The flame image (left) and the detection results (right)

The research team led by Professor Zhou Huaichun from School of Low-Carbon Energy and Power Engineering published a paper titled “Simultaneous determination of 2D distributions of temperature and absorption coefficient in large-scale pulverized-coal-fired boilers by flame images processing” (DOI: 10.1016/j.proci.2024.105421) in the authoritative international journal Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, hosted by the International Combustion Institute. Li Kuangyu, a doctoral student admitted in 2021 is the first author and Professor Zhou Huaichun is the corresponding author. This is the first time that a paper with CUMT as the primary affiliation has been published on Proceedings of the Combustion Institute.

In the context of carbon neutrality, deep peak shaving and flexible operation of coal-fired power units have become necessary, but these practices can lead to a decline in unit stability. This has created an urgent demand for real-time monitoring of three-dimensional (3D) combustion conditions within furnace chambers. Scholars both at home and abroad have employed image processing techniques to measure the temperature distribution and uniform radiation parameters inside large-scale pulverized coal boiler furnaces. However, the non-uniform radiation parameters have not yet been measured. In their paper, Professor Zhou Huaichun’s team adopted an optimized algorithm based on the newly proposed DRESOR method to calculate radiative intensity, defined as the energy received by a single pixel in an image. They introduced a novel technique for simultaneous reconstruction of the distributions of in-furnace temperature and radiative parameters. The method was experimentally validated on a 660 MW tangentially fired pulverized coal boiler. Specifically, the study obtained distributions of temperature and absorption coefficients across three detection layers at a load of 330 MW, and at the highest layer under a load of 500 MW. The algorithm and technology proposed in the paper hold significant potential for application in the monitoring, diagnosis, and control of the coal combustion process.

Research findings will be presented orally at the 40th International Symposium on Combustion organized by the Combustion Institute. Held biennially, this symposium is the largest, most influential, and highest-level academic conference in the field of combustion science and technology, and is often referred to as the “Olympics” in the combustion community. This year’s symposium is scheduled from July 21st to July 26th, 2024, in Milan, Italy.

Full text link:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1540748924002293；

https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1jKjG5UKsGJP-r