Numerical Investigation of Fuel Dilution Effects on the Performance of the Conventional and the Highly Preheated and Diluted Air Combustion Furnaces

This numerical study investigates the effects of using a diluted fuel （50% natural gas and 50% N2） in an industrial furnace under several cases of conventional combustion （air with 21% O2 at 300 and 1273 K） and the highly preheated and diluted air （1273 K with 10% O2 and 90% N2） combustion （HPDAC） conditions using an in-house computer program. It was found that by applying a combined diluted fuel and oxidant instead of their uncombined and/or undiluted states, the best condition is obtained for the establishment of HPDAC＇s main unique features. These features are low mean and maximum gas temperature and high radiation/total heat transfer to gas and tubes; as well as more uniformity of theirs distributions which results in decrease in NOx pollutant formation and increase in furnace efficiency or energy saving. Moreover, a variety of chemical flame shape, the process fluid and tubes walls temperatures profiles, the required regenerator efficiency and finally the concentration and velocity patterns have been also qualitatively/quantitatively studied.

Effects of a liquid lithium curtain as the first wall in a fusion reactor plasma

This paper explores the effect of a liquid lithium curtain on fusion reactor plasma, such curtain is utilized as the first wall for the engineering outline design of the Fusion Experimental Breeder （FEB-E）. The relationships between the surface temperature of a liquid lithium curtain and the effective plasma charge, fuel dilution and fusion power production have been derived. Results indicate that under normal operation, the evaporation of liquid lithium does not seriously affect the effective plasma charge, but effects on fuel dilution and fusion power are more sensitive. As an example, it has investigated the relationships between the liquid lithium curtain flow velocity and the rise of surface temperature based on operation scenario II of the FEB-E design with reversed shear configuration and high power density. Results show that even if the liquid lithium curtain flow velocity is as low as 0.5 m/s, the effects of evaporation from the liquid lithium curtain on plasma are negligible. In the present design, the sputtering of liquid lithium curtain and the particle removal effects of the divertor are not yet considered in detail. Further studies are in progress, and in this work implication of lithium erosion and divertor physics on fusion reactor operation are discussed.

Effect of dilution holes on the performance of a triple swirler combustor

A triple swirler combustor is considered to be a promising solution for future high temperature rise combustors. The present paper aims to study dilution holes including primary dilution holes and secondary dilution holes on the performance of a triple swirler combustor. Experimental investigations are conducted at different inlet airflow velocities（40–70 m/s） and combustor overall fuel–air ratio with fixed inlet airflow temperature（473 K） and atmospheric pressure. The experimental results show that the ignition is very difficult with specific performance of high ignition fuel–air ratio when the primary dilution holes are located 0.6H（where H is the liner dome height）downstream the dome, while the other four cases have almost the same ignition performance. The position of primary dilution holes has an effect on lean blowout stability and has a large influence on combustion efficiency. The combustion efficiency is the highest when the primary dilution holes are placed 0.9H downstream the dome among the five different locations.For the secondary dilution holes, the pattern factor of Design A is better than that of Design B.