Acoustic Char Flow Monitor for the BI-GAS Pilot Plant

摘要

The BI-GAS coal gasification pilot plant at Homer City, PA has an urgent need for monitoring char flow to the gasifier. An undetected flow stoppage can very quickly cause a dangerous temperature excursion in the gasifier. At the request of BI-GAS, the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has developed and installed acoustic monitors which will give rapid indication of blockages or other flow perturbations in the char lines. These monitors use a high temperature microphone, developed at ANL, for measuring the acoustic attenuation caused by the presence of char in the line. Such a measurement gives a sensitive indication of the amount of char flowing in the line and can be used for both process control and rapid detection of blockages. (ERA citation 05:014636)