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Abstract
A state-space dynamic model for a palm wastes boiler is being developed and simulated.
The unique feature of this boiler is that it uses wastes in the form of fiber and shell from the
palm oil processing as its fuels. Specific characteristics of oil palm waste boilers are non-
uniform fuel feed, compositions, sizes and moisture content of the fuel. These features intro-
duce additional dimensions to the difficulty of boiler control. The superheated steam produced
is used to generate electricity, which drives numerous motors and other equipment for palm
fruit processing thus causing severe interactions between the power plant and other parts of
the mill. The main work of this paper is the development of a dynamic model and simulation
of the boiler. The boiler unit can be divided into several sections for analysis viz., the furnace,
superheater, drum, risers, and downcomer. A tenth-order, physical, linearized process model
was developed. The linearized model consists of ten first-order simultaneous equations and is
represented by a (10 x 10) state matrix and (4 x 10) input matrix in the state space form.
2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Palm wastes boiler; Dynamic modeling; State space; Simulation; Power plant
∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +603-7967-6842; fax: +603-7967-5317.
E-mail address: indra@um.edu.my (T.M.I. Mahlia).
0960-1481/03/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0960-1481(02)00218-5
1236 T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256
Nomenclature
Aw, As, Ar, Ad steam drum surface, superheater, riser, and downcomer flow
areas (m2, ft2)
A, B, C, D matrices of constant coefficients of the system
Cp, Cg, Cst, Crt heat capacitance of superheated steam, flue gas, superheater,
and riser tubes (J/kg °C, Btu/lb °F)
Dr, Ds, Dd riser, superheater, and downcomer tube diameters (m, ft)
fs, fr, fd superheater, riser, and downcomer friction coefficients
hi, hw, hv, hr, hs, hf enthalpy of liquid, saturated liquid, vapor, liquid–vapor
mixture, and superheated (J/kg, Btu/lb)
kec drum liquid mass evaporation rate constant (kg/s °C, lb/s °F )
kF gas temperature/fuel rate constant (°C s/kg, °F s/lb)
ks, kr, kgs, kgr heat transfer coefficients for superheater and riser tubes to
steam and boiling liquid and from flue gas to superheater and riser
tubes (J/kg °C, Btu/lb °F)
Ls, Lr, Ld superheater, riser, and downcomer tube lengths (m, ft)
Ms,Mr, Mw superheater tubes, riser tubes, and steam drum liquid mass (kg,
lb)
ps, pv, pw superheater, steam, and water-drum pressures (bar, psig)
Qg,Qgs,Qs,Qgr,Qr,Qf steady-state heat release and heat input rates from flue
gas and calorific value (J/s Btu/s)
Tg, Tgs, Tgr flue gas temperatures (°C, °F)
Ts, Tv, Tw superheated steam, saturation, and liquid temperatures (°C, °F)
Tst, Trt superheater and riser tube-wall temperatures (°C, °F)
Vw, Vv liquid and vapor-phase volume of steam drum (m3, ft3)
wA/wF air/fuel ratio
ws, wv, wr, wd, we, wi, wF, wec mass flows of steam or water at superheater,
riser, downcomers, feed water, fuel, and drum liquid evaporation
(kg/s, lb/s)
x riser outlet mixture quality (%)
x(t) state variable vector of process system
y water-level displacement (m, ft)
y(t) system input or control vector [ws, wi, wf, Te]
rs, rv, rr, rw steam, saturated vapor, liquid–vapor mixture and liquid
densities (kg/m3, lb/ft3)
1. Introduction
those required to heat a small-size home to the very large ones used in electric power
generating stations. The fundamental requirement for the power plant system is how
to ensure the smooth and continuous energy flow. To satisfy this requirement, it is
desirable that the power generation units be properly controlled so that the production
and consumption of energy can be maintained in equilibrium at all times. To reach
this requirement, many ways of modeling and controls have been applied. Simulation
of the operation of the system is achieved by the utilization of computers. Modeling
and simulation provides key information as to the characteristics that are vital for
the investigation and prediction of the plant. It enables the modeler to measure the
performance of existing or proposed systems under different operating schemes.
