Abstract
Colorless distributed combustion (CDC) is a novel method to enhance flame stability and thermal field uniformity, increase combustion efficiency, and reduce pollutants’ emission. CDC is achieved through the use of a carefully prepared fuel–oxidizer mixture along with reactive species. In this study, a partially premixed, swirl-assisted cylindrical combustor utilized a propane–air flame with either nitrogen or carbon dioxide gas in order to reduce the oxygen concentration of the oxidizer. OH* chemiluminescence signatures were used to determine transition to distributed combustion condition. The results showed transition to CDC at approximately 15% using N2 and 17% using CO2 dilution. Emission of NO and CO under CDC condition showed NO levels of only 2 or 1 ppm using N2 or CO2 dilution, respectively. High-frequency PIV (3 kHz) was used to determine the flow velocity structure and eddy size effects on flame stability and emissions. Increase in dilution enhanced both the radial and axial mean and fluctuating velocities under CDC that foster mixing. Additionally, the Kolmogorov length decreased with increase in dilution resulting in smaller eddy size particularly in the swirl lobe region, which enhanced turbulent dissipation that resulted in lower peak temperatures and reduced thermal NOx emission. Reduced viscosity using CO2 dilution provided a stronger effect in reducing NO as compared to N2 as the diluent.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
U.S. Energy Information Administration. Annual Energy Outlook 2019 with projections to 2050. AEO 2019. Washington DC, USA: U.S. Department of Energy
Wunning JA, Wunning JG (1997) Flameless oxidation o reduce thermal NO formation. Prog Energy Combust Sci 23:81–94
Lammel O, Schutz H, Schmitz G, Luckerath R, Stohr M, Noll B, Aigner M, Hase M, Krebs W (2010) FLOX combustion at high power density and high flame temperature. J Eng Gas Turbines Power 132(12):121503
Zornek T, Monz T, Aigner M (2015) Performance analysis of the micro gas turbine turbec T100 with a new FLOX-combustion system for low calorific values. Appl Energy 159:276–284
Cavaliere A, de Joannon M (2004) MILD combustion. Prog Energy Combust Sci 30(4):329–366
Weber R, Smart JP, vd Kamp W (2005) On the (MILD) combustion of gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels in high temperature preheated air. Proc Combust Inst 30(2):2623–2639
Ozdemir IB, Peters N (2001) Characteristics of the reaction zone in a combustor operating at MILD combustion. Exp Fluids 30:683–695
Arghode VK, Gupta AK (2010) Effect of flowfield for colorless distributed combustion (CDC) for gas turbine combustion. Appl Energy 78:1631–1640
Khalil AEE, Gupta AK (2011) Swirling distributed combustion for clean energy conversion in gas turbine applications. Appl Energy 88:3685–3693
Tsuji H, Gupta AK, Hasegawa T, Katsuki M, Kishimoto K, Morita M (2003) High temperature air combustion: from energy conservation to pollution reduction. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Khalil AEE, Gupta AK (2018) Fostering distributed combustion in a swirl burner using prevaporized liquid fuels. Appl Energy 211:513–522
Correa SM (1992) A review of NOx formation under gas turbine combustion conditions. Combust Sci Technol 87:329–362
Khalil AEE, Gupta AK (2017) Acoustic and heat release signatures for swirl assisted distributed combustion. Appl Energy 193:125–138
Khalil AEE, Gupta AK (2016) Fuel property effects on distributed combustion. Fuel 171:116–124
Khalil AEE, Gupta AK (2015) Impact of internal entrainment on high intensity distributed combustion. Appl Energy 156:241–250
Khalil AEE, Gupta AK (2015) Thermal field investigation under distributed combustion conditions. Appl Energy 160:477–488
Khalil AEE, Gupta AK (2017) Towards colorless distributed combustion regime. Fuel 195:113–122
Khalil AEE, Gupta AK (2016) On the flame-flow interaction under distributed combustion conditions. Fuel 182:17–26
Kim HS, Arghode VK, Linck MB, Gupta AK (2009) Hydrogen addition effects in a confined swirl-stabilized methane-air flame. Int J Hydrogen Energy 34(2):1054–1062
Herning F, Zipperer L (1936) Calculation of the viscosity of technical gas mixtures from the viscosity of individual gases. Gas-und Wasserfach 79:69–73
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and is gratefully acknowledged. Dr. Serhat Karyeyen gratefully acknowledges TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)—2219 and Gazi University for their financial supports as a post-doctoral associate at the Combustion Laboratory, University of Maryland, College Park.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Feser, J.S., Karyeyen, S., Gupta, A.K. (2021). Impact of Flowfield on Pollutants’ Emission from a Swirl-Assisted Distributed Combustor. In: Gupta, A., Mongia, H., Chandna, P., Sachdeva, G. (eds) Advances in IC Engines and Combustion Technology. NCICEC 2019. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5996-9_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5996-9_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-5995-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-5996-9
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)