Magnesium oxide-based additives have been used in kraft recovery boilers to minimize deposit accumulation on superheater and generating bank tubes. Due to inconclusive results observed in boilers and claims made for additive effectiveness backed by little scientific evidence, only a few mills still use the additives for fouling control. A systematic study was performed to examine the effect of MgO-based additives on deposit accumulation and removal under controlled laboratory conditions, and to evaluate the additive effect in a kraft recovery boiler. The results show that while the additive coating has no effect on deposition, it could ease deposit removal if a coating greater than 5 µm can be applied on the tube surface effectively. Separate injection of additive and black liquor had insignificant effect on deposition and removal. Results of the field study show that the amount of additive collected on the tube is too small to have an impact.

Magnesium oxide-based additives have been used in kraft recovery boilers to minimize deposit accumulation on superheater and generating bank tubes. Due to inconclusive results observed in boilers and claims made for additive effectiveness backed by little scientific evidence, only a few mills still use the additives for fouling control. A systematic study was performed to examine the effect of MgO-based additives on deposit accumulation and removal under controlled laboratory conditions, and to evaluate the additive effect in a kraft recovery boiler. The results show that while the additive coating has no effect on deposition, it could ease deposit removal if a coating greater than 5 µm can be applied on the tube surface effectively. Separate injection of additive and black liquor had insignificant effect on deposition and removal. Results of the field study show that the amount of additive collected on the tube is too small to have an impact.

The presence of Ca(OH)2 (or free lime) in lime mud can cause many problems in the recovery process of kraft pulp mills. Conventional free lime analyses require extensive laboratory work and give inconsistent results. A systematic study was performed to determine if zeta potential, a quickly measurable dispersion characteristic, can be used to indicate the presence of free lime in the recovery process. Measurements were made on synthetic wet lime mud to simulate samples collected after the white liquor clarifier in pulp mills. The results show that zeta potential increases from negative to positive when the free lime content in the lime mud exceeds a critical threshold. This change from negative to positive zeta potential of the lime mud slurry can be used as a basis for developing an on-line monitoring system that effectively detects free lime in the lime mud in order to avoid problems associated with overliming in the recovery process.

O avanço da capacidade do processamento dos computadores e do desenvolvimento de métodos numéricos tem proporcionado ferramentas de modelagem, projeto e otimização cada vez mais eficientes para a constante melhoria de caldeiras de recuperação química Kraft. Dentre as técnicas utilizadas, os modelos CFD abrangentes tem sido empregados nos últimos anos para representar a operação da caldeira de recuperação considerando o maior número possível processos vinculados ao escoamento dos gases de combustão. O presente trabalho busca desenvolver um modelo CFD abrangente considerando o escoamento turbulento dos gases de combustão, o arraste das gotas de licor, a combustão homogênea dos voláteis em fase gasosa, as etapas de combustão heterogênea do licor preto e uma representação simplificada do leito carbonizado. Os resultados se mostraram coerentes com o comportamento apresentado na literatura. A simulação do modelo permite análise dos projetos e das operações da caldeira. / The advance of computer processing power and the development of numerical methods promote more efficient tools for modeling, design and optimization aiming to increase improvements in Kraft recovery boilers. Among the available techniques, the comprehensive CFD models have been applied in the last years to represent the recovery boiler operation considering as much as possible processes linked with flue gas flow. The objective of present work is the development of a comprehensive CFD model considering turbulent flue gas flow, black liquor droplets drag, volatiles homogeneous combustion in gas phase, the steps of heterogeneous black liquor combustion and the simplified interaction between flue gas flow and char bed. The results have good agreement with boiler behavior presented in the literature. The simulation of the comprehensive model allows the analysis of design and operations of the boiler.

