A flue gas velocimeter based on the hyperbolic chirp modulation method of acoustic source signal

Accurate measurement of flue gas velocity is of great significance for the safe production, energy saving, and emission reduction of coal-fired power plants. In this paper, a method of flue gas velocimetry based on a hyperbolic chirp-modulating acoustic source was proposed, and its superiority was verified by numerical simulations and field experiments. For an acoustic velocimeter, it is crucial to ensure the accuracy of the acoustic Time-of-Flight (TOF), which directly affects the flue gas velocity measurements. The improvement of the accuracy of estimation of the TOF directly determines the accuracy of the flue gas velocity measurement. Simulation on the different types of acoustic sources at different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) was conducted, and the results proved that the hyperbolic chirp signal is more accurate in the measurement of TOF. In the strong noise range of − 10 dB to − 20 dB, the average relative root mean square error (RRMSE) obtained using this hyperbolic chirp modulating acoustic source is 0.60 dB and 0.36 dB lower than obtained using the linear and logarithmic modulating modes, respectively. The average relative error (RE) is approximately 0.87 times that of the linear chirp. Power plant flue field experiments show that the measurement error using this hyperbolic modulating mode is about 0.52 times and 0.74 times that of using linear and logarithmic modulating modes, respectively. In harsh measurement environments with strong noise, the proposed acoustic source modulation scheme can significantly improve the measurement SNR and effectively enhance the accuracy and robustness of flue gas velocimetry.