"NOVEL ON-LINE CHARACTERIZATION METHOD FOR SUSPENDED PARTICLES"

MANY CHEMICAL AND ENERGY CONVERSION PROCESSES INVOLVE MULTI-PHASE FEED OR PRODUCT STREAMS. UNFORTUNATELY, VERY LITTLE IS AVAILABLE IN PROCESS MONITORING EQUIPMENT FOR SUCH STREAMS. THIS PROPOSAL SUGGESTS DEVELOPMENT, VALIDATION AND CALIBRATION OF AN INNOVATIVE METHOD FOR MEASURING THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF GAS-SUSPENDED LIQUIDS AND SOLIDS USING A FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED (FT-IR) SPECTROMETER. THE MEASUREMENTS CAN PROVIDE DATA ON THE GASEOUS SPECIES AND GAS TEMPERATURE AS WELL. IF THE PROCESS STREAM IS HOT, THE SPECTROMETER WILL ALSO MEASURE THE RADIATION EMITTED BY THE PARTICLE OR DROPLET WHICH PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE PARTICLE'S TEMPERATURE. THE MEASUREMENTS CAN BE MADE IN A CELL DESIGNED FOR ON-LINE MEASUREMENTS OF A SAMPLE STREAM OR UNDER APPROPRIATE CIRCUMSTANCES, IN-SITU IN A PROCESS STREAM OR REACTOR. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WOULD EMPLOY A STREAM OF MONODISPERSED DROPLETS AND A STREAM OF SIZE GRADED AND WELL CHARACTERIZED SOLIDS IN A SPECIALLY DESIGNED TEST APPARATUS TO VALIDATE THE TECHNIQUE FOR OBTAINING PARTICLE SIZE, NUMBER DENSITY, TEMPERATURE AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. THE PHASE II PROGRAM WOULD EXTEND THE INVESTIGATION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE AND PROTOTYPE HARDWARE FOR PROCESS MONITORING INSTRUMENTATION. THE PROGRAM WOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AFR'S UNIQUE CAPABILITIES IN THE USE OF IN-SITU FT-IR.