Design and Implementation of a Data Acquisition System for Combustion Tests

Abstract

In recent years, the biomass market has constantly increased. The pellet manufacture industry has started looking for new products, such as wastes from forest, agriculture, and agroindustrial residues, among others, with the potential to be used as biofuels. However, some of these wastes have some characteristics that make both the combustion process and operating and maintenance conditions of thermal equipment difficult. Thus, further research to optimize the performance and ensure the compliance of the maximum atmospheric levels is needed. In order to carry out these studies, the design and implementation of a supervision, control, and data acquisition system for a domestic pellet boiler was carried out, which makes obtaining further information about the performance of non-conventional biofuels possible. Thus, these biofuels, coming from different sources, underwent different working regimes, facilitating the understanding of the results and the correction of limiting elements. The results from initial tests were reliable and precise, coinciding with the check readings that were done with a thermometer and a combustion gas analyser. Under these conditions, the system designed constitutes a fundamental tool to examine thermal processes with alternative biofuels, with the objective of making the most of different biomass wastes as renewable energy sources.