Patents by Inventor Kazuhira Ichikawa

Kazuhira Ichikawa has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12242249
    Abstract: An operation method for production facilities operates production facilities of a same kind located at production sites, and includes: a data information preparation step of aggregating operational data of each of the production facilities for each of the production sites; a data accumulation step of accumulating the operational data aggregated at the data information preparation step into a computer located at a data accumulation site; a data analysis step of analyzing an operation status of each of the production facilities, using the operational data accumulated at the data accumulation step; a data display step of displaying information on analyzed the operation status of each of the production facilities on a display unit located at each of the production sites; and a facility operation step of referring to the displayed information and operating a production facility located at a second production site from a first production site.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiko Ito, Kazuhira Ichikawa, Shingo Sugioka, Hiroyuki Shimamoto, Tetsuya Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20240368715
    Abstract: A supply heat quantity estimating method includes: estimating a change in carried-out sensible heat by in-furnace passing gas and a change in carried-in sensible heat supplied by a raw material preheated by the in-furnace passing gas, and estimating a quantity of heat supplied to the pig iron in a blast furnace in consideration of the estimated changes in the carried-out sensible heat and carried-in sensible heat. The estimating includes: estimating the carried-out sensible heat in consideration of the quantity of heat released to an outside, and estimating the change in the carried-in sensible heat in consideration of a change in a surface height of the raw material; and estimating a quantity of heat held in a deadman coke, and estimating the quantity of heat supplied to the pig iron in the blast furnace in consideration of the estimated quantity of heat held in the deadman coke.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2022
    Publication date: November 7, 2024
    Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhira ICHIKAWA, Tetsuya YAMAMOTO, Takeshi SATO, Yuki KAWASHIRI
  • Patent number: 12098437
    Abstract: A method for charging raw materials into a blast furnace is as follows. The blast furnace includes a bell-less charging device that includes a plurality of main hoppers and an auxiliary hopper. The auxiliary hopper has a smaller capacity than the main hoppers. The method includes discharging ore charged in at least one of the plurality of main hoppers, and then sequentially charging the ore from a furnace center side toward a furnace wall side by using a rotating chute. After charging of the ore is started, only the ore is charged from the rotating chute at least until charging of 45 mass % of the ore is completed based on a total amount of the ore to be charged per batch; then, discharging of low-reactivity ore charged in the auxiliary hopper is started; and then, the low-reactivity ore is charged together with the ore from the rotating chute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Assignee: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhira Ichikawa, Yasushi Ogasawara, Takeshi Sato
  • Publication number: 20240271231
    Abstract: A supply heat amount estimating method for estimating an amount of heat supplied to pig iron in a blast furnace from an amount of heat supplied into the blast furnace and a rate of production of molten pig iron in the blast furnace, the supply heat amount estimating method includes: estimating a change in carried-out sensible heat by an in-furnace passing gas and a change in carried-in sensible heat supplied by a raw material preheated by the in-furnace passing gas and estimating the amount of heat supplied to the pig iron in the blast furnace in consideration of the estimated changes in the carried-out sensible heat and the carried-in sensible heat.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2021
    Publication date: August 15, 2024
    Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhira ICHIKAWA, Tetsuya YAMAMOTO, Takeshi SATO, Yuki KAWASHIRI
  • Publication number: 20240218471
    Abstract: A supplied heat quantity estimation method estimates a quantity of heat supplied to pig iron in a blast furnace from a quantity of heat supplied into the blast furnace and a production speed of molten iron in the blast furnace, and includes an estimation step of estimating a change in carried out sensible heat by in-furnace passing gas and a change in carried in sensible heat supplied by a raw material preheated by the in-furnace passing gas, and estimating the quantity of heat supplied to pig iron in the blast furnace in consideration of the estimated changes of the carried out sensible heat and the carried in sensible heat. The estimation step includes calculating an iron making speed and estimating a quantity of heat held in furnace core coke present in the blast furnace to estimate the quantity of heat supplied to pig iron.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2022
    Publication date: July 4, 2024
    Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhira ICHIKAWA, Tetsuya YAMAMOTO, Takeshi SATO, Yuki KAWASHIRI
  • Publication number: 20240218472
    Abstract: A supplied heat quantity estimation method estimates a quantity of heat supplied to pig iron in a blast furnace from a quantity of heat supplied into the blast furnace and a production speed of molten iron in the blast furnace, and includes estimating a change in carried out sensible heat by in-furnace passing gas and a change in carried in sensible heat supplied by a raw material preheated by the in-furnace passing gas, and estimating the quantity of heat supplied to pig iron in the blast furnace in consideration of the estimated changes of the carried out sensible heat and the carried in sensible heat. The estimating includes estimating the changes of the carried out sensible heat and the carried in sensible heat, and estimating a quantity of heat held in deadman coke present in the blast furnace to estimate the quantity of heat supplied to pig iron.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2022
