Experimental study of combustion of hydrogen–syngas/methane fuel mixtures in a porous burner

Lean premixed combustion of hydrogen–syngas/methane fuel mixtures was investigated experimentally to demonstrate fuel flexibility of a two-section porous burner. The un-insulated burner was operated at atmospheric pressure. Combustion was stabilized at the interface of silicon-carbide coated carbon foam of 26 pores per centimeter (ppcm) and 4 ppcm. Methane (CH₄) content in the fuel was decreased from 100% to 0% (by volume), with the remaining amount split equally between carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H₂), the two reactive components of the syngas. Experiments for different fuel mixtures were conducted at a fixed air flow rate, while the fuel flow rate was varied to obtain a range of adiabatic flame temperatures. The CO and nitric oxide (_NOx${\mathrm{NO}}_x$) emissions were measured downstream of the porous burner, in the axial direction to identify the post-combustion zone and in the transverse direction to quantify combustion uniformity. For a given adiabatic flame temperature, increasing H₂/CO content in the fuel mixture decreased both the CO and _NOx${\mathrm{NO}}_x$ emissions. Presence of H₂/CO in the fuel mixture also decreased temperature near the lean blow-off limit, especially for higher percentages of CO and H₂ in the fuel.     

Combustion characteristics of a swirling inverse diffusion flame upon oxygen content variation

The combustion characteristics of a swirling inverse diffusion flame (IDF) upon variation of the oxygen content in the oxidizer were experimentally studied. The oxidizer jet was a mixture mainly composed of oxygen and nitrogen gases, with a volumetric oxygen fraction of 20%, 21% and 26%, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was used as the fuel. Each set of experiment was conducted with constant oxygen content in the oxidizer. When the oxygen was varied, the changes in flame appearance, flame temperature, overall pollutant emission and heating behaviors of the swirling IDF were investigated. The swirling IDFs with different oxygen content in the oxidizer have similar flame structure involving a large-size and high-temperature internal recirculation zone (IRZ) which favors for thermal NO formation, and the thermal mechanism dominates the NO production for the swirling IDFs. The use of nitrogen-diluted air (with 20% oxygen) allowed the IDFs to operate at lower temperature with reduced NO_x formation, compared to the case of air/LPG combustion (with 21% oxygen). Meanwhile, an increase in CO emission is observed. With oxygen-enriched air (26% oxygen), the increase in temperature and EINO_x under lean conditions is more significant than under rich conditions. With 26% oxygen in the oxidizer stream, the IDF produces: (1) a shorter and narrowed navy-blue flame ring located closer to the burner exit, (2) highly luminous yellow flame extending into the central IRZ and above the blue flame ring, (3) a low CO emission, especially under lean conditions, (4) an increase in temperature at low Ф while a decrease in temperature at high Ф, and (5) an increase in EINO_x at all Ф. The heating test using the swirling IDFs in flame impingement heat transfer reveals that the heating rate can be monotonically increased as oxygen content in the oxidizer jet increases under the lean condition (Ф = 1.0). The oxygen enrichment does not contribute to the heating rate under the rich condition (Ф = 2.0), because for the non-premixed combustion of an IDF, the enrichment in oxygen means a lower oxidizer jet Reynolds number and thus less complete combustion occurs as a result of reduced amount of entrained ambient air.     

Burning syngas in a high swirl burner: Effects of fuel composition

Flame characteristics of swirling non-premixed H₂/CO syngas fuel mixtures have been simulated using large eddy simulation and detailed chemistry. The selected combustor configuration is the TECFLAM burner which has been used for extensive experimental investigations for natural gas combustion. The large eddy simulation (LES) solves the governing equations on a structured Cartesian grid using a finite volume method, with turbulence and combustion modelling based on the localised dynamic Smagorinsky model and the steady laminar flamelet model respectively. The predictions for H₂-rich and CO-rich flames show considerable differences between them for velocity and scalar fields and this demonstrates the effects of fuel variability on the flame characteristics in swirling environment. In general, the higher diffusivity of hydrogen in H₂-rich fuel is largely responsible for forming a much thicker flame with a larger vortex breakdown bubble (VBB) in a swirling flame compare to the H₂-lean but CO-rich syngas flames.     

