AN INSTRUMENT FOR IN-SITU ANALYSIS OF CARBON IN FLY ASH

AN INSTRUMENT CAPABLE OF MAKING ON-LINE, IN-SITU MEASUREMENTS OF RESIDUAL CARBON CONTENT IN FLYASH WOULD BE A VALUABLE ASSET IN THE OPTIMIZATION OF POWER PLANT EFFICIENCY AND IN ACHIEVING POLLUTION CONTROL GOALS. CURRENT INSTRUMENTS AVAILABLE TO MEASURE RESIDUAL CARBON FLY ASH ARE BASED ON EXTRACTIVE POINT SAMPLES. MEASUREMENTS OF THIS TYPE ARE RELATIVELY SLOW, ARE PRONE TO INACCURACIES, AND REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT MAINTENANCE AND SAMPLE HANDING INSTRUMENTATION. PRELIMINARY MESUREMENTS INDICATE THAT THE INFRAREDSPECTRAL EMISSIVITY OF FLY ASH PARTICLES IS CORRELATED TO RESIDUAL CARBON CONTENT. A DETAILED STUDY OF THIS CORRELATION WILL BE UNDERTAKEN IN PHASE I IN ORDER TO DEVELOP AN INFRARED EMISSIVITY-BASED MONITOR CAPABLE OF MAKING ON-LINE, IN-SITU MEASUREMENTS OF CARBON IN FLY ASH IN COALCOMBUSTION FACILITIES. PHASE I WILL INCLUDE BOTH LABORATORY-SCALE AND PILOT PLANT TESTS OF THE METHOD, AND SPECIFICATIONS WILL BE MADE FOR A PROTOTYPE CARBON IN FLY ASH MONITOR TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN PHASE II.