Patent ID: 9709384
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: F22B,F27D,G01B,G01N

Claim:
1. An apparatus for measuring the thickness of fouling deposits in a solid fuel firing furnace, the apparatus comprising: an optical probe that illuminates an inner surface of the furnace with illuminating light and receives a portion of the illuminating light as reflected light from the inner surface; an illumination source that generates the illuminating light; a first optical path that transmits the illuminating light through the optical probe and focuses it to form an illuminated spot on the inner surface; an imaging device; a second optical path that transmits the reflected light through the optical probe to the imaging device, the imaging device forming an image of the illuminated spot, wherein the position of the spot in the image is determined by the thickness of the fouling deposits; a standard specimen surface having a known reflectivity; a translocation mechanism for reversibly moving the optical probe between an extended position in which the probe illuminates the inner surface of the furnace and a withdrawn position in which the probe illuminates the standard specimen surface; and a processor that receives image data from the imaging device and determines the thickness of the fouling deposits based on the position of the spot in the image.