British Coal Utilisation Research Association Research Articles

Automation of a dust sampling train

The accuracy of measuring the concentration of particulate matter in flue gas streams by a dust sampling train can be significantly improved or minimized by automating the sampling process using a microprocessor based system. Two situations are presented here, in which a dust sampling train is interfaced via appropriate transducers with a microprocessor and additional circuit boards. The results obtained from this work show that the flue gas sampling process can be automated using microprocessor-based control system and a sampling train. Using the sampling train developed by the British Coal Utilization Research Association (BCURA) with both the internal and external flow-meter arrangements, the maximum error in iso-kinetic sampling velocity throughout the sampling period did not exceeding 5%.Keywords: Automation, Dust Sampling, Iso-kinetic Sampling, Digitalcontrol

Modeling coal-fired cyclone combustors

A mathematical model based on the finite-difference solution of momentum, enthalpy, and species conservation equations has been constructed to describe the process of coal combustion in cyclone furnaces. Coal particles are tracked through the flow and the evolution and combustion of volatiles calculated. Most of the char then burns on the walls of the chamber, while held in a molten ash layer, at a rate principally determined by the rate of diffusion of oxygen. The predictions of the model are compared with experimental data obtained in the late 1950s at the British Coal Utilization Research Association on a small experimental combustor. Flow and heat transfer data are closely predicted; comparison with the combustion efficiency data cannot be rigorous but no major inconsistencies emerge.

Access of Gases to the Porosity of Synthetic Graphite at High Temperatures

MUCH if not all of the so-called “closed porosity” in various nuclear graphites lies beyond extremely fine entrances, according to recent work at the British Coal Utilisation Research Association. These entrances can be penetrated by certain gases at high temperatures. It follows that the well known1–3 gradual decrease in “closed porosity” that occurs on thermal oxidation of graphites in gases can be accounted for by the erosive widening of such entrances. These conclusions are the result of two independent methods for measuring changes in porosity, which have been applied from room temperature to 1,073° K.

INSTRUMENTAL METHODS FOR THE DETECTION OF HIGHER OXIDES OF NITROGEN IN NITROUS OXIDE

SUMMARY This paper discusses the possible application of instrumental methods used by the British Coal Utilisation Research Association for flue gas analysis to detect the contamination, by higher oxides of nitrogen, of nitrous oxide (N2O) intended for use as an anaesthetic. Two galvanic instruments sensitive to 1 p.p.m v/v of nitrogen dioxide (NO2)—or, when supplemented by a pre-oxidizer, of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide (NO + NO2)—are described; either might be adapted to actuate an alarm. The methods are discussed in the light of governmental standards of air quality.

British Coal Utilization Research Association

British Coal Utilization Research Association

Director of Basic Research Laboratories of the British Coal Utilization Research Association: Dr. L. C. F. Blackman

Director of Basic Research Laboratories of the British Coal Utilization Research Association: Dr. L. C. F. Blackman

The British Coal Utilization Research Association

The British Coal Utilization Research Association

The British Coal Utilization Research Association

The British Coal Utilization Research Association

Torsion vane flowmeter for the continuous recording of air flow

The instrument operates as a force balance system in which the torque caused by the flow of air past a four-bladed vane assembly is opposed by an equal torque produced by the flow of current in a coil attached to the vane and suspended in a permanent magnetic field. These opposing forces remain in equilibrium until a variation in air flow takes place, when the vane assembly (which, mechanically, is not restrained) begins to turn. A mirror attached to this assembly, and which rotates with it, causes the image of an illuminated slit to move across a photocell which, in turn, controls the amount of current flowing in the coil so as to oppose its rotation until the two torques are again equal. This current is proportional to the square of the air flow and is used to provide the calibrated output, for application to the recorder. The performance of the prototype instrument built in the British Coal Utilisation Research Association laboratories is as follows: (i) Range: there are three ranges, selected by a switch: 10-100 ft3 h-1, 50-500 ft3 h-1, and 100-1000 ft3 h-1. (ii) Stability: because of the force balance principle used, the instrument is largely independent of mains and lamp voltage changes; stability checks over a period of 100 hours gave variations of ?1% in calibration. (iii) Output: the coil current provides an output which may be recorded directly on a recording ammeter. Alternatively, this current may be used to develop a voltage across a resistor and so provide an output suitable for application to a standard potentiometric recorder.

