Assessment of Regularized Reconstruction of Three-Dimensional Temperature Distributions in Large-Scale Furnaces

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3-D) temperature distributions in large-scale furnaces can be reconstructed from temperature images captured by CCD cameras through inverse calculation of radiative heat transfer. This article assesses the reconstruction method for 3-D temperature distribution using the Tikhonov regularization by simulation. In a 10 m × 10 m × 20 m furnace with different optical thicknesses, the 3-D temperature distribution was reconstructed with errors in measurements and radiative properties of the combustion medium, and the influence of the radiative contribution from the wall surfaces. The results show that the Tikhonov regularization method is robust and, when the optical thickness is within the range from 1 to 15, the reconstruction errors of the 3-D temperature distribution in the furnace are less than 6%, which is acceptable in applications.