Flameless combustion technology has been developed over the past twenty years achieving low-NOx emissions and high energy efficiency for industrial applications. In the present work, three aspects of flameless combustion were examined based on a burner employing the Strong-Jet/Weak-Jet (SJ/WJ) configuration. In the first part of the work, a 3-D SJ/WJ physical model was developed in the Lagrangian perspective for an isothermal pair of free jets. The model was used to predict the WJ trajectory, identify important design/operation factors, and estimate the extent of mixing in the main combustion region (confluence region). The model was also validated with experimental data and showed excellent agreement over a wide range of flow conditions. In the second part of the work, a simplified chemical kinetic model was developed for the flameless combustion of natural gas. A detailed chemical reaction mechanism (GRI Mech 3.0) was successfully reduced to a skeletal chemical reaction mechanism under flameless combustion conditions by Principal Component Analysis, sensitivity analysis and reaction flow analysis. The skeletal mechanism was further simplified to a set of 2-D manifolds by Trajectory-Generated Low-Dimensional Manifolds (TGLDM) method. The set of 2-D manifolds was tested by the Batch Reactor (BR) and Perfect Stirred Reactor (PSR) models. From the BR model test, it was found that the chemical reaction rates were well represented by the 2-D manifolds. The effect of the physical perturbation, tested by PSR model, could be handled by the perpendicular projection instead of the orthogonal projection because both showed similar discrepancies with the skeletal mechanism. In the final part of the work, the steady-state Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulation was conducted for the turbulent flameless combustion in the SJ/WJ furnace, based on the Probability Density Function (PDF)/Mixing approach. The set of 2-D manifolds and Conditional Source-term Estimate (CSE) method were used for the combustion reaction and the estimation of the mean production/destruction rate, respectively. This CSE-TGLDM model provided good predictions of major species concentrations. However, the gas temperatures and CO concentrations were highly over-predicted. / Thesis (Ph.D, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-23 11:05:21.884

Flameless combustion in a 48 kW pilot scale furnace fired with natural gas is studied experimentally and computationally. The burner geometry involved a tunnel furnace with two separate feed streams --- one for a high momentum air jet and the other for a low momentum fuel jet. This burner configuration, called a Strong-Jet/Weak-Jet (SJWJ) burner, together with the jetto- jet interactions generate the flameless combustion mode with relatively uniform furnace gas temperature distributions and low NOX emissions. Experiments were carried out under laboratory conditions for turbulent reactive mixing in order to obtain local temperature and gas concentrations. The experimental findings were used to test the performance of CFD numerical models for turbulence, mixing and chemical reactions. For the SJWJ furnace operated in flameless combustion mode, 32 different flow cases were examined to assess the effects of the three main parameters (fuel/air momentum flux ratio, fuel/air nozzle separation distance and fuel injection angle) on the furnace wall temperature profile. Three specific flow configurations were selected for detailed near-field temperature measurements. The gas temperature distribution inside the combustion chamber was found to be relatively uniform, a characteristic of flameless combustion. Four flow configurations were studied to examine the effect of the fuel jet injection angle (0 degrees or 10 degrees) and fuel/air momentum flux ratio (0.0300 and 0.0426) on the mixing, combustion performance and NOX emissions. Gas compositions were measured in the flue gas and within the furnace at selected locations to estimate the concentrations of CO2 CO, CH4, O2, NO and NOX. The NOX concentrations in the flue gas were quite low, ranging from 7 - 13 ppm, another characteristic of flameless combustion. The combusting flow CFD calculations were carried out using the k-ε turbulence model and the eddy-dissipation model for methane-air-2-step reactions to predict the temperature and concentration field. The numerical results for gas temperature and compositions of CH4, O2 and CO2 generally showed good agreement with the experimental data. The predicted CO concentration profiles followed expected trends but the experimental data were generally underpredicted. The NOX concentrations were estimated through post-processing and these results were significantly underpredicted. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-04-04 11:25:25.455