The model developed in this research is intended for further research to understand
the behavior of palm wastes boilers under steady state and transient operations, and
can be used in control system and operational optimization studies. This boiler uses
a different type of fuel from conventional boilers, using fiber and shell waste products
from oil palm processing. It has commonly been taken for granted that this energy
is free in the palm oil mills industry. Specific characteristics of the boiler are non-
uniform fuel feed and moisture content in fiber and shell. These features result in
additional dimensions to the difficulty of controlling palm waste boilers. The nature
of fuels, stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratio, and mass balance of a palm waste boiler
are discussed in Ref. [1].
2. Plant description
Parameters of the model equations are either computed using construction data or
identified using the steady state operation test data. Since a large number of variables
are required to describe the boiler system, it is necessary to devise a systematic
convention for naming the variables. The boiler is modeled based on the follow-
ing subsystems:
앫 Furnace,
앫 Superheater,
앫 Drum,
앫 Downcomer,
앫 Risers.
The simplified block diagram of oil palm wastes boiler process is presented in
Fig. 1.
For simulation purposes, two types of data are required. First, data that will not
change while the plant is operating — physical data. Second, data that will experi-
ence small changes when the plant is operating — steady state operating data. There
are many data needed to simulate the systems, and they are obtained by several
methods given below:
Complete physical data of the boiler that is used for simulation are shown in
Table 1.
The steady state operating data have been collected with on line reading from the
plant. These data are then used to calculate other necessary data together with data
available in the design specification of the boiler and steam tables. Steady state
operating data that are used for the simulation are shown in Table 2.
3. Methodology
The important basic equations used in the analysis and developments of the boiler
model are the following equations [2–6]:
T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256 1239
Table 1
Physical data of the boiler
Description Values
Table 2
Steady-state operating data
Description Values
of heat transfer from hot gases to tube banks in turbulent flow, from tube wall
to steam and to boiling liquid. The tube wall temperatures are determined by the
heat capacitance of the walls.
앫 State equations: these equations are obtained from steam tables at saturated and
superheated steam for the steady state operating conditions. The relations are
assumed to be linear for a given range of values of the variables.
Some fundamental physics laws are reviewed in the time-dependent form, and the
process model is established using the following fundamental equations:
⫹ 冉 w2out
2 ⫺
w2in
rout(An) g rin(An)2g
. 冊
3.4. Heat transfer
The risers and superheater are assumed to receive heat from the flue gas by con-
vection only. The heat is assumed to be transferred from the flue gas to the metal
and from the metal to the fluid by convection only. The equations used are [7]:
앫 Gas to metal:
Qg ⫽ kg w0.6
g (Tg ⫺ Tm) (4)
앫 Metal to fluid (one phase flow)
T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256 1241
冉 ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y
f x,y,z,..., , , , ,...
∂t ∂l ∂t ∂l 冊 ⫽ 0 (7)
∂ ∂
where indicates time derivative and is the derivative with respect to the space
∂t ∂l
variable. It is assumed that for small space intervals L, the variables x, y, z,... may
be written in linear functions of the variable l, so that:
∂x x2⫺x1 ∂y y2⫺y1 ∂z z2⫺z1
⫽ , ⫽ , ⫽ ,..., (8)
∂l L ∂l L ∂l L
where x2,y2,z2,..., and x1,y1,z1,..., denote the value of the variable x, y, z,... at the end
and at the beginning, respectively, of the space interval L. Even though x1,y1,z1,...,
x2,y2,z2,..., are no longer functions of l, they are still functions of time .
