SPECIFICATION TITLE Device and method for processing and/or analyzing image information representing radiation

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method and a device for processing and/or analyzing image information representing radiation. In particular the invention relates to a device and a method for processing and/or analyzing radiation that is a result of a combustion process, so for example for a flame monitoring in a combustion chamber of a gas turbine.

PRIOR ART

A myriad of optical devices or optical systems are known to process and/or analyze image information representing radiation.

Devices and methods to analyze a combustion process in a combustion chamber in order to use the data obtained by said analysis to control the combustion process are known from prior art. Combustion may be any kind of combustion such as it is used in gas turbines, in waste incinerator plants or any other machines or plants. With such devices and methods it is possible to control the supply of fuel to be added to the combustion chamber in a manner that the combustion process reaches a high rate of efficiency. Hence such devices are used to optimize the efficiency factor of the combustion process.

It is a well known technique to use specific properties of reaction products of a combustion process for flame analysis and monitoring. Such combustion radicals and

gases radiate and absorb light in a certain spectral range. As an example: for C ₂ the wavelengths are in a range between 445 ran and 455 ran and for CH the wavelengths are between 420 nm and 440 nm.

GB 2 390 675 discloses an apparatus having an optical probe in the form of a lens for transmitting full image radiation into an imaging device. Such an imaging device may be a monochromatic CCD camera, a frame grabber and a computer. The parameters of the flame are then presented on the computer screen in a graphical or numerical manner in order to be visible for the user.

DE 197 10 206 discloses a further device for combustion analysis as well as for surveillance in a combustion chamber. Several beam splitters are used behind the lens system for full image capture in order to filter a certain spectral region of the radiation, which is of particular interest. The spectral region is then transmitted to a CCD sensor in order to be processed by a computer unit.

The use of a CCD sensor is a drawback of prior art devices, since the sampling rate of said CCD sensor is rather low. Such a low sampling rate has a negative influence on controlling the combustion process in terms of efficiency. Short time scale variation cannot be monitored reliably.

Since the combustion process in a combustion chamber of a gas turbine is carried out at very high temperatures, i.e. normally around 1200 ⁰ C to 1500 ⁰ C ₅ direct measurements inside the combustion chamber are not possible. A window between the combustion chamber and the device reduces said temperature significantly. Nevertheless the temperature on the window surface is still around 100 ⁰ C to 15O ⁰ C. Due to said temperatures the use of optical elements such as objectives or beam splitters is a not a useful option. In order to cope with high temperatures, the use of cooling systems has been proposed, e.g. in GB 2 390 675. However the use of a cooling system is rather costly in terms of installation and maintenance.

Another drawback are the optical losses of the optical systems used in devices of prior art. Furthermore it is a difficulty with devices of prior art to adjust the optical systems

during maintenance or installation of the device. This usually requires professional personnel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a device, which does not have the disadvantages of the devices according to the prior art. In particular the device should be able to monitor an industrial (combustion) process in a highly effective manner. A further aim of the present invention is to provide such a device having fewer optical losses than the devices known from prior art and at the same time showing a high sensitivity and higher recording speed.

Specifically, a method for processing and/or analyzing image information, the image information representing radiation in a spatially resolved manner, the method is proposed using an optical system coupled to at least one optical detector. According to the invention, the image information is collected by the optical system, by means of at least one micromechanical mirror. This micromechanical mirror comprises a micro mirror mounted thereon, which can be mechanically variably tilted during the image capturing process, such that the image information is scanned by the mirror and is sequentially coupled into the at least one detector.

As sequentially coupled a time-resolved sending of information will be understand in which the repetition of sending the same information at a later time is allowed.

While such micromechanical mirror so far are have only been used for irradiating a certain area in a spatially resolved manner using a monodirectional beam as input, it is presently proposed to use such a system in the reverse way. It was found that unexpectedly, the reverse action can easily be controlled, leads to a high sensitivity, enables fast data collection in particular if two-dimensional images are to be captured, and it was found that little optical components are necessary.

According to a first preferred embodiment of the invention, the method is characterised in that the micromechanical mirror is tilted around two preferably orthogonal axes during the scanning process. This twin axis tilting can be carried out consecutively or

simultaneously for capturing two-dimensional image information in a highly efficient way .

