Combustion furnace control apparatus

Abstract

A combustion furnace control apparatus for which an operation control system that ensures the combustion safety of the combustion furnace can be constructed easily. Interlocks pertaining to the safe operation of a combustion furnace are classified as a 1 st interlock pertaining to the safe operation of the overall combustion furnace, a 2 nd interlock pertaining to the combustion environment of a combustion zone and a 3 rd interlock pertaining to the combustion of a burner. Whereby, a common control module judges the state of the 1 st interlock and controls the overall operation of the combustion furnace; a combustion zone control module, receiving a control signal from the common control module, operates to judge the state of the 2 nd interlock and prepare the combustion environment for the combustion zone; and a burner control module, receiving a control signal from the combustion zone control module, operates to judge the state of the 3 rd interlock and control the operation of the burner.

1 . A combustion furnace control apparatus, comprising:
 a common control module verifying the state of a 1 st  interlock pertaining to the safe operation of the entire combustion furnace, outputting common control signals required for the safe operation of the combustion furnace, and controlling the overall operation of the combustion furnace; and   a combustion zone control module, provided in correspondence to a combustion zone provided with a burner, verifying the state of a 2 nd  interlock pertaining to the combustion environment in said combustion zone and common control signals outputted from the common control module, and controlling the operation of the burner in said combustion zone;   wherein said common control module and said combustion zone control module are provided in a hierarchical configuration.   
     
     
         2 . A combustion furnace control apparatus as cited in  claim 1 , wherein
 the combustion furnace comprises a plurality of combustion zones each being provided with one or a plurality of burners; and   a combustion zone control module is provided in correspondence to each of the respective combustion zones.   
     
     
         3 . A combustion furnace control apparatus, comprising:
 a common control module for verifying the state of a 1 st  interlock pertaining to the safe operation of a combustion furnace, outputting common control signals required for the operation of the combustion furnace, and controlling the overall operation of the combustion furnace; and   a combustion zone control module, provided in correspondence to a combustion zone provided with a burner, for verifying the state of a 2 nd  interlock pertaining to the combustion environment in said combustion zone and common control signals outputted from the common control module, controlling the safe operation environment of said combustion zone, and outputting combustion zone control signals required for operation of the burner provided in said combustion zone; and   a burner control module, provided in correspondence to the burner, for verifying the state of a 3 rd  interlock pertaining to inherent safe operation in said burner and combustion zone control signals outputted from the combustion zone control module, and for controlling the operation of said burner;   wherein said common control module, said combustion zone control module and said burner control module are provided in a hierarchical configuration.   
     
     
         4 . A combustion furnace control apparatus as cited in  claim 3 , wherein
 the combustion furnace comprises a plurality of combustion zones each being provided with one or a plurality of burners;   the combustion zone control module is provided in correspondence to each of the respective combustion zones; and   the burner control module is provided in correspondence to each of the burners.   
     
     
         5 . A combustion furnace control apparatus as cited in  claim 1 , wherein the common control module outputs signals, as common control signals, for enabling or disabling the operation of a burner provided in the combustion furnace. 
     
     
         6 . A combustion furnace control apparatus as cited in  claim 1 , wherein when the burner operation is enabled, the combustion zone control module ventilates said combustion zone, prepares a safe operating environment for the burner in said combustion zone, and after the safe operating environment of said combustion zone has been prepared, outputs the combustion zone control signals. 
     
     
         7 . A combustion furnace control apparatus as cited in  claim 1 , wherein combustion control of the burner is implemented by a combustion control device provided in correspondence to said burner, and
 only when a combustion zone control signal has been received from the combustion zone control module and operation has been enabled, said burner is operated according to combustion control implemented by the combustion control device.   
     
     
         8 . A combustion furnace control apparatus as cited in  claim 3 , wherein combustion control of the burner is implemented by a combustion control device provided in correspondence to said burner, and
 only when operation has been enabled by a burner control module that has verified the combustion zone control signal from the combustion zone control module and the state of the 3 rd  interlock, said burner is operated according to combustion control implemented by the combustion control device.   
     
     
         9 . A combustion furnace control apparatus as cited in  claim 3 , wherein the common control module outputs signals, as common control signals, for enabling or disabling the operation of a burner provided in the combustion furnace. 
     
     
         10 . A combustion furnace control apparatus as cited in  claim 3 , wherein when the burner operation is enabled, the combustion zone control module ventilates said combustion zone, prepares a safe operating environment for the burner in said combustion zone, and after the safe operating environment of said combustion zone has been prepared, outputs the combustion zone control signals.