How many measurements are required to completely characterize a converter ?
For a brand new BOF that has no skull in the mouth (or for a ladle or EAF), the entire vessel can be scanned in one measurement. This requires 20-30s. However, once the BOF mouth begins to collect a skull accumulation, multiple measurements are required at different furnace inclinations and cart positions. These additional measurements are necessary to “see” into the furnace, and measure all surfaces (we can’t measure surfaces that are not in the field of view of the instrument). Typically, 4-6 measurements are necessary, depending on the amount of skull accumulation. Given the time required to move the cart and change the furnace inclination, although one individual measurement requires 30s, all of them in combination could take 5-10 minutes.
