Date of Graduation

1998

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

John E. Sneckenberger

Committee Member

Eric K. Johnson

Committee Member

Victor Mucino

Abstract

Many states are confronted with the issue of how to dispose of the wood waste produced by timber and wood products companies. Converting the wood waste to ethanol is one way of efficiently disposing of the waste. However, the feasibility of the conversion facility is still being pursued. Studies are still being performed to investigate the feasibility of such a facility. The wood waste-to-ethanol conversion process produces a by-product known as lignin sludge. A recent study has concluded that the lignin sludge should be used as fuel to generate steam for the conversion process. The most efficient way to combust the lignin sludge was concluded to be a fluidized bed combustor (FBC) plant. The fluidized bed will burn the lignin sludge supplied by the conversion facility and will then feed steam back to the facility as needed for the process. The use of the steam decreases the cost of the conversion process and addresses environmental issues of wood waste and lignin sludge. The primary focus of this thesis is to design the controller for the conceptual FBC plant. The software LabView aids the design of this plant controller. The controller design is also a function of the equipment specified for the plant. Thus, the overall goal of the thesis is to further specify the plant’s three primary components, which are the fuel feeder, secondary air blower, and heat exchanger, and to specify controllers for the combined primary components and combustor to assess the overall plant dynamic response for a given steam demand by the conversion facility.

The three main contributions of this thesis are to provide equipment specifications for the overall plant, to design a plant controller, which meets the steam demand and to achieve/demonstrate control for the simulated plant using the software LabView.

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