An Ultrasonic-Capacitive System for Online Characterization of Fuel Oils in Thermal Power Plants

Abstract

This paper presents a ultrasonic-capacitive system for online analysis of the quality of fuel oils (FO), which are widely used to produce electric energy in Thermal Power Plants (TPP) due to their elevated heating value. The heating value, in turn, is linked to the quality of the fuel (i.e., the density and the amount of contaminants, such as water). Therefore, the analysis of the quality is of great importance for TPPs, either in order to avoid a decrease in generated power or in order to avoid damage to the TPP equipment. The proposed system is composed of two main strategies: a capacitive system (in order to estimate the water content in the fuel) and an ultrasonic system (in order to estimate the density). The conjunction of the two strategies is used in order to estimate the heating value of the fuel, online, as it passes through the pipeline and is an important tool for the TPP in order to detect counterfeit fuel. In addition, the ultrasonic system allows the estimation of the flow rate through the pipeline, hence estimating the amount of oil transferred and obtaining the total mass transferred as a feature of the system. Experimental results are provided for both sensors installed in a TPP in Brazil.

Technical and Economic Analysis of the Implementation of a Self-Sustainable Briquetting Process for Electric Generation

“…The heating value (or calorific value) of a material/fuel is the amount of heat released when the mass unit of that material is wholly burned under certain conditions [21]. It indicates the amount of energy that could be obtained from the fuel combustion [22]. The greater the heating value, the greater the energy contained in the fuel [23,24].…”

“…The greater the heating value, the greater the energy contained in the fuel [23,24]. The heating value is usually defined in terms of a Higher Heating Value (HHV) and a Lower Heating Value (LHV) [22], where the difference between them is caused by the heat of evaporation of the water formed from the hydrogen in the material [25]. An additional differentiation for the heating value, is called Useful Heating Value (UHV).…”

Automatic image processing of cavitation bubbles to analyze the properties of petroleum products

“…Cavitation with the formation of small bubbles is the common effect of the liquid's exposure to ultrasound. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Ultrasonic treatment also causes the dispersion of components in heterogeneous emulsions or suspensions and alters the colloidal stability.…”

“…By subjecting liquids to ultrasonic treatment and analyzing the response, it is possible to determine their characteristics. In addition to analyzing parameters such as soundwave propagation speed, 4,5 bubble size, and shape, [7][8][9][10] cavitation has been employed to estimate liquid's physical properties and composition. 7,11,12 Cavitation involves localized pressure changes that lead to the formation of bubbles composed of gas dissolved in a liquid and vapors of the solvent itself.…”

Capacitive Water-Cut Meter with Robust Near-Linear Transfer Function

“…In other cases, the effectiveness of traditional compensation methods essentially decreases, because of which further improvement of the existing methods of moisture measurement with a view to solving the problem of type-uncertainty compensation is a relevant and perspective mission [20]. In-depth analysis of modern moisture control approaches with the purpose of further development and improvement is still a relevant task, and the process of searching for new methods of water-cut sensing optimization is under constant continuation [21][22][23].…”