August 2007

Press Release:

High Temperature Monitoring of Power Plant Combustion Processes Using Micron Optics’ sm125

Researchers of Pennsylvania State University aim to develop an intelligent distributed fiber optical sensor system for real-time monitoring of high temperature in a boiler furnace in power plants.

Of particular interest is the estimation of spatial and temporal distributions of high temperatures within a boiler furnace, which will be essential in assessing and controlling the mechanisms that form and remove pollutants at the source, such as NOx.

The basic approach in developing the proposed sensor system is three fold: (1) development of high temperature distributed fiber optical sensor capable of measuring temperatures greater than 2000 C degree with spatial resolution of less than 1 cm; (2) development of distributed parameter system (DPS) models to map the three-dimensional (3D) temperature distribution for the furnace; and (3) development of an intelligent monitoring system for real-time monitoring of the 3D boiler temperature distribution.

Under Task 1, they have set up a dedicated high power, ultrafast laser system for fabricating infiber gratings in harsh environment optical fibers, and in order to demonstrate good long term stability of the femtosecond laser inscribed FBG sensor, the sensor was inserted in a stainless tube and put in a high temperature furnace for about ten days. The grating spectrum was monitored by Micron Optics optical sensing interrogator sm125. Experimental results show that FBG drift at fixed temperature after heated for about 80 hours, and it has a maximum value, when reached the maximum, the spectrum is stable again afterwards.

Under Task 2, relevant mathematical modeling studies of NOx formation in practical combustors have been completed. Studies show that in boiler systems with no swirl, the distributed temperature sensor may provide information sufficient to predict trends of NOx at the boiler exit.

Under Task 3, we have investigated a mathematical approach to extrapolation of the temperature distribution within a power plant boiler facility, using a combination of a modified neural network architecture and semigroup theory.

For full article, please visit: www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/907882-CJ8X3l/

About Micron Optics, Inc.

Micron Optics, a leading provider of tunable optical technologies, offers a comprehensive portfolio of components and instruments for Optical Sensing, Biotech and Telecom markets. Built upon its solid technology foundation, Micron Optics' products span from simple tunable components to fast swept laser modules to fast and accurate optical instrumentation. Since 1990, Micron Optics has been a privately held company based in Atlanta.