Numerical study of the effects of material properties on flame stabilization in a porous burner

Development of porous burners has been encouraged by lower emission standards as well as the advantages these burners offer; such as fuel flexibility, the ability to operate at low equivalence ratios, and effective flame speeds greater than the laminar flame speed. Although a burner may be constructed from a single section of porous media, a burner consisting of two sections with different characteristics has received significant attention in the last decade. Through proper selection of the properties of the two sections, the interface between the two sections serves as a flame holder preventing flashback for a range of conditions. In this paper, we present the results from a one-dimensional computational study on flame stabilization in a two section porous burner. The stable operating limits are predicted for a range of equivalence ratios and are compared to experimental values. A parametric study, in which the properties of the two sections are varied independently, is presented. The results indicate that matrix properties significantly affect the stable operating range. In addition, the upstream section acts primarily as a flashback arrestor and for the widest operating range, it should have a low conductivity, low volumetric heat transfer coefficient, and high radiative extinction coefficient. The downstream section acts primarily to recirculate heat through the matrix; it should have a high conductivity, high volumetric heat transfer coefficient, and an intermediate radiative extinction coefficient.     

Decarbonized combustion performance of a radiant mesh burner operating on pipeline natural gas mixed with hydrogen

With the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, blending lower or zero carbon fuels like renewable hydrogen into natural gas is a promising and practical way to achieve clean energy transition. From the perspective of end users and combustion device manufactures, one of the major concerns is the influence of the renewable contents on the combustion devices performance. The possible renewable gas content percentage in pipeline also interests policy makers and gas utility companies. The present study investigates on the influence of hydrogen contents on the operating performance of a surface burner, which is widely adopted in industrial, commercial and residential applications. The interactions among heating load, excess air level and fuel contents are studied by a 3-factor13-level experiment design. Evaluated combustion performance characteristics include flame characteristics, burner/exhaust temperature and emissions (NO, NO₂, N₂O, CO, UHC, NH₃). The results showed that hydrogen addition to natural gas slightly increased the burner surface temperature but did not have significant impact on other burner performance parameters. Up to 20% (by volume) natural gas was replaced by hydrogen, and no abnormal effect was observed. Furthermore, tests carried out in a prototype water heater showed similar performance. This study gives a positive sign relative to replacing pipeline natural gas with renewable hydrogen at a low percentage without modifying the burner geometry.     

Simulation of thermally‐enhanced combustion in a porous medium burner

Premixed combustion in a porous medium burner is investigated numerically. A two‐dimensional steady, laminar flow model is used. A single‐step reaction of methane is used for the chemical kinetic model. The model also includes thermal radiation transport of the porous media that is placed inside the burner. The radiative transport equation is solved by using the discrete ordinate method. The results show that, for each equivalence ratio, the flame can be stabilized at various axial locations with different flame speeds. The flame temperature increases with the equivalence ratio and flame speed. Furthermore, the energy release rates are much higher than that of a free flame for the same equivalence ratio as a result of higher flame speed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 35(1): 75–88, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20088     

Influence of hydrogen addition to pipeline natural gas on the combustion performance of a cooktop burner

Displacing pipeline natural gas with renewable hydrogen is a promising way to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, which is a major greenhouse gas. However, due to significantly differing characteristics of hydrogen and natural gas, such as flame speed, adiabatic flame temperature and stability limits, the combustion performance of hydrogen/natural gas mixture differs from pure natural gas. From the perspective of residential end users, a key question is: how much hydrogen can be injected into the pipeline natural gas without influencing the performance of the residential burners? A representative cooktop burner is selected to study the influence of hydrogen addition on the combustion and cooking performance. Flashback limits, ignition time, flame characteristics, cooking performance, combustion noise, burner temperature, and various emissions (NO, NO₂, N₂O, CO, unburned hydrocarbon (UHC), NH₃) are evaluated for different levels of hydrogen addition. According to the experimental results, the combustion performance of the cooktop burner is not significantly affected with up to about 15% hydrogen addition by volume, which shows the feasibility of utilizing hydrogen on existing cooking appliances without any modification. The experiment methodologies and results in this study will serve as a reference for future test and emission regulation standards on domestic burners.     