O avanço da capacidade do processamento dos computadores e do desenvolvimento de métodos numéricos tem proporcionado ferramentas de modelagem, projeto e otimização cada vez mais eficientes para a constante melhoria de caldeiras de recuperação química Kraft. Dentre as técnicas utilizadas, os modelos CFD abrangentes tem sido empregados nos últimos anos para representar a operação da caldeira de recuperação considerando o maior número possível processos vinculados ao escoamento dos gases de combustão. O presente trabalho busca desenvolver um modelo CFD abrangente considerando o escoamento turbulento dos gases de combustão, o arraste das gotas de licor, a combustão homogênea dos voláteis em fase gasosa, as etapas de combustão heterogênea do licor preto e uma representação simplificada do leito carbonizado. Os resultados se mostraram coerentes com o comportamento apresentado na literatura. A simulação do modelo permite análise dos projetos e das operações da caldeira. / The advance of computer processing power and the development of numerical methods promote more efficient tools for modeling, design and optimization aiming to increase improvements in Kraft recovery boilers. Among the available techniques, the comprehensive CFD models have been applied in the last years to represent the recovery boiler operation considering as much as possible processes linked with flue gas flow. The objective of present work is the development of a comprehensive CFD model considering turbulent flue gas flow, black liquor droplets drag, volatiles homogeneous combustion in gas phase, the steps of heterogeneous black liquor combustion and the simplified interaction between flue gas flow and char bed. The results have good agreement with boiler behavior presented in the literature. The simulation of the comprehensive model allows the analysis of design and operations of the boiler.

Sootblowing is a process in which supersonic steam jets are used to periodically blast deposits off heat transfer tubes in kraft recovery boilers. However, sootblowing significantly consumes the valuable high pressure steam generated by the boiler, hence it should be optimized. A recovery boiler consists of three convective sections - superheater, generating bank and economizer. The tube arrangement in these sections, particularly the tube spacing is different from each other. Moreover, tubes in an economizer are finned. A sootblower jet will interact differently with these tube arrangements, potentially affecting its strength, and hence deposit removal capability. The objective of this work was to characterize jet/tube interaction in the three sections of a recovery boiler. Lab-scale experiments were conducted in which these interactions were visualized using the schlieren technique coupled with high-speed video, and were quantified by pitot pressure measurements. This work is the first to visualize the interactions. The offset between the jet and tube centrelines, the nozzle exit diameter relative to the tube diameter, and the distance between the nozzle and tube were varied to examine their effects on jet/tube interaction. Results showed that due to the very low spreading rate of a supersonic jet, a jet (primary jet) stops interacting with a superheater platen when the jet is only a small distance away from it. When the jet impinges on a tube, the jet deflects at an angle, giving rise to a weaker ‘secondary’ jet. Due to the large inter-platen spacing, a secondary jet has an insignificant impact in a superheater. In a generating bank, the primary jet weakens between the closely spaced tubes due to increased mixing. However, a secondary jet impinges on the adjacent tubes exerting a high impact pressure on those tubes. The primary jet also weakens between finned economizer tubes, but remains stronger for a greater distance than in a generating bank. As in the case inside a generating bank, a secondary jet also impinges on adjacent rows of tubes in an economizer. The results imply that in a superheater, a sootblower jet must be directed close to the platens to yield useful jet/deposit interactions, and to avoid wasting steam by blowing between the platens. In a generating bank, deposits beyond the first few tubes of a row experience a weaker sootblower jet, and thus may not be removed effectively. However, secondary jets may contribute to removing deposits from the first few adjacent tubes. They may also induce erosion-corrosion of those tubes. Secondary jets may also help remove deposits from adjacent rows in a finned tube economizer. In an economizer, the strength and hence, the deposit removal capability of a sootblower jet diminish only slightly beyond the supersonic portion of the jet. A mathematical model was also developed to determine the feasibility of using inclined sootblower nozzles in recovery boiler superheaters, and suggests that it may be possible to clean superheater platens more effectively with slightly inclined nozzles.

