Numerical Simulation of NO_x Formation in Coal Combustion with Inlet Natural Gas Burning

A full two-fluid model of reacting gas-particle flows and coal combustion is used to simulate coal combustion with and without inlet natural gas added in the inlet. The simulation results for the case without natural gas burning is in fair agreement with the experimental results reported in references. The simulation results of different natural gas adding positions indicate that the natural gas burning can form lean oxygen combustion enviroment at the combustor inlet region and the NOx concentration is reduced. The same result can be obtained from chemical equilibrium analysis.

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.

Experimental simulation of the relative contribution of volatile-N and char-N to NO_X formation from a low-capacity bituminous coal-fired industrial boiler

The conversion of fuel-N to NOx is the main contribution of modelling problem arising from coal combustion. This paper NOx from coal-fired industrial boilers and is the least-studied summarises the current understanding of the mechanisms that account for the formation of NOx from fuel-N during coal combustion. Further experimentation on NOx emissions during bi- tuminous coal combustion was simulated with attention focused on the contribution of char-N and votatile-N to fuel-NOx through the Coal/Char combustion method. The critical analysis of this issue allowed for the identification of uncertainties and produced well-founded conclusions. The results indicated that fuel-NOx formation was a very complex physical-chemical pro- cess involving many competing mechanisms. These mechanisms included chemical reactions, convective mass transfer, heat transfer, adsorption and desorption. The contribution of char-N in this experiment varied between 30% and 70%. There may be a slight question as to the exact identity of the main contributor to fuel-NOx, and no definitive conclusion can be made as of yet This uncertainty is because the contribution of char-N to fuel-NOx was heavily affected by the combustion conditions and the contribution of char-N increased monotonically as temperature increased. There was a critical point in the relationship between particle size, air flow, 02 concentration and the contribution of char-N. The contribution of char-N increased with the increase of particle size and air flow initially when less than the critical value, and decreased when more than thecritical value. The contribution of char-N initially decreased when the 02 concentration was increased from 10% to 15% and increased more with the further increase in 02 concentration.

Influence of nozzle height to width ratio on ignition and NOx emission characteristics of semicoke/bituminous coal blends in a 300 kW pulverized coal-fired furnace

To improve the ignition behavior and to reduce the high NOx emissions of blended pulverized fuels(PF)of semicoke(SC),large-scale experiments were conducted in a 300 kW fired furnace at various nozzle settings,i.e.,ratios(denoted by hf/b)of the height of the rectangular burner nozzle to its width of 1.65,2.32,and 3.22.The combustion tests indicate that the flame stability,ignition performance,and fuel burnout ratio were significantly improved at a nozzle setting of hf/b=2.32.The smaller hf/b delayed ignition and caused the flame to concentrate excessively on the axis of the furnace,while the larger hf/b easily caused the deflection of the pulverized coal flame,and a high-temperature flame zone emerged close to the furnace wall.NOx emissions at the outlet of the primary zone decreased from 447 to 354 mg/m3(O2=6%),and the ignition distance decreased from 420 to 246 mm when the hf/b varied from 1.65 to 3.22.Furthermore,the ratio(denoted by SR/SC)of the strong reduction zone area to the combustion reaction zone area was defined experimentally by the CO concentration to evaluate the reduction zone.The SR/SC rose monotonously,but its restraining effects on NOx formation decreased as hf/b increased.The results suggested that in a test furnace,regulating the nozzle hf/b conditions sharply reduces NOx emissions and improves the combustion efficiency of SC blends possessing an appropriate jet rigidity.

Numerical Simulation of Combustion Characteristics in High Temperature Air Combustion Furnace

The influences of air preheating temperature, oxygen concentration, and fuel inlet temperature on flame properties, and NOx formation and emission in the furnace were studied with numerical simulation. The turbulence behavior was modeled using the standard k-ε model with wall function, and radiation was handled using discrete ordinate radiation model. The PDF （probability density function） /mixture fraction combustion model was used to simulate the propane combustion. Additionally, computations of NOx formation rates and NOx concentration were carried out using a post-processor on the basis of previously calculated velocities, turbulence, temperature, and chemical composition fields. The results showed that high temperature air combustion （HiTAC） is spread over a much larger volume than traditional combustion, flame volume increases with a reduction of oxygen concentration, and this trend is clearer if oxygen concentration in the preheated air is below 10%. The temperature profile becomes more uniform when oxygen concentration in preheated air decreases, especially at low oxygen levels. Increase in fuel inlet tempera- ture lessens the mixing of the fuel and air in primary combustion zone, creates more uniform distribution of reactants inside the flame, decreases the maximum temperature in furnace, and reduces NOx emission greatly.