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Article history: The potential of a new procedure of image processing for the characterization of a given combustion state
Received 8 February 2011 through ame visualization is here presented and discussed. Experimental tests were carried out in a
Received in revised form 20 January 2012 swirl-stabilized, semi-industrial scale burner of 500 kWth. Using an advanced vision based system, ame
Accepted 23 January 2012
images have been recorded and subsequently processed, obtaining both luminous and spectral parame-
Available online 1 March 2012
ters from the grey values registered by each individual pixel. The acquisition system is based on a CCD
(charge-coupled device) camera of high-speed frame rate. The innovative nature of the analysis lies in
Keywords:
the 2D distribution of statistical and oscillatory parameters which can be interpreted as a ngerprint
Coal ame
Digital image processing
of the ame condition. By this method, ame spatial characterization was achieved allowing the identi-
CCD camera cation of areas with different luminous and oscillating patterns. Their evolution regarding primary air-
Flame monitoring to-fuel ratio was also studied. First results suggest changes on ame symmetry and oscillation regimen.
Energy saving Additionally, quantitative ame analysis through global values of selected parameters and regression
studies were conducted in order to analyse their usefulness for the development of monitoring and con-
trol algorithms in the combustion facility.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.01.059
376 A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado et al. / Applied Energy 94 (2012) 375384
method is the conversion processes of raw data into useful informa- ing optical access restrictions and combustion chamber design, the
tion. In some cases, the image features do not have a direct physical active sensor is placed on a 17 mm remote head, which is pro-
meaning and exhaustive experimental work must be done to corre- tected by a water-cooled probe. The camera operates at a nominal
late them with combustion regimen. speed rate of 120 frames per second (fps) under full mode, but it is
Different image ame features have been investigated in recent capable of reaching a rate of 504 fps on partial scanning mode (see
years. For instance, geometrical and luminous parameters have camera specications in Table 1).
been associated to ame stability or ignitability [19,20]. Frequency For signal acquisition, a specic frame grabber (X64 Xcelera-CL
components of the spectrum of the time signal are related to differ- PX4 Full) is required which, in turn, needs a high performance PC
ent phenomena. Whereas DC component (mean value) is thought with specic software. Data are recorded in avi format with a
to be dependent on volatile content of the fuel, the size of the ame frame rate of 120 fps, 256 grey levels and a mean duration of 40 s.
and the brightness of surroundings, low and high frequency com- Time exposure, controlled by the shutter, is an important
ponents seem to be related to aerodynamic uctuations and the parameter for this kind of sensors, since it controls signal satura-
rate of change in heat release, respectively [21]. tion. This phenomenon occurs when the maximum number of pho-
Flicker parameter, dened as a weighted averaged frequency, is toelectrons that is able to store is reached and matches with a
known to be sensitive to furnace load and ame stability [22], pri- certain level of luminous radiation. In the present work, this
mary air ow [5], excess air and emissions [23,24] or equivalence parameter was permanently xed at a value of 1/10,000 s for the
ratio and burner diameter [21]. The impact of co-ring biomass sake of comparison.
with coal has been also investigated in terms of icker, among
other parameters [7,25], but, up to now, results were not conclu- 2.1. Camera characterization
sive. In general, icker is higher in the root region than in the mid-
dle region. This fact has been interpreted as the root region is more A thorough characterization stage of the camera is necessary to
stable geometrically and exhibits better combustion efciency avoid possible image distortions, spurious phenomena and misin-
[23]. terpretations [34,35]. First of all, it is convenient to assess the
Relationships between image ame features and combustion responsivity of the CCD sensor. It depends on its physical structure
performance parameters are receiving added attention because of and the conversion process into an electrical signal.
their potential for monitoring and control purposes. The simplest Even if the photoelectric cells of the sensor are supposed to be
and cost-effective approach is the establishment of empirical cor- identical, the response to the same stimulus is slightly different
relations. Accordingly, different authors have investigated various from one to another cell, resulting in a certain error which might
performance parameters: emissions [16,2628], unburnt carbon introduce spurious trends and different types of noise. This phe-
[27,29], and heat losses [30], among others. More advanced math- nomenon, called non-uniformity in this paper, may be quantied
ematical models, such as Articial Neural Networks (ANNs) [3,31], and the image quality improved through the following procedure.
Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) [32], pattern recognition [3] or A master dark frame is built from the time average of grey values
fuzzy logics [33] have been also tested to predict different aspects for each individual pixel of a video captured in absence of light
of the combustion conditions by using certain ame features ex- and with minimum iris. The subsequent distortion in radiation dis-
tracted from the images. Unfortunately, results of these works tribution is corrected by subtracting such spatial pattern to each
are specic of the particular system under study and further re- recorded image [34].
search must be done to achieve general rules for modeling and The dark frame obtained for the present CCD sensor is shown in
control. Fig. 1a, where the mean value, ranging from 0 to 255, is repre-
The present work has been carried out within the framework of sented. Considering the CCD sensor as a matrix, a strong depen-
digital imaging for characterization of ame condition. In general, dence with column reveals the electrical structure in which cells
previous studies involved averaged values with the subsequent are connected. Variability in columns is better appreciated in
loss of local information [3,14]. The current paper presents a meth- Fig. 1b, where the average over rows is shown. Sensitivity increases
od for the analysis of ame images based on two-dimensional dis- from left to right and the slope is especially important in the rst
tributions and zonal analysis of signicant ame features. This columns.
methodology has been applied in a semi-industrial scale burner Additionally, it is convenient to dene a global performance
of pulverized fuel and swirl design, with similar operating condi- parameter for non-uniformity. A quality indicator of the CCD cam-
tions and drawbacks as utility boilers. era is the standard deviation of the dark frame, shown in Fig. 1a.
The specic objectives are: (i) to identify signicant luminous This parameter represents the variability of sensitivity along the
and oscillatory features which could serve as ngerprint of a par- cell array. In the present work, this value is 2.53%, which is an
ticular ame condition and (ii) to analyse the relationship between acceptable gure.
such ame features and primary air-to-fuel ratio in order to assess Thermal uctuations and electrical noise must be also quanti-
its inuence on the combustion process and its future usefulness in ed as a measure of random uncertainty. They are estimated for
control algorithms.
The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the visual-
Table 1
ization system and the camera characterization stage. In Section 3,
Camera specications.
data processing method used for extracting relevant ame param-
eters is described in detail. Section 4 shows the experimental test Parameter
planning, including a clear description of the combustion facility. Active area 6.4 (h) 4.8 (v)
Results and discussion are gathered in Section 5, while Section 6 Active pixels 659 (h) 494 (v)
summarizes conclusions and perspectives. Signal/noise ratio >50 dB (0 dB gain)
Electronic shutter 1/10,000 s
Operating temperature From 5 C to +45 C
Dimensions (H W L) Head 17 46 mm ( D)
2. Visualization system CCU 44 29 66 mm
Spectral range 4001000 nm
Max. spectral response 500 nm
Flame monitoring system is based on a CCD high-speed camera
Focal length 7 mm
(JAI CM-030 PMCL-RH) equipped with an optical system. Consider-
A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado et al. / Applied Energy 94 (2012) 375384 377
the angle of view is lower than 40, and the distortion produced is
negligible: lower than 1%.
3. Processing procedure
Fig. 2. Calibration of image size from experimental and theoretical data for radial
(Dr) and longitudinal (Dl) dimensions. Fig. 3. Location of the monitoring system and captured area.
