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.

High temperature oxidation of inoculated high Si/SiMo ductile cast irons in air and combustion atmospheres

The present work aims to investigate the effect of heating temperature(400,600 and 800°C)and inoculating elements(Ca,Ca-Ba,Ca-RE)on oxidation behavior of ductile irons containing 5.25%Si and 4.8%Si-2.3%Mo in dry air and combustion gas containing water vapour(natural gas burning).The oxidation is influenced by the gas atmosphere type,the iron alloying system,and the inoculating elements depending on the heating temperature.The weight gain increases from 0.001%-0.1%(400°C)to 0.05%-0.70%(600°C)and up to 0.10%-2.15%(800°C).No particular effects of the considered influencing factors are found when heating at 400°C,while at 600°C,mainly the oxidation gas atmosphere type shows a visible influence.At the highest heating temperature of 800°C,a limited increase of the weight gain is found for dry air atmosphere(up to 0.25%),but it drastically increases for combustion atmospheres(0.65%-2.15%).The water vapour presence in the combustion atmosphere is an important oxidising factor at 600-800°C.The alloying system appears to influence the oxidation behavior mainly at a heating temperature of 800°C in the combustion atmosphere,as evidenced by the lower weight gain in 5.25%silicon cast iron.Positive effects of inoculating elements increase with the heating temperature,with Ca and Ba-FeSi inoculation generally showing better performance.Irons inoculated with CaRE-FeSi exhibit a higher degree of oxidation.These results are in good relationship with the previous reported data:Ca-Ba-inoculation system appears to be better than simple Ca for improving the graphite parameters,while RE-bearing inoculant negatively affects the compactness degree of graphite particles in high-Si ductile irons.As the lower compactness degree is typical for graphite nodules in high-Si ductile irons,which negatively affects the oxidation resistance,it is necessary to employ specific metallurgical treatments to improve nodule quality.Inoculation,in particular,is a potential method to achieve this improvement.

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.

An Experimental Study on High Temperature and Low Oxygen Air Combustion

High temperature preheated and diluted air combustion has been confirmed as the technology, mainly applied to industrial furnaces and kilns, to realize higher thermal efficiency and lower emissions. The purpose of this study was to investigate fundamental aspects of the above-mentioned combustion experimentally and to compare with those in ordinary hydrocarbon combustion with room temperature air. The test items were exhaust gas components of CO, NOx, flame shape and radical components of CH, OH and C2,which were measured with gas analyser, camera and ICCD(Intensified Charged - Coupled Device) camera. Many Phenomena as results appeared in combustion with the oxidizer, low oxygen concentration and extremely high temperature air, such as expansion of the flammable limits, increased flame propagation speed, it looked so strange as compared with those in existing combustion technology. We confirmed that such extraordinary phenomena were believable through the hot-test experiment.

Effect of CO Combustion Promoters on Combustion Air Partition in FCC under Nearly Complete Combustion

With CO combustion promoters, the role of combustion air flow rate for concerns of economics and control is important. The combustion air is conceptually divided to three parts: the air consumed by coke burning,the air consumed by CO combustion and the air unreacted. A mathematical model of a fluid catalytic cracking(FCC)unit, which includes a quantitative correlation of CO heterogeneous combustion and the amount of CO combustion promoters, is introduced to investigate the effects of promoters on the three parts of combustion air. The results show that the air consumed by coke burning is almost linear to combustion air flow rate, while the air consumed by CO combustion promoters tends to saturate as combustion air flow rate increases, indicating that higher air flow rate can only be used as a manipulated variable to control the oxygen content for an economic concern.

Effect of Fe_(2)O_(3) on the Formation of Micro Glass Beads under Air Staged Combustion

The effect of Fe_(2)O_(3) on the formation of micro glass beads(MGBs)under air staged combustion was studied.The experimental temperature was 1450℃,and Hegang bituminous coal was used as the experimental object.X⁃ray diffractometer(XRD),ash fusion tester,viscosity formula and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)were used to analyze the fly ash.Nano Measurer 1.2 software was used to measure the diameter of MGBs.The results showed that with the increase of Fe_(2)O_(3) in Hegang coal,the glass phase in fly ash first increased and then decreased.When the amount of Fe_(2)O_(3) was 15%,the content of the glass phase was the highest,which was 51.26%.The ash melting point first decreased and then increased,while the viscosity gradually decreased and the particles gradually became spherical.With the increase of Fe_(2)O_(3),the proportion of MGBs with particle size less than 10μm increased gradually.From the above results,it can be concluded that the addition of Fe_(2)O_(3) is conducive to the formation of MGBs and the reduction of particle size.

