Diagnosis with Digital Cameras: Radiative Field Characterization in Industrial Furnaces

Journal article, 2026

A method to characterize the radiative field of an industrial furnace by means of an RGB digital camera is presented. The experimental and data analysis procedure is described for a campaign carried out in a pilot-scale kiln. The description includes the selection of suitable camera settings and the assessment of flow fluctuations. Based on the capabilities of RGB imaging, the analysis focuses on intensity-related information, more specifically, the furnace intensity profile. The intensity profile is reconstructed from ten videos recorded along the furnace. To allow for a quantitative analysis, the information contained in an intensity profile is summarized by means of three visual features: total transmitted intensity, representing the overall magnitude of the observed radiative field; uniformity, describing its spatial distribution along the furnace; and stability, quantifying its temporal variability. These features summarize the information contained in the reconstructed intensity profile as a single point in a three-dimensional space. The capability of the method to distinguish between radiative patterns associated with coal, biomass, and hydrogen combustion under iron ore rotary kiln conditions is demonstrated.