Control System for Complete Burning in Furnace Using Lambda Probe

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the biomass burning process in a furnace, using chip as a raw material and an oxygen sensor (lambda probe) to monitor the percentage of oxygen in the gases exhausted during combustion, aiming to maintain the percentage of the coefficient of excess air (α) in the operating range of 1.20 to 1.25%, considered ideal for the biomass (chip) used in the study. Once the excess air is identified at the upper furnace exit, the air entrance in the system will be closed by means of a butterfly valve using a servo motor driven by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). The valve was opened or closed according to the oxygen level; when it was lower than 1.20%, the door remained open, and it was closed when the level reached 1.25%, finishing the cycle of the process. The open and closed states of the valve occurred by means of two reed switch magnetic key sensors installed in the air intake system. For the control, monitoring and data acquisition, a supervisory system created using the Elipse SCADA software was used so it was possible to obtain a system database, which will provide important information to maximize the efficiency of the furnace.