Quantitative characterization of pulverized coal and biomass–coal blends in pneumatic conveying pipelines using electrostatic sensor arrays and data fusion techniques

Quantitative data about the dynamic behaviour of pulverized coal and biomass–coal blends in fuel injection pipelines allow power plant operators to detect variations in fuel supply and oscillations in the flow at an early stage, enable them to balance fuel distribution between fuel feeding pipes and ultimately to achieve higher combustion efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Electrostatic sensor arrays and data fusion algorithms are combined to provide a non-intrusive solution to the measurement of fuel particle velocity, relative solid concentration and flow stability under pneumatic conveying conditions. Electrostatic sensor arrays with circular and arc-shaped electrodes are integrated in the same sensing head to measure 'averaged' and 'localized' characteristics of pulverized fuel flow. Data fusion techniques are applied to optimize and integrate the results from the sensor arrays. Experimental tests were conducted on the horizontal section of a 150 mm bore pneumatic conveyor circulating pulverized coal and sawdust under various flow conditions. Test results suggest that pure coal particles travel faster and carry more electrostatic charge than biomass–coal blends. As more biomass particles are added to the flow, the overall velocity of the flow reduces, the electrostatic charge level on particles decreases and the flow becomes less stable compared to the pure coal flow.