Numerical studies on the combustion of ultra-low calorific gas in a divergent porous burner with heat recovery

This study presents the idea of heat recovery through recirculating walls to enhance the combustion stability for ultra-low calorific gas in a porous burner. Numerical studies on the combustion of ultra-low calorific gas of CO/H₂ with CO₂ and N₂ in a developed divergent porous burner with annular channel is conducted using two-dimensional axis symmetrical model with detailed kinetics. The heat recovery efficiency is defined as the ratio of heat recovery by the fresh mixture in the annular channel to burner power. It is shown that the heat recovery has significant effect on the minimal inlet gas temperature (MIGT) for stable combustion. It is confirmed that the heat recovery enhances the combustion and the stability limits are enlarged by preheating the fresh mixture, but it also leads to an extra pressure loss across the burner compared to that without heat recovery. Results show that heat recovery efficiency reaches up to 0.18 for all the investigated parameters and it reduces linearly from 0.32 to 0.18 as the mass flow ratio increases from 0.8 to 1.5. The MIGT for the burner with heat recirculating channel is always smaller than that without heat recovery. As a result, the combustion is greatly improved by the heat recovery in the divergent burner. Meanwhile, it is shown that pressure loss is increased significantly when the heat recirculating annular channel is added.     

Syngas production by methane-rich combustion in a divergent burner of porous media

The superadiabatic combustion in porous media contributes to the efficient conversion of methane to syngas. In this paper, a divergent packed bed burner of two-layer was proposed to obtain the characteristics of methane partial oxidation. The divergent angle, interface location and pellet diameter were used to study the temperature and species distributions. Results indicate that the upper limit of velocity gradually decreased as the equivalence ratio increased and the limit of the divergent burner is obviously higher than that of the cylindrical one. The increasing of the divergent angle within a certain range enhances the methane conversion and the 15° shows the best among the selected five angles. The mole fractions of H₂ and CO gradually decrease when the interface locations move from the cylindrical region to the divergent one. As the equivalence ratio increased from 1.3 to 3.5, the yields of H₂ and CO and the energy conversion efficiency of syngas increase first and then decrease, and the maximum efficiency of 45.9% appears at the equivalence ratio of 2.0. The divergent region weakens the influence of inlet velocities and contributes to the stability of reforming reactions.     

Experimental investigation on performance of hydrogen additions in natural gas combustion combined with CO2

Natural gas with H₂ is widely used for lean-burn combustion, which leads to NO_x emission as the main problem for it. For decreasing NO_x emission and increasing thermal efficiency, the investigation on seeking the influence of H₂ fractions on the mixture of CH₄ and CO₂ was conducted. Firstly, the ignition timing was decided through thermal efficiency and brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) for CH₄ only. Then, combustion characteristics of CH₄, CH₄+CO₂ and CH₄+CO₂+H₂ were compared with volume percentage of H₂ changing from 5% to 30%. Finally, the H₂ injection strategy was checked between closed and open valve injections. Among these discussions, thermal efficiency, power output, BMEP and fuel consumption were evaluated. Results show that CO₂ addition decreases power output and BMEP, leading to much more fuel consumption and lower thermal efficiency. When H₂ is added, at the rich mixture conditions (λ＜1.0), power output and thermal efficiency decrease sharply as the mixture is enriched. However, at the lean-burn conditions (λ＞1.0), the decrease in flow rate of lower heating value (LHV) and increase in power output finally result in the higher efficiency with H₂ addition. Moreover, when λ＞1.0, both low fuel consumption and high efficiency can be obtained with H₂ addition to achieve the high BMEP. Furthermore, the open valve injection could obtain higher thermal efficiency, power output and BMEP with lower fuel consumption, suggesting that the H₂ injection strategy should be well controlled with the ignition timing.     