According to a further preferred embodiment, the micromechanical mirror for the tilting motion is oscillated around an equilibrium or rest position. Preferably, if the micromechanical mirror is tilted around two orthogonal axes simultaneously, the oscillations about the two axes are phase shifted, leading to a Lissajous-type scanning of the two-dimensional image plane. Of course also different scanning strategies are possible, so the conventional line scanning, but also, for example for flame scanning, specific radial track scanning can be useful . It is in addition to that preferred if the method further comprises the step of converting said image information into an analogue signal and/or into a digital signal by means of said at least one detector. The method may further comprise the step of analyzing said analogue signal or said digital signal by means of an analyzing unit comprising computer. As already outlined above, are particularly useful field of application of the method is that the method is used to analyze the two dimensional spatially resolved emission spectrum of a flame resulting from a combustion process in a combustion chamber. The use of the micromechanical mirror in the above method in this field is particularly suited as such a micromechanical mirror is rather heat resistant. According to a further preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, for different spectral ranges different detectors which are sensitive to different spectral ranges are used in parallel. This means, that the image as a scanned by the micromechanical mirror is coupled into an optical pathway which splits the optical information into separate paths, each of which is being analysed by a separate detector with a different sensitivity to a spectral range.

In particular for the monitoring of flames, but also for other applications, it can be useful if in addition to the spatially resolved data collection, in parallel a specific characteristic, for example the full radiation intensity, of the full image plane is measured. This is for example possible by using a silicon detector or a fibre coupled to a

silicon detector which integrates the total flame emission.

The present invention furthermore relates to a device for processing and/or analyzing image information, the image information representing radiation in a spatially resolved manner. Preferably, this device can be used to carry out the method as described above. The device comprises at least one optical system and at least one optical detector and it is in particular characterized in that the optical system comprises a micromechanical mirror mechanically tiltable mounted to scan and to couple sequentially said image information into the at least one detector.

According to a first preferred embodiment, this device is further characterized in that the optical system comprises a lens and a fibre bundle with at least one optical fibre, wherein said lens is arranged at a first end of the fibre bundle to couple the image information received from the micromechanical mirror into the fibre bundle as an optical signal, and wherein the second end of said fibre bundle is coupled to the at least one detector to transmit the image information to the at least one detector. If several detectors which are sensitive to different spectral ranges are used, an equal number of optical fibres can be used within the fibre bundle for paralleling of the optical information provided by the lens. So it can be beneficial if there is provided at least one detector which is it sensitive to a specific spectral range only, wherein the at least one detector provides an analogue signal and/or digital signal corresponding to the intensity in the detected spectral range for processing by the analyzing unit.

Furthermore the present invention relates to the use of an optical system comprising at least one micromechanical mirror with a tiltable mounted micro-mirror thereof for transmitting spatially resolved image information in a time-resolved manner to at least one detector. Further preferred embodiments of the present invention are outlined in the dependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings will be explained in greater detail by means of a description of an

exemplary embodiment, with reference to the following figures:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a device according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 2 shows a schematic view of a micromechanical mirror ^' with additional features used in the device of figure 1 , and

Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of the micromechanical mirror of figures 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, which are for the purpose of illustrating the present preferred embodiments of the invention and not for the purpose of limiting the same, figure 1 shows in a schematic way an embodiment of a device according to the present invention processing and/or analyzing image information representing radiation. Said radiation preferably results from the flame of a combustion process in a combustion chamber.

The device, which may also be designated as a scanning device is arranged behind a window W of a combustion chamber C, separating the combustion chamber from the space in which the device is located. The window W is preferably a sapphire window.

Such a combustion chamber C may be a combustion chamber of a power station that is powered by fossil fuels, such as a combustion chamber of a gas turbine, or of a waste incineration plant. The combustion results in a flame F, which is being monitored by the scanning device according to the present invention. The results that are provided by the device may be used as parameters in order to detect the flame ignition and to control the supply of fuel or other combustible material, of combustion air, valve opening etc.

