Power plant exhaust gas simulator for the development of optical diagnostics

A power plant simulator was designed and built for development and calibrat ion of optical diagnostics in power plant flows. This article describes the important features of this simulator as well as it performance. The simula tor was constructed using a 120-mm-i.d., approximately 3-m-long quartz tube enclosed in a custom manufactured multizone furnace. Simulation of power p lant flows requires combustion effluent; this is provided by a propane burn er. Additional gases may be seeded into the flow using ports positioned bef ore the entry into the 3 m quartz tube. Thus, flow with specified concentra tions of pollutants of interest (i.e., NO, NH3, SO2, etc.) can be produced. Temperature control for the gas flow entering the quartz tube is provided by a 4-m-long heat exchanger positioned between the burner and the 3-m-long quartz tube. Optical access is provided at the tube ends using NaCl window s, which were chosen for their transmissive characteristics in the visible and infrared. These windows are protected thermally and from H2O with a rec irculating nitrogen flow. Capabilities of the simulator are a high-temperat ure optical pathlength of 2.60 m with maximum temperatures up to 800 degree sC. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.