UI Steam Plant Combustion Input Measurement Systems

UI Steam Plant Combustion Input Measurement Systems The goal of project is to measure the data of the wood fired boiler in college. Such the mass flow of the wood chips, the moisture of the wood chips and the air flow into or out of the boiler. One of the most important part of the project is creating a sensor to measure the mass flow of wood chips.

Background
The wood fired boiler at university of Idaho is driven by the wood fuel and air. The goal of project is to measure the data of the wood fired boiler in college. Such the mass flow of the wood chips, the moisture of the wood chips and the air flow into or out of the boiler. One of the most important part of the project is creating a sensor to measure the mass flow of wood chips.

Project Goals
1. UI steam plant currently uses “microwave method”

2. Want to be able to measure:
 * Mass flow rate of wood chips
 * Moisture content of wood chips
 * Mass flow rate of air

3. End goal is to have automated boiler control
 * Optimal combustion efficiency
 * That is outside the scope of this project

Project Learning
1. We are going to learn more about how to use LabVIEW.
 * Basic operating
 * Connecting to a DAQ, and then measure the DAQ.

2. We have already done a lot of researches.
 * Air Mass Flow
 * Stack Humidity
 * Woodchip mass flow
 * Woodchip moisture content

Specifications
1. Woodchip Mass Flow into throat
 * Target Accuracy of 3% or better
 * Range of 2.3 - 7 green tons/hour
 * Survivable in occasional bin fires

2. Woodchip Moisture Content
 * Target Accuracy of 3% or better
 * Range of 3 - 60% - may change depending on mixing
 * Survivable in occasional bin fires

3. Mass air flow into boiler
 * Underfire and Overfire air
 * Target Accuracy of 3% or better
 * Measured in single duct before diverging
 * Retains accuracy in dusty environment

Meeting Time
1. Team meeting at each Tuesday 3:30 pm

2. Meeting with consultant and Client at each Thursday 3:30pm

Previously Researched Options

 * Off-the-shelf bulk mass flowmeters provide required accuracy
 * Expensive and requires major structural modifications to route chips


 * Bin weighing requires less work, but does not deliver required accuracy

Amplifier
In order to make our data more accurate, we need an amplifier to adjust our voltage. Here is the circuit and the simplified circuit.

LabVIEW
Tools: LabVIEW Software, NI USB-6008 DAQ

Signal Conversion
Use the chip to convert the 0-5 V voltage signal to the 4-20mA current signal

LCD Display
Ideas for self-contained 4-20 mA calibrated display

Wood Chip Moisture Content Measurement
WCMT (Wood Chip Moisture Transmitter)

Estimated Costs:
 * Aluminum: ~$30
 * Steel: ~$225

Testing result
After we connect each part of our project together, we can read the data from the DAQ. We can get a graph changes with the changing of mass flow. Here is the picture.