Experimental research on inorganic solidified foam for sealing air leakage in coal mines

In order to efficiently seal air leakages and control spontaneous combustion of coal, solidified foam was developed by adding a certain compound additive to fly coal ash and cement as the main materials. It was prepared basing on the foaming characteristic through physical and mechanical system. We studied the effects of the different types of foaming agents, the mass ratio of cement to fly ash, and the mass ratio of solid to water and content of cellulose on the performance of solidified foam. The results show that when adding the composite protein, surfactant and cellulose foaming agents. The cement-fly ash ratio of 0.75:1, the water solid ratio as large as 2:1, and the solidified foam with high properties and density of only 516 kg/m 3 and compressive strength of up to 12.68 MPa were prepared. But the initial setting time, identity and compressive strength may be changed by varying the water solid ratio and/or the additives. We theoretically analyzed the influence mechanism of foam density, compressive strength and water solid ratio. The solidified foam is especially suitable for sealing surface leakage channels and filling the goaf with a wide application prospects.

Dynamic simulation on effect of flame arrangement on thermal process of regenerative reheating furnace

By analyzing the characteristics of combustion and billet heating process, a 3-D transient computer fluid dynamic simulation system based on commercial software CFX4.3 and some self-programmed codes were developed to simulate the thermal process in a continuous heating furnace using high temperature air combustion technology. The effects of different switching modes on injection entrancement of multi burners, combustion and billet heating process in furnace were analyzed numerically, and the computational results were compared with on-site measurement, which verified the practicability of this numerical simulation system. The results indicate that the flow pattern and distribution of temperature in regenerative reheating furnace with partial same-side-switching combustion mode are favorable to satisfy the high quality requirements of reheating, in which the terminal heating temperature of billets is more than 1 460 K and the temperature difference between two nodes is not more than 10 K. But since the surface average temperature of billets apart fi＇om heating zone is only about 1 350 K and continued heating is needed in soaking zone, the design and operation of current state are still needed to be optimized to improve the temperature schedule of billet heating. The distribution of velocity and temperature in regenerative reheating furnace with same-side-switching combustion mode cannot satisfy the even and fast heating process. The terminal heating temperature of billets is lower than that of the former case by 30 K. The distribution of flow and temperature can be improved by using cross-switching combustion mode, whose terminal temperature of billets is about 1 470 K with small temperature difference within 10 K.

Investigation on Combustion Characteristics and NO Formation of Methane with Swirling and Non-Swirling High Temperature Air

Combustion characteristics of methane jet flames in an industrial burner working in high temperature combustion regime were investigated experimentally and numerically to clarify the effects of swirling high temperature air on combustion.Speziale-Sarkar-Gatski(SSG) Reynolds stress model,Eddy-Dissipation Model(EDM),Discrete Ordinates Method(DTM) combined with Weighted-Sum-of-Grey Gases Model(WSGG) were employed for the numerical simulation.Both Thermal-NO and Prompt-NO mechanism were considered to evaluate the NO formation.Temperature distribution,NO emissions by experiment and computation in swirling and non-swirling patterns show combustion characteristics of methane jet flames are totally different.Non-swirling high temperature air made high NO formation while significant NO prohibition were achieved by swirling high temperature air.Furthermore,velocity fields,dimensionless major species mole fraction distributions and Thermal-NO molar reaction rate profiles by computation interpret an inner exhaust gas recirculation formed in the combustion zone in swirling case.

NO_(x) and H_(2)S formation in the reductive zone of air-staged combustion of pulverized blended coals

Low NO_(x) combustion of blended coals is widely used in coal-fired boilers in China to control NO_(x) emission;thus,it is necessary to understand the formation mechanism of NO_(x) and H2S during the combustion of blended coals.This paper focused on the investigation of reductive gases in the formation of NO_(x) and H2S in the reductive zone of blended coals during combustion.Experiments with Zhundong(ZD)and Commercial(GE)coal and their blends with different mixing ratios were conducted in a drop tube furnace at 1200℃–1400℃with an excessive air ratio of 0.6–1.2.The coal conversion and formation characteristics of CO,H_(2)S,and NO_(x) in the fuelrich zone were carefully studied under different experimental conditions for different blend ratios.Blending ZD into GE was found to increase not only the coal conversion but also the concentrations of CO and H2S as NO reduction accelerated.Both the CO and H2S concentrations inblended coal combustion increase with an increase in the combustion temperature and a decrease in the excessive air ratio.Based on accumulated experimental data,one interesting finding was that NO and H2S from blended coal combustion were almost directly dependent on the CO concentration,and the CO concentration of the blended coal combustion depended on the single char gasification conversion.Thus,CO,NO_(x),and H2S formation characteristics from blended coal combustion can be well predicted by single char gasification kinetics.