Nowadays, in the field of energy production, particular attention must be paid to improving efficiency, reducing pollutants and fuel flexibility. To reach those goals, cogenerative systems represent an appealing solution. One of the most promising cogenerative systems available nowadays is the micro turbine, which provides reasonable electrical efficiency of about 30%, multi-fuel capability, low emission levels and heat recovery potential, and need minimum maintenance. Among the several options, micro gas turbines (mGT) are particularly interesting. Beside theuse of natural gas, other fuels like landfill gas, ethanol, industrial waste off-gases and other bio-based gases can be used. Moreover, it is possible to further improve the efficiencies and reduce the emissions for mGTs by paying particular attention at the design of the combustion chamber. To this goal, flameless combustion could be an interesting solution. Flameless combustion is able to provide high combustion efficiency with low NOx and soot emissions. The increasing interest in flameless combustion is motivated by its large fuel flexibility, representing a promising technology for low-calorific value fuels, high-calorific industrial wastes as well as in presence of hydrogen. Moreover, flameless combustion is very stableand noiseless, so it is suited for gas turbine applications where conventional operations may lead to significant thermo-acoustic instabilities (“humming”) and stresses. Flameless combustion needs the reactants to be preheated above their self-ignition temperature and enough inert combustion products to be entrained in the reaction region, in order to dilute the flame. As a result, the temperature field is more uniform than in traditional combustion systems, and it does not show high temperature peaks. Hence, NOx formation is suppressed as well as soot formation,due to the lean conditions, low temperatures and the large CO2 concentration in the exhausts.mGTs operating in flameless combustion regime represent a promising technology for the combined production of heat and power with increased efficiency, reduced pollutants emission and high fuel flexibility. The objective of the present Thesis is the design of a combustion chamber for amGT for residential applications. The design is performed employing CFD-tools. Thus, it is necessary to develop a reliable numerical model to use in the design process. Therefore, the first step of the Thesis consists in a series of validation studies, with the goal of selecting the most appropriate and reliable models to describe flameless combustion. The validation will be carried on three differenttest cases, which have different nominal powers and employ different gaseous fuels. The second part of the Thesis focuses on the design and optimization of the combustion chamber. Finally, the third part shows the experimental investigation of the aforementioned chamber.The study of those three cases shows that, to correctly predict the behavior of those systems, it is necessary to take into account both mixing and chemical kinetics. The best results have been obtained with the Eddy Dissipation Concept model, coupled with detailed kinetic schemes. As far as the NOx emissions are concerned, it is fundamental to include all the formation routes, i.e. thermal, prompt, via N2O and NNH route, to estimate properly the NOx production in flameless conditions.The aforementioned models have been used for the design and optimization of a combustion chamber for a mGT operating in flameless combustion regime. Both the design and the optimization have been carried out by means of CFD simulations and both are goal-oriented, meaning that they are carried out with the purpose of improving one or more performance indicators of the chamber, such as pollutants emissions, efficiency or pressure losses. The configuration that satisfies the criteria on the performance indicators has been built and investigated experimentally. The combustion chamber is stable and performs well in terms of emissions for a wide range of air inlet temperature and air-fuel equivalence ratio, lambda, values. Except for the condition closer to the stoichiometric one, both CO and NOx emissions are extremely low for all !and air inlet temperatures. Thechamber performs the best at its nominal operating condition, i.e. lambda = 3.5 and air inlet temperature 730 °C, In this case CO is 0 ppm and NOx is 5.6 ppm. The numerical model employed to describe the combustor performs quite well, except for the CO prediction, for all the conditions investigated. The final step of the present work is the application of a different kind of fuel, namely biogas. First the feasibility of such application has been evaluated using CFD calculations, and then the experimental evidence has been discussed. Due to a calibration error on the gas flow meter, it has not been possible to investigate the conditions of the design point (lambda = 3.5). Three other conditions have been examined,characterized by lower values of !closer to the stoichiometric conditions. Despite the relatively high values of NOx emissions due to the lower air excess and to the consequently higher temperatures, the combustion chamber has proven to be fuel flexible. Both ignition and stable combustion can be achieved also when biogas is burnt. Numerical simulations have also been performed; the results are in good agreement with the experimental evidence. