Combustion optimization in biomass grate firing with video and thermography system
West Fraser is a leading manufacturer of oriented strand board (OSB) and operates biomass grate furnaces at 17 locations worldwide. To make optimum use of the fuel used, the company has been gradually equipping plants in Canada and the USA with video and thermography solutions from the DURAG GROUP since 2018. Find out here how West Fraser has significantly increased the efficiency of its plants and download the white paper on the project for more details.
Better results thanks to water-cooled furnace camera with retraction unit
All West Fraser installations were equipped with water-cooled D-FS2 furnace cameras with retraction unit and offer a particularly wide viewing angle of 120° diagonally. For the installation in Grande Prairie, Alberta, a furnace camera with a wide-angle endoscope was specially developed. The enlarged aperture angle made it possible to monitor the entire grate with one furnace camera and to keep an eye on all parts of the grate required for automation. Another advantage of the video and thermography solution from DURAG is that the furnace camera can be moved into the combustion chamber. This significantly reduces the effort required for maintenance and cleaning.
The first image shows the video and thermographic image in Grande Prairie, Alberta, without optimization. The asymmetrical distribution of the fire is clearly visible. The next image shows the video image after optimization.
Combustion efficiency massively increased by video thermography
At the plant in Grande Prairie, Alberta, the video and thermography system from DURAG has increased the degree of drying of the wood chips from 80% to over 90%. The system has also proven to be very reliable and easy to maintain and allows West Fraser to operate its plants largely independently of the knowledge and experience of the operators.
Detailed information on optimizing combustion in West Fraser's biomass grate furnaces can be found in our white paper.
