Characterization of the combustion of biomass producer gas in a constant volume combustion bomb

In this article a methodology is presented for studying the influence of the biomass moisture content and the biomass/air ratio on the producer gas composition and on the chemiluminescent emissions during the combustion process.Firstly, a mathematical model based on the thermo-chemical processes inside the gasifier is used to predict the composition of the producer gas as a mixture of CO, CO₂, H₂, N₂, CH₄ and H₂O gases. Secondly, the predicted composition is introduced into a constant volume combustion bomb (CVCB), which simulates the typical conditions inside the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, in order to characterize its combustion under gasoline-type conditions through the instantaneous pressure and the detection of the spontaneous luminous radiation (chemiluminescence) emitted by chemical radicals (OH* and CH*) excited by the front flame propagation. Thirdly, the pressure curve is introduced into a two-zone analysis model based on the conservation equations to determine the parameters useful for making a diagnosis of the combustion process, such as the temperature in each zone, the laminar burning velocity, the burned mass fraction and the rate of heat release during the combustion process.