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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La combustion sans flamme est un régime de combustion massivement dilué associant forte efficacité énergétique et très faibles émissions polluantes dans les fours industriels. La composition du combustible et la température des parois de la chambre de combustion sont deux paramètres très influents de ce régime. Dans de précédents travaux menés au CORIA, l’étude du régime de combustion sans flamme des mélanges méthane-hydrogène à 18% d’excès d’air a mené à des résultats originaux et prometteurs. D’autre part, la haute température des parois s’est avérée un élément primordial pour la stabilisation de la combustion sans flamme. Dans le cadre du projet CANOE en collaboration avec GDF SUEZ et l’ADEME, cette thèse a pour objectif, d’une part de compléter l’étude de l’extension de ce régime à des mélanges méthane-hydrogène pour des conditions opératoires plus proches des conditions classiques de fonctionnement de brûleurs (10% d’excès d’air), et d’autre part, d'étudier les problèmes de stabilité de la combustion sans flamme en environnement à basse température pour envisager son application à des configurations de type chaudière industrielle.Sur le four pilote à hautes températures de parois du CORIA, l’ajout de l’hydrogène dans le combustible a permis de garder le régime de combustion sans flamme pour toutes les proportions méthane - hydrogène avec très peu d’émissions polluantes. Une augmentation de l’excès d’air est toutefois nécessaire pour certaines conditions opératoires. Les expériences réalisées avec abaissement progressif de la température des parois ont permis d’étudier l’influence de celle-ci sur le développement de la combustion sans flamme, et d’atteindre les limites de stabilité de ce régime. Des résultats similaires sont obtenus sur une installation semi-industrielle de GDF SUEZ. L’ajout d’hydrogène rend la combustion sans flamme moins sensible à l’abaissement de la température de parois. Une étude analytique de jets turbulents confinés a été développée pour représenter l'interaction entre les jets de réactifs et leur environnement dans la chambre de combustion permettant d'atteindre le régime de combustion sans flamme par entraînement, dilution et préchauffage. Ce modèle nous a permis d’établir une étude systématique permettant de mettre en valeur l’effet de chaque paramètre sur le développement des jets dans l’enceinte, et ainsi servir de moyen de pré-dimensionnement de brûleur à combustion sans flamme. L'apport de chaleur nécessaire à la stabilisation à basse température a ainsi été estimé. Sur cette base, un brûleur adapté aux configurations à parois froides a été dimensionné et fabriqué. L’applicabilité de la combustion sans flamme avec ce brûleur dans une chambre de combustion à parois froides, spécialement conçue et fabriquée dans cet objectif au cours de cette thèse, a été étudiée. Un régime de combustion diluée à basses températures a pu être stabilisé, mais le fort taux d'imbrûlés produits en sortie reste à réduire. / Mild flameless combustion is a massively diluted combustion regime associating high energy efficiency and very low pollutant emissions from industrial furnaces. The fuel composition and walls temperature are two very influential parameters of this combustion regime. In previous works realized at CORIA, flameless combustion of methane - hydrogen mixtures at 18% of excess air has shown very promising results. In another hand, high walls temperature is an essential element for flameless combustion stabilization. Within the framework of the project CANOE in collaboration with GDF SUEZ and ADEME, the objective of this PhD thesis is to complete the study of flameless combustion for methane-hydrogen mixtures in operating conditions similar to classical operating conditions of burners (10% of excess air), and in another hand, to study the stability limits of this combustion regime in low temperature environment like in industrial boiler.Experiments realized on the CORIA high temperature pilot facility, have proved that hydrogen addition in the fuel keep flameless combustion regime stable for all methane - hydrogen proportions, with very ultra-low pollutant emissions. An increase of excess air is however necessary for some operating conditions.Experiments realized with wall temperature progressive decrease allowed to study the influence of this parameter on flameless combustion, and to reach its stability limits. Similar results are obtained on the semi-industrial facility of GDF SUEZ. With hydrogen addition, flameless combustion is less sensitive to wall temperature decrease. An analytical representation of confined turbulent jets has been then developed to represent interaction between the reactant jets and their environment in the combustion chamber allowing reaching fameless combustion regime by entrainment, dilution and preheating. The effect of each parameter on the development of the jets can be then studied, which can be used as convenient tool of flameless combustion burners design. The heat quantity necessary for the low wall temperature stabilization has been quantified. On this base, a burner adapted to the configurations with cold walls has been designed. The applicability of the flameless combustion with this burner has been studied in a combustion chamber with low wall temperature specially designed for this purpose during this thesis. A mild diluted combustion regime has been achieved, but the high levels of unburnt gases have to be reduced.

