95 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
95 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
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(word processor parameters LM=8, RM=78, TM=2, BM=2)
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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
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Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
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PO BOX 1031
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Mesquite, TX 75150
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August 2, 1990
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Courtesy of NASA BBS at 205 895-0028
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ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS
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Started in 1980, Project Recoup was a program for applying
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advanced technology to the solution of a problem shared by a growing
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number of U.S. communities: how to dispose of refuse in areas where
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acceptable landfill sites are scarce.
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Jointly sponsored by Langley Research Center, Langley Air Force
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Base and the adjoining City of Hampton, Virginia, the program
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involved development of a Refuse-fired Steam Generating Facility
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that incinerates trash, reduces it to a readily-disposable ash, and
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employs the heat of trash burning to create steam for practical use
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at Langley Research Center.
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A design base for modeling similar projects elsewhere, the
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facility has proved eminently successful. It disposes of all solid
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waste from the NASA center, the Air Force Base, and other government
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installations in the area, and it also accommodates about 70 percent
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of Hampton's municipal waste.
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Hampton, principal financier for the project, realizes revenue
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from trash disposal fees and from the sale of steam to Langley
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Research Center. And there is an energy conservation bonus in that
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the steam generated by burning waste cuts the amount of fuel
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normally used by Langley by some two million gallons a year.
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The project produced another bonus that has largely escaped
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notice: an air pollution equipment control device, developed of
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necessity in the course of the program, that is now commercially
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available.
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The device is an advanced electronic control for electrostatic
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precipitators, widely used in pollution control applications
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throughout industry. It is built by Kinetic Controls, Inc., Newport
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News, Virginia, a company formed by two NASA/Langley employees--T.K.
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Lusby, Jr. and David F. Johnston--who developed the control as their
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contribution to Project Recoup, working for the most part on
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personal time and with private funds.
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The function of an electrostatic precipitator is to remove
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particulate matter from the combustion gas created by the burning of
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a fuel before the gas is expelled through a smokestack.
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When standard fuels are burned, the smoke is of relatively
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constant composition and the highest practical voltage is fairly
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constant; once the voltage is set, as long as the same type of fuel
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is used, only small changes in precipitation voltage are needed.
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But when refuse is used as a fuel, the composition of the smoke
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changes continually and that requires corresponding changes in
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voltage over a very wide range.
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To insure minimal pollution of the atmosphere, the two
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NASA/Langley employees undertook to develop an innovative,
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microprocessor-based control that automatically senses and
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compensates for the changes in smoke composition by adjusting the
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precipitator's voltage and current to permit maximum particle
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collection.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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If you have comments or other information relating to such topics as
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this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the Vangard
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Sciences address as listed on the first page. Thank you for your
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consideration, interest and support.
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Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson
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Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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If we can be of service, you may contact
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Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 484-3189
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