1. A method for conversion of solid and liquid fuels to at least one of a synthesis gas, steam and electricity comprising the steps of:
gasifying in a range of about 10% to about 40% of at least one of a solid fuel and a liquid fuel in a gasifier, resulting in formation of a synthesis gas;
introducing a remaining portion of said at least one of said solid fuel and said liquid fuel into a first stage of a multi-stage combustor, resulting in formation of products of combustion and at least one of ash and char;
introducing said synthesis gas into a second stage of said multi-stage combustor disposed downstream of said first stage;
introducing overfire oxidant into a third stage of said multi-stage combustor disposed downstream of said second stage; and
introducing said at least one of said ash and said char into said gasifier.
2. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising compressing air to a pressure in a range of about 10 atmospheres to about 30 atmospheres, producing compressed air, transferring a portion of heat generated in said multi-stage combustor to said compressed air resulting in said compressed air having a temperature in a range of about 1200\xb0 F. to about 2000\xb0 F., and using a portion of said heat to generate steam.
3. A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein said temperature of said compressed air is increased to an elevated temperature in a range of about 2100\xb0 F. to about 2600\xb0 F. by direct combustion of at least one of a gaseous fuel and a liquid fuel in a turbine combustor.
4. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein a gasifier pressure in said gasifier is in a range of about 0.05 to about 1.5 atmospheres above an operating pressure of said combustor.
5. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein said overfire oxidant comprises in a range of about 30% to about 50% by volume of a total amount of oxidant introduced into said multi-stage combustor.
6. A method in accordance with claim 3, wherein said preheated compressed air is expanded in a gas turbine forming expanded air and resulting in generation of electricity.
7. A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein said compressed air is indirectly heated in an air heat exchanger disposed within said multi-stage combustor.
8. A method in accordance with claim 6, wherein said compressed air is produced by a turbine compressor operably connected to said gas turbine.
9. A method in accordance with claim 6, wherein said expanded air is conveyed into at least one of said gasifier and said multi-stage combustor.
10. A method in accordance with claim 6, wherein said expanded air is used to dry said solid fuel prior to introduction of said solid fuel into said multi-stage combustor.
11. A method in accordance with claim 6, wherein said expanded air is used to raise steam in a heat recovery steam generator.
12. A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein said multi-stage combustor is a boiler.
13. A method in accordance with claim 12, wherein boiler feed water is preheated and mixed with said compressed air, forming a feed watercompressed air mixture, said feed watercompressed air mixture is heated in said multi-stage combustor, producing a superheated steamcompressed air mixture, and said superheated steamcompressed air mixture is introduced as a working fluid into a gas turbine.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An RFID reader to communicate with a plurality of RFID tags, each of which can choose randomly one of a plurality of slots in response to a communicated value of a Q parameter and reply according to its chosen slot, the reader comprising:
a transceiver arranged to transmit and receive a modulated wave; and
a processing block arranged to:
communicate to the tags a Q1 value for the Q parameter;
receive first replies from the tags as derived from communicating the Q1 value;
generate first contents from the first replies;
compute a first merit statistic based on the first contents;
determine a Q2 value for the Q parameter which, if communicated to the tags would result in prospective replies that would result in an expected second merit statistic computed similarly to the first merit statistic, and which would meet a preset fairway condition in a more desirable manner than the first merit statistic according to a preset criterion; and
communicate to at least a portion of the tags the Q2 value for the Q parameter.
2. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein the processing block is further arranged to:
receive second replies from the tags as derived from communicating the Q2 value;
generate second contents from the second replies;
compute a second merit statistic based on the second contents;
determine a Q3 value for the Q parameter which, if communicated to the tags it would result in prospective replies that would result in an expected third merit statistic that would meet the preset fairway condition in a more desirable manner than the second merit statistic according to the criterion; and
communicate to at least a portion of the tags the Q3 value for the Q parameter.
3. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein
the first merit statistic is a value of a merit function associated with processing tags whose replies are received,
the expected second merit statistic is an expected value of the merit function associated with processing tags whose replies are expected to be received,
the fairway condition is described in terms of at least one target value of the merit function, and
the criterion is that the expected second merit statistic has less distance from the fairway condition than the first merit statistic.
4. The RFID reader of claim 3, wherein the processing block is further arranged to:
adjust the fairway condition.
5. The RFID reader of claim 3, wherein
the fairway condition is a single valued performance parameter.
6. The RFID reader of claim 3, wherein
the fairway condition is a range for a performance parameter.
7. The RFID reader of claim 3, wherein
the merit function includes a throughput function.
8. The RFID reader of claim 3, wherein
the merit function is determined from one of an inverse of a cost function.
9. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein
the first statistic is derived from those of the first contents that include single replies compared to all of the first contents, and
the Q2 value is determined such that the expected second merit statistic exceeds a threshold.
10. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein
the first statistic is derived from those of the first contents that include no replies compared to all of the first contents, and
the Q2 value is determined such that the expected second merit statistic is within a preset range of values.
11. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein
the first statistic is derived from those of the first contents that include collided replies compared to all of the first contents, and
the Q2 value is determined such that the expected second merit statistic is within a preset range of values.
12. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein
the first statistic is a ratio with a numerator representing the first contents that include one of no replies, single replies and multiple replies and a denominator representing the first contents that include another one of no replies, single replies and multiple replies, and
the Q2 value is determined such that the expected second merit statistic is within a range.
13. An RFID reader to communicate with a plurality of RFID tags, each of which can choose randomly one of a plurality of slots in response to a communicated value of a Q parameter and reply according to its chosen slot, the reader comprising:
a means for communicating to the tags a Q1 value for the Q parameter;
a means for receiving first replies from the tags as derived from communicating the Q1 value;
a means for generating first contents from the first replies;
a means for computing a first merit statistic based on the first contents;
a means for determining a Q2 value for the Q parameter which, if communicated to the tags would result in prospective replies that would result in an expected second merit statistic computed similarly to the first merit statistic, and which would meet a preset fairway condition in a more desirable manner than the first merit statistic according to a preset criterion, wherein the first merit statistic is a value of a merit function associated with processing tags whose replies are received; and
a means for communicating to at least a portion of the tags the Q2 value for the Q parameter.
14. The RFID reader of claim 13, further comprising:
a means for receiving second replies from the tags as derived from communicating the Q2 value;
a means for generating second contents from the second replies;
a means for computing a second merit statistic based on the second contents;
a means for determining a Q3 value for the Q parameter which, if communicated to the tags it would result in prospective replies that would result in an expected third merit statistic that would meet the preset fairway condition in a more desirable manner than the second merit statistic according to the criterion; and
a means for communicating to at least a portion of the tags the Q3 value for the Q parameter.
15. The RFID reader of claim 13, wherein
the first merit statistic is a value of a merit function associated with processing tags whose replies are received,
the expected second merit statistic is an expected value of the merit function associated with processing tags whose replies are expected to be received,
the fairway condition is described in terms of at least one target value of the merit function, and
the criterion is that the expected second merit statistic has less distance from the fairway condition than the first merit statistic.
16. A method for an RFID reader to communicate with a plurality of RFID tags, each of which can choose randomly one of a plurality of slots in response to a communicated value of a Q parameter and reply according to its chosen slot, the method comprising:
communicating to the tags a Q1 value for the Q parameter;
receiving first replies from the tags as derived from communicating the Q1 value;
generating first contents from the first replies;
computing a first merit statistic based on the first contents;
determining a Q2 value for the Q parameter which, if communicated to the tags would result in prospective replies that would result in an expected second merit statistic computed similarly to the first merit statistic, and which would meet a preset fairway condition in a more desirable manner than the first merit statistic according to a preset criterion; and
communicating to at least a portion of the tags the Q2 value for the Q parameter.
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:
receiving second replies from the tags as derived from communicating the Q2 value;
generating second contents from the second replies;
computing a second merit statistic based on the second contents;
determining a Q3 value for the Q parameter which, if communicated to the tags it would result in prospective replies that would result in an expected third merit statistic that would meet the preset fairway condition in a more desirable manner than the second merit statistic according to the criterion; and
communicating to at least a portion of the tags the Q3 value for the Q parameter.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein
the first merit statistic is a value of a merit function associated with processing tags whose replies are received,
the expected second merit statistic is an expected value of the merit function associated with processing tags whose replies are expected to be received,
the fairway condition is described in terms of at least one target value of the merit function, and
the criterion is that the expected second merit statistic has less distance from the fairway condition than the first merit statistic.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein
the fairway condition is a single valued performance parameter.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein
the fairway condition is a range for a performance parameter.
21. The method of claim 18, further comprising
adjusting the fairway condition.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein
the merit function includes a throughput function.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein
the merit function is determined from an inverse of a cost function.
24. The method of claim 18, wherein
at least some of the first contents include single replies, and
the merit function is determined from a count of the single replies.
25. The method of claim 16, wherein
the first statistic is derived from those of the first contents that include single replies compared to all of the first contents, and
the Q2 value is determined such that the expected second merit statistic exceeds a threshold.
26. The method of claim 16, wherein
the first statistic is derived from those of the first contents that include no replies compared to all of the first contents, and
the Q2 value is determined such that the expected second merit statistic is within a preset range of values.
27. The method of claim 16, wherein
the first statistic is derived from those of the first contents that include collided replies compared to all of the first contents, and
the Q2 value is determined such that the expected second merit statistic is within a preset range of values.
28. The method of claim 16, wherein
the first statistic is a ratio with a numerator representing the first contents that include one of no replies, single replies and multiple replies and a denominator representing the first contents that include another one of no replies, single replies and multiple replies, and
the Q2 value is determined such that the expected second merit statistic is within a range.