Influence of reactive species on the lean blowout limit of an industrial DLE gas turbine burner

In order to achieve ultra-low emissions of both NO_X and CO it is imperative to use a homogeneous premixed combustor. To lower the emissions further, the equivalence ratio can be lowered. By doing so, combustion is moved towards the lean blowout (LBO) limit. To improve the blowout characteristics of a burner, heat and radicals can be supplied to the flame zone. This can be achieved using a pre-chamber combustor. In this study, a central body burner, called the RPL (rich-pilot-lean) section, was used as a pre-chamber combustor to supply heat and radicals to a downscaled industrial burner. The flue gas from the RPL is mixed with the surrounding fresh mixture and form a second flame zone. This zone acts as a stabilizer for the investigated burner. The LBO limit was modeled using two perfectly stirred reactors (PSRs) in series, which allows the chemical influence on the LBO limit to be isolated. The resulting trends for the modeled LBO limit were in agreement with measured data. Increasing the equivalence ratio in the RPL section, thus increasing the energy supplied by the fuel, is a major contributor to combustion stability up to a limit where the temperature decrease is too large support combustion. For lean RPL combustion, the reactive species O, H and OH in combination affect the stability to a greater extent than the temperature alone. At rich equivalence ratios, the conversion of methane to hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the RPL section is a factor influencing the LBO limit. The results are compared with emission probe measurements that were used to investigate the LBO limit for methane and a generic syngas (10% CH₄, 67.5% H₂, and 22.5% CO). The syngas was also investigated after being diluted with nitrogen to a Wobbe index of 15 MJ/m³.     

Effect of methane reforming before combustion on emission and calorimetric characteristics of its combustion process

In this study, combustion and emission characteristics of methane mixed with steam (CH₄/H₂O) and the products of methane reforming with steam (CO/H₂/H₂O) were compared. Four fuel compositions were analysed: CH₄+H₂O, CH₄+2H₂O, and products of complete methane reforming in these mixtures, respectively. A comparison was carried out through the numerical model created via Ansys Fluent 2019 R2. A combustion process was simulated using a non-premixed combustion model, standard k-ϵ turbulence model and P-1 radiation model. The combustor heat capacity for interrelated fuel compositions was kept constant due to air preheating before combustion. The inlet air temperature was varied to gain a better insight into the combustion behaviour at elevated temperatures. The effect of steam addition on the emission characteristics and flame temperatures was also evaluated. NO_x formation was assessed on the outlet of the combustion zone. The obtained results indicate that syngas has a higher combustion temperature than methane (in the same combustor heat capacity) and therefore emitted 27% more NO_x comparing to methane combustion. With the air inlet temperature increment, the pollutant concentration difference between the two cases decreased. Steam addition to fuel inlet resulted in lesser emissions both for methane and syngas by 57% and 28%, respectively. In summary, syngas combustion occurred at higher temperature and produced more NO_x emissions in all cases considered.     

Syngas production from wood pellet using filtration combustion of lean natural gas–air mixtures

A common method for the production of hydrogen and syngas is solid fuel gasification. This paper discusses the experimental results obtained from the combustion of lean natural gas–air mixtures in a porous medium composed of aleatory alumina spheres and wood pellets, called hybrid bed. Temperature, velocity, and chemical products (H₂, CO, CO₂, CH₄) of the combustion waves were recorded experimentally in an inert bed (baseline) and hybrid bed (with a volume wood fraction of 50%), for equivalence ratios (φ) from 0.3 to 1.0, and a constant filtration velocity of 15 cm/s. Upstream, downstream and standing combustion waves were observed for inert and hybrid bed. The maximum hydrogen conversion in hybrid filtration combustion is found to be ∼99% at φ = 0.3. Results demonstrate that wood gasification process occurs with high temperature (1188 K) and oxygen available, and the lean hybrid filtration process can be used to reform solid fuels into hydrogen and syngas.     

