Numerical investigation of a pulverized-coal startup vortex burner

The design of a two-channel vortex pulverized-coal startup burner is proposed, in which fuel-air mixture is admitted through the burner’s primary channel. Necessary and sufficient conditions for obtaining stable ignition of pulverized coal during operation of this burner are formulated. A procedure of using the Fluent software system for numerically studying the influence of fuel characteristics and operating parameters on the stability of flame ignition and formation is developed. The results of numerical investigations aimed at determining the effect the flowrate of a mixture of mechanically activated micropowdered coal with air has on the combustion process for a particular design of the startup burner installed in the central part of the main direct-flow round burner used in the PK-40-1 boiler at the Belovo district power station are presented. A conclusion is drawn from these results regarding the extent to which the flowrate of mixture affects the performance of this startup burner.