Test bench for industrial burners: a diagnostic study for combustion control and process regulation

A small scale pilot plant is under development at CNPM, a Laboratory of the Italian Council of Research, to test prototypes or scale reduced industrial burners, utilizing gaseous, liquid, or solid (pulverized coal) fuels. The paper describes first the general layout of the test plant (feeding and exhaust lines, etc.) with a brief description of all the updated required instrumentation (flow and pressure meters and regulators, temperature probes, etc.). Optical techniques for the visualization of flame structure and chemical species distribution, as given by laser techniques, and of flow patterns, by laser doppler anemometry (LDA), are also available. The paper outlines the procedure for the operation of the pilot plant which is kept under automated control, thus simulating the behavior of a real facility. A preliminary analysis of a burner model has been performed and characteristic flow patterns and light sheet visualizations are presented. As a conclusion, indications are given on how all data made available by the instruments and destined to a data acquisition system, can be used as the main source for a diagnostic simulation, able to localize points of possible malfunctionings, giving as well suggestions for immediate or delayed interventions and always keeping in mind that emissions must remain well within the imposed standards, for the entire expected life of the burners