On the effective Lewis number formulations for lean hydrogen/hydrocarbon/air mixtures

Decades of research have underlined the undeniable importance of the Lewis number (Le) in the premixed combustion field. From early experimental observations on laminar flame propagation to the most recent DNS studies of turbulent flames, the unbalanced influence of thermal to mass diffusion (i.e. Le ≠ 1), known as nonequidiffusion, has shed the light on a wide range of combustion phenomena, especially those involving stretched flames. As a result the determination of the Lewis number has become a routine task for the combustion community. Recently, the growing interest in hydrogen/hydrocarbon (HC) fuel blends has produced extensive studies that have not only improved our understanding of H₂/HC flame dynamics, but also, in its wake, raised a fundamental question: which effective Lewis number formulation should we use to characterize the combustion of hydrogen/hydrocarbon/air blends? While the Lewis number is unambiguously defined for combustible mixtures with a single fuel reactant, the literature is unclear regarding the appropriate equivalent formulation for bi-component fuels. The present paper intends to clarify this aspect. To do so, effective Lewis number formulations for lean (φ = 0.6 and 0.8) premixed hydrogen/hydrocarbon/air mixtures have been investigated in the framework of an existing outwardly propagating flame theory. Laminar burning velocities and burned Markstein lengths of H₂/CH₄, H₂/C₃H₈, H₂/C₈H₁₈ and H₂/CO fuel blends in air were experimentally and numerically determined for a wide range of fuel compositions (0/100% → 100/0% H₂/HC). By confronting the two sets of results, the most appropriate effective Lewis number formulation was identified for conventional H₂/HC/air blends. Observed deviations from the validated formulation are discussed for the syngas (H₂/CO) flame cases.     

Hydrogen addition effects on methane-air colorless distributed combustion flames

In this investigation the role of hydrogen addition in a reverse flow configuration, consisting of both non-premixed and premixed combustion modes, have been examined for the CDC flames. In the non-premixed configuration the air injection port is positioned at combustor exit end while the fuel injection port is positioned on the side so that the fuel is injected in cross-flow with respect to air injection. The thermal intensity of the flames investigated is 85 MW/m³ atm to simulate high thermal intensity gas turbine combustion conditions. The results are presented on the global flame signatures, exhaust emissions, and radical emissions using experiments and flowfield using numerical simulations. Ultra low NO_x emissions are found for both the premixed and non-premixed combustion modes. Addition of hydrogen to methane fuel resulted in only a slight increase of NO emission, significant decrease of CO emission and extended the lean operational limit of the combustor.     

Effects of fuel compositions on the heat generation and emission of syngas/producer gas laminar diffusion flame

Demand for the clean and sustainable energy encourages the research and development in the efficient production and utilisation of syngas for low-carbon power and heating/cooling applications. However, diversity in the chemical composition of syngas, resulting due to its flexible production process and feedstock, often poses a significant challenge for the design and operation of an effective combustion system. To address this, the research presented in this paper is particularly focused on an in-depth understanding of the heat generation and emission formation of syngas/producer gas flames with an effect of the fuel compositions. The heat generated by flame not only depends on the flame temperature but also on the chemistry heat release of fuel and flame dimension. The study reports that the syngas/producer gas with a low H_2:CO maximises the heat generation, nevertheless the higher emission rate of CO₂ is inevitable. The generated heat flux at H_2:CO = 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3 is found to be 222, 432 and 538 W m^-2 respectively. At the same amount of heat generated, H₂ concentration in fuel dominates the emission of NO_x. The addition of CH₄ into the syngas/producer gas with H_2:CO = 1:1 also increases the heat generation significantly (e.g. 614 W m^-2 at 20%) while decreases the emission formation. In contrast, adding 20% CO₂ and N₂ to the syngas/producer gas composition reduces the heat generation from 432 W m^-2 to 364 and 290 W m^-2, respectively. The role of CO₂ on this aspect, which is weaker than N₂, thus suggests CO₂ is preferable than N₂. Along with the study, the significant role of CO₂ on the radiation of heat and the reduction of emission are examined.     

