Biomass Combustion Control in Small and Medium-Scale Boilers Based on Low Cost Sensing the Trend of Carbon Monoxide Emissions

Abstract

The article deals with the possibility of efficient control of small and medium-scale biomass-fired boilers by implementing low-cost sensors to sense the trend of carbon monoxide emissions into control of the biomass combustion process. Based on the theoretical analysis, a principle block diagram of the process control system was designed for the possibility of providing near-optimal control of the biomass combustion regardless of its quality parameters. A cost-effective hardware solution to obtain the dependence of CO emissions on O2 concentration in flue gas during combustion and new control algorithms was implemented into the process control and monitoring system of the biomass-fired boilers to test them in the real operation. A description of the designed control system, a data analysis of the monitored values and their impact on combustion process, and some results of the implemented control of the real biomass combustion process are presented in the article.

Harvesting Electric Energy Using Thermoelectric Generators in a Residential Heating Application

“…Biomass-fueled space heating combustors are widely used, especially in off-grid locations in North America. Common challenges for these systems include temperature control, heat loss prevention, and the limited duration of heat supply [6,7]. Combustion efficiency is improved, and emissions are reduced if the biomass is burned rapidly.…”

Solving the Formation and Containment Control Problem of Nonlinear Multi-Boiler Systems Based on Interval Type-2 Takagi–Sugeno Fuzzy Models

“…From then until now, there still are many researchers who have been devoting their efforts to establishing and identifying more reasonable mathematical models for boiler systems [10,11]. With the more and more appropriate models available, various control methods have recently been developed for boilers [12,13]. The main control objective for the boiler system is to maintain the value of output variables, including steam pressure, drum water level, and so on; even the steam production is changed all the time, corresponding to the demand of the electrical load or operators [14,15].…”