378 A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado et al. / Applied Energy 94 (2012) 375384
X
N
Fig. 4. Outline of the image analysis procedure. X fk xtn ei2pfk tn ; k 0...N 1 4
i1
Brightness: Given a group of grey values (x1 . . . xi . . . xN), it is de- where tn indicates the time instant, and fk = k fs/N is the corre-
ned as the averaged value calculated in percentage with regard to sponding frequency.
the maximum level. The mathematical expression is [19]: Flicker frequency is then calculated as the weighted averaged
frequency over the measuring range, according to the following
1X N
100 equation [38]:
x xi 1
N i1 G PN1
k0 jXfk j fk
F P N1
5
where N is the number of values and G the maximum grey value
k0 jXfk j
(255 in this case). This denition may be applied to the whole set
of pixels of a given image or to the individual set of values regis- where X(fk) is the power density of the kth frequency component,
tered by each pixel. Brightness is related to the size of the ame, and N is the number of frequency components considered. Accord-
the volatile content of the fuel and the radiation level of chamber ing to previous research [37], where it was demonstrated that com-
walls [21]. ponents larger than 60 Hz are negligible, Eq. (5) has been applied in
Fluctuation amplitude: This parameter is estimated as the stan- the interval 060 Hz.
dard deviation, which is a well-known measure of variability or As it was explained in the introduction section, icker is associ-
dispersion within a group of data. Following the previous notation, ated to the turbulent mixing during combustion process and the
the standard deviation is given by the following equation [19]: multitude of resulting eddies [39]. Therefore, it provides details
r about ame structure and its corresponding analysis offers mean-
1 XN ingful information about ame stability. Specically, according to
r xi x2 2
N i1 literature, high icker level means a more stable ame, while
where x is the mean value given by Eq. (1). A low standard deviation low icker is associated to poor combustion efciency [37].
implies that individual values are, in general, very close to the aver-
age, whereas high standard deviation indicates that the data spread 4. Experimental set-up
out over a large range of values. Applied to an image, this parameter
is related to the non-uniformity of the ame radiation regimen. As 4.1. Combustion facility
for a temporal signal of a particular pixel, standard deviation is a
measure of the mean amplitude of luminous uctuations over time. The combustion test facility consists of a swirl burner of vertical
Fluctuation symmetry: Two statistical estimators, skewness and design, downward oriented and nominal power of 500 kWth which
kurtosis, provide information on shape and symmetry of the distri- can be fed with pulverized coal, biomass or blends. This semi-
bution of a data set. They are the third (m = 3) and the fourth industrial scale model uses a multifuel feeding system which is
(m = 4) statistical moments, respectively, given by the general equipped with two hoppers, feeding screws, and two bins with
expression: load cells (Fig. 5). This automated arrangement allows on-line reg-
PN ulation of fuel ow with high precision. Every element of the plant
1
i1 xi xm
yN 3 is controlled by an advanced SCADA system (Supervisory Control
r
m
and Data Acquisition), with on-line visualization and record of all
where x and r are the mean and the standard deviation previously the parameters [40].
dened. The main part of the plant is the premixed swirl burner which is
Skewness quanties the asymmetry of the data around the equipped with all ancillary equipment needed for the correct
average value. Hence, it is zero for any perfectly symmetric distri- development of the ame and combustion process (see Fig. 5). A
bution, negative for data that spread out towards values below the full description of the facility can be found elsewhere [41].
average, and positive if most of them are above the average. Kurto- The combustion chamber has several inspection ports where
sis gauges the peakedness of the distribution, for example, it is different measurement instrumentation may be installed. Flame
three for a normal distribution. Their physical meaning refers to monitoring system is located in the upper part, near the burner
A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado et al. / Applied Energy 94 (2012) 375384 379
4.2. Test program and fuel shows its ultimate and proximate analysis. Particle size distribu-
tion, obtained from standardized tests (ASTM D 410-84), is shown
The experiments were performed with bituminous coal of sim- in Fig. 7.
ilar properties to the blends used at Spanish power plants. Table 2 The thermal input of the pilot test rig was kept constant at
500 kWth, corresponding to nominal power. Common operational
Fig. 6. Flame monitoring system located into the combustion chamber. Fig. 7. Particle size distribution of the pulverized coal tested (ASTM D 410-84).
