Monitoring and control of combustion flames in utility boilers are required in order to optimize combustion conditions.This paper presents an instrumentation system for the concurrent measurement of the temperature distributionand soot concentration of flames developed on the two-color principle. This system consists of an endoscope,an optical assembly with optical filters, a CCD camera, a frame grabber and associated image processingsoftware. Experiments are performed on a methane-air combustor and the temperature fields and the soot concentrationscorresponding to the flame images are obtained. The results have demonstrated that the system is capableof performing on-line measurement of flame and temperature distribution, providing temporal and spatial characterizationof the combustion process. In addition, the combination of advanced optical sensing and digital imageprocessing technique can help to define the threshold by the analysis of the background noise. Furthermore, theutilization of the filter technique can enhance the image presentation effect to an extent.
Fan JiangShi LiuShiqiang LiangZhihong LiXueyao WangGang Lu
The permafrost with the highest altitude and largest area in the mid and low latitude is located in the Qinghad-Tibet Plateau. As most frozen soils contain ice particles which are very sensitive to temperature and other external parameters, thus influencing the stability of the embankment in permafrost regions, it is very important to develop techniques to prevent damages to railway embankments due to thaw settlement. In this paper, the electrical capacitance sensors are designed to study the freezing front movement in a vessel and ice movement in water, which is the first step to apply the ECT system to the study of frozen soil. Two sensor arrangements are put into use. First, the traditional closed electrode sensors are put into use. In this arrangement, the electrodes are attached to the outside of the pipe or vessel, and the cross-sectional distribution of ice and water could be reconstructed from the capacitances measured. Also, the ice moving track at the cross section could be reflected thoroughly.Since the traditional closed electrode sensors can not meet the needs of measuring the ice freezing front move- ment, a new electrode sensors structure, that is, the unclosed electrode sensors are designed to satisfy the specific test of frozen soil. In this arrangement, several pairs of electrodes are arranged along the height of the vessel. A sudden decrease in the measured capacitance is observed when the freezing front advances past the electrodes.Therefore, according to the capacitance variation, the ice movement can be reflected. In summary, electrical capacitance tomography has the advantages of being non-intrusive. With different electrode sensor arrangement, ice movement and ice freezing front can be obtained. The electrical capacitance sensor system can be applied to investigate the complicated phenomena in frozen soil.