However, it should be noted that the image information may also be a result of a different process or a product. For example it is possible to use a scanning device according to the present invention to scan products in a production line in order to ensure quality of the products. Just to name one example: It may be possible to scan a printed circuit board to verify, if all components are mounted in a proper manner.

For the sake of simplicity of the present specification the term image information or

image information representing radiation is equally being used in this specification. It is understood that said terms include any conceivable image and is by no means limited to the radiation image of a flame.

The device for processing and/or analyzing image information according to the present invention comprises an optical system 1, a processing unit 2, an analyzing unit 3 and a mirror control unit 4.

The optical unit or optical system 1 transfers the image information essentially from the location where said image information is being generated to the processing unit 2. According to the embodiment in figure 1 the image information resulting from the flame F is being transferred from behind the window W of the combustion chamber C to the processing unit 2.

The image information and the radiation information it represents characterizes the combustion process. The radiation has a spatially resolved emission in specific spectral regions i.e. in certain wavelength ranges. Therefore the image information captured from the flame can conveniently be used to monitor the efficiency and stability of the combustion process. The processing unit 2 converts the optical signals into signals that are suitable to be processed by the analyzing unit 3. Such signals are preferably analogue signals or' digital signals. It is understood that the computer must comprise an A/D-converter, if an analogue signal is provided.

The optical system 1 comprises at least one micromechanical mirror 10. Furthermore the optical system 1 comprises a deflection element 11, a lens 12, a fibre bundle 13, a silicon detector 14 and a light emitting diode 15. For illustrative purposes the mirror 10' is also shown outside the actual optical system 1 in figure 1 . The optical system 1 comprises only a few optical elements, therefore the optical losses are kept that a minimum. Hence the image information can be transmitted in an accurate and sensitive manner.

It has to be noted that the use of the deflection element 11 and/or the lens 12 and/or the fibre bundle 13 and/or the silicon detector 14 and/or the light emitting diode 15 is

optional.

The micromechanical mirror 10 deflects the image information as optical signal Ll to the deflection element 11. The optical signal Ll is then deflected by the deflection element 11 in order to provide an optical signal L2 to the lens 12. The lens 12 is arranged at the beginning or entry of the fibre bundle 13. Said fibre bundle 13 transmits the optical signal and therefore the image information to the analyzing unit 2. The micromechanical mirror may be a mirror according to WO 2006/000445. For the specific construction and mode of control of the micromechanical mirror, the disclosure of this document is explicitly included into the present specification. Other micromechanical mirrors may also be used.

In case the deflection element 11 is not present, it is possible that the micromechanical mirror 10 deflects the image information directly to the lens 12.

The micromechanical mirror 10 is arranged at a distance from the window W of the combustion chamber C. The micromechanical mirror 10 is used as a scanning mirror for spatially scanning the combustion process, i.e. the flame F in the combustion chamber and to couple the obtained two-dimensional image information into the optical system 1. Perpendicular to the window W of the combustion chamber C there is an axis A. The average or equilibrium position of the plane of the micromechanical mirror 10 is tilted with respect to the axis A with an angle α. Said angle α depends on the arrangement of the deflection element 11 and may be adjusted accordingly. Preferably α is around 45°, but may have an other value.

As indicated in figure 1, the micromechanical mirror 10 covers a scan range in a first direction from a first line Pl to a second line P2. The angle between Pl and P2 is preferably 20°. Hence the micromechanical mirror 10 is able to scan an angle of plus/minus 10° from the middle axis A. Additionally the mirror surface may also be moveable in a second direction. Said second direction is perpendicular to the plane defined by Pl and P2. Preferably the scan range in the second direction is equal to the first direction. Therefore the micromechanical mirror 10 scans the image information in a spatially resolved, two-dimensional manner and is therefore able to provide a two- dimensional image information representing said radiation in spatially resolved manner.

In further embodiments said angle between Pl and P2 may be larger or smaller than 20°. However this depends on the design of the micromechanical mirror 10. Said design may be adjusted according to the field of the application of the device according to the present invention. Figure 3 shows the micromechanical mirror 10 in very schematic view. The mirror 10 comprises a frame 101 with a rectangular opening in which a first plate 102 is mounted . Said first plate 102 is connected to the frame by means of collinear axes 103. The first plate 102 is pivotable with respect to the frame 101 around the axis X. Thereby the axes

103 are torsionally deformed. The first plate 102 itself also comprises a rectangular opening in which a second plate

104 is mounted . Said second plate 104 is connected to the first plate 102 by means of axes 105. Hence the second plate 104 is pivotable with respect to the first plate 102. Therefore the second plate 104 is pivotable around the axis Y. Thereby the axes 105 are torsionally deformed. A mirror surface 106 is arranged on the second plate 104.