Effects of preferential diffusion on downstream interaction in premixed H2/CO syngas–air flames

Effects of strain rate and preferential diffusion of H₂ on flame extinction are numerically explored in interacting premixed syngas–air flames with the fuel compositions of 50% H₂ + 50% CO and 30% H₂ + 70% CO. Flame stability diagrams mapping lower and upper limit fuel concentrations at flame extinction as a function of strain rate are examined. Increasing strain rate reduces the boundaries of both flammable lean and rich fuel concentrations and produces a flammable island and subsequently even a point, implying that there exists a limit strain rate over which interacting flame cannot be sustained anymore. Even if effective Lewis numbers are slightly larger than unity on the lean extinction boundaries, the shape of the lean extinction boundary is slanted even at low strain rate, i.e. a_g = 30 s⁻¹ and is more slanted in further increase of strain rate, implying that flame interaction on lean extinction boundary is strong and thus hydrogen (as a deficient reactant) Lewis number much less than unity plays an important role of flame interaction. It is also shown that effects of preferential diffusion of H₂ cause flame interaction to be stronger on lean extinction boundaries and weaker on rich extinction boundaries. Detailed analyses are made through the comparison between flame structures with and without the restriction of the diffusivities of H₂ and H in symmetric and asymmetric fuel compositions. The reduction of flammable fuel compositions in increase of strain rate suggests that the mechanism of flame extinction is significant conductive heat loss from the stronger flame to ambience.     

Hydrogen-enriched non-premixed jet flames: Compositional structures with near-wall effects

The species concentrations of non-premixed hydrogen and syngas flames were examined using results obtained from direct numerical simulation technique with flamelet generated manifold chemistry. Flames with pure H₂ and H₂/CO mixtures are discussed for an impinging jet flame configuration. Single-point data analyses are presented illustrating the effects of fuel composition on species concentrations. In general, scatterplots of all species show the effects of fuel variability on the flame compositional structures. The behaviours of major combustion products and key radicals species indicate the effects of CO concentration on the 2/CO syngas combustion. In particular, high concentration of CO tends to induce local extinction in the 2/CO flames in which critical chemical reactions of the fuel mixture such as CO + OH become important. The unsteady fluctuations of species profiles in the wall jet region characterise the complexity of the distributions of compositional structures in the near-wall region with respect to the effects of CO concentration on the combustion of hydrogen-enriched fuels.     

Numerical investigation of diluent influence on flame extinction limits and emission characteristic of lean-premixed H2-CO (syngas) flames

In recent years, research efforts have been channeled to explore the use of environmentally-friendly clean fuel in lean-premixed combustion so that it is vital to understand fundamental knowledge of combustion and emissions characteristics for an advanced gas turbine combustor design. The current study investigates the extinction limits and emission formations of dry syngas (50% H₂-50% CO), moist syngas (40% H₂-40% CO-20% H₂O), and impure syngas containing 5% CH₄. A counterflow flame configuration was numerically investigated to understand extinction and emission characteristics at the lean-premixed combustion condition by varying dilution levels (N₂, CO₂ and H₂O) at different pressures and syngas compositions. By increasing dilution and varying syngas composition and maintaining a constant strain rate in the flame, numerical simulation showed among diluents considered: CO₂ diluted flame has the same extinction limit in moist syngas as in dry syngas but a higher extinction temperature; H₂O presence in the fuel mixture decreases the extinction limit of N₂ diluted flame but still increases the flame extinction temperature; impure syngas with CH₄ extends the flame extinction limit but has no effect on flame temperature in CO₂ diluted flame; for diluted moist syngas, extinction limit is increased at higher pressure with the larger extinction temperature; for different compositions of syngas, higher CO concentration leads to higher NO emission. This study enables to provide insight into reaction mechanisms involved in flame extinction and emission through the addition of diluents at ambient and high pressure.     

