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Applied Energy 94 (2012) 375384

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Coal ame characterization by means of digital image processing


in a semi-industrial scale PF swirl burner
A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado , B. Pea, A. Gil
Centre of Research for Energy Resources and Consumption (CIRCE), C/Mariano Esquillor Gmez, 15, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

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.

1. Introduction contrary, ame visualization systems, based on optical sensors,


constitute an interesting set of non-invasive techniques, which
Flame visualization and characterization techniques are impor- provide temporal and/or spatial information. The subsequent ad-
tant research tools for in-depth understanding of pulverized coal vanced digital processing enables the extraction of relevant fea-
combustion, aimed at decreasing unburnt carbon losses and pollu- tures for ame characterization, monitoring and control purposes.
tant emissions while maintaining safe control of the process. For Within this kind of techniques, digital imaging through CCD
this purpose, measurement systems play an essential role as they (charge-coupled device) cameras has been pointed out as one of
are the basis for the development of optimization and control algo- the most suitable approaches in practical application to industrial
rithms [1,2]. furnaces in terms of cost-effectiveness, reliability and portability
On the one hand, diagnostic techniques provide information [3]. These devices consist of interconnected arrays of high-sensitiv-
about different aspects of the combustion process, improving the ity solid-state cells which produce an electrical signal proportional
understanding of the physical phenomena involved which is often to the intensity of incident radiation [4].
used to validate theoretical and numerical models. On the other Depending on the available instrumentation and the imple-
hand, some meaningful characteristics of the acquired signals are mented image processing, a number of parameters may be mea-
sensitive to certain interesting parameters [2]: operational condi- sured: geometrical and luminous parameters [3,5,6], oscillatory
tions, ame stability, combustion efciency, pollutant emissions, characteristics [7,8], temperature distribution [912], emissivity
etc. With proper processing and calibration stages, such features of the ame [13], soot concentration [4,14] or quantitative mea-
can be used to implement supervision and control algorithms to surement of radical emissions [1518].
increase safety and reliability of combustion plants. Among them, ame features extracted through digital process-
Standard instruments are traditionally used to measure vari- ing of directly captured images can be interpreted as a signature
ables such as inlet ow rates, ue gas concentrations, or local tem- of a particular combustion state [3]. In general, the practical proce-
peratures and pressures. Although these sensors are trustworthy dure lies in three stages: data acquisition, image processing to
and low-cost, they just give local information and are intrusive, derive certain signicant parameters, and establishment of rela-
disturbing the actual evolution of the system under study. On the tionships with physical magnitudes or specic combustion condi-
tions. In this case, the measurement system is relatively simple
Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 976 762 562; fax: +34 976 762 616. and low-cost: a CCD camera and a frame grabber of adequate per-
E-mail address: anagc@unizar.es (A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado). formance are, in principle, enough. The main challenge of this

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

An exhaustive work of pre-processing and data analysis must be


performed to extract the signicant ame features stored in the
captured videos. Digital image processing has been implemented
in Matlab workspace. As an example, Fig. 3 shows a typical ame
image with its actual dimensions after calibration. The longitudinal
dimension corresponds to the furnace axis while the radial dimen-
sion is centred on the burner exit.
Flame parameters that can be studied depend on the character-
istics and position of the system. Flame size and certain restrictions
imposed by the focal length of the optical system prevent the cap-
ture of the whole ame. Nevertheless, the root region (the most
important part) is completely visualized. Thus, internal ame
structure and dynamical features can be obtained after an appro-
priate analysis.
Each pixel stores a value from 0 to 255, depending on the inten-
sity of the incident radiation from each point of the ame at each
instant. From the analysis point of view, each video is a three-
dimensional matrix, where two dimensions correspond to space
and the third one to time. The time sequence of grey values regis-
tered by each individual pixel constitutes a time signal which is the
basis for the subsequent study.
Two different types of analysis were implemented. On the one
hand, calculations were performed taking into consideration each
pixel value in such a way that statistical and spectral parameters
can be represented through two-dimensional distributions, related
Fig. 1. Non-uniformity: (a) two-dimensional distribution of the average in time of
to different aspects of ame radiation.
grey values (0255) across the cell array, axes represent the number of row or On the other hand, the averaged parameters both over the men-
column in the matrix and (b) average over rows. tioned distributions and over specic areas serve as quantitative
descriptors whose trends are investigated under different opera-
every pixel as the standard deviation of values composing the time tional conditions.
signal. The absolute value of the averaged standard deviation is Fig. 4 represents the outline of the method for image processing,
around 1% under dark conditions. detailing the main steps of feature extraction. The parameters are
Finally, size and distortion of the visualized area have been ana- dened and interpreted in the following lines.
lyzed in detail through a set of tests performed on a graph paper
uniformly illuminated. As for image size, the distance to the object,
3.1. Luminous parameters
L, has been varied from 50 to 490 mm. The resulting calibration is
shown in Fig. 2 for both dimensions, together with the theoretical
Brightness and uctuating properties of the radiation distribu-
linear function, given by the expression D = / L/f, where / is the
tion are considered luminous parameters of the ame [5]. In gen-
actual size of the object and f is the focal length. The maximum dif-
eral, they might be related to different statistical moments. In
ference, obtained for L = 150 mm, hovers around 9%. Actual images
the current study, four of them are assessed:
have been scaled using the experimental tting.
Concerning possible optical aberrations, their effects could be
important and a correction of the image is mandatory for short dis-
tances or wide-angle lens (above 90) [36]. For the present system,