Numerical simulation of laminar premixed combustion in a porous burner

Premixed combustion in porous media differs substantially from combustion in free space. The interphase heat transfer between a gas mixture and a porous medium becomes dominant in the premixed combustion process. In this paper, the premixed combustion of CH₄/air mixture in a porous medium is numerically simulated with a laminar combustion model. Radiative heat transfer in solids and convective heat transfer between the gas and the solid is especially studied. A smaller detailed reaction mechanism is also used and the results can show good prediction for many combustion phenomena. Translated from Journal of Combustion Science and Technology, 2006, 12(1): 46–50 [译自: 燃烧科学与技术]     

Experimental assessment of the combustion performance of an oven burner operated on pipeline natural gas mixed with hydrogen

With the increasing need to reduce greenhouse gas emission and adopt sustainability in combustion systems, injection of renewable gases into the pipeline natural gas is of great interest. Due to high specific energy density and various potential sources, hydrogen is a competitive energy carrier and a promising gaseous fuel to replace natural gas in the future. To test the end use impact of hydrogen injection into the natural gas pipeline infrastructure, the present study has been carried out to evaluate the fuel interchangeability between hydrogen and natural gas in a residential commercial oven burner. Various combustion performance characteristics were evaluated, including flashback limits, ignition performance, flame characteristics, combustion noise, burner temperature and emissions (NO, NO₂, N₂O, CO, UHC, NH₃). Primary air entrainment process was also investigated. Several correlations for predicting air entrainment were compared and evaluated for accuracy based on the measured fuel/air concentration results in the burner. The results indicate that 25% (by volume) hydrogen can be added to natural gas without significant impacts. Above this amount, flashback in the burner tube is the limiting factor. Hydrogen addition has minimal impact on NO_X emission while expectedly decreasing CO emissions. As the amount of hydrogen increases in the fuel, the ability of the fuel to entrain primary air decreases.     

Analysis of turbulent combustion in inert porous media

The objective of this paper is to present an extension of a simplified reaction kinetics model that, combined with a thermo-mechanical closure, entails a full-generalized turbulent combustion model for flow in porous media. In this model, one explicitly considers the intra-pore levels of turbulent kinetic energy. Transport equations are written in their time-and-volume-averaged form and a volume-based statistical turbulence model is applied to simulate turbulence generation due to the porous matrix. The rate of fuel consumption is described by an Arrhenius expression involving the product of the fuel and oxidant mass fractions. These mass fractions are double decomposed in time and space and, after applying simultaneous time-and-volume integration operations to them, distinct terms arise, which are here associated with the mechanisms of dispersion and turbulence. Modeling of these extra terms remains an open question and the derivations herein might motivate further development of models for turbulent combustion in porous media.     

Experimental and numerical study of hydrogen addition in a natural gas heavy duty engine for a bus vehicle

Hydrogen added to natural gas improves the process of combustion with the possibility to develop engines with higher performance and lower environmental impact. In this paper experimental and numerical analyses on a multi cylinder stoichiometric heavy duty engine, fuelled with natural gas–hydrogen blends, are reported. Some constrains on hydrogen content and maximum load achievable have limited the scope of investigation. A specific modelling of the reference engine was developed to extend the study at full load condition and at higher hydrogen content. The results showed a higher combustion speed when hydrogen content in the fuel is increased. However, the positive effect of shorter combustion duration on thermal efficiency is mitigated by higher wall heat loss, due to higher combustion temperatures. Therefore lower CO₂ emissions are due only to the substitution of natural gas with hydrogen, making crucial the way of hydrogen producing to have a benefit on well-to-wheel CO₂ emissions.     

