Development of a new control strategy for medium and large scale biomass furnaces

The aim of this project is the development of a new control strategy for biomass furnaces in the middle and large capacity range. The regulation should ensure optimal operating conditions concerning low gaseous emissions and high plant efficiencies though minimal operator intervention, even in cases of load changes and varying fuel characteristics. Fuzzy logic and model based strategies will be applied. Especially model based control methods have not been successfully implemented in biomass furnaces until now. This complex approach requires an analytic mathematical model of the furnace based on physical considerations. Relevant parameters will be determined by adequate experiments. Some parameters and influencing variables may be described stochastically. This approach provides the most extensive insights, most accurate models of the process, includes a high innovation potential and is most promising for the subsequent control design. In a first step, the new control strategies will be developed, tested and optimised using furnaces at the Austrian Bioenergy Centre (ABC) and the company MAWERA. In a further step, these concepts will be adapted, tested and enhanced for large scale furnaces.