, therefore it
would be difficult to implement in an on-line real-
time application;
 Butterworth filter, with a correct choice of the cut-
off frequency, has an efficacy comparable with
Wavelet denoising, despite being softer at a
computational level than other: this represents the
appropriate trade-off between the two parameters;
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 Chebyshev filter, despite its quick processing time,
does not provide satisfactory results than the others;
probably this is due to the gain in non-flat passband.
The Fig.3shows the effect of denoising, obtained by applying
of the low-pass filter of Butterworth: it represents in blue the
original signal and in the red the filtered signal. It is evident
that the attenuation, due to slag carry-over status, circled in
black, is significantly more visible in the denoised signal than
in the original one.
3.4 Algorithm of Recognition
The algorithm procedure, reported in Fig. 4, is composed of
the following operations: filtering, initialization, time and
frequency elaboration, decision-making test. The result is a
casting status decision, obtained through comparison between
an index, called recognition feature, and a threshold,
empirically determined and function of the type of material.
Fig. 4. Algorithm flow chart.
The filtering operation consists of signal denoising through a
low-pass Butterworth filter, evaluated in section 3.3, in order
to eliminate environmental disturbances, improving system
performance. An initialization phase is required to initialize
coefficient of normalization, used further for scaling
recognition feature value to achieve comparability with
threshold.
Considering that the type of steel can affect both frequency
range and vibrational amplitude, an hybrid approach,
combining of both time domain and frequency domain
analysis, is used to develop the control algorithm which
detects slag carry-over status: in fact frequency domain
analysis provides a tool to investigate the frequency band
characteristic of the steel, on which to focus the analysis,
while time domain analysis provides a tool to quantify the
vibration energy of the signal.
Frequency domain elaboration checks specific frequency
component that disappear when slag is carrying over,
working on a short temporary window, depending on samples
frequency. A preliminary analysis and calibration is required
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to find out precisely specific frequencies, function of type of
material in casting. Time domain elaboration uses a statistic
method to estimate, on a short temporary window, depending
on samples frequency, the vibration energy. Output of these
operations, running in parallel, is the recognition feature, that
is the subject of the test to determine slag detection,
comparing feature value with threshold.
This procedure is applied in an on-line real-time software of
slag carry-over status recognition, in order to detect mixing
slag status attenuation and to drive the closing of the nozzle
valve.
4. VSD APPLICATION
In order to implement the control algorithm to real industrial
application, it is coded on a software in LabVIEW, through G
language. The developed software is applied with appropriate
set-up system in a CCP plant and tested.
The system architecture, reported in Fig. 5, is the following:
the piezoelectric tri-axial accelerometer, located on operation
arm, acquires the acceleration signal and sends it via wired
connection to CRIO. Also the PLC communicates to CRIO
via wired connection: a trigger signal is send to synchronize
signal acquisition and to notify when steel weight level in
ladle is low enough to run slag carry-over status recognition
algorithm. In fact starting from a critical value of weight,
empirically evaluated, the controller software, uploaded on
CRIO, processes the acquired data and executes threshold
control: if the threshold is exceeded the CRIO send a closing
command via wired connection to the PLC, that drives
closing actuation.
Fig. 5. Schematic of the set-up.
It should be noted that communication between CRIO and
PLC is via ethernet, because this technology ensures reliable
communication and greater flexibility in the configuration of
system connections.
In this way this new functionality is installed as a new
module in the old controller system. Connecting a display
with the CRIO, via Human Machine Interface (HMI), the
workmen can observe all process information in order to
monitor casting process.
3.4 Algorithm of Recognition
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To validate the industrial effectiveness of the work done, an
evaluation analysis is carried out: it consists of comparing,
with visual method results, the detection results of two
different typology of detection method, relative to a sample
of 50 acquisitions, in which the nozzle valve closing is not
performed. It should be noted that considered acquisitions do
not present manual adjustment of nozzle valve opening, as it
causes flow fluctuations, that do not allow the use of
developed system. Thus in the experimental campaign are
used the following methods:
 Visual Method, in which the operator visually
detects the passage of the slag; it is used as a
reference of the passage of the slag since it has a
SDA close to 100%, nevertheless it detects with a
significant delay;
 Electromagnetic Method, in which an
electromagnetic sensor detects the difference of
magnetic conductivity of material; it is currently
used in considered foundry and presents a SDA
greater than 90% by literature;
 Vibrational Method, object of this work.
The results, exemplified in Fig. 6, show that vibrational
method holds lower SDA than electromagnetic one, since the
first one detects the passage of the slag in 80.0% of cases
against 92.0% of the second one. Also the vibrational method
presents an average time delay compared with the
electromagnetic one of approximately 0.6 second. In part,
time delay is due to the processing time, required by the
algorithm, which evaluates the feature on a defined
temporary windows, in part it is due to positioning of sensors,
which involves the accelerometer position further down than
electromagnetic sensor one.
Fig. 6. Application result.
By a deeper analysis of the acquisitions in which slag has not
successfully detected, it is assumed that 30% of these is due
to acquisition problem, while the remaining 70% is due to
lack of sensitiveness of the algorithm.
5. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
It should be specified that, based on the results above, the
company decided to introduce the system developed in the
casting production process in parallel with the current SSS. In
this way further analysis can be conducted in order to
improve the detection system, overcoming critical aspects,
revealed during working. In particular the study focuses on
1416
improving acquisition system, to eliminate hardware failures,
and developing a dynamic threshold, to increase detection
sensitiveness of algorithm and to create a system independent
of the type of material. Further frequency domain
investigation will allow to standardize the system, making it
applicable to all casting plants and independent by flow
fluctuations, due to manual adjustment of nozzle valve
opening.
It is expected that these improvements will lead SDA values
close to 90%, required constraint by the company, for an
exclusive system use. In fact, in this case, the savings,
associated with installation investment and running costs, are
so advantageous to justify even a worst SDA and slight delay
in the slag detection.
6. CONCLUSIONS
This paper reports the development and application of an on-
line real-time Slag Sensing System for CCP, based on the
frequency domain and time domain analysis of the
vibrational signal, due to shock action of steel stream. In
order to conduct the analysis an ad hoc setup has been
developed and a signal filtering has been implemented.
The results, obtained by application of Vibrational Slag
Detection to the real system, validate the effectiveness of the
developed detector, since it is capable to detect attenuation of
vibrational amplitude associated to slag carry-over status, as a
consequence of the lower density of the slag. From an
industrial perspective, the relevance of this approach can be
easily understood by considering the importance, in global
market, to increase the quality of the product and to reduce
global costs. This new no-contact method, in fact, provides
an optimal trade-off between Slag Detection Accuracy (80%)
and cost of installation and maintenance, an order of
magnitude lower than electromagnetic one.
It is worth mentioning that the analysis, carried on in this
study, is going to be further widened in order to standardize
the system and to improve SDA values, making it applicable
to all casting plants, even in exclusive way.
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