AngloAmerican in Chile install a Pyrosheath LT-1 Sensor

AngloAmerican is a global mining and resources company, with a copper foundry in the Valparaiso region, Chile. Gabriel Perez is Pyrosales’ representative in Latin America, and he was asked to provide two Pyrosheath LT-1 sensors for installation in a copper furnace. The Pyrosheath sensor (LT1) was successfully installed after consultation between Pyrosales and AngloAmerican, with Gabriel assisting with the testing procedure.   

AngloAmerican engineers decided to install the sensor in the casting wheel (rueda de moldeo) to measure the temperature at that level, instead of measuring the temperature in the ducts system (canala) that come from the converters, as is usual. They built a special support device to install the sensor in the casting wheel.

To compare the results from the Pyrosheath sensor, disposable sensors (sensores de sacrificio) were also installed in the ducts system. The engineers had to overcome the difficulty of the proximity between the head and cables with the high temperature measuring point. As a solution, they covered the head and cables with a thermal isolation material.  

For the duration of the test, the melted copper’s temperature was measured while the converter was emptied; the melted copper was sent through the ducts system (canala) to the casting wheel, where the sensor was installed, until the casting wheel was full. The process took nearly four hours, and the results were periodically compared with measurements made with the disposable sensors (sensores de sacrificio).   

The results of the test were successful. The temperature measured in the casting wheel was highly accurate, and coincided with the sacrificed sensor’s results in the ducts system. AngloAmerican were pleased with the results, and more tests will be conducted with a second sensor.