Therefore the mirror surface 106 pivotable around the axis X and the orthogonal axis Y. The mirror surface therefore allows to scan along two dimensions .

The mirror surface 106 is preferably applied onto the second plate 104 by means of a coating method, such as aluminium or any other suitable material. It is important that the used material is resistant to the high temperatures.

The mirror is actuated by an actuation voltage that is applied to the frame 101 and to the first plate 102 and/or to the second plate 104. As soon as the voltage crosses a certain threshold voltage the plates 102, 104 begin to move from a starting or equilibrium position to a deflected end position. Thereby the axes 103, 105 act as a torsion springs. The plates remain in said end position as long as the voltage is higher than said threshold voltage. As soon as the voltage crosses the certain threshold voltage again, the plates move back into the starting position due to the effect of the torsion spring. It is therefore possible to have a voltage that is applied in certain frequency in order to oscillate the mirror around the axes X and Y. Depending on the arrangement of the

electrical connectors 16 for applying the voltage the first plate and/or the second plate pivot clockwise and counterclockwise around the axis X or Y, respectively.

The oscillation of the first plate 102 or the second plate 104 while being actuated can be sinusoidal. If both axes are actuated phase shifted, the mirror surface 106 describes a lissajous figure. The image information is being collected in spatially resolved manner and transmitted in a time-resolved manner. The data collection using phase shifted oscillations about two orthogonal axes allows a fast and comprehensive data collection over the full two-dimensional area while never losing an overview over the whole picture. Preferably the mirror is pivotable around two axes as it is described above. However depending on the application it may also be sufficient that the mirror is only pivotable around one axis, i.e. axis X or axis Y.

In order to control the motion of the micromechanical mirror 10, the frame 101, the first plate 102 and the second plate 103 are linked by means of electrical wires 40 to the mirror control unit 4 as it can be seen in Figure 1. Said mirror control unit 4 is able to provide the voltage as it is described above.

Due to the use of a micromechanical mirror 10 as a scanner, it is possible to scan the image information with a high frequency. Therefore it is possible to cover the full two- dimensional scanning range with a high speed. Therefore crosstalk between images is prevented.

Figure 2 shows the mirror 10 with the mirror surface 106, the silicon detector 14, the light emitting diode 15 and the electrical connectors 16 in schematic view. The silicon detector 14 and the light emitting diode 15 are arranged on one side of the micromechanical mirror 10. On the other side of the micromechanical mirror 10 there are several electrical connectors 16 to actuate the electrical mirror. The electrical connectors 16 are therefore connected to the electrical wires 40.

The silicon detector 14 integrates the total flame emission or chemiluminescence. This gives information about the heat release fluctuation in correlation to acoustic pulsations. The detected signal by the silicon detector 14 is in a frequency bandwidth of a few kHz.

Since CCD-Chips have a lower sampling rate it is not possible to detect such a signal by means of a CCD-Chip.

The signal provided by the detector is amplified and digitized, the digital data are (time domain) are processed in the frequency domain (FFT) where the acoustic frequencies can be recorded.

The light emitting diode 15 is provided for self-test purposes. The sapphire window has a high refractive index therefore the Fresnel reflexion induced by it's illumination can be use to test the all system, the mirror 10 and silicon detector 14.