    Publication date: July 4, 2024
    Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhira ICHIKAWA, Tetsuya YAMAMOTO, Takeshi SATO, Yuki KAWASHIRI
  • Publication number: 20240218473
    Abstract: A supplied heat quantity estimation method includes an estimation step of estimating a change in carried out sensible heat by in-furnace passing gas and a change in carried in sensible heat supplied by a raw material preheated by the in-furnace passing gas, and estimating a quantity of heat supplied to pig iron in a blast furnace in consideration of the estimated changes of the carried out sensible heat and the carried in sensible heat. The estimation step includes a step of estimating a quantity of heat supplied to pig iron in consideration of heat dissipated from the blast furnace during an air blowing break, and a step of estimating a quantity of heat held in deadman coke present in the blast furnace, and estimating the quantity of heat supplied to pig iron in consideration of the estimated quantity of heat held in deadman coke.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2022
    Publication date: July 4, 2024
    Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhira ICHIKAWA, Tetsuya YAMAMOTO, Takeshi SATO, Yuki KAWASHIRI
  • Publication number: 20240132982
    Abstract: A residual molten material amount detection method and detection apparatus that can detect a residual amount of molten material in a vertical furnace and a method for operating a vertical furnace by using the detection method. The residual molten material amount detection method detects a residual amount of molten material remaining in a bottom portion of a vertical furnace after end of discharge of the molten material. The method includes detecting the residual amount of the molten material by using a difference between a production speed of the molten material and a discharge speed of the molten material that is calculated by using a discharge acceleration, a discharge period, and an initial discharge speed of the discharge of the molten material through a taphole.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2022
    Publication date: April 25, 2024
    Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuki KAWASHIRI, Tetsuya YAMAMOTO, Taihei NOUCHI, Kazuhira ICHIKAWA
  • Publication number: 20240118029
    Abstract: A molten material liquid level detection method that can detect a liquid level of molten material from a residual amount of the molten material with high accuracy and a method for operating a vertical furnace by using the detection method. The molten material liquid level detection method detects a liquid level of molten material remaining in a bottom portion of a vertical furnace after end of discharge of a molten material. The molten material liquid level detection method includes calculating a void fraction of the solid-filled structure, and detecting a liquid level of the molten material after the end of the discharge by using the calculated void fraction and a residual amount of the molten material after the end of the discharge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2022
    Publication date: April 11, 2024
    Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuki KAWASHIRI, Tetsuya YAMAMOTO, Kazuhira ICHIKAWA, Taihei NOUCHI
  • Publication number: 20240052439
    Abstract: A method for charging raw materials into a blast furnace is as follows. The blast furnace includes a bell-less charging device that includes a plurality of main hoppers and an auxiliary hopper. The auxiliary hopper has a smaller capacity than the main hoppers. The method includes discharging ore charged in at least one of the plurality of main hoppers, and then sequentially charging the ore from a furnace wall side toward a furnace center side by using a rotating chute. The discharging of low-reactivity ore charged in the auxiliary hopper is started simultaneously with a start of charging of the ore or at a point in time after the start of the charging; and then, the low-reactivity ore is charged together with the ore from the rotating chute. The charging of the low-reactivity ore is stopped at least before a point in time at which charging of 56 mass % of the ore is completed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2023
    Publication date: February 15, 2024
    Applicant: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhira Ichikawa, Yasushi Ogasawara, Takeshi Sato
  • Patent number: 11680748
    Abstract: A method for charging raw materials into a blast furnace is provided. The blast furnace includes a bell-less charging device that includes a plurality of main hoppers and an auxiliary hopper. The auxiliary hopper has a smaller capacity than the main hoppers. The method includes discharging ore charged in at least one of the plurality of main hoppers and then sequentially charging the ore from a furnace center side toward a furnace wall side by using a rotating chute. After charging of the ore is started, only the ore is charged from the rotating chute at least until charging of 15 mass % of the ore is completed based on a total amount of the ore to be charged per batch; then discharging of small-size coke charged in the auxiliary hopper is started; and then, the small-size coke is charged together with the ore from the rotating chute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhira Ichikawa, Yasushi Ogasawara, Takeshi Sato
  • Publication number: 20230175085
