Interactive educational system for coal combustion modeling in power plant boilers

Abstract

We present our educational system for interactive education of combustion processes. The system is built on several concepts used mainly in the computer graphics area (fluid simulator, particle system) and combustion simulation field (simplified combustion process model and heat transfer engine). Together they combine unique and original concepts that offer real-time simulation and visualization of the combustion process. The user may have immediate interaction during simulation and visualization - e.g. changing coal inlets and combustible properties and other input parameters during simulation. The system allows real-time monitoring of about 40 basic cell volume characteristics inside the boiler and 10 pulverized coal particle characteristics. All these features are available immediately, without needing to wait hours for complex calculations to finish. The system is especially suitable for interactive education purposes in power-engineering.