Coal Analysis System

This invention relates to the analysis of coal for its impurities such as oxygen, sulfur, and others. More specifically, it relates to a system which takes advantage of the photonuclear interaction to make possible the accurate and rapid determination of these impurities in an "on line" situation. It is well known that such information is of great importance to the efficient and clean operation of coal-fired power plants.

Present techniques of obtaining the impurity information are: (1) conventional chemistry, which is quite slow and is not always representative of the coal being burned at any given instant, and (2) neutron-capture-gamma and activation analysis which, although being much faster than chemistry, suffers from difficulties of count rates, shielding, and processing rate.

High energy x-rays produced by the electron beam of a small electron accelerator such as a LINAC or a Microtron are used to induce radioactivity in the impurities found in coal. The resultant radioactivity is analyzed by a suitable gamma-ray spectrometer to indicate the amount of impurities present.

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a preferred coal analysis system according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a signal processing system suitable for the invention.

FIG. 1 represents a schematic drawing of a preferred system. A small linear electron accelerator, 10, accelerates a beam of electrons to an energy of 19 Mev and internally converts them to a beam of high energy x-rays, 12. This beam irradiates coal, 13, being carried by a conveyer, 14, passing through the system from right to left as shown in the drawing. The region of irradiation is shielded with thick concrete shields, 15, and the activity induced in the impurities of the coal are detected by crystals, 16, such as germanium or sodium iodide, placed within the shielding, 15, on the "down stream" side of the x-ray beam, 12. The x-ray beam, 12, is measured and absorbed by the monitors, 17a and 17b. Monitor 17a measures the intensity of the x-ray beam before it passes through the coal, while monitor 17b measures the intensity of the beam after it has passed through the coal. The ratio of these two measurements is proportional to the amount of coal being irradiated.

The signals of the system are processed by the system indicated in the block diagram shown in FIG. 2. A sequencer, 18, turns on the beam, 12, from the accelerator, for a short period of time, (e.g., 10 seconds). The sequencer, 18, then turns off the beam, 12, long enough for the irradiated coal, 13, to move to a position between the crystals, 16, where the radioactivity is counted. The sequencer, 18, now turns on a gate, 20, allowing the signals from the crystals, 16, to be analyzed by a pulse-height-analyzer, 21. The data in the pulse-height-analyzer, 21, is scanned for peaks in the spectrum of pulse heights obtained from the crystals, 16, by a comparator, 22. This comparator, 22, reads the integral of each peak from the analyzer and divides it by a number derived from the ratio of the measurements made by the beam monitors, 17a and 17b. The quantities thus derived are adjusted at each gamma-ray energy for the efficiency of the detection system at that energy. By this means, the percentages of impurities in the coal is displayed by the comparator, 22, and controlling signals are provided to modify the operation of the power plant as desired. After the irradiated coal, 13, has been analyzed for a short period of time (e.g., 10 seconds), the sequencer, 18, gates off the crystals, 16, and the beam, 12, is turned on to irradiate the next sample of coal, 13. This process is continued so long as there is coal to be analyzed.

The primary advantage of the above described system is that it does not make the carbon in the coal radioactive. This is achieved by limiting the energy of the electron beam to 19 Mev. Since coal is predominantly carbon, this means that only the impurities are made radioactive, thereby virtually eliminating unwanted background. This makes possible quick and accurate determination of oxygen sulfur, and other impurity content of the coal.

A further advantage of this system is that this system can be switched off whenever desired, whereas, a radioactive neutron source cannot.

A further advantage of using an electron accelerator is that the beam travels in a well defined direction, whereas, the neutron source radiates isotropically.

Obviously many modifications of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.