Combustion of petroleum residue in a batch type fixed bed reactor

Combustion is a highly efficient technology for energy conversion of biomass materials, municipal wastes, and fossil fuels. In this study, combustion tests of two petroleum residues (P1, P2) in a batch type fixed-bed reactor were presented for different operating conditions. The effects of air flow rate (50–70 L/min) on the combustion parameters (gas temperature and carbon conversion) were performed. Additionally, the influence of fuel flow rate on the environmental characteristics (NO_x emissions) was evaluated. The experimental results demonstrated that air flow rate is the most important factor in the process; a higher air fuel rate contributed to higher NO_x emissions and gas temperature. It also was found that the NO_x emissions increase dramatically when the air flow rate increases.