I nternational Journal of Applicat ion or I nnovation in E ngineering & M anagement (I JAI E M ) Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 ISSN 2319 - 4847 Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 Page 7 ABSTRACT Use of optimum sized pellets makes the steel production process more reliable and energy efficient. The development of the vision based system to keep these pellets size in check is discussed in this paper, which involves integrating industrial grade IBM-PC with a high resolution industrial camera. We have applied this method to the pelletizing system in the Essar Steel Plant at Vishakhapatnam and made possible automated operation of the pelletizer. Keywords: Vision System, Pellet, Size Distribution, Image Processing 1. INTRODUCTION The Pellet Size Distribution System is a modular inspection system for the analysis and classification of the size and shape of pellets. The pellets are granulated materials and are made from fine ores through pretreatments with a pelletizer. It is known that there exists a high degree of correlation between the average size of pellets and the operating conditions of an electric furnace. Accordingly, pellet size control in the granulation process is indispensable for the stable operation of the furnace. According to the industry norms the size of pellets must be maintained between 9mm- 16mm in diameter [1]. This size is analyzed and maintained in Pellet Size Distribution System, which is previously done manually and is not highly accurate. The vision based system is highly reliable and robust to be used in the industrial conditions. This paper outlines the method used and the system developed. A Disk pelletizer is a rotary tray with diameter of approximately 5 meters, inclined at an angle, as shown in Fig. 1. It rotates at a speed of 6-8 rpm. The pellet size is controlled by flow rate of water, speed of disk and angle fin inside disk. It is difficult to ensure accurate size control solely by visual inspection of human operators. Thus, there is a strong need for the development of system for measuring pellets continuously and accurately. Figure 1 Disk Pelletizer 2. Principle of Measurement In order to ensure the accurate measurement in real time the pellet, partially as well as completely visible, in the top layer is analyzed. Pellet sizes are measured using a well-known algorithm, called Circular Hough Transform (CHT). Figure 2 shows the block diagram of the steps of the method followed. Industrial vision system for distribution and size analysis of pellets Navdeep Singh, ShaliniSaxena, Dhiraj, J L Raheja Machine Vision Lab, DSG, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research -Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CSIR- CEERI), Pilani, Rajasthan, India,