The project's overall objective is to develop a commercially viable sensing system to infer the flow rate and fineness of pulverized coal flows using the dynamic signature from a pipe-mounted accelerometer. The preliminary calibration data for this effort will be obtained using a Coal Flow Test Facility built and operated by our subcontractor, Airflow Sciences Corporation, in support of an EPRI program. Airflow Sciences encountered significant difficulty getting the system up and running, with the final hurdles related to the system controls. These problems were resolved in this reporting period, so that the facility is ready for testing. Shakedown testing with our instrumentation package began late in the reporting period. Preliminary analysis of the resulting data indicates that there are problems with the instrumentation and/or test rig. Even with no flow passing through the test section, a power spectrum of the data shows strong frequency 'lines'. The data should be free of such behaviors, so the instrumentation must be recording behaviors that are unrelated to the flow. This issue must be resolved before calibration data are collected. A preliminary effort to debug the problem through long-distance consultation between Foster-Miller and Airflow Sciences personnel at the end of the reporting period did not discover the source of the problem. Consequently, a Foster-Miller engineer will visit the test facility early in the next reporting period. Assuming this effort is successful, preliminary testing and analysis should be completed in the next reporting period. Because of slack in the program schedule, there should be no net effect on the program scope, cost, or schedule.
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