Measurements in turbulent premixed bluff body flames close to blow-off

The structure of unconfined lean premixed methane–air flames stabilized on an axisymmetric bluff body has been examined for conditions increasingly closer to blow-off and during the blow-off event. Fast imaging (5 kHz) of OH¹ chemiluminescence and OH-PLIF and PIV (at 1 kHz) were used to obtain instantaneous and time-averaged images, temporal sequences, spectra of OH, 2-D estimates of flame surface density, curvature, turbulence statistics, and measurements of the duration of the blow-off transient. Blow-off was approached by slowly reducing the fuel flow rate, and the flame shape was seen to change from a cylindrical shape at stable burning conditions, with the flame brush closing across the flow at conditions close to the blow-off condition. This was followed by entrainment of fresh reactants from the downstream end of the recirculation zone (RZ), and fragmentation of the downstream flame parts. Just before the blow-off event, reaction fronts were observed inside the RZ, with progressive fragmentation occurring, leading to a shorter flame brush. Complete extinction occurred once the flame at the attachment point had been destroyed, and stabilization at the shear layers was no longer possible. Measurements showed a gradual reduction in FSD during the approach to blow-off and during the extinction event itself, and higher values of flame front curvature at conditions approaching extinction. The local Karlovitz number was estimated based on the local turbulence velocity and lengthscale characteristics and it reached a maximum value of about 10 at the location where the flame bends towards the axis. Quantification of the duration of the blow-off event showed that it was an order of magnitude longer than the characteristic timescale of the burner d/U_b. The measurements reported here are useful for model validation and for exploring the changes in turbulent premixed flame structure as extinction is approached.     

Effect of hydrogen ratio on turbulent flame structure of oxyfuel syngas at high pressure up to 1.0 MPa

The CO/H₂/CO₂/O₂, CO/H₂/CO₂/air turbulent premixed flames as the model of syngas oxyfuel and syngas/air combustion were studied experimentally and compared to that of CH₄/air mixtures at high pressures up to 1.0 MPa. Hydrogen ratio in syngas was set to be 35%, 50% and 65% in volumetric fraction. Four perforated plates are used to generate wide range of turbulence intensity and scales. The instantaneous flame structure was measured with OH-PLIF technique and then statistic flame structure parameters and turbulent burning velocity were derived to interpret the multi scale turbulence-flame interaction. Results show that the flame structure of syngas is wrinkled and convex cusps to the unburned mixtures are sharper and deeper comparing to that of CH₄ flames. Pressure has a dominating effect on flame wrinkling other than mixtures composition at high pressure of 1.0 MPa. The flame surface density, Σ of syngas is larger than that of CH₄. The Σ of syngas flames is almost independent on pressure and hydrogen ratio especially when hydrogen ratio is over 50% which is a significant feature of syngas combustion. Larger flame surface density for syngas flames mainly comes from the finer structure with smaller wrinkles which is the result of more intensive flame intrinsic instability. The S_T/S_L of syngas is larger than CH₄ and it slightly increases with the pressure rise. The S_T/S_L of syngas oxyfuel is similar to that of syngas/air flames in the present study. The S_T/S_L increases with the increase of hydrogen ratio and keeps almost constant when hydrogen ratio is over 50%.     

