Oxy-fuel combustion emission monitoring using tunable diode laser sensors

With stricter environmental regulations, optimization of the combustion process for reduced pollutant emission and higher fuel efficiency has become an industry objective. To achieve these objectives, continuous monitoring of key processes parameters such as temperatures, fuel and oxidant input, and flue gas composition is required. For flue gas composition monitoring conventional extractive sampling techniques are typically used. However these techniques suffer from slow response time due to long sample lines and are sensitive to plugging problems when applied to particle-laden flows. Using in-situ monitoring with near-IR tunable diode lasers (TDL) eliminates the problems encountered with extractive sampling. The chemical species to be monitored dictates the wavelength range of the diode lasers used. These lasers are rapidly tuned over an absorption line to obtain concentration along the line-of-sight path. In addition, gas temperature can be measured by scanning the laser over multiple rotational lines of a target molecule. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of using TDL's for in-situ O2 monitoring on the exhaust end of Air Liquide's oxy-fuel pilot furnace. Tests were conducted at various operating conditions and compared with conventional extractive sampling measurements. The response time of the technique is demonstrated by measurements conducted on a dynamic system where the fuel flow is oscillated at low frequencies. In addition, to study the effect of dirty gas streams typically found on industrial processes, seed particles were introduced into the burner to simulate particle-laden flows.