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Une étude expérimentale de l'influence des mélanges gazeux sur le régime de combustion sans flamme a été menée sur l'installation pilote du CORIA, en collaboration avec GDF SUEZ. La première partie de cette étude a été consacrée à la caractérisation détaillée de ce régime de combustion particulier au méthane pur avec et sans préchauffage de l'air comburant. Des mesures locales de température et concentrations d'espèces stables ont été réalisées à l'aide de thermocouples à fil fin et sonde de prélèvement. Une attention particulière a aussi été portée au développement et l'adaptation de techniques d'imagerie sur ce type de four : l'imagerie de chimiluminescence OH* pour la visualisation des zones de réaction et la PIV endoscopique afin d'obtenir des champs de vitesse de grandes dimensions malgré le fort confinement à haute température. L'analyse des résultats obtenus a permis de mettre en évidence le rôle principal de l'aérodynamique des jets turbulents de réactifs dans le four assurant l'obtention et la stabilisation de ce régime de combustion massivement diluée. Dans la seconde partie de cette étude, la faisabilité de l'utilisation d'hydrogène dans un four pilote fonctionnant en régime de combustion sans flamme a été démontrée. On retrouve toutes les caractéristiques intrinsèques à ce régime de combustion en termes de forte efficacité énergétique (lors du préchauffage de l'air) et très faibles émissions polluantes (CO et NOx) de ce régime massivement dilué, associé à la réduction des émissions de CO2 avec l'augmentation de la teneur en hydrogène dans le combustible. En fonctionnement à l'hydrogène pur et sans préchauffage de l?air, le four n?émet plus aucune espèce carbonée et quasiment pas de NOx ; on se rapproche d'un four à "zéro émission". / An experimental study of the influence of the aerodynamic mixing on flameless combustion regime has been carried out on the CORIA lab-scale facility with the collaboration of GDF SUEZ. A detailed characterisation of this innovating combustion mode, using pure methane as fuel, with and without air preheating is the first part of this study. Temperature and stable species concentrations measurements have been performed with fine wire thermocouple and sampling probe. Imaging techniques have been developed and adapted for in-furnace measurements: OH* chemiluminescence imaging for reaction zone visualization and endoscopic PIV in order to obtain large dimensions velocity fields in spite of the confinement. The results enable us to put in evidence the leading role of aerodynamic of the turbulent jets to ensure the stabilisation of this massive diluted combustion regime. The second part of this study concerns the use of hydrogen as fuel in the pilot furnace operating in flameless combustion regime. The main characteristics of this combustion regime have been found again: high efficiency and very low pollutant emissions (CO and NOx) associated to CO2 emissions reduction while increasing content of hydrogen in the fuel. With pure hydrogen and without air preheating, the furnace produces no carbon-species and nearly no NOx, condition close to a “zero-emission” furnace.