Computer Simulation of a Wood Chip Furnace

Abstract

To support the development of a wood chip furnace equipped with a new control system, the computer program IGNIS was developed to simulate the performance of a complete heating plant. The computer model of the plant describes an automatic fuel feed unit, air intake units, combustion chambers for primary and secondary processes, a heat exchanger and a control system linking the components. IGNIS simulates the performance of the plant under steady state and transient conditions as they occur during operation due to varying heat load. The program is written in FORTRAN and is especially designed for personal computers. The basic equations for the model have been derived from international literature. A comparison with measurements on an experimental furnace has shown good agreement between calculated and measured data. Simulation runs have demonstrated the important role of the control system for optimizing efficiency and emissions of a wood chip furnace under real load conditions.