∂x ∂y ∂z
x,y,z,..., , , ,... are now assumed to be the value of variables at the beginning of
∂t ∂t ∂t
the space interval, hence Eq. (8) can be written as:
冉
f x1,y1,z1,...,
∂x1 x2⫺x1 ∂y1 y2⫺y1 ∂z1 z2⫺z1
,
∂t L
, ,
∂t L
,
∂t
⫽
L
,..., 冊 ⫽ 0. (9)
Eq. (9) is then perturbed at steady state operating conditions to eliminate the non-
linearities, giving the following equation:
∂f ∂f ∂f ∂f ∂f (∂x1)
⌬x ⫹ ⌬y ⫹ ... ⫹ ⌬x ⫹ ⌬y ⫹ ⌬ ⫹ ... (10)
∂x1 1 ∂y1 1 ∂x2 2 ∂y2 2 (∂x1) ∂t
∂
∂t
⫽ 0
(∂x1) (∂y1) d d
where ⌬ , ⌬ , .... can be replaced by (⌬x1), (⌬y1),... for small pertur-
∂t ∂t dt dt
1242 T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256
4. Model development
The following general assumptions are made in deriving the dynamic model for
the boiler. Additional assumptions are listed under each section:
4.2.1. Furnace
The following assumptions are made in deriving the dynamic model for the fur-
nace:
COM:
d rF d rA
VF ⫹ VA ⫽ (wF ⫹ wA) ⫺ wg (11)
dt dt
d rF
from point 3 of the general assumptions, it is known that ⫽ 0, VF
dt
d rA wA
VA ⫽ 0, therefore (wF ⫹ wA) ⫽ wg where Air⫺fuel ratio ⫽ , wA ⫽
dt wF
wA wA
wF, wg ⫽ wF ⫹ w
wF wF F
wg ⫽ 冉 1 ⫹
wA
wF 冊 wF (12)
COT:Not relevant.
COE:
d(rghg)
Vg ⫽ (wFhF ⫹ wAhA) ⫺ wghg ⫺ Qg (13)
dt
where
d(rghg)
Vg
dt
⫽ 0, wg ⫽ 冉1 ⫹
wA
wF 冊 wF , hg ⫽ hF ⫹ hA, therefore
Qg ⫽ wg hg, Qg ⫽ wg Cg Tg
Qg ⫽ wg . LHV (14)
1244 T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256
Qg
Tg ⫽ (15)
Cg (1 ⫹ wA / wF) wF
4.2.2. Superheater
The following assumptions are made in deriving the dynamic model for the super-
heater:
Gas side
COM:
drgs
Vgs ⫽ wg ⫺ wgs (16)
dt
drgs
where Vgs ⫽ 0 therefore
dt
wg ⫽ wgs. (17)
COT:Not relevant.
COE:
d(rgs hgs)
Vgs ⫽ wghg ⫺ wgshgs ⫺ Qgs (18)
dt
d(rgshgs)
where Vgs ⫽ 0 therefore wghg ⫺ wgshgs ⫺ Qgs ⫽ 0, Qgs ⫽
dt
wghg ⫺ wgshgs , Qgs ⫽ wg Cg Tg ⫺ wgs Cgs Tgs where wg ⫽ wgs , Cg ⫽
Cgs then Qgs ⫽ wg Cg (Tg ⫺ Tgs), Qgs ⫽ Cg (1 ⫹ wA / wF) wF (Tg ⫺ Tgs)
Therefore the flue gas temperature leaving superheater banks and entering riser
banks is as follows:
Qgs
Tg1 ⫽ Tg ⫺ (19)
Cg (1 ⫹ wA / wF) wF
Tube Bank
COE:
d Tst
Ms Cst ⫽ Qgs ⫺ Qs (20)
dt
where
Qgs ⫽ kgs w0.6
F (Tgs ⫺ Tst) (21)
1 Qgs
Tgs ⫽ Tg ⫺ (22)
2Cg (1 ⫹ wA / wF) . wF
T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256 1245
Qs ⫽ ks w0.8
v (Tst ⫺ Ts). (23)
Water/Steam Side
COM:
drs
As L s ⫽ ws ⫺ wv. (24)
dt
COT:
w2v
pv⫺ps ⫽ fs . (25)
rv
COE:
drs hs
As L s ⫽ wv hv ⫺ ws hs ⫹ Qs. (26)
dt
4.2.3. Riser
The following assumptions are made in deriving the dynamic model for the risers:
Gas side
COM:
drgr
Vgr ⫽ wgs ⫺ wgr (27)
dt
drgr
where Vgr ⫽ 0 therefore wgs ⫽ wgr.
dt
COT:Not relevant.
