Abstract
Sponge iron is an intermediate product of steel formed during direct reduction of iron ore
with aid of regulated temperatures and pressures within a rotary kiln. The greatest
challenge is the direct measurement of kiln shell temperatures due to the catastrophic
accumulation of sintered particles of solid bed which form rings at places along the length of
the kiln thus hindering material flow. The accretion reduces productivity, damage kiln lining
and reduces the production period as well as reduction in product quality. This process
requires a controller which will be able to control with imprecise and partial data input; and
be able to achieve the desired product quality under dynamic process conditions thus a
Fuzzy Controller was used for the proposed design. The main goal of the research was to
predict the rate of accretion build up within the kiln and minimize it with aid of a Fuzzy
Control System cascaded to an already existing Programmable Logic Controller. A 16.2%
build up rate was achieved as compared to the most appreciated 27% thus nearly a 10%
decrease, a result which can improve the campaign period by approximately 48 hours which
will be a 200 tons of sponge iron.