Experimental investigation and optimal combustion control of untreated landfill gas via fuzzy logic rule knowledge based approach.

Optimal combustion control of untreated landfill gas is proposed for an effective usage and a low-cost solution in waste to energy technologies. Variations of methane concentration in untreated landfill gas over time cause undesired performance of combustors in thermal efficiency and gas emission. In this work, the experimental investigation on variables of combustion process is systematically presented to determine an inherent performance index of a combustor, reflecting actual thermal efficiency and gas emission for optimal control. Those quantitative findings can be implemented via fuzzy logic rule knowledge based approach to combustion control. From the experimental results of a can-type combustor, it is confirmed that the optimal combustion control of untreated landfill gas yields the desired exhaust gas temperature with maximum thermal efficiency and minimum gas emission under varying methane concentrations or changes of operating conditions. The proposed methodology can be generalized to optimal combustion control of untreated landfill gas via the fuzzy logic rule knowledge based approach, which is the most suitable to characteristics of each combustor. For industrial applications, the experimental results at a laboratory scale can be extended by increasing the capacity of the studied combustor to obtain the large scale combustion in practical production where the optimal combustion control of the untreated landfill gas is effectively accomplished without cost of gas treatment for usage in conventional processes.