Application of Muon Radiography to Blast Furnaces: the BLEMAB project

Muon radiography is a non-invasive imaging technique that exploits cosmic ray muons to explore the content of large, dense and otherwise inaccessible volumes. The European project BLEMAB (BLast furnace stack density Estimation through on-line Muon ABsorption measurements) represents an exemplary application of this technique in the industrial field: the aim of the project is indeed to investigate the capability of muon radiography to scan the inner part of active iron-making blast furnaces. In particular, the focus of the study is the characterization of the so-called “cohesive zone”, which could be of great interest for steel-making companies. The project foresees the construction of a dedicated muon imaging detector, that will be installed at the blast furnaces in the ArcelorMittal site in Bremen (Germany). This paper describes the status of the project, including the development of software simulations and the manufacturing of the detector.