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

differences in the radiation regimen and their spatial variations al-


low identifying local disturbances in heat release.

3.2. Spectral parameters

Some standard spectral methods may be used to get informa-


tion about the temporal dynamics of the ame. The simplest and
most commonly used procedure to this end is the Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT). Different features can be obtained: frequency of
maximum amplitude, energy distribution by spectral bands and
icker frequency.
The latter is considered in the present paper, since it has been
identify in the literature as an indicator of ame stability [37]. Its
obtaining procedure includes two steps: calculation of Power Spec-
tral Density (PSD) and estimation of icker.
PSD gives the energy distribution of a time series over fre-
quency. It is calculated as the module of the Discrete Fourier Trans-
form (DFT). Given a signal x(tn) (n = 1 . . . N), acquired with a
sampling frequency fs, the DFT is dened as:

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

Fig. 5. Test rig layout.

throat in radial direction to record a non-distorted ame area Table 2


(Fig. 6). This is the most suitable location for acquiring representa- Coal characterization.
tive images of the ame since the main ow dynamics is found on Coal
the ame root [7].
Moisture (%) 1.40
The remote head of the CCD camera is tted to an optical assem-
bly which provides a spreading angle constrained by the focal Proximate analysis (% d.b.)
Ash 14.60
length. An estimated area of 315  230 mm2 is registered consider- Volatile 26.00
ing a distance of 400 mm to the ame (Fig. 3). Hence, the spatial res- Carbon 59.40
olution given by pixel area is approximately 0.478  0.466 mm2 for Ultimate analysis (% d.b.)
longitudinal and radial direction, respectively. Carbon 69.60
A protective device inserted in a stainless steel cylindrical probe Hydrogen 4.00
keeps the camera and the optics clean and cool. This mechanism Nitrogen 2.05
Sulphur 0.50
feeds purging air to reduce deposition of dust in the objective.
Chloride 0.01
Additionally, temperature is permanently maintained under 15 C
HHV (MJ/kg d.b.) 27.80
by means of a control loop.

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

Table 3 The processing procedure starts with the correction of each


Test program and conditions. individual video by subtracting the non-uniformity master frame
Test number #1 #2 #3 (Fig. 1) to reduce distortion in the measurements. Afterwards, spa-
Primary air-to-fuel ratio 2.3 2.4 2.5 tial distribution of luminous and oscillatory parameters (Section 3)
Primary air (kg/h) 157.4 164.3 171.1 is calculated and represented as bidimensional color maps. Regions
Secondary air (kg/h) 645.8 638.9 632.1 of different combustion regimen are identied and, subsequently,
used to investigate trends and correlations with the air-to-fuel
ratio.
conditions to all experiments were considered as a reference state: The experiments were conducted to achieve stable combustion,
100% South African coal, 200 Pa manometric pressure in the com- while CO levels are kept as low as possible. For the sake of compar-
bustion chamber, 34% of excess air, 68.4 kg/h fuel ow rate and a ison, the rest of operational parameters were maintained during
geometric swirl number of 1.54 and 0.86 for primary and second- the tests as constant as possible, bearing in mind that in a semi-
ary air, respectively. industrial facility some difculties related to variability, control
The main aim of the test program is to study the inuence of and repeatability cannot be avoided. The thick refractory walls of
air-to-fuel ratio on ame structure and stability. The latter param- the combustion chamber, installed in order to promote ame sta-
eter was varied from 2.3 to 2.5 kgp/kgf (kg of primary air per kg of bility, cause very long warm-up periods. Therefore a slight increase
fuel). Each value corresponds to different air ow share (see Table in temperature during the tests could not be avoided, since the
3), since air excess was kept constant. refractory walls are not in thermal equilibrium. Each test had an
approximate duration of ve hours including pre-heating time.
During the tests, certain deposition of small particles and mois-
5. Experimental results and discussion ture around the objective cannot be prevented in spite of the purge
system. Some undesirable effects are noticeable in several cap-
This section analyses the image features calculated under differ- tured videos, usually located in the perimeter of the image. How-
ent conditions of primary air-to-fuel ratio. The objective is to as- ever, they do not affect to the nal conclusions.
sess their capability to characterize the ame state and their
usefulness as input parameters of a future control system.
5.1. Qualitative description of the ame

