Dynamic modeling for simulation and control of a circulating fluidized-bed combustor

A dynamic model has been developed to predict the transient behavior of the temperature, the heat removal rare by the in-bed heat exchanger, and the flue-gas oxygen concentration for a circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) combustor. The model was incorporated into a control simulator to reproduce the combustion process within the overall program. The simulator predicts the behavior of the combustor under manual or automatic control to allow testing of control strategies. The model is validated by comparison with step-response tests carried out on a pilot CFB combustor. Discrepancies are attributable to unmodeled disturbances. Further validation, necessary to ensure the applicability of the simulator to control development is provided by comparing control models identified experimentally using the pilot CFB to those obtained by simulation. Favorable comparison suggests that the dynamic model is suitable for use in control simulation.