Investigations into the blockage of pulverized fuel pipes on coal-fired boilers using an electrostatic sensor system

Electrostatic sensors – Their principles and applications

“…Solid fuels are pulverised into small particles and then injected towards a set of burners via a network of pipes. On-line continuous measurement of fuel flow parameters in the fuel pipes allows the plant operators to control and optimise the fuel supply and to detect problems such as oscillations or roping flow (even pipe blockage [30]) at an early stage, particularly when changing the fuel diet and operating conditions. In view of the complex dynamic behaviours of the PF particles in large diameter pipes, a measurement system with a set of electrostatic sensor arrays and a data fusion algorithm is developed to enhance the measurement performance.…”