HEAT FLUX SENSORS

Introduction
The energy that is transferred from the fireside to the water and steam side in a furnace varies
with factors such as the combustion process and the amount of insulation from ash deposition. In
order to determine the effectiveness of this transfer, measurement instruments have been
developed that provide input to sootblowing control systems and thermal stress monitoring. This
section discusses some of the more common devices that have been marketed. The information
and graphics in this appendix are taken from EPRI report 1000409 [14].

Waterloo/CE Canada Heat Flux Meter

The Waterloo Center for Process Development of the University of Waterloo developed a wallash monitoring system based upon heat flux meters. Figure B-1 is a cross-sectional view of the
meter attached to a boiler tube. Heat received by the disc surface is conducted radially to the
cylindrical meter body, then through this and the weld to the boiler tube. The thermal resistance
of the disc causes a temperature difference between the disc center and periphery. A millivolt
signal is generated proportional to the magnitude of the disc radial temperature difference and,
thus, to the heat flux received by the meter.
Dirty meters are welded directly onto the waterwall tubes and therefore become fouled like the
tubes. They measure the amount of heat received by the tube surface at that location. The heat
flux meter reacts to the effect of fouling by proportionate changes in the millivolt signal
generated by the thermocouple junctions.

Figure B-1
Waterloo/CE Canada Heat Flux Meter

CERL Fluxtube, Fluxdome, and Fluxprobe

Central Electricity Research Laboratories (CERL), which is the research branch of the former
Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), in partnership with Land Combustion Corporation
(all in the United Kingdom) has developed three devices to measure furnace heat flux: the
Fluxdome, the Fluxtube, and the Fluxprobe. The Fluxprobe is a handheld device and is not
discussed here.
CERL/Land Fluxdome
The CEGB has developed and tested both direct and indirect techniques for slag monitoring on a
number of its pulverized-coal-fired boilers. Direct and indirect techniques were used together
during trials at its Cottam power station in 198081. These trials were aimed at the experimental
validation of modern computer models of large pulverized-coal-fired furnace/boiler systems. The
cross-checking of results obtained by the different techniques proved particularly useful when
identifying sources of error and evaluating their magnitude.
One of these devices is the Fluxdome, whose main application in the context of direct slag
monitoring is to specific furnace problems such as localized slag buildups, tube failures due to

fireside or waterside corrosion, and investigation of sootblower effectiveness. The Fluxdome has
also been used on-line for optimizing furnace sootblowing.

Shown in Figure B-2, the CERL/Land Fluxdome for absorbed flux measurement has replaced the
disc-type meter commonly used throughout the 1970s. Fluxdomes determine the heat flux from
the temperature difference across a sensor attached to a furnace tube. The temperature difference
is measured by a pair of thermocouples with the leads protected from the furnace atmosphere by
a shield that is welded to the furnace tube.
The Fluxdome is appropriate for troubleshooting localized furnace problems. In such a situation,
representative coverage of a limited wall area can be achieved at a reasonable cost. Water lances
or air sootblowers may be able to utilize Fluxdome data more readily than steam sootblowers.
They can be used individually without having to preheat the entire sootblower system and are
inherently more adaptable to selective sootblowing.

Figure B-2
CERL/Land Fluxdome

CERL/Land Fluxtube
The Fluxtube provides accurate and representative measurement of local absorbed heat flux. As
in the case of the Fluxdome, the principle of the guarded measurement cylinder is again
employed. However, in this case, both the cylinder and the thermocouple are incorporated into a
thickened wall of the specially adopted furnace tube (Figure B-3).

Figure B-3
CERL/Land Fluxtube

Applied Synergistics Heat Flux Sensor

Applied Synergistics offers a heat flux sensor based on the CERL/Land Fluxtube described
earlier. It is offered as part of a total sootblowing optimization system. This system divides the
boiler into two modules: (1) the furnace area, which uses the heat flux sensors for direct
measurement of surface heat transfer, and (2) the convection area, which uses process
temperatures to model surface cleanliness. Outputs from these modules provide information to a
proprietary sootblowing expert system and optimization program. The system can be interfaced
to existing sootblowing controls to provide direct, closed-loop control. This system has been
installed in approximately 40 commercial boilers, and Dairyland Power Cooperative has used the
sensors with success.

The Applied Synergistics heat flux sensor (Figure B-4) is a direct descendent of the CERL/Land
Fluxtube. After the breakup of the CEGB, the Fluxtube has continued to be developed and
marketed by Boiler Management Systems (BMS). BMS has granted exclusive license to Applied
Synergistics to distribute the heat flux sensor in the United States.

Figure B-4
Applied Synergistics Heat Flux Sensor

SAIC Boiler Thermowell

In the early 1990s, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) developed a heat flux
monitor marketed as the Boiler Thermowell. This probe consists of two surface response
thermocouples and two gradient thermocouples located in a 1.59-cm (0.625-inch) housing, as
shown in Figure B-5. The sensor is located between boiler tubes in the membrane wall or
attached to adjacent tubes. The housing has an open space in the center to force heat transfer
from the outside thermocouples to the inside ones.

Figure B-5
SAIC Boiler Thermowell

TEC Thermal Response Probe

Technology for Energy Corporation (TEC) developed a thermal response probe that can sense
slag buildup on the surface of boiler tubes. This uniquely designed heat flux sensor contains an
active heating element to provide a direct measurement of surface heat transfer. TVA funded a
field demonstration to determine the reliability and applicability of the probe. Probes were
installed at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Bull Run steam plant and TVA Kingston Unit
5. TEC has since gone out of business and the probe is not available elsewhere; however, it is
described here as an interesting and potentially useful design.
TECs probe was based on the measurement of surface temperatures and temperature gradients.
It was designed to sense the instantaneous heat flux and tube skin temperature and provide an
active verification of slag buildup in a boiler. The prototype probe (Figure B-6) consisted of
three thermocouples and an electric heater in an Inconel housing with nominal dimensions of
0.5 x 0.5 x 2 inches (1.27 x 1.27 x 5.08 cm). The probe could be welded between tubes in a
waterwall panel or onto the leading edge of a superheater or reheater tube bank. This allowed
evaluation of the change in heat transfer, skin temperature, and slag deposition independent of
boiler operating conditions (such as load, burner tilt, and excess air). TEC used a mathematical
model of the device to aid this evaluation.
The TEC probe differed from the other devices described here because it provided a direct
measurement of the insulating effect of the slag layer on the probe, essentially independent of
furnace heat transfer conditions (radiant heat flux and convective heat transfer coefficient).

Heat Flux Sensors

Figure B-6
Technology for Energy Corporation Thermal Response Probe

The prototype was designed and tested in the laboratory to provide confidence in further
development. The probe body had an air channel, which forced the heat flux from the furnace
gases to flow along a prescribed path in the legs of the probe to the base plate. Each probe
contained a heater cable positioned near the center of the probe body, one thermocouple near the
outside surface of the probe, and two thermocouples embedded in one of the probe legs near the
base plate. The thermocouple near the outside surface provided the indication of slag
accumulation and skin temperature, and together with the thermocouples near the base, provided
an indication of heat flux. One thermocouple at the base had its junction embedded in the probe
body, and the second was embedded in the base plate. The junction of the thermocouple near the
outside surface was embedded midway along the length of the probe body. This ensured that the
thermocouple junction was near the heater cable active zone. The thermocouple and the heater
cable were fixed into the probe body by a thermal shrink fit.