The Application of Artificial Intelligence in Combustion Diagnosis Systems in Thermal Power Plants

The application of artificial intelligence in thermal power plants is discussed. Digital image processing, fuzzy logic and time-series analysis are often employed to conduct the diagnosis of the combustion in the furnaces in thermal power plants. The connection between radiation heat transfer and digital image processing makes the accurate visualization of the temperature of the flame of the combustion possible, and rich information on combustion can be obtained from the texture of the flame images. Fuzzy logic provides a mathematical framework to measure the situation where uncertainty exists, and it takes the best possible decision based on the input information. Time series analysis gives a qualitative way to measure the recorded historical data of the textures of the flame images and it can be used to predict the future trend of the combustion.