Outward Glance

Sooner or later we all come to the conclusion that if
there is something natural and rational in nature, then we invented it ourselves.
Aldous Leonard Huxley

The history of one of the many innovation proposals that UMP team is famous for began with... a gift. The children gave their father a rear-view camera in the car. The idea of the device was embodied in a new engineering solution. And later she was awarded the first place and the prize in nomination «The best digital solution in production» in the competition of NAC Kazatomprom JSC in 2020.

The project is called Use of video surveillance cameras for visual inspection of the interior of the lining and the condition of the heaters of the furnace with a walking bottom, and its authors are power engineers of Uranium Operations.

Sergey Lemeshko, power engineer of Uranium Operations, Sergey Konevsky, power engineer of shop «R» of Uranium Operations, Igor Ignatenko, power engineer of Uranium Operations brought the rationalization idea to life.

At the UP, eight hydrogen high-temperature furnaces with a walking hearth are involved in the production process. After each stop of the equipment, a visual inspection of the lining and the condition of the heaters should be carried out. Thus, in total, about 20 meters of the «insides» of the furnaces are subjected to inspection.

Sergey Lemeshko: «Previously, malfunction could only be determined by disassembling the furnace. I had to remove the thermocouples, covers, bushing, part of the lining, lift everything with lifting mechanisms – to look for. The process is quite laborious, and we have external contractual obligations to fulfill orders. We did diagnostics as the problem came in. Left, for example, a «boat», and on it – a piece of lining. We will take it out and analyze what density it is, from which zone it could have fallen. Or there was a «bouncing» of «boats», there are different reasons, the worst thing is if the heater led, and he touched them. The furnace was stopped, cooled, disassembled.»

Sergey Lemeshko: «You ask where the idea came from? Life itself suggested it. I have a pretty big car, and the kids gave me a rear-view camera with an output on the monitor, I looked at what a clear picture and thought, well, why not try it?! I brought this recorder to work, put it in the oven, did the lighting – it turned out! This is a practical idea, not some ephemeral one. The construction of a camera, a pallet with a handle and a lighting device helps to make «diagnostics» of lining and heaters for the purpose of preventive repairs. The inspection now is rather a preventive measure and takes from an hour to three, along with an understanding of the situation.»

A camera and a lamp are installed on the pallet to illuminate shooting space. The screen is connected. All this construction is placed in the furnace from the loading side.

During the movement of the pallet with the camera in the furnace, the image from the inside is displayed on the monitor screen in real time.

Sergey Lemeshko: «The meaning here is this – the batch of products has been released, the furnace is stopped, cooled, it has a break. There is an opportunity to see what condition the equipment is in. Then we determine on a commission basis what – lining or heaters – need to be replaced. There is time before the next launch to fix the situation. This, one might say, is a certain philosophy. Of course, you won't see only 100%, but you can see 90% of what happens in the oven.»

Polishing the idea took a couple of months. And the costs of this rational offer were small – about 20,000 tenge for procurement of camera, and a monitor and wires were available. The tray was also made on its own and the pusher handle was invented instead of the cord originally used. But now the furnaces are inspected at every stop. There is only an hour for everything not a month. As Sergey Borisovich says: «They stopped it – it's a holy thing to see what's there! Now, after each stop, we inspect, it's already been done – and my soul is calm.»

Alexey Proskuryakov, Anna Chumina