NO mechanisms of syngas MILD combustion diluted with N2, CO2, and H2O

The NO mechanism under the moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution (MILD) combustion of syngas has not been systematically examined. This paper investigates the NO mechanism in the syngas MILD regime under the dilution of N₂, CO₂, and H₂O through counterflow combustion simulation. The syngas reaction mechanism and the counterflow combustion simulation are comprehensively validated under different CO/H₂ ratios and strain rates. The effects of oxygen volume fraction, CO/H₂ ratio, pressure, strain rate, and dilution atmosphere are systematically investigated. For all the MILD cases, the contribution of the prompt and NO-reburning routes to the overall NO emission is less than 0.1% due to the lack of CH₄ in fuel. At atmospheric pressure, the thermal route only accounts for less than 20% of the total NO emission because of the low reaction temperature. Moreover, at atmospheric pressure, the contribution of the NNH route to NO emission is always larger than 55% in the N₂ atmosphere. The N₂O-intermediate route is enhanced in CO₂ and H₂O atmospheres due to the increased third-body effects of CO₂ and H₂O through the reaction N₂ + O (+M) ? N₂O (+M). Especially in the H₂O atmosphere, the N₂O-intermediate route contributes to 60% NO at most. NO production is reduced with increasing CO/H₂ ratio or pressure, mainly due to decreased NO formation from the NNH route. Importantly, a high reaction temperature and low NO emission are simultaneously achieved at high pressure. To minimize NO emission, the reactions should be operated at high values of CO/H₂ ratios (i.e., >4) and pressures (e.g., P > 10 atm), low oxygen volume fractions (e.g., X_O2 < 15%), and using H₂O as a diluent. This study provides a new fundamental understanding of the NO mechanism of syngas MILD combustion in N₂, CO₂, and H₂O atmospheres.     

Engine speed and air-fuel ratio effect on the combustion of methane augmented hydrogen rich syngas in DI SI engine

The main challenge on the fueling of pure hydrogen in the automotive vehicles is the limitation in the hydrogen separation from the product of steam reforming and gasification plants and the storage issues. On the other hand, hydrogen fueling in automotive engines has resulted in uncontrolled combustion. These are some of the factors which motivated for the fueling of raw syngas instead of further chemical or physical processes. However, fueling of syngas alone in the combustion chamber has resulted in decreased power output and increased in brake specific fuel consumption. Methane augmented hydrogen rich syngas was investigated experimentally to observe the behavior of the combustion with the variation of the fuel-air mixture and engine speed of a direct-injection spark-ignition (DI SI) engine. The molar ratio of the high hydrogen syngas is 50% H₂ and 50% CO composition. The amount of methane used for augmentation was 20% (V/V). The compression ratio of 14:1 gas engine operating at full throttle position (the throttle is fully opened) with the start of the injection selected to simulate the partial DI (180° before top dead center (BTDC)). The relative air-fuel ratio (λ) was set at lean mixture condition and the engine speed ranging from 1500 to 2400 revolutions per minute (rpm) with an interval of 300 rpm. The result indicated that coefficient of variation of the indicate mean effective pressure (COV of IMEP) was observed to increase with an increase with λ in all speeds. The durations of the flame development and rapid burning stages of the combustion has increased with an increase in λ. Besides, all the combustion durations are shown to be more sensitive to λ at the lowest speed as compared to the two engine speeds.     

Turbulent burning velocity of stoichiometric syngas flames with different hydrogen volumetric fractions upon constant-volume method with multi-zone model

Syngas has been widely concerned and tested in various thermo-power devices as one promising alternative fuel. However, little is known about the turbulent combustion characteristics, especially on outwardly propagating turbulent syngas/air premixed flames. In this paper, the outwardly propagating turbulent syngas/air premixed flames were experimentally investigated in a constant-volume fan-stirred vessel. Tests were conducted on stoichiometric syngas with different hydrogen volumetric fractions (X_H2, 10%–90%) in the ambience with different initial turbulence intensity (u'_rms, 0.100 m/s~1.309 m/s). Turbulent burning velocity was taken as the major topic to be studied upon the multi-zone model in constant-volume propagating flame method. The influences of initial turbulent intensity and hydrogen volumetric fraction on the turbulent flame speed were analysed and discussed. An explicit correlation of turbulent flame speed was obtained from the experimental results.     

