Industrial Internet + Desulfurization: Implementation Case of Magnesium Hydroxide Slurry Intelligent Dispensing System
I. Pain Points and Opportunities for Change of Traditional Desulfurization Process
Driven by the "Dual Carbon" strategy, desulfurization systems in coal-fired power plants, steel coking and other industries are facing the dual torture of efficiency and cost. The traditional magnesium hydroxide desulfurization process relies on manual experience to adjust the slurry concentration and spraying intensity. The desulfurization efficiency often fluctuates by ±15% due to fluctuations in coal quality and changes in ambient temperature and humidity. The hydration rate of magnesium oxide is less than 75%, resulting in a large amount of unreacted raw materials being discharged with waste slag. The case of a northern power plant shows that the residual amount of magnesium oxide in its desulfurization waste slag is as high as 28%, which not only increases the cost of solid waste disposal, but also poses a risk of secondary pollution.
The introduction of industrial Internet technology provides a new path to solve this dilemma. By building an intelligent dispensing system of "data collection-model prediction-dynamic regulation", the preparation, transportation and spraying process of magnesium hydroxide slurry can be optimized. After a steel plant in Tangshan applied this system, the desulfurization efficiency was stabilized at more than 98.5%, the utilization rate of magnesium oxide increased to 97%, and the annual desulfurization agent cost was saved by more than 12 million yuan.
2. System architecture and technological breakthroughs
1. Construction of data perception layer
Deployment of high-precision sensor arrays in the slurry preparation process:
Mineral powder activity monitoring: A laser particle size analyzer is used to detect the particle size distribution of calcined magnesium oxide in real time, and the residual magnesium carbonate is analyzed by near-infrared spectroscopy to ensure that the activity value of the raw material is stable within 52 seconds (citric acid method).
Hydration process control: A three-in-one sensor of pH value, viscosity, and temperature is installed in the maturation pit, and the stirring intensity and maturation time are dynamically adjusted through a machine learning model to increase the conversion rate of magnesium hydroxide from 75% to 95%.
2. Intelligent decision-making core
Build a virtual desulfurization tower based on digital twin technology to achieve three key breakthroughs:
Coal quality adaptive model: Access real-time data such as coal calorific value and sulfur content, predict the sulfur dioxide load in the next 2 hours, and automatically generate a slurry spraying plan. After application in a power plant in Jiangsu, the slurry circulation volume decreased by 30% and the power consumption decreased by 18%.
Optimization of oxidation air volume: Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to simulate the gas-liquid distribution in the tower, and the oxidation rate of magnesium sulfite is increased to 97% through cyclone aeration technology, solving the problem of passivation layer wrapping.
Fault self-diagnosis: 23 typical fault feature libraries are established. When the vibration value of the slurry pump increases abnormally, the system automatically switches to the backup pipeline and pushes the maintenance instruction, and the unplanned shutdown rate is reduced to below 0.3%.
3. Execution layer innovation
Intelligent nozzle array: The high atomization nozzle driven by piezoelectric ceramics automatically adjusts the injection angle and droplet particle size according to the flue gas flow, and the gas-liquid contact area is increased by 45%.
Blockchain evidence storage: Key operation data is uploaded to the chain in real time to meet the EU GDPR compliance requirements and provide tamper-proof data support for carbon footprint certification.
3. Economic and environmental benefits of implementation cases
Case 1: Intelligent transformation of a power plant in Liaoning
The desulfurization system of the 2×660MW unit in the plant was upgraded to intelligentization:
Hardware transformation: 428 IoT sensors were deployed to build a full-area monitoring network covering slurry preparation, transportation, and spraying.
Algorithm optimization: The reinforcement learning algorithm was introduced to achieve a slurry concentration control accuracy of ±0.5%, which is 6 times higher than manual adjustment.
Result verification: 3,200 tons of magnesium oxide were saved annually, and the purity of the by-product magnesium sulfate was increased to 99.2%, which was directly sold as agricultural fertilizer and increased revenue by 8.6 million yuan. The unit was rated as a "smart manufacturing benchmark project" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and enjoyed a 15% environmental tax reduction.
Case 2: Application of the Yangtze River Delta Iron and Steel Consortium
For the complex working conditions of multiple production lines and multiple coal types, a group-level intelligent desulfurization platform was built:
Data interoperability: Integrate the desulfurization data of 6 blast furnaces and 12 sintering machines, and establish a cross-process coordination mechanism. When the sulfur load of the sintering machine suddenly increases, the spare slurry reserve of the neighboring power plant is automatically called.
Dynamic scheduling: Using 5G+MEC edge computing technology, the real-time scheduling of slurry transport vehicles within a range of 200 kilometers is realized, and the comprehensive cost of regional desulfurization is reduced by 22%.
Carbon asset development: Through the CCER mechanism, the annual emission reduction of 86,000 tons of carbon dioxide is converted into carbon sink income, and the annual revenue exceeds 7 million yuan.
IV. Industry promotion and future evolution
1. Standardized output
Leading companies are productizing mature solutions:
Lightweight deployment package: Launch "sensor + edge gateway" package for small and medium-sized power plants, and complete digital transformation within 3 days.
SaaS service platform: Provides subscription services such as remote diagnosis and consumables optimization. After a provincial energy group purchases it, the operation and maintenance labor cost is reduced by 65%.
2. Technology integration trend
AI predictive maintenance**: Combined with the equipment life prediction model, it warns the corrosion risk of the absorption tower 6 months in advance, and reduces the maintenance cost by 40%.
Digital twin + metaverse: Build a three-dimensional visualization platform for the desulfurization system, support VR remote inspection and operation training, and shorten the training cycle for new employees to 7 days.
3. Ecological collaborative innovation
Supply chain finance: Based on the credible evidence of desulfurization data, banks provide green credit with a benchmark interest rate of 20% lower for high-quality projects.
Industrial Internet: Build a magnesium hydroxide trading platform, and realize the automatic matching of mineral powder quality and price through smart contracts, and the procurement cost of a production base in Northeast China has dropped by 18%.
The deep integration of industrial Internet and magnesium hydroxide desulfurization technology is rewriting the economic equation of environmental protection governance. When the preparation of each drop of slurry is optimized by the algorithm, and each spray carries data intelligence, the traditional high-energy-consuming desulfurization system will be transformed into a value hub for green manufacturing. From the equipment renewal of Tangshan Steel Plant to the cross-regional collaboration in the Yangtze River Delta, this intelligent transformation not only makes flue gas treatment more accurate and efficient, but also gives birth to new growth poles such as carbon asset development and intelligent operation and maintenance. At the intersection of the digital economy and the dual-carbon strategy, the intelligent blending system is leading the desulfurization industry into a new era of "pollution control means value-added".