COE:
d(rgr hgr)
Vgr ⫽ wgshgs ⫺ wgrhgr ⫺ Qgr (28)
dt
d(rgrhgr)
where Vgr ⫽ 0 therefore wgshgs ⫺ wgrhgr ⫺ Qgr ⫽ 0, Qgr ⫽
dt
wgshgs ⫺ wgrhgr , Qgr ⫽ wgs Cgs Tgs ⫺ wgr Cgr Tgr where, wgs ⫽ wgr ,
Cgs ⫽ Cgr then Qgr ⫽ wg Cg (Tg ⫺ Tgr), Qgr ⫽ Cg (1 ⫹
wA / wF) wF (Tg ⫺ Tgr).
1246 T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256
pw⫺pv ⫽
Lr dwr
gAr dt
⫹ fr
Lr w2r
g rrA2rDr
⫹ Lr r r ⫹
w2r
2g rrA2r
⫹
w2r
⫺冉w2d
rrA2rg rwA2g 冊 (36)
COE:
d(rr hr)
ArLr ⫽ wdhw ⫺ wrhr ⫺ Qr (37)
dt
1 x (1 ⫺x)
⫽ ⫹ (38)
rr rv rw
hr ⫽ xhv ⫹ (1⫺x) hw (39)
hr ⫽ xhfg ⫹ hw. (40)
4.2.4. Drum
The following assumptions are made in deriving the dynamic model for the drum:
앫 There is no temperature gradient in the vapor phase in the drum and the tempera-
ture is always the saturation temperature corresponding to the drum pressure.
T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256 1247
앫 The liquid phase has no temperature gradient except through a very thin layer at
the liquid surface because of the turbulence in the drum.
앫 Evaporation or condensation rate in the drum is proportional to the difference of
liquid and saturation temperatures.
앫 Liquid level changes due to bubble formation in the drum are neglected.
앫 Feed water temperature is assumed to be constant.
Gas side
Not relevant.
Tube bank
Not relevant.
Water/Steam side
COM:
Water
d
(V r ) ⫽ wi ⫹ (1 ⫺ x) wr ⫺ wd ⫺ wec. (41)
dt w w
Steam
d
(V r ) ⫽ wec ⫹ x wr⫺ wv (42)
dt v v
⌬ Vv ⌬ Vw
⌬y ⫽ ⫺ ⫽ (43)
Aw Aw
⌬ M ⫽ Aw rw ⌬y. (44)
COT:
Not relevant.
COE:
d
(V r h ) ⫽ (1 ⫺ x) wrhv ⫹ wihi ⫺ wdhw⫺wechv. (45)
dt w w w
4.2.5. Downcomers
The following assumptions are made in deriving the dynamic model for downco-
mers:
Gas Side
Not relevant.
Tube bank
1248 T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256
Not relevant.
Water/Steam side
COM:
drw
Ad Ld ⫽ ww ⫺ wd (46)
dt
drw
where Ad Ld ⫽ 0, hence ww ⫽ wd
dt
Ld w2d 1 w2d Ld d wd
COT: pv⫺pw ⫽ fd 2
⫺ Ldrw ⫹ ⫹ . (47)
g rwAdDd 2g A2drw gAd dt
COE:
Not relevant.
As mentioned in the methodology, the first two types of equation involve partial
differential equations as well as non-linearities; These equations are then reduced to
the ordinary linear equations from applying small perturbations and difference equ-
ation techniques. Linearizing the boiler process model about steady state operating
points and transforming using the Laplace operators with zero initial conditions pro-
duces perturbed equations. The complete linearization process is given in Ref. [8],
and sample linearization of an equation is presented in Appendix A.
5. Results
conditions, which is between 17.2 bar (250 psig) and 22 bar (320 psig) of drum
pressure. The dynamic physical model can be summarized as follows:
Type of model: state space
Number of input variables: four
The main difficulty in this work is the size and complexity of the boiler unit.
When the model was formulated and linearized it was found that many manipulation
steps were required before arriving at the final form of the model. The reason was
that a set of ten simultaneous differential equations together with large number of
the steady-state ones needed to be suitably rearranged and solved.
In simulation, the set of equations developed and linearized in the previous section
are reduced and rearranged in order to obtain a suitable model for simulation in
state-space form. This palm wastes boiler model has been simulated using MATLAB.