Spatial distributions of ame parameters described in Section 3


are here discussed. Each punctual value is calculated according to
Eqs. (1)(5) applied to the time series of grey values recorded by
each particular pixel. An example of a typical time signal stored
by a single pixel is shown in Fig. 8. The analysis highlights ame
domains of different temperature and reaction level.
Fig. 9 shows the spatial distribution of brightness for three con-
ditions of temperature and primary air-to-fuel ratio. The color
scale ranges between 10% and 65% in this case. Axes represent
the actual dimensions of the registered area, according to the cal-
ibration curves (Fig. 2). Abscissa corresponds to longitudinal
dimension of the combustion chamber, being the burner throat lo-
cated on the left side. Ordinate axis represents the radial dimen-
sion whose origin coincides with the centre of the nozzle.
In all cases, certain asymmetry of the ame with respect to the
chamber axis becomes evident, in agreement with numerical sim-
Fig. 8. Typical time sequence of grey values for a single pixel. ulations reported for swirling ows [42,43]. Additionally, two

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.

Fig. 12. Domains of different dynamics considered in the ame image.


5.2. Quantitative results

Quantitative information is achieved from the average values of


statistical and spectral parameters, calculated over certain sections
of the registered area. According to the area of interest, global and
zonal parameters are obtained for the complete image or other
specic zones.

5.2.1. Global parameters


Global values corresponding to brightness, uctuation ampli-
tude, uctuation symmetry and icker, are used to develop two-
dimensional regressions which could serve in the future for predic-
tion and control purposes. These global parameters are calculated
as averages over each distribution.
Fig. 13 shows the regression surface for brightness with regard to
ratio and temperature, similar analysis was performed for the rest of
luminous and oscillatory parameters. In this case, each point repre-
Fig. 13. Bidimensional regression for brightness versus T and primary air-to-fuel
sents the averaged grey level (%) for a given test. The best correlation
ratio.
is obtained for brightness, while icker exhibits the less accurate t,
indicating possible nonlinear dependences or the contribution of
additional parameters, not controlled in the present work. In view
of the results two arguments can be concluded. Firstly, brightness Results with regard to air-to-fuel ratio are represented in Fig. 14.
is cleary inuenced by temperature which is an expectable result, Dispersion in data is drawn as error bars, ranging from 0.65% to
since more intensity of radiation is directly related to ame temper- 3.05% for icker and standard deviation, while varies from 8% to 20%
ature. However, it has to be reminded that there are other important for brightness. These gures indicate that mean grey level, and subse-
affecting factors, such as emissivity and participating media [44], quently the intensity of radiation, changes signicantly from one to an-
that requires further instrumentation to be estimated. The same other pixel within each region. On the contrary, the amplitude and the
dependence with temperature is observed for the rest of parameters weighted frequency are less variable, suggesting a quite uniform
except skewness which shows the opposite trend. dynamical behavior. For skewness and kurtosis, normalized standard
With regard to primary air-to-fuel ratio and its correlation with deviations are in the range of 00.1%, reecting a very low dispersion
ame parameters, no relevant conclusions can be drawn from the in the degree of asymmetry of uctuation amplitudes.
analysis of current results and more experimental work is needed. Concerning comparison of zones, great differences are observed.
Given that regression analysis provides no meaningful conclu- Zones 1 and 3 exhibit similar behavior and values relatively low for
sions with regard to ratio dependences, mainly due to the limited all ame features. Zone 2, where combustion seems to be more in-
number of data, global values are being deeper analyzed in order to tense, produces higher values: double mean value and standard
nd nonlinear connections between them. deviation and increase of icker in a 60%. Zone 4 has an intermedi-
ate dynamics: mean grey level is similar to that of Zone 2, but stan-
5.2.2. Zonal analysis dard deviation and icker are of the order of that obtained in Zones
A deeper understanding is reached in the light of zonal analysis, 1 and 3, indicating a less intense combustion [45].
which may be considered as an intermediate procedure to make With respect to the effect of primary air-to-fuel ratio, brightness
quantitative comparison keeping spatial information. The regis- increases in the four domains. Fluctuation amplitude and icker
tered area is divided into four different domains, according to the exhibit a less clear and different evolution. An important augmen-
ame dynamics observed in the spatial distributions: two near tation is observed in Zone 2, while they are almost unchanged in
the burner throat and two more at 20 cm downwards (Fig. 12). Zones 1 and 3. Regarding Zone 4, standard deviation undergoes a
Given the spatial distributions shown in previous section, the aver- slight decrease with the ratio, while a sustained increase is
age of luminous and spectral parameters is calculated for each do- observed in icker. Analysing the evolution of error bars previously
main. Although some spatial information is lost during the process, mentioned, it is also possible to establish the level of uniformity in
this is the most suitable manner to compare results under different each area regarding the parameter of interest. In this sense, bright-
operational conditions. ness values of Zones 1 and 3 show higher variability while the
A. Gonzlez-Cencerrado et al. / Applied Energy 94 (2012) 375384 383