    Abstract: A blast furnace operation method comprising a blast furnace to start up smoothly and perform operation after suspending air blowing by removing as much as possible residual coke that remains inside the furnace during suspension of air blowing and becomes an obstacle to discharging solidified matter. In this blast furnace operation method, air blowing is suspended with the height of a surface of a raw material-filled layer immediately above a blast-furnace tuyere reduced below the height of an upper end of a blast-furnace bosh and then air blowing is resumed. After air blowing into the blast furnace is suspended, oxygen or oxygen and a combustible gas are blown in through a burner inserted into a taphole to combust coke remaining inside the furnace and reduce the volume of residues inside the furnace, and after new coke is charged to a region where the volume decreased, air is blown through a tuyere.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2021
    Publication date: June 8, 2023
    Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhira ICHIKAWA, Yasukazu HAYASAKA, Yohei KITAMURA, Natsuo ISHIWATA
  • Publication number: 20230151448
    Abstract: A method for detecting a fluctuation of a solidified layer, and a method for operating a blast furnace by employing the relevant method. In the method for detecting a fluctuation of a solidified layer, the fluctuation of the solidified layer in the lower part of a blast furnace is detected by using the amount of heat supplied to pig iron in the lower part of the blast furnace and the amount of heat in the pig iron tapped in a predetermined period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2021
    Publication date: May 18, 2023
    Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhira ICHIKAWA, Takeshi SATO, Tetsuya YAMAMOTO, Tomohiko ITO
  • Publication number: 20220390930
    Abstract: An operation method for production facilities operates production facilities of a same kind located at production sites, and includes: a data information preparation step of aggregating operational data of each of the production facilities for each of the production sites; a data accumulation step of accumulating the operational data aggregated at the data information preparation step into a computer located at a data accumulation site; a data analysis step of analyzing an operation status of each of the production facilities, using the operational data accumulated at the data accumulation step; a data display step of displaying information on analyzed the operation status of each of the production facilities on a display unit located at each of the production sites; and a facility operation step of referring to the displayed information and operating a production facility located at a second production site from a first production site.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2020
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Applicant: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiko Ito, Kazuhira Ichikawa, Shingo Sugioka, Hiroyuki Shimamoto, Tetsuya Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20220390928
    Abstract: A production facilities monitoring method monitors an operation status of a plurality of production facilities of a same kind located at a plurality of production sites and includes: a data information preparation step of aggregating operational data of each of the production facilities for each of the production sites; a data accumulation step of accumulating the operational data aggregated at the data information preparation step into a computer located at a data accumulation site; a data analysis step of analyzing a current operation status at each of the production facilities, using current operational data and past operational data accumulated at the data accumulation step; and an operation status determination step of determining whether operation is abnormal at each of the production facilities, based on an analysis result of the data analysis step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2020
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Applicant: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiko Ito, Kazuhira Ichikawa, Tetsuya Yamamoto, Shingo Sugioka, Hiroyuki Shimamoto
  • Publication number: 20210095353
    Abstract: A method for charging raw materials into a blast furnace is as follows. The blast furnace includes a bell-less charging device that includes a plurality of main hoppers and an auxiliary hopper. The auxiliary hopper has a smaller capacity than the main hoppers. The method includes discharging ore charged in at least one of the plurality of main hoppers, and then sequentially charging the ore from a furnace center side toward a furnace wall side by using a rotating chute. After charging of the ore is started, only the ore is charged from the rotating chute at least until charging of 45 mass % of the ore is completed based on a total amount of the ore to be charged per batch; then, discharging of low-reactivity ore charged in the auxiliary hopper is started; and then, the low-reactivity ore is charged together with the ore from the rotating chute.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Applicant: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhira Ichikawa, Yasushi Ogasawara, Takeshi Sato
  • Publication number: 20210033339
    Abstract: A method for charging raw materials into a blast furnace is provided. The blast furnace includes a bell-less charging device that includes a plurality of main hoppers and an auxiliary hopper. The auxiliary hopper has a smaller capacity than the main hoppers. The method includes discharging ore charged in at least one of the plurality of main hoppers and then sequentially charging the ore from a furnace center side toward a furnace wall side by using a rotating chute. After charging of the ore is started, only the ore is charged from the rotating chute at least until charging of 15 mass % of the ore is completed based on a total amount of the ore to be charged per batch; then discharging of small-size coke charged in the auxiliary hopper is started; and then, the small-size coke is charged together with the ore from the rotating chute.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Applicant: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhira Ichikawa, Yasushi Ogasawara, Takeshi Sato