Experimental and theoretical analysis of a natural gas fuel processor

In this study, a natural gas fuel processor was experimentally and theoretically investigated. The constructed 2.0 kWth fuel processor is suitable for a residential-scale high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The system consists of an autothermal reformer; gas clean-up units, namely high and low-temperature water-gas shift reactors; and utilities including feeding unit, burner, evaporator and heat exchangers. Commercial monolith catalysts were used in the reactors. The simulation was carried out by using ASPEN HYSYS program. A validated kinetic model and adiabatic equilibrium model were both presented and compared with experimental data. The nominal operating conditions which were determined by the kinetic model were the steam-to-carbon ratio of 3.0, the oxygen-to-carbon ratio of 0.5 and the inlet temperatures of 450 °C for autothermal reformer, 400 °C for high-temperature water-gas shift reactor and 310 °C for low-temperature water-gas shift reactor. Experimental results at the nominal condition showed that the performance criteria of the hydrogen yield, the fuel conversion and the efficiency were 2.53, 93.5% and 82.3% (higher heating value-HHV), respectively. The validated kinetic model was further used for the determination of 2–10kWthermal fuel processor efficiency which was increasing linearly up-to 86.3% (HHV).     

渐变型多孔介质中预混燃烧温度分布试验

进行了预混天然气在等孔隙率渐近变孔径的多孔介质中的燃烧试验，用热电偶测量了燃烧室温度分布，并与单一孔径（d=1mm）的均匀多孔介质中燃烧结果进行了比较。结果表明，渐变型多孔介质燃烧器比均匀型多孔介质燃烧器具有更多的优点：燃烧室温度分布更加均匀，燃烧更加稳定，并能更好的适应当量比和流量／功率的变化，由于孔径的变化，多孔介质中气流扰动增加，有利于火焰的稳定，当量比和流速变化范围增大。     

Characteristics of direct injection combustion fuelled by natural gas–hydrogen mixtures using a constant volume vessel

The effects of hydrogen addition and turbulence intensity on the natural gas–air turbulent combustion were studied experimentally using a constant volume vessel. Turbulence was generated by injecting the high-pressure fuel into the vessel. Flame propagation images and combustion characteristics via pressure-derived parameters were analyzed at various hydrogen volumetric fractions (from 0% to 40%) and the overall equivalence ratios of 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0. The results showed that the turbulent combustion rate increased remarkably with the increase of hydrogen fraction in fuel blends when hydrogen fraction is over 11%. Combustion rate was increased remarkably with the introduction of turbulence in the bomb and decreased with the decrease of turbulence intensity. The lean flammability limit of natural gas–air turbulent combustion can be extended with increasing hydrogen fraction addition. Maximum pressure and maximum rate of pressure rise increased while combustion duration decreased monotonically with the increase of hydrogen fraction in fuel blends. The sensitivity of natural gas/hydrogen hybrid fuel to the variation of turbulence intensity was decreased while increasing the hydrogen addition. Maximum pressure and maximum rate of pressure rise increased while combustion duration decreased with the increase of turbulent intensity at stoichiometric and lean-burn conditions. However, slight influence on combustion characteristics was presented with variation of hydrogen fraction at the stoichiometric equivalence ratio with and without the turbulence in the bomb.     

Influence of moisture content on measurement accuracy of porous media thermal conductivity

The thermal conductivity measurement accuracy of sand was experimentally studied with a hot disk thermal constant analyzer and water morphologies, distribution, and evolution at the pore scale were observed with a charge coupled device (CCD) combined with a microscope. It was found that thermal conductivities of samples with low moisture content (<25%) could not be accurately measured. For samples with low moisture content, the analysis showed that the water in the region adjacent to the analyzer sensor mainly existed as isolated liquid bridges between/among sand particles and would evaporate and diffuse to relatively far regions because of being heated by the sensor during measurement. Water evaporation and diffusion caused the sample constitution in the region adjacent to the sensor to vary throughout the whole measurement process, and accordingly induced low accuracy of the obtained thermal conductivities. Due to high water connectivity in pores, the rate of water evaporation and diffusion in porous media of high moisture content was relatively slow when compared with that of low moisture content. Meanwhile, water in the relatively far regions flowed back to the region adjacent to the sensor by capillary force. Therefore, samples consisting of the region adjacent to the sensor maintained the constant and thermal conductivities of porous media with relatively high moisture content and could be measured with high accuracy. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20272     

