<div>The objective of this research was to develop an efficient simulation of an industrial reheating furnace with a flexible scale formation model and to apply the models to study various conditions within an industrial reheating furnace. This work focused on developing a model capable of considering many different key variables that influence scale formation. The scale formation model was incorporated into the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS Fluent © to solve a coupled steady-state and transient simulation. It was also generalized for a low-carbon steel product, so it may not be adequate to cover the effects of alloying metals on the oxidation process. In order to verify the accuracy of these models, baseline cases were simulated and validated against both industrial data and findings from experiments in published literature.</div><div><br></div><div>A parametric study with two levels of oxygen enrichment implementation in only the preheat zone was undertaken to study the effects on the heat transfer, scale formation, and fluid flow within the reheat furnace. A medium oxygen enrichment case of 46 vol% oxygen and an oxy-fuel case were used for study. Both oxygen enrichment cases showed largely increased heat transfer to the slab in the preheat zone and increased scale formation. Based on these results, 46 vol% oxygen enrichment is recommended for use in a typical industrial reheat furnace with additional firing rate drawback to reduce scaling and to reduce the chance of overheating the steel slab product.</div>

In this study the data taken from Outokumpu type Flash smelter of Eti-Bakir Plant (Samsun, Turkey) was used to write a computer program in Visual Basic with interface to Excel. Flash smelting is the pyrometallurgical process for smelting metal sulfide concentrates, used in Eti-Bakir plant. In this plant, copper flash smelting consists of blowing fine, dried copper sulfide concentrate mixtures, silica flux, lignite with air into the furnace and natural gas as main fuel. The molten matte is the principal product of the furnace and slag contains 0.5-2% Cu. It is sent to a slag treatment (flotation) process for Cu recovery. This flash furnace off-gas contains from 8-12 volume % SO2 which is fixed as H2SO4. Written program was used to optimize the consumption of oxygen enriched air, fuel and lignite in this Flash Smelter by making material and heat balance of the plant.

L'étude et la compréhension du comportement des flammes de diffusion sont nécessaires et ceci à cause de leur présence dans diverses applications industrielles. Dans la présente étude, cette flamme de diffusion laminaire est issue d'un jet circulaire de méthane et d'un jet coaxial d'air. Deux moyens sont proposés afin d'influencer cette flamme: l'application d'un champ magnétique non-homogène et l'enrichissement du jet d'air coaxial en oxygène. L'effet de ces deux facteurs est étudié au niveau des caractéristiques de la flamme hauteur de décrochage ou lift et la longueur de la flamme), son comportement, sa stabilité et les instabilités d'écoulement en amont de la flamme, de front de flamme et de sommet de la flamme (flickering). L'effet du champ magnétique dépend du signe de son gradient, et cet effet est dû à la génération d'une force magnétique et de la modification des courants de convection. L'enrichissement de l'air en oxygène a un effet stabilisant sur la flamme, une meilleure efficacité énergétique est remarquée. Le champ magnétique et l'enrichissement en oxygène modifient l'amplitude et la fréquence des instabilités évoquées. Un avantage majeur de ces moyens de contrôle pourrait être une stabilisation de la flamme décrochée a la sortie du brûleur. / Studying and understanding the behavior of diffusion flames becomes of great importance becauseof their presence in different industrial applications. In this study, the laminar diffusion flame isissued from a circular jet of methane and a coaxial jet of air. Two ways are proposed to influencethis flame: the application of a non-homogeneous magnetic field and enrichment of air with oxygen.The effect of these two factors is studied on the flame characteristics (lift-off height and flamelength), its behavior, stability and the instabilities of the upstream flow, the flame base and theflame top (flickering). The effect of the magnetic field depends on the sign of its gradient, and it'sdue to the generation of a magnetic force and the influence on the convection motion. Enrichmentof air with oxygen is having a stabilizing effect on the flame. Magnetic field and oxygen enrichmentcan modify the amplitude and the frequency of different kind of instabilities. The major advantageconsists in the stabilization of the flame on the burner rim.

