Furnace, e.g. melting furnace for heating and containing materials subject to chemical reactions, includes container containing heat source and comprising refractory lining having first refractory lining layer, and optical waveguide

摘要

Furnace comprises a container containing a heat source and comprising a refractory lining having a first refractory lining layer and container wall having intermediate layer(s) and an outer wall with an outer surface distal from the heat source, and at least one optical waveguide to monitor a temperature profile by optical back scattering measurement and located between the first lining layer and outer surface of the outer wall. A furnace comprises a heat source (80), a container containing the heat source and comprising a refractory lining (30) having a first refractory lining layer (A0) adjacent to the heat source and container wall (40) having intermediate layer(s) (W2, W3) and an outer wall (W1) with an outer surface (41) distal from the heat source, and at least one optical waveguide for monitoring a temperature profile by optical back scattering measurement. The waveguide is located between the first refractory lining layer and outer surface of the outer wall. The heat source provides the temperature profile in the refractory lining and in the container wall. Independent claims are also included for: (a) a method of thermally monitoring the condition of vital parts of the furnace, comprising coupling the optical waveguide to an optical back scattering measurement equipment, measuring a temperature distribution along the optical waveguide by an optical back scattering measurement, determining the temperature profile for the vital parts based on the measured temperature distribution, and assessing the condition of the vital parts based on the temperature profile; (b) a system of thermally monitoring the condition of the vital parts of the furnace, comprising the inventive furnace, an optical back scattering measurement equipment coupled to the optical waveguide, and a display for displaying the condition of the vital parts; (c) a method of monitoring the state of preservation of a refractory lining of melting furnaces, comprising arranging optical fibers between the wall and lining of the furnace to detect temperatures by a fiber-optic back scattering measuring system; and (d) a system for monitoring the condition of a refractory lining of melting furnaces comprising the temperature sensor.