British Coal Utilization Research Association

British Coal Utilization Research Association

Ball mills and ball milling. I : T. G. Callcott. British Coal Utilisation Research Association, monthly bulletin, v. 21, May 1957, p. 101–120

Ball mills and ball milling. I : T. G. Callcott. British Coal Utilisation Research Association, monthly bulletin, v. 21, May 1957, p. 101–120

Capillary Structure of Coals

A CONFERENCE on the “Ultrafine Structure of Coals and Cokes”1 was held in London in 1943 ; later, Bangham et al. 2 proposed a model for coals in which the capillary system was located between closely compacted spherical ‘micelles’. More recently, in the laboratories of the British Coal Utilisation Research Association, an extensive investigation of the adsorptive properties of some British coals has been carried out, and has led to a new model of the physical structure of coal. This model may be described briefly as follows.

The British Coal Utilization Research Association

For The Study of industrial processes, apparatus and instruments are required. This provides the immediate task of the physicist in a Research Association. He is asked to do such things as to combine a counter with a microscope to make an automatized particle sizer : or to carry out detailed improvements in X-ray cameras to aid the study of minerals in coal.

EXAMINATION OF A QUANTUM HYPOTHESIS BASED ON A SINGLE SET OF DATA

EXAMINATION OF A QUANTUM HYPOTHESIS BASED ON A SINGLE SET OF DATA S. R. BROADBENT S. R. BROADBENT The British Coal Utilization Research Association Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Biometrika, Volume 43, Issue 1-2, June 1956, Pages 32–44, https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/43.1-2.32 Published: 01 June 1956

The Corrosive Nature of Combustion Gases

In the first part of the paper, which outlines the laboratory and field investigations on corrosion by flue gases from solid fuel combustion carried out by the British Coal Utilisation Research Association, the effects of different flue gas constituents on corrosion phenomena are discussed. Laboratory studies of the effects of fuel type and method of combustion on the sulphuric acid content of combustion gases are described. The second part presents the results of measurements of the condensation characteristics of flue gases from water‐tube boilers in power stations and from various industrial boilers and furnaces; investigations into the use of additives are described briefly. The final section is concerned with some theoretical considerations of effects of fuel type, burning rate, etc., on the amounts of sulphuric acid likely to be present in the combustion products from domestic appliances.

THE QUOTIENT OF A RECTANGULAR OR TRIANGULAR AND A GENERAL VARIATE

Journal Article THE QUOTIENT OF A RECTANGULAR OR TRIANGULAR AND A GENERAL VARIATE Get access S. R. BROADBENT S. R. BROADBENT British Coal Utilisation Research Association Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Biometrika, Volume 41, Issue 3-4, 3 December 1954, Pages 330–337, https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/41.3-4.330 Published: 03 December 1954

Visiting Foreign Scientists

The Office of International Relations of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council has circulated a bulletin giving information on the interests and itineraries of foreign scientists and engineers visiting the United States. A number of the visitors listed in the first issue of this bulletin are in fields touching on physics: Dr. I. G. C. Dryden, head, Chemistry and Physics Section, British Coal Utilization Research Association, will be here from August 28 to September 30 and attend the Gordon Research Conference on Coal August 31-September 3. His address is c/o U.K. Scientific Mission, 1800 K Street NW, Washington, D.C. Mr. J. W. Boag, Radiotherapeutic Research Unit, Medical Research Council, U.K., will spend a year working on physical problems in radiology with Dr. U. Fano at NBS. Miss E. J. Hanson, Biophysics Research Unit, Medical Research Council, U.K., is spending a year here under a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship and is to work with K. R. Porter of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research from August 1953 to February 1954.

British Coal Utilization Research Association: Report for 1951

British Coal Utilization Research Association: Report for 1951

British Coal Utilization Research Association: First Coal Science Lecture

British Coal Utilization Research Association: First Coal Science Lecture

British Coal Utilization Research Association: Annual General Meeting

British Coal Utilization Research Association: Annual General Meeting