Sootblowing is a process in which supersonic steam jets are used to periodically blast deposits off heat transfer tubes in kraft recovery boilers. However, sootblowing significantly consumes the valuable high pressure steam generated by the boiler, hence it should be optimized. A recovery boiler consists of three convective sections - superheater, generating bank and economizer. The tube arrangement in these sections, particularly the tube spacing is different from each other. Moreover, tubes in an economizer are finned. A sootblower jet will interact differently with these tube arrangements, potentially affecting its strength, and hence deposit removal capability. The objective of this work was to characterize jet/tube interaction in the three sections of a recovery boiler. Lab-scale experiments were conducted in which these interactions were visualized using the schlieren technique coupled with high-speed video, and were quantified by pitot pressure measurements. This work is the first to visualize the interactions. The offset between the jet and tube centrelines, the nozzle exit diameter relative to the tube diameter, and the distance between the nozzle and tube were varied to examine their effects on jet/tube interaction. Results showed that due to the very low spreading rate of a supersonic jet, a jet (primary jet) stops interacting with a superheater platen when the jet is only a small distance away from it. When the jet impinges on a tube, the jet deflects at an angle, giving rise to a weaker ‘secondary’ jet. Due to the large inter-platen spacing, a secondary jet has an insignificant impact in a superheater. In a generating bank, the primary jet weakens between the closely spaced tubes due to increased mixing. However, a secondary jet impinges on the adjacent tubes exerting a high impact pressure on those tubes. The primary jet also weakens between finned economizer tubes, but remains stronger for a greater distance than in a generating bank. As in the case inside a generating bank, a secondary jet also impinges on adjacent rows of tubes in an economizer. The results imply that in a superheater, a sootblower jet must be directed close to the platens to yield useful jet/deposit interactions, and to avoid wasting steam by blowing between the platens. In a generating bank, deposits beyond the first few tubes of a row experience a weaker sootblower jet, and thus may not be removed effectively. However, secondary jets may contribute to removing deposits from the first few adjacent tubes. They may also induce erosion-corrosion of those tubes. Secondary jets may also help remove deposits from adjacent rows in a finned tube economizer. In an economizer, the strength and hence, the deposit removal capability of a sootblower jet diminish only slightly beyond the supersonic portion of the jet. A mathematical model was also developed to determine the feasibility of using inclined sootblower nozzles in recovery boiler superheaters, and suggests that it may be possible to clean superheater platens more effectively with slightly inclined nozzles.

Engenheiros têm introduzido um melhor suporte para procedimentos de monitoramento de condições complexas através da aplicação de sistemas descentralizados inteligentes usando uma variedade de técnicas de inteligência artificial. Agora é largamente reconhecido que estes problemas decorrentes da complexidade funcional do monitoramento de condições podem ser resolvidos com arquiteturas que contenham muitos módulos distribuídos e inteligentes, que interajam dinamicamente, os quais são chamados de agentes inteligentes. A tecnologia baseada em agentes tem gerado muita agitação nos últimos anos por causa da promessa de ser um novo paradigma na hora de definir os conceitos para modelar e implementar sistemas de controle. O objetivo do presente estudo é implantar esta tecnologia no controle de uma caldeira de recuperação com a finalidade de gerenciar e integrar produção, qualidade e segurança no processo. A caldeira de recuperação tem dois objetivos bem definidos, cada um com suas restrições operacionais: (1) geração de vapor vivo a ser utilizado no processo, e, (2) redução de reagentes inorgânicos para recuperar sulfeto e carbonato de sódio, necessários no ciclo do processo de fabricação de celulose. Cada um destes objetivos é um sistema com funções independentes dentro da caldeira, mas que, no entanto tem seus desempenhos interligados entre si através das variáveis comuns existentes no processo. Esta é exatamente a definição de um sistema agente, ou melhor, de um Sistema Multi-Agente (SMA), no qual não existe uma otimização e sim a busca de uma solução possível. O modelo dinâmico da Caldeira foi simulado em Matlab(TM) Simulink(TM) baseado no modelo matemático da caldeira de recuperação de licor negro B&W (Babcock&Wilcox). O SMA foi desenvolvido utilizando a linguagem de programação JAVA e a plataforma de agentes JADE. / Engineers have been introducing better support for procedures of monitoring complex conditions through the application of intelligent decentralized systems, implementing a variety of artificial intelligent techniques. Nowadays it is vastly known that these problems that are consequence of the functional complexity of monitoring conditioning can be solved trough architectures, built by many intelligent distributed modules, which interact dynamically, known as intelligent agents. Technology based on agents have been creating excitement over the last years because of its promise of being a new paradigm that can be used to define modeling and implementing concepts for control systems. The goal of this thesis is to implement this new technology on controlling a recovery boiler, aiming to manage and integrate production, quality and security to the process. The operation of the recovery boiler has two well defined objectives, each one with its operational constraints: (1) steam production, an important asset in the pulp and paper process, and, (2) reduction of inorganic reagents to recover sulfate and sodium carbonates, the necessary chemicals in the Kraft pulp production. Each one of these functions, is an independent system inside the recovery boiler, however they have their performances connected to each other by common variables present in the process. This is exactly the definition of an agent system, in other words, a definition of a Multi-Agent System (MAS), for which there is not an optimization, but the search for the best possible outcome. The recovery boiler dynamic model was simulated using Matlab(TM) Simulink(TM) based on the mathematic model of B&W (Babcock&Wilcox) recovery boiler of black liquor. The MAS was implemented using JAVA(TM) programming language and JADE(TM) agent platform.