This study was motivated by the excess oxygen that likely results from the current transition to hydrogen-based Swedish steel production. The potential usability of large amounts of oxygen in a process gas for iron ore pellet induration could improve the process efficiency in terms of fuel consumption and productivity. Iron ore pellets constitute the main raw material used in Scandinavian steel production. Knowledge of the effects of the process-gas oxygen level on induration is a prerequisite for establishing if, how, and to what extent oxygen enrichment can be exploited in an optimum manner to control temperature development and oxidation, while maintaining pellet quality. The objectives of this study are as follows: 1) to investigate the effects of the oxygen level in the inflow gas on pellet bed oxidation during induration, as well as the effects on the bed-scale temperature, oxidation degree, and cold compression strength (CCS) development; and 2) to identify the oxidation mechanisms corresponding to various oxygen levels and thermal histories. The current knowledge regarding the effects of high oxygen levels in the gas on oxidation is based on small-scale experiments; this study was conducted on a larger bed-scale and will thus contribute significantly to the knowledge pool of bed-scale effects resulting from different oxygen levels in the inflow process gas. An interrupted pot furnace experimental method was used, with the highest investigated oxygen level in the gas at 40% and an approximate bed-scale of 100 kg of pellets. The following conclusions were drawn from this study. First, efficient heating and a high degree of oxidation of an entire bed were rapidly achieved with the highest investigated oxygen level (40% O₂) compared to the results of the lower oxygen levels (6%, 13% and 30% O₂). The gas with 40% O₂ yielded improved pellet properties and a more uniform oxidation degree along the bed, compared to beds exposed to gas with lower O₂. Second, the temperature at the bottom of the bed increased more rapidly when exposed to a higher oxygen content in the gas compared to when only the gas temperature was increased. Third, the mechanical pellet properties (CCS and macrostructure) were improved in a bed exposed to gas with 40% O₂ compared to beds exposed to gas with lower oxygen levels. Finally, pellets from local conditions with comparable thermal histories oxidised according to similar mechanisms regardless of the oxygen level. Hence, it was demonstrated that the oxygen level influences the oxidation rate, whilst the temperature affects the oxidation mechanism. The overall trends in terms of the positive effect from the high oxygen content in the gas are promising, as they serve as a starting point for enabling faster production rates in the future. / <p>E632 and a digital meeting in Zoom or Teams. Maximum 8 people will be allowed in E632 due to the covid-19 pandemic situation.</p> / HYBRIT research program 1

Concern for the environment and a need for more efficient energy generation have sparked a growing interest throughout the world in renewable fuels. In order to reduce emissions that negatively contribute to global warming, especially CO2, enormous efforts are being invested in technologies to reduce our impact on the environment. Biomass is an option that is considered CO2 friendly due to the consumption of CO2 upon growth. Co-firing biomass with coal offers economic advantages because of reduced capital costs as well as other positive impacts, such as NOx and SOx emission reductions. However, due to the large average particle size of biomass, issues arise such as poor flame stability and poor carbon burnout. Larger particles can also result in longer flames and different heat transfer characteristics. Oxygen enrichment is being investigated as a possible solution to mitigate these issues and enable co-firing in existing facilities. An Air Liquide designed burner was used in this work to explore the impact of oxygen enrichment on biomass flame characteristics, emissions, and burnout. Multiple biomass fuels were used (medium hardwood, fine hardwood, and straw) in conjunction with multiple burner configurations and operating conditions. Exhaust ash samples and exhaust NO were collected for various operating conditions and burner configurations. All operating parameters including O2 addition, swirl, and O2 location could be used to reduce LOI but whenever LOI was reduced, NO increased producing an NO-LOI trade-off. Starting with high LOI, various parameters such as O2 addition and increased swirl could be used to reduce LOI with only small increases of NO. As O2 or swirl increased further, small decreases in LOI were obtained only with large increases in NO. This behavior was captured through NO-LOI trade-off curves where a given configuration or operating condition was deemed better when the curve was shifted toward the origin. Global enrichment or O2 addition to the secondary stream and O2 addition to the primary stream produced better trade-off results than center O¬2 injection. Straw produced NO-LOI trade-off curves just as the wood particles but the curve was shifted further from the origin, likely due to the higher nitrogen content of the straw. Flame characterization results showed that small amounts of O2 in the center improved flame attachment and stability while increasing flame temperature and pyrolysis rates.

