Reaction zone monitoring in biomass combustion

In this work we demonstrate the utilization of a machine vision-based combustion monitoring system in biomass combustion. The proposed system monitored the location of the reaction zone in a 3 MW, grate-fired biomass boiler operated at varying loads and with fluctuating fuel quality. The system can help guarantee equal primary air supply to different regions of the grate and avoid the elutriation of fly ash by providing information on the location of the reaction zone. Strong correlation was found between the reaction zone boundary location and most process parameters, indicating that the location of the reaction zone can be a useful metric in monitoring and control by providing supplementary measurements to already existing monitoring to avoid over-emissions and improve economics.