carried out to analyse the inuence of one of the main operational


parameters, the air-to-fuel ratio, on combustion dynamics. An
exhaustive digital processing was performed to evaluate the suit-
ability for ame characterization of different image features, as
brightness, amplitude and symmetry of uctuations and icker.
The rst important contribution of the present paper is a proce-
dure to extract and compare the results. Unlike other procedures in
which only averaged values of selected parameters are calculated,
the current analysis has been implemented over each pixel in order
to keep spatial information. Statistical and spectral information
stored in the recorded videos was analyzed from two different
points of view. Experimental ame dynamics was qualitatively
investigated by spatial distribution description of each relevant
parameter of the ame and then, quantitative comparison was per-
formed through determination of averaged magnitudes over se-
lected areas.
The main conclusions of the work are summarized in the fol-
lowing lines:

 The digital processing procedure developed in the present work


provides a number of statistical and spectral magnitudes that
give details about heat release, temperature and ow dynamics
in the ame root. Strong ame asymmetry is observed in agree-
ment with numerical simulations of the experimental facility
under isothermal conditions [43]. Different mixing and com-
bustion domains were distinguished in the ame in terms of
brightness, uctuating properties and icker frequency.
 The most sensitive parameters to temperature and air-to-fuel
ratio are thought to be brightness (mean grey value), uctua-
tions amplitude (standard deviation) and icker (weighted
averaged oscillation frequency). The maximum values are not
coincident for all the magnitudes, indicating that they provide
information of different phenomena.
 The main effect of augmenting temperature and primary air-to-
fuel ratio, in the range of 2.32.5 kgp/kgf, is that ame becomes
more symmetric and uctuation amplitude and icker fre-
quency increase. According to previous studies, this result sug-
gests a more stable ame and a more efcient combustion.
Further research on gas emissions is currently being developed
to corroborate this hypothesis.
 The dependence of ame parameters with primary air-to-fuel
ratio has been analyzed by establishing different dynamical
behavior regions and under a global point of view. Nevertheless,
new experimental tests are needed in order to validate the
detected dependences.
Fig. 14. Zonal values calculated for each domain reported in Fig. 12: (a) mean, (b)
standard deviation, and (c) icker.
In summary, these results indicate that spatial characterization
of the ame could provide a better understanding of the combus-
tion processes and ame behavior. Future research lines include
same occurs in Zone 2 for standard deviation. For icker frequency,
the inuence of some additional operational parameters and the
variability is very low in all zones.
application of these indicators for on-line monitoring and control
As regards kurtosis and skewness, the zonal analysis indicates
of the combustion process.
higher dependence with primary air-to-fuel ratio in Zones 2 and
4, whereas Zones 1 and 3 remain almost constant and with similar
values. Kurtosis grows specially in Zone 4, while skewness dimin- Acknowledgements
ishes for Zones 2 and 4 in the same order.
These trends show the usefulness of these parameters to con- This work has been supported by the project ENE2007-65072/
tribute to the characterization of the combustion condition and ALT (Spanish Ministry of Science and Education, R&D Energy Pro-
to be used in monitoring and control algorithms. gram) and by the project UZ2008-TEC-12 nanced by the
University of Zaragoza. The authors wish to thank to C. Bartolom
and I. Ramos, researchers of the Thermal Division of CIRCE, for their
6. Conclusions support and help during tests.

A ame visualization system has been implemented as a suit-


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