IN-SITU MEASUREMENT OF PARTICULATES FROM MHD COMBUSTION PROCESSING

MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS (MHD) IS A POTENTIALLY VIABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR ADVANCED AND EFFICIENT UTILIZATION OF COAL. AS WITH ANY COAL CONVERSION TECHNOLOGY, ONE OF THE PRIMARY REQUIREMENTS IS EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE EMISSIONS CONTROL FOR ASH AND OTHER EFFLUENTS. TO ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICS OF PARTICULATE RECOVERY SCHEMES UNDER CHANGING OPERATION CONDITIONS, MEASUREMENTS OF ON-LINE, REAL-TIME PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS AND CONCENTRATIONS ARE NEEDED. MEASUREMENTS AT THE ENTRANCE AND EXIT OF PRIMARY CLEANUP SYSTEMS BAGHOUSES AND ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE UNDERSTANDING AND OPTIMIZATION OF TOTAL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE. THE FIRST OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I WORKIS TO OBTAIN MEASUREMENTS WITH MODIFIED OPTICAL INSTRUMENTATION, DEVELOPED PREVIOUSLY FOR APPLICATIONS TO SIMILAR COAL-FIRED COMBUSTION SYSTEMS. THE RESULTING DATABASE WILL BE EVALUATED AND USED TO MODIFY AND FURTHER IMPROVE MHD CLEANUP SYSTEMS. THE SECOND OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK IS TO DEVELOP PROCESS CONTROL INSTRUMENTATION TO BE USED AS PART OF AN ACTIVE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PARTICULATE EFFLUENT CONTROL. THIS EFFORT FIRST REQUIRES ACQUISITION OFBACKGROUND DATA AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INPUT PARAMETERS AND OUTPUT EMISSIONS. THE SPECIFICMHD REQUIREMENTS NECESSITATE IMPROVED DESIGNS TO OBTAIN APPROPRIATE SIZE AND CONCENTRATION DATA.