Engenheiros têm introduzido um melhor suporte para procedimentos de monitoramento de condições complexas através da aplicação de sistemas descentralizados inteligentes usando uma variedade de técnicas de inteligência artificial. Agora é largamente reconhecido que estes problemas decorrentes da complexidade funcional do monitoramento de condições podem ser resolvidos com arquiteturas que contenham muitos módulos distribuídos e inteligentes, que interajam dinamicamente, os quais são chamados de agentes inteligentes. A tecnologia baseada em agentes tem gerado muita agitação nos últimos anos por causa da promessa de ser um novo paradigma na hora de definir os conceitos para modelar e implementar sistemas de controle. O objetivo do presente estudo é implantar esta tecnologia no controle de uma caldeira de recuperação com a finalidade de gerenciar e integrar produção, qualidade e segurança no processo. A caldeira de recuperação tem dois objetivos bem definidos, cada um com suas restrições operacionais: (1) geração de vapor vivo a ser utilizado no processo, e, (2) redução de reagentes inorgânicos para recuperar sulfeto e carbonato de sódio, necessários no ciclo do processo de fabricação de celulose. Cada um destes objetivos é um sistema com funções independentes dentro da caldeira, mas que, no entanto tem seus desempenhos interligados entre si através das variáveis comuns existentes no processo. Esta é exatamente a definição de um sistema agente, ou melhor, de um Sistema Multi-Agente (SMA), no qual não existe uma otimização e sim a busca de uma solução possível. O modelo dinâmico da Caldeira foi simulado em Matlab(TM) Simulink(TM) baseado no modelo matemático da caldeira de recuperação de licor negro B&W (Babcock&Wilcox). O SMA foi desenvolvido utilizando a linguagem de programação JAVA e a plataforma de agentes JADE. / Engineers have been introducing better support for procedures of monitoring complex conditions through the application of intelligent decentralized systems, implementing a variety of artificial intelligent techniques. Nowadays it is vastly known that these problems that are consequence of the functional complexity of monitoring conditioning can be solved trough architectures, built by many intelligent distributed modules, which interact dynamically, known as intelligent agents. Technology based on agents have been creating excitement over the last years because of its promise of being a new paradigm that can be used to define modeling and implementing concepts for control systems. The goal of this thesis is to implement this new technology on controlling a recovery boiler, aiming to manage and integrate production, quality and security to the process. The operation of the recovery boiler has two well defined objectives, each one with its operational constraints: (1) steam production, an important asset in the pulp and paper process, and, (2) reduction of inorganic reagents to recover sulfate and sodium carbonates, the necessary chemicals in the Kraft pulp production. Each one of these functions, is an independent system inside the recovery boiler, however they have their performances connected to each other by common variables present in the process. This is exactly the definition of an agent system, in other words, a definition of a Multi-Agent System (MAS), for which there is not an optimization, but the search for the best possible outcome. The recovery boiler dynamic model was simulated using Matlab(TM) Simulink(TM) based on the mathematic model of B&W (Babcock&Wilcox) recovery boiler of black liquor. The MAS was implemented using JAVA(TM) programming language and JADE(TM) agent platform.

Kraft recovery boiler smelt is shattered into small droplets by an impinging steam jet to prevent smelt-water explosions in the dissolving tank. Inadequate shattering increases the likelihood of dissolving tank explosions. While industry has not dedicated much effort to smelt shattering, the safety implications require smelt shattering to be studied in detail. An experimental set-up was constructed to simulate the shattering operation using a water-glycerine solution and air instead of smelt and steam respectively. The objective was to examine how physical properties and flow characteristics affect shattering. It was found that increasing shatter jet velocity greatly reduced droplet mean diameter. Increasing the liquid flow rate greatly increased droplet size, as expected. Shattering was not significantly affected by viscosity, unless a weak shatter jet was used on a highly viscous fluid. Increasing the proximity of the shatter jet nozzle decreased droplet size.