Before the simulation can be performed it is necessary that all the unknown constants
and parameters are made available to the model. These unknowns include steady-
state balance equations and operating points, boiler physical data, and curve fitting
relationship if data extracted from the steam tables. The set of linearized equations
may be written in the following matrix form:
x(t) ⫽ Ax(t) ⫹ Bu(t) (52)
y(t) ⫽ Cx(t) ⫹ Du(t) (53)
where A is a (10 x 10) state matrix, B (10 x 4) input matrix, C output matrix and
direct transmission matrix D are constant matrices. The value of the matrices is
presented in Appendix A.
The response of the output variables for 10% step inputs of steam, feed water,
flow rate, temperature, and fuel are shown in Figs. 2–5.
1250 T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256
Validation of the model was done by on-line reading of drum pressure from the
plant using HP 3497A Data Acquisition and Control Unit and HP BASIC as the
programming language. This data was transferred to a MATLAB file. Pneumatic
cylinders were used as mechanisms (actuators) for adjusting the amount of the input
fuel (fiber and shell) to the furnace of the boiler plant. The responses model for
1252 T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256
drum pressure (Pv) with respect to fuel flow rate (wF) is presented in Fig. 6. From
validation it can be seen that the result obtained is quite encouraging and the simu-
lated model of drum pressure matches fairly well with the experimental plot.
6. Conclusion
and consider the steam flow rate (ws) as a disturbance. In a more simplified structure
the output variables can be reduced to Pv and y only while the input variables are
reduced to only one, i.e., wF.
The model has been developed with certain assumptions that might make the
model less accurate. The number of assumptions can be reduced especially in the
riser part, where a more accurate representation can be expected if the riser could
be derived separately. However, from the validation shown, the result matches fairly
well with the experimental plot. Finally, this model should be useful as a basis for
further studies of the two following purposes:
Fig. 6. Steam drum pressure response with 20% fuel flow rate step.
T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256 1255
앫 To be a basis for a reduced order linearized transfer function model for related
control applications.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Ministry
of Science, under the IRPA financing scheme. The research was carried out under
IRPA research Project No. 03-02-03-0353.
Appendix A
w2v
Rewriting Eq. (25), pv⫺ps ⫽ fs or in perturbed form can be written as:
rv
2 w̄v w̄2v r̄v r̄v
⌬pv⫺⌬ps ⫽ fs ⌬pv ⫹ fs 2 ⌬ rv ⌬wv ⫽ ⌬p ⫺ ⌬p ⫹
r̄v r̄v fs 2 w̄v v fs 2 w̄v s
w̄v
⌬ rv. Then in simplified form, ⌬wv ⫽ z1 ⌬pv ⫹ z2 ⌬ps ⫹ z3 ⌬ rv
2 r̄v
r̄v r̄v w̄v
where z1 ⫽ , z2 ⫽ ⫺ , z3 ⫽ ⌬ rv.
fs 2 w̄v fs 2 w̄v 2 r̄v
Input matrices A (10 x 10) and B (10 x 4) and output matrix C and D:
⫺ 0.85972
⫺ 0.00092 0 0 0 1.33932 × 10-5 0 0 0 0
⫺ 0.00441 ⫺ 4.7223 × 10-6 0 ⫺ 0.17506 ⫺ 3.02126 × 10-8 ⫺ 2.24703 × 10-7 4.12171 × 10⫺6 0.00013 0 0
A⫽
1285.64960 1.37760 0 0 0 ⫺ 0.55027 209.41783 24.49676 0 0
⫺ 0.00339 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 1.49170 0
0 ⫺ 1.77767 × 10 -7
0 0
60.69606 ⫺ 23.94852 ⫺ 530.97106 1.16471
B⫽
0 0.05186 0 0
0 0 22.98759 0
0 ⫺ 0.02530 0 0.00229
0 ⫺ 2.17627 × 10 -6
0 0
⫺ 228.02653 0 0 0
1256 T.M.I. Mahlia et al. / Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 1235–1256
1.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 0 0
C⫽
0 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
D⫽
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
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