380 A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado et al. / Applied Energy 94 (2012) 375384
Fig. 9. Mean distribution percentage regarding primary air-to-fuel ratio and temperature: (a) 2.3 kgp/kgf and 943 C, (b) 2.4 kgp/kgf and 966 C, and (c) 2.5 kgp/kgf and
981 C, respectively.
A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado et al. / Applied Energy 94 (2012) 375384 381
Fig. 10. Standard deviation percentage distribution regarding primary air-to-fuel ratio and temperature: (a) 2.3 kgp/kgf and 943 C, (b) 2.4 kgp/kgf and 966 C, and (c)
2.5 kgp/kgf and 981 C, respectively.
zones in the ame with different radiation regimen are distinguished: a Concerning symmetry of uctuations around the mean value,
colder region near the throat, associated to the non-preheated pri- maximum values of kurtosis, around 11 in a range from 0 to 12,
mary air, and a central luminous area of high reactive level. are located 150 mm downwards the burner exit in all cases, follow-
Important changes are observed when primary air-to-fuel ratio ing the same trend of brightness. However, skewness follows the
and mean temperature in the combustion chamber increase. Spe- inverse behavior and lower values, around 2 in a range from
cically, areas with higher values are moved towards chamber 2 to 2, correspond to regions of high brightness. An increase of
axis; in this sense ame structure seems to become more symmet- primary air-to-fuel ratio produces a more symmetric distribution
ric. This results agrees with that reported in Ref. [5] in which the in both cases as occurs with previous parameters. Despite a phys-
spreading angle of the ame is reduced when primary air ow in- ical interpretation requires the contrast with further measure-
creases, i.e. the ame becomes more compact. ments, these trends indicate a relation with certain changes in
With regard to standard deviation, the spatial distribution re- ame dynamics which might be used for the characterization of
veals domains of different regimen in ame dynamics. In Fig. 10 the particular combustion condition.
it is easy to detect a strong asymmetry in agreement with bright- Regarding icker, spatial arrangement over the ame is shown
ness analysis. Most part of the registered ame shows a low stan- in Fig. 11. It exhibits some interesting differences with respect to
dard deviation, lower than 20%. Only a small region presents high previous parameters. One of the clearest effects is the lower uctu-
values, indicating wide uctuation amplitudes. This area, located ation area near the throat, around 810 Hz. This phenomenon is
250 mm downwards the burner exit and only in the right side, attributed to the igniter ame, which is maintained as a security
does not exactly correspond to regions of maximum brightness. measure. Higher icker frequencies, up to 30 Hz, are located at
That is probably due to the fact that each parameter is related to approximately 175 mm downwards the burner exit where also
different phenomenon, while brightness is essentially linked to kurtosis shows its higher values. According to Ref. [37], this area
the temperature of the ame and its surroundings, standard devi- of the root is thought to correspond to recirculation patterns of
ation might be related to turbulence and ow dynamics. strong mixing and stable combustion.
The region of wider amplitudes spreads to the axis and is more These gures of icker are slightly above those published in
intense as ratio is increased (Fig. 10). The most probable cause is other works [7]. In addition to specic characteristics of the case
the increased symmetry in the ame structure. study, a possible cause is the way in which icker was estimated.
Fig. 11. Flicker distribution in Hz regarding primary air-to-fuel ratio and temperature: (a) 2.3 kgp/kgf and 943 C, (b) 2.4 kgp/kgf and 966 C, and (c) 2.5 kgp/kgf and 981 C,
respectively.
382 A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado et al. / Applied Energy 94 (2012) 375384
In the present work, it was obtained for each individual pixel from
the corresponding time signal. In the literature, icker is usually
calculated from a unique temporal signal achieved from the aver-
age of each image of the whole root region. If there are zones of dif-
ferent phase, as usually, or different spectral behaviors, as Fig. 11
reveals, high frequencies are dumped, and a smoother signal with
lower icker is obtained.
The effect of primary air-to-fuel ratio is shown in Fig. 11. It is
clear that icker distribution becomes more symmetric with re-
gard to the chamber axis. In addition, the region of high icker ex-
tends over a wider domain, reducing the low reactive zone to an
area close to the nozzle. It is observed that sectors of high icker
are related to higher brightness (Fig. 10), but not exactly coincides
with maximum standard deviation. This effect conrms that differ-
ent phenomena are linked to each parameter. Specically, icker
value gives information about stability on heat release rate.
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