Integrated modelling of a smelter off-gas system

在矿物和冶金工业中，冶炼厂将硫化矿石加工成镍、铜、钴和其他贵重金属。金属的冶炼和精炼通常伴随着二氧化硫和其他气体的排放，这可能造成不良的工作环境和污染的空气。冶炼厂废气净化系统处理废气排放，并尽量减少冶炼过程对环境的影响。随着环境保护意识的增强和环境政策的收紧，对冶炼厂废气系统进行广泛的研究是必要的。熔炼系统的优化运行需要对过程进行严密的监控和自动控制。可靠的熔炼系统模型对于改善对运行的控制和监测是必要的。本项目拟利用工业运行数据和基本原理对鹰桥有限公司的冶炼系统进行建模。冶炼系统包括许多基本的工程单元操作。该项目将研究这些单个单元的建模技术，然后是与工程单元相互作用的全厂建模。根据变量的动力学，不同的模型结构将使用守恒定律、半物理模型或经验识别进行测试。将进行模型缩减，以生成可以容易地合并到过程控制开发中的模型。将研究和开发一种具有学习方案的自适应识别方法，专门用于对冶炼厂废气系统的时变特性进行建模。利用所建立的模型，对冶炼废气系统的控制方案进行了研究。该项目的效果有望为进一步改善冶炼厂的运行奠定必要的基础，并取得更好的环境和显著的经济效益。

In mineral and metallurgical industry, smelters process sulfide ores to produce nickel, copper, cobalt, and precious metals. Smelting and refining of the metals are usually accompanied by sulfur dioxide and other gas emissions, which may cause undesirable working environment and polluted air. Smelter off-gas cleaning systems treat the off-gas emissions and minimize the environmental impact of the smelter processes. With growing awareness of the importance of environmental protection and tightened environmental policy, extensive study on smelter off-gas system is necessary. Optimal operation of the smelter systems requires tight monitoring and automatic control of the processes. Reliable models of the smelter systems are necessary to improve control and monitoring of the operation. This project proposes to model the  smelter system in Falconbridge Ltd. using industrial operating data and fundamental principles. The smelter system includes many fundamental engineering unit operations. This project will investigate modelling techniques of these individual units, followed by plant-wide modelling with interactions of the engineering units. According to the dynamics of the variables, different model structures will be tested using conservation laws, semi-physical modelling or empirical identification. Model reduction will be conducted to generate the models that can be easily incorporated into process control development. An adaptive identification method with learning schemes will be investigated and developed specifically for modelling the time-varying characteristics of the smelter off-gas system. With the derived models, the control schemes for the smelter off-gas system will be investigated. Results of this project are expected to build necessary foundation to further improve the smelter operation and result in better environment and significant economic benefits.