High Temperature Air Combustion

Combustion behavior is significantly affected by temperature of the reactants, amount of gas recirculation and temperature of the flue gases. High temperature air combustion technology has significant impact on the design and development of advanced industrial furnaces for energy savings and materials conservation. In this technology the combustion air is preheated to very high temperatures using regenerative burners. As seen from the schematic diagram, shown below, one of the burner in the furnace is heated-up while the other is firing. The temperature of the exhaust gases is much lower with this arrangement than the conventional system. This combustion technology has the potential for application to a wide range of flame using devices. Highly preheated air combustion technology has now become an engineering reality for furnaces used for various applications and combustion engines. The objective of this research is to provide fundamental understanding on the physical and chemical processes that occur during combustion with high temperature air to the combustor. Experimental and theoretical studies are underway for determining the structure of flames using high temperature combustion air. Specifically information on ignition and flame stability, chemical kinetics, flame spectral characteristics, turbulence, flame chemistry, heat flux distribution from the flame is being obtained. Controlled combustion, regenerative heating and duty cycle of heating, response of regenerator to thermal and chemical environment, fuel property, fuel preparation and material characteristics remain on the priority list with regard to determining their fundamental effects. Results shown below clearly show that the flame stability limits are widened with stable flame even in very low oxygen concentrations. Spectral characteristics of the flames are significantly affected with oxygen molar concentration, fuel properties, air preheat temperature and amount of gas recirculation.

Currently, both Experimental Studies and Numerical Simulations are performed in this area.

 

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Last Edited: May 13, 2006