For the description of the process, reference is made to figure 1. The mirror deflects the image information to the lens as optical signal Ll and L2. The lens 12 couples said optical signal into the fibre bundle 13. The fibre bundle comprises at least one optical fibre. In the present embodiment the fibre bundle 13 comprises four optical fibres 131, 132, 133, 134. Each of said optical fibre transmits more or less the same image information or optical signal, respectively. The use of several optical fibres 131-134 is particularly interesting, because it allows a fast communication and gives a high flexibility between the scanning mirror 11 and the processing unit 2. Furthermore it is advantageous if several fibres are used, as the use of the scanning mirror 10 and the several optical fibres 131-134 allows collecting flame chemiluminescence images at different wavelengths by using single appropriate detectors. This means that each detector 131-134 detects more or less the same image information or optical signal, respectively, but each of the detectors is chosen to detect only a certain bandwidth of the spectral region, i.e. a certain frequency range or wavelength range. Preferably for each defined wavelength window or bandwidth window one appropriate detector is arranged. With other words the measurement with detectors 131-134, sensitive to a certain frequency range allow the detection of organic radicals e.g. OH , CH , C ₂ of the fuel whereby combustion can be characterised. The processing unit 2 comprises several, here four, detectors 21, 22, 23, 24. Each of the detector is connected to a dedicated fibre 131-134 that provides the detector 21-24 with more or less the same optical signal.

The following table gives an overview of a possible division of the wavelength window:

The detectors that are able to detect a wavelength in the range of 310nm to 470nm are preferably GaAsP- or GaP-photodiodes. Detectors to detect a wavelength in the range of 470nm to 1 OOOnm are preferably Si-photodiodes.

Due to the parallel split-up of the image information in terms of wavelength, it is possible to detect the optical signals hi a faster manner as with a CCD-Chip. Therefore the same information will be kept, as if the scan had been carried out by a CCD-Chip. Furthermore several images representing said image information may be provided without loosing any resolution and therefore valuable data.

The detectors 21-24 provide electrical signals corresponding to the detected wavelength. Depending on the type of the detector an analogue signal or a digital signal will be provided. Said signals may be processed by the analyzing unit 3.

In case an analogue signal is being provided, the analyzing unit 3 comprises a frame grabber or an A/D-converter in order to convert the analogue signals that are provided by the detector unit 2 into digital signals for being processed by the computer. The analyzing unit 3 is preferably a computer having suitable program code means and interfaces to process the electrical signals that are provided by the detectors 21-24. The computer or analyzing unit 3 may provide the measured parameters for a computer screen so that analysis of the flame F is possible by a user. Furthermore it is possible that the analyzing unit 3 provides the measured parameters as input data for the control circuit that controls the supply of fuel or any other combustion material, combustion air, etc . In further embodiments it is possible to transmit the measured data via a network (e.g. local area network; internet, wireless network) to a computer that is remote from

the combustion chamber. This allows an arrangement of a control room for several combustion chamber C.

With the device according to the present invention is possible to derive further information from the measured parameters. Such further information may be the flame contours, flame position, kinetic of the flame and the state of the flame (on/off).

The flame position is particularly useful, since it allows to position the mirror accordingly in order to scan the whole flame F. The mirror controller 4 is provided to control the movements of the mirror. Thereby the mirror controller 4 is connected by means of electrical wires 40 to the mirror. The micro-electromechanical actuators need a voltage between 10 to 100 Volts in order to be actuated.

A further advantage of a device according to the present invention is that it is down scaleable in terms of size. This means that an implementation in application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is possible without a high effort.

According to the present invention there is also disclosed a method for processing and/or analyzing image information representing radiation in a spatially resolved manner. Preferably the radiation results from a flame F of a combustion process. Alternatively the radiation may be a result of any other application. The method uses an optical system 1 according to the present invention that is coupled to at least on detector 21-24. The method comprises at least a step of collecting said image information with said optical system. Thereby at least one micromechanical mirror 10 is used. The micromechanical mirror 10 is moved such that the image information is coupled sequentially into the at least one detector 21-24.

The method further comprises the step of converting said image information into an analogue signal or into a digital signal by means of said at least one detector (21-24).

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 optical system

2 processing unit

3 analyzing unit

4 mirror control unit

10 mirror

11 deflection element

12 lens

13 fibre bundle

14 silicon detector

15 white light emitting diode

16 electrical connectors

21-24 optical detectors

40 electrical wires

101 frame

102 first plate

103 axis

104 first plate

105 axis

106 mirror surface

131 optical fibre

132 optical fibre

133 optical fibre

134 optical fibre

Ll; L2 optical signals F flame

C combustion chamber W window