Development of Laser Diagnostics for in Situ Measurements of Entrained Particles in Recovery Boilers

As part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) Industries of the Future (IOF) Forest Products research program, two different laser diagnostic techniques have been implemented in pulp mill recovery boilers to provide important information on entrained particles. One technique, based on single-particle scattering of a low-power, continuous-wave (cw) laser source, measures the velocity, concentration, and size distribution of particles within the furnace flow, over a predetermined range of particle sizes. For application to recovery boilers, this technique was designed to measure the range of particle sizes known as intermediate size particles (ISPs), roughly from 2-100 pm in diameter. The other diagnostic technique, known as laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), uses a pulsed, high-power laser beam to create a localized plasma spark in the flow, allowing the measurement of the elemental composition of the entrained particles. This technique is most sensitive for particles less than 10 pm in diameter. Implementing these laser diagnostic techniques in recovery boilers proved to be challenging. For the particle scattering measurement, the use of a narrow aperture for measurement of the forward scattered light was postulated and later confirmed to be effective in minimizing background signals associated with the dense sodium fume in the boilers. For the LIBS measurement, a new water-jacketed optics probe was implemented to allow for measurements with an insertion depth of up to two meters in the furnace. Fume particle deposition on the exposed optics at the end of the LIBS probe was problematic but improved with a redesign of the probe geometry and purge flow. Both diagnostic techniques were employed at two representative recovery boilers. The particle scattering diagnostic demonstrated similar trends in mean ISP concentration, ISP size distribution, and temporal variation of ISP concentration at the two boilers. The LIBS measurements showed the presence of a number of major chemical components as well as trace metal elements in the entrained particles.