Fluidized bed combustion of high water content alcohol extracted herb residue and the impacts of blending wasted activated coke

Combustion of herb residues(HRs)for heat recovery is a good way for their utilization,but there exists such a problem as high concentration NOx emission in flue gas.The alcohol extracted herb residue(AEHR),one special type of HRs,was chosen as the object and was subjected to immediate combustion in a fluidized bed reactor to investigate the characteristics of its resulting NOx emission.The results showed that,most of the NOx in the flue gas was produced from the char nitrogen(C-N);as the fuel water content increased,the NOx emission concentration exhibited a trend of first decreasing and then increasing;and a properly low combustion temperature inhibited the NOx emission upon the premise of ensuring full combustion.Air staging combustion was adopted to effectively control NOx:the NOx emission concentration in the flue gas was reduced to 296 mg⋅m􀀀3 and the NOx emission reduction rate reached 46.51%compared to conventional combustion.Co-combustion by blending wasted activated coke(WAC)into the AEHR helped both stabilize the combustion state and reduce further the NOx emission.When the blending ratio of WAC fell within a proper range of 20-30%,the NOx emission concentration in the flue gas was as low as 231.4 mg⋅m􀀀3.In addition to the dilution effect of the combustion flue gas of the blended WAC,the local reducing atmosphere caused by its incomplete combustion as well as its strong absorbability and catalytical effect was accountable for the further decrease of the NOx emission concentration.

Progress and recent trend in MILD combustion

Moderate or intense low oxygen dilution(MILD)combustion plays a significant role in the mitigation of combustion-generated pollutants and greenhouse gases whilst meeting thermal efficiency needs.However,due to the lack of the fundamental knowledge on this combustion,there is a misconception that MILD combustion should be established by high preheating of the air,which has limited its application.Our research and development on this combustion has been performed for several years. We have found that the requirements for establishing the MILD combustion are more relaxed than previously.It is also revealed that this combustion of different type,i.e.,non-premixed,partially premixed and fully premixed,can be achieved by firing various fuels(i.e.,gaseous,liquid and solid fuels).It is suggested that the application of the MILD combustion can be expanded significantly.The present review summarizes the progress and recent trend made in the R&D of this combustion and recommends further fundamental studies for improving our knowledge and widening its applications.

Experimental Study on Turbulent Structure of Humid Air Flame in a Bluff-body Burner

The main objective of the present experimental study is to analyze the turbulent structure in humid airnon-premixed flame, and determine the effect of humidity on the flow field and the flame stability limit in turbulentnon-premixed flame. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is used to capture the instantaneous appearance ofvortex structures and obtain the quantitative velocity field. The distributions of Reynolds shear stress, mean androot-mean squared fluctuating (rms) velocities are examined to get insight into the effect of fuel-to-air velocity ratioon velocity flow field. The results show that with steam addition, the air-driven vortex in the bluff-body wakeis thinner; the biggest peaks of rms velocity and Reynolds shear stress are lower; the distance between the peaksof rms velocity on the sides of centerline reduces. Besides these, the flame stability is affected. Both central fuelpenetration limit and partially quenching limit reduce with steam addition.

Dome Combustion Hot Blast Stove for Huge Blast Furnace

In Shougang Jingtang 5 500m 3 huge blast furnace ( BF ) design , dome combustion hot blast stove ( DCHBS ) technology is developed.DCHBS process is optimized and integrated , and reasonable hot blast stove ( HBS ) technical parameters are determined.Mathematic model is established and adopted by computational fluid dynamics ( CFD ) .The transmission theory is studied for hot blast stove combustion and gas flow , and distribution results of HBS velocity field , CO density field and temperature field are achieved.Physical test model and hot trail unit are established , and the numeral calculation result is verified through test and investigation.3-D simulation design is adopted.HBS process flow and process layout are optimized and designed.Combustion air two-stage high temperature preheating technology is designed and developed.Two sets of small size DCHBSs are adopted to preheat the combustion air to 520-600℃.With the precondition of BF gas combustion , the hot blast stove dome temperature can exceed 1 420 ℃. According to DCHBS technical features , reasonable refractory structure is designed.Effective technical measures are adopted to prevent hot blast stove shell intercrystalline stress corrosion.Hot blast stove hot pipe and lining system are optimized and designed.After blowing in , the blast temperature keeps increasing , and the monthly average blast temperature reaches 1 300℃ when burning single BF gas.

Temperature Distribution and Heat Saturating Time of Regenerative Heat Transfer

In this paper, heat transfer of the ceramic honeycomb regenerator was numerically simulated based on the computational fluid dynamics numerical analysis software CFX5. The longitudinal temperature distribution of regenerator and gas were obtained. The variation of temperature with time was discussed. In addition, the effects of some parameters such as switching time, gas temperature at the inlet of regenerator, height of regenerator and specific heat of the regenerative materials on heat saturating time were discussed. It provided primarily theoretic basis for further study of regenerative heat transfer mechanism.