LOW COST, VERSATILE INSTRUMENTATION FOR IMPROVED PROCESS CONTROL.

AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF MANY ENERGY INTENSIVE PROCESSES IS THE ABILITY TO HAVE ON-LINE MONITORING. THIS ENSURES OPERATOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AS WELL AS PROPER OPERATION OF THE PLANT. CONSEQUENTLY, THERE IS A GREAT NEEDFOR DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENTS FOR MULTIPHASE MEDIA WHICH CAN FUNCTION IN DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENTS. THE GOAL OF THIS PHASE I AND PHASE II PROJECT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RAPID, RUGGED, AND AUTOMATED FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED (FT-IR) SPECTROMETER FOR MONITORING PROCESS STREAMS. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL MODIFY AN EMISSION AND TRANSMISSION METHOD TO MEASURE CONCENTRATIONS AND TEMPERATURES OF PARTICLES AND GAS SPECIES. THE SENSITIVITY OF THE FT-IR TO IMPORTANT SPECIES LIKE CO, CO(2), SO(2), NO(X), HC1, POLYCYCLIC AROMATICS, SOOT, UNBURNED HYDROCARBONS, PARTICLES, FURANS, AND OTHERS WILL BE DETERMINED. THE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM WILL THEN BE DEMONSTRATED ON A COAL COMBUSTION FACILITY. THE RESULTS OF THESE MEASUREMENTS WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP A PRELIMINARY DESIGN FOR A MONITORING INSTRUMENT.