Video and thermography analysis for grate firing
Our customer, the operator of a biomass cogeneration plant in Germany, had long been using conventional webcams to keep an eye on the plant’s grate firing furnaces through a sight glass. This meant that it was difficult if not impossible to detect inclined furnace positions or the formation of slag balls in the burnout zones. It also meant that it was not possible to gather information about the temperature distribution on the grate. In conjunction with the air supply at the grate, this repeatedly led to difficulties in the combustion process, and consequently to downtime. So-called “hot spots” led among other thing to costly damage to grates and bearings at the plant.
At a glance
| Customer: A German biomass cogeneration plant Industry: Power generation, biomass Application: Visual and thermal monitoring of the burnout zone of a grate furnace Solution: D-VTA 200 for grate firing |
Higher availability and best results
The DURAG GROUP solved the problem by installing the video and thermography software D‑VTA 200. The system consists of modern furnace cameras together with thermography and analysis software and provides important information directly from the combustion chamber in real time. Color videos and an analysis of the flame temperature distribution provide the plant operator with a detailed picture of the current combustion situation and all of the information required for optimum control of the combustion process.
The operator is impressed with the quality of monitoring that has now been achieved: “This is a reliable system that we would now no longer want to be without”. The customer also confirmed to the DURAG GROUP that simply avoiding downtime was enough to achieve a rapid return on investment.