Numerical study of hydrogen‐enriched methane–air combustion under ultra‐lean conditions

The demand for gas turbines that accept a variety of fuels has continuously increased over the last decade. Understanding the effects of varying fuel compositions on combustion characteristics and emissions is critical to designing fuel‐flexible combustors. In this study, the combustion characteristics and emissions of methane and hydrogen‐enriched methane were both experimentally and numerically investigated under ultra‐lean conditions (Ø ≤ 0.5). This study was performed using global mechanisms with a one‐step mechanism by Westbrook and Dryer and a two‐step mechanism with an irreversible and reversible CO/CO₂ step (2sCM1 and 2sCM2). Results show that the 2sCM2 mechanism under‐predicted the temperature, major species, and NO_x by more than 100% under ultra‐lean conditions; thus, we proposed a modified‐2sCM2 mechanism to better simulate the combustion characteristics. The mechanisms of Westbrook, 2sCM1, and modified 2sCM2 predicted the temperature and the CO₂ emission with an average deviation of about 5% from the experimental values. Westbrook and 2sCM1, however, over‐predicted the NO_x emission by approximately 81% and 152%, respectively, as compared with an average under‐prediction of 11% by the modified‐2sCM2 mechanism. The numerical results using the proposed modified‐2sCM2 mechanism shows that the presence of hydrogen in the fuel mixture inhibits the oxidation of methane that led to the formation of unburned hydrocarbons in the flame. We also showed that for any given fuel compositions of H₂/CH₄, there is an optimum equivalence ratio at which the pollutant emissions (CO and NO_x) from the combustor are minimal. Zero CO and 5 ppm NO_x emissions were observed at the optimal equivalence ratio of 0.45 for a fuel mixture containing 30% H₂. The present study provides a basis for ultra‐lean combustion toward achieving zero emissions from a fuel‐flexible combustor. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of hydrogen enrichment on combustion characteristics of methane swirling and non-swirling inverse diffusion flame

Influence of hydrogen addition on appearance of swirling and non-swirling inverse diffusion flame (IDF) along with emissions characteristics are investigated experimentally. The combustion characteristics including flame length, axial and radial temperature variation, and noise level are analysed for hydrogen addition in methane by mass basis for constant energy input and by volume basis for constant volumetric fuel flow rate. Hydrogen addition in methane IDF produces shorter flame by compressing entrainment zone, mixing zone, reaction zone, and post-combustion zone. Hydrogen addition shift these zones towards fuel and air exit from the burner. Enrichment of methane with hydrogen on a mass basis up to 6% reduces CO emission considerably and increases NO_x emission moderately. Effect of H₂ addition on combustion and emission characteristics is more prominent in non-swirling IDF. Combustion noise is augmented with the hydrogen addition and the magnitude of sound level depends on the hydrogen concentration.     

Experimental investigation of thermoacoustic coupling using blended hydrogen–methane fuels in a low swirl burner

In this study, experimental testing and analysis were performed to examine the combustion instability characteristics of hydrogen–methane blended fuels for a low-swirl lean premixed burner. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of hydrogen addition on combustion instability, and this is assessed by examining the flame response to a range of constant amplitude, single frequency chamber acoustic modes. Three different blends of hydrogen and methane (93% CH₄–7% H₂, 80% CH₄–20% H₂ and 70% CH₄–30% H₂ by volume) were employed as fuel at an equivalence ratio of 0.5, and with four different acoustic excitation frequencies (85, 125, 222 and 399 Hz). Planar laser induced fluorescence of the hydroxyl radical (OH-PLIF) was employed to measure the OH concentration at different phases of acoustic excitation and a Rayleigh Index was then calculated to determine the degree of thermoacoustic coupling. It was found, as has been previously reported, that the combustion characteristics are very sensitive to the fraction of hydrogen in the fuel mixture. The flame shows significant increases in flame base coupling and flame compaction with increasing hydrogen concentration for all conditions. While this effect enhances the flame response at non-resonant frequencies, it induces only minimal compaction and appears to decreases the coupling intensity at the resonant frequency.