Zincor, a refinery in South Africa, uses the conventional roast-leachelectrowinning process to produce zinc metal. The roasting process of ZnS concentrate makes use of four Lurgi fluidized bed roasters to produce calcine (contains ZnO and ZnFe2O4 as zinc products) and SO2 gas. The roasting plant consists of two 18 m2 and two 35 m2 cross sectional area roasters. Prior to 1996, Zincor utilized air as the only oxidant and fluidizing medium in its roasters. The maximum dry feed rates that the roasters could process were 6.5 t/d.m2. In an attempt to increase production, oxygen enrichment was first trialled and then introduced into the fluidizing air. The ability of oxygen enrichment to increase the rate of the ZnS oxidation reaction allowed higher feed rates to the roasters. This was successful and oxygen enrichment was permanently implemented. That enabled dry feed rates to be maintained at 7.0 t/d.m2 and 7.3 t/d.m2 for the small and big roasters respectively. Oxygen enrichment up to 26% in the fluidizing air is utilized. Due to the highly competitive nature of the zinc industry, innovative processing techniques are necessary to be competitive. The aim of this study is to determine whether oxygen enriched air can be reduced by introducing micro-pelletized concentrate into the roaster feed blend, whilst maintaining current roaster feed rates and calcine quality. This study was executed in four parts. Firstly, the role entrainment played in influencing average particle residence time. Secondly, a study of production methods for stable micro-pellets. Thirdly, a study of the influence of oxygen enrichment and particle size on the roasting of micropellets. The fourth part of the study was introduction of micro-pellets into the Zincor roasters to determine whether oxygen enrichment could be reduced. The particle size distribution of a blend of feed concentrate to the roasters is 50% passing approximately 48 μm. This leads to entrainment values between 87% and 91%. The micro-pelletization process reduces the –500 μm fraction from 87% to 10%, which degrades to 30% during roasting. This requires that approximately 48% of the concentrate needs to be micro-pelletized to restore the 70% designed entrainment target. It was determined that entrained particles spend on average 0.46 hr to 2.44 hr in the bed compared to particles in the overflow that have residence times between 3.93 and 4.00 hr. The calculated times for entrainable particles are somewhat higher and for the bed overflow lower compared to the values measured by Spira, 1970. The required reaction time for micropellets was found to be far below their residence time inside a Zincor roaster. With a load of 20% micro-pellets introduced into the feed concentrate, the oxygen enrichment could be reduced by 60%. The quality of the calcine produced was maintained above the target of 98.8% ZnS to ZnO conversion. The results of this study have shown that the use of micro-pelletization of concentrate at Zincor reduces entrainment of particles successfully. Manipulation of entrainment through micro-pelletization can be used successfully to reduce oxygen enrichment, whilst improving production and maintaining quality at Zincor. Copyright / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering / unrestricted

Cette thèse est une contribution à l’étude des flammes de méthane turbulentes non prémélangées en rotation, dites swirlées, avec ou sans enrichissement en oxygène de l’oxydant. L’étude se focalise sur la stabilité de la flamme, les émissions polluantes et la dynamique du jet en non réactif et réactif. Notre dispositif expérimental se compose d’un brûleur à swirler coaxial avec injection radiale de méthane au voisinage de la sortie du brûleur. Ce dernier est confiné dans une chambre de combustion. La teneur en oxygène dans l’oxydant, le nombre de swirl géométrique et la richesse globale à l’injection sont les principaux paramètres qui peuvent être précisément contrôlés. La stabilité de la flamme est caractérisée par chimiluminescence OH*. Les émissions polluantes sont mesurées par des analyseurs en ligne via un prélèvement dans les gaz brûlés. La dynamique du jet est caractérisée principalement par PIV stéréoscopique dans un plan longitudinal et plusieurs plans transverses. La diffusion du méthane dans le jet swirlé est abordée qualitativement par fluorescence induite par laser de l’acétone dans un plan. À ce jour, peu de travaux portent sur la caractérisation notamment dynamique de ces flammes swirlées avec enrichissement en O2. La mise en rotation du jet est à l’origine d’une zone de recirculation centrale qui favorise la stabilisation de la flamme en régime pauvre et à grand nombre de Reynolds. L’étude des émissions polluantes montre que les régimes de combustion à l’air pour lesquels la flamme est liftée stable sont aussi ceux qui produisent du CO et du CH4 résiduel en des quantités non négligeables. L’enrichissement en oxygène permet alors de convertir les imbrûlés et ce pour de faibles enrichissements tout en améliorant la stabilité de flamme via une diminution de la hauteur d’accrochage et des fluctuations associées comme le confirment de précédentes études. L’augmentation des NOx par la voie thermique a été quantifiée pour des enrichissements en oxygène inférieurs à 30 % vol. L’étude systématique en non réactif et réactif apporte des détails sur la topologie tridimensionnelle du jet swirlé suivant les paramètres de l’étude. L’étude de la décroissance des vitesses et de la décroissance du nombre de swirl dans la direction de l’écoulement permetde mettre en évidence l’effet de la flamme sur le jet swirlé. Un couplage entre l’évolution du taux d’entraînement par la recirculation externe et les émissions polluantes est mis en évidence pour expliquer l’évolution des NOx suivant la richesse globale à l’injection. Nous avons proposé une modélisation des écoulements swirlés qui repose sur les écoulements à vorticité hélicoïdale afin d’identifier les caractéristiques principales des structures hélicoïdales au sein de l’écoulement. / This thesis is a contribution to the study of turbulent non-premixed swirling methane flames with or without oxygen addition in the oxidizer. The study deals with the flame stability, the pollutant emissions and the jet dynamic behaviour in non-reacting and reacting conditions. The burner, operating in a combustion chamber, consists of two concentric tubes with a swirler placed in an annular arrangement, which supplied the oxidant flow (air or oxygen-enriched air). The central pipe delivers fuel (methane) radially just below the burner exit plane. The oxygen content in the oxidizer, the geometric swirl number and the global equivalence ratio are