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- Jansson, Johan, 1975-
(author)
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Digester modelling for diagnostics and control
- 2009
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis will show the possibility for the development and use of an on-line model for application to continuous digesters for pulp production. The model is developed by using a program called Dymola (Dynamic Modeling Laboratory). What makes the Dymola software so well suited is that the program solves equations simultaneously. The model is a further development from the Purdue model [Bhartiya et al, 2003]. The main difference between this model and the Purdue model however, is the dynamics in the model. The dynamics are very important when you use the model for control purposes because the cooking process has long dead and retention times. The main purpose of this model is to use it for the advanced control of continuous digesters as well as giving the operators a better understanding of what happens in the cooking process when changes are made. The model will also be used for diagnostic purposes. Advanced control in this case is Model Predicted Control (MPC). The MPC will control the quality of the pulp “kappa” number and the chemical consumption during digestion. This thesis describes the model and results are shown for applications of on-line diagnosis in three pulp mills in South Africa. Real time process data from the pulp mills is fed into the model and a simulation is performed. Thereafter, the results from the simulation are compared to the actual measured data for a number of key variables. By comparing the simulation results to the real process data and following the trends of the deviations between the two, different types of faults and upsets can be detected in both the process and sensors.
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2. |
- Nyström, Jenny, 1970-
(author)
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Rapid measurements of the moisture content in biofuel
- 2006
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- An increasing number of power plants in Scandinavia are beginning to use biofuel instead of coal or oil. The material in the new fuel is a mixture of woodchips, mostly Pine, Spruce and Salix, bark, GROT (tops and branches from felling waste) and sawdust from sawmills. It is heterogeneous, having a moisture content varying from 15% up to 65%. The moisture content affects the combustion of the fuel and therefore its commercial value. The industry is now interested in obtaining a method for measuring the moisture content of biofuel, quickly and reliably; preferably on delivery at the power plant. The measuring technique presented in this thesis is the first reported in the literature capable of measuring the moisture content of a large sample of such an heterogeneous material as biofuel. The equipment is today calibrated for a sample volume of 0.1 m3. A radio frequent signal is supplied from an antenna and penetrates the biofuel. Its reflection is modeled using partial least squares. As part of the work presented in this thesis, a new type of measuring rig and an analysis method for measurement of the moisture content of large samples of heterogeneous material have been developed. A statistical model for moisture content measurements of five different biofuel materials using radio waves has been built, having a root mean square error of prediction of 2.7. The interactions between biofuels and radio frequent signals have been demonstrated, indicating a variation of the reflection with varying types of biofuel material and variation in the reflection and delay of the signal with varying moisture content.
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