Hydrogen enrichment effects on the second law analysis of natural and landfill gas combustion in engine cylinders

The availability (exergy) balance during combustion of hydrogen-enriched natural and landfill gas, which are used as fuels in combustion engine cylinders, is studied computationally using a zero-dimensional model of the closed part of the cycle. The main focus is on the demonstration of a fundamental difference in the generation of irreversibility during combustion between hydrogen and hydrocarbons. This difference relates to the mechanisms of entropy generation during the oxidation reaction of the two fuels and yields the particularly attractive characteristic of a monotonic decrease in combustion irreversibility with increasing hydrogen content of the fuel, for mole fractions of hydrogen smaller than 10%. This reduction in combustion irreversibility is reflected in an increase in second law efficiency with increasing proportions of hydrogen. The exhaust gas availability at the end of the closed part of the cycle was found to have a local maximum for a hydrogen mole fraction of the order of 5%. These trends with respect to hydrogen also apply when the fuel is diluted with a significant amount of CO₂ (of the order of 40%, as for example in the case for landfill gas), although the absolute value of each of the terms of the availability balance is affected strongly by the dilution.     

Effect of natural gas enrichment with hydrogen on combustion characteristics of a dual fuel diesel engine

Environmental benefits are one of the main motivations encouraging the use of natural gas as fuel for internal combustion engines. In addition to the better impact on pollution, natural gas is available in many areas. In this context, the present work investigates the effect of hydrogen addition to natural gas in dual fuel mode, on combustion characteristics improvement, in relation with engine performance. Various hydrogen fractions (10, 20 and 30 by v%) are examined. Results showed that natural gas enrichment with hydrogen leads in general to an improved gaseous fuel combustion, which corresponds to an enhanced heat release rate during gaseous fuel premixed phase, resulting in an increase in the in-cylinder peak pressure, especially at high engine load (4.1 bar at 70% load). The highest cumulative and rate of heat release correspond to 10% Hydrogen addition. The combustion duration of gaseous fuel combustion phase is reduced for all hydrogen blends. Moreover, this technique resulted in better combustion stability. For all hydrogen test blends, COV_IMEP does not exceed 10%. However, no major effect on combustion noise was noticed and the ignition delay was not affected significantly. Regarding performance, an important improvement in energy conversion was obtained with almost all hydrogen blends as a result of improved gaseous fuel combustion. A maximum thermal efficiency of 32.5%, almost similar to the one under diesel operation, and a minimum fuel consumption of 236 g/kWh, are achieved with 10% hydrogen enrichment at 70% engine load.     

Numerical study on methane/air combustion characteristics in a heat-recirculating micro combustor embedded with porous media

Micro-combustor is a portable power device that can provide energy efficiently, heat recirculating is considered to be an important factor affecting the combustion process. For enhancing the heat recirculating and improving the combustion stability, we proposed a heat-recirculating micro-combustor embedded with porous media, and the numerical simulation was carried out by CFD software. In this paper, the effect of porous media materials, thickness and inlet conditions (equivalence ratio, inlet velocity) on the temperature distribution and exhaust species in the micro combustor are investigated. The results showed that compared with the micro combustor without embedded porous media (MCNPM), micro-combustor embedded with porous media (MCEPM) can improve the temperature uniformity distribution in the radial direction and strengthen the preheating capacity. However, it is found that the embedding thickness of porous media should be reasonably arranged. Setting the thickness of porous media to 15 mm, the combustor can obtain excellent comprehensive capacity of steady combustion and heat recirculating. Compared the thermal performance of Al₂O₃, SiC, and ZrO₂ porous media materials, indicating that SiC due to its strong thermal conductivity, its combustion stabilization and heat recirculating capacity are obviously better than that of Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂. With the porous media embedded in the micro combustor, the combustion has a tempering limit of more than 10 m/s, and the flame is blown out of the porous media area over 100 m/s. The reasonable equivalence ratio of CH₄/air combustion should be controlled within the range of 0.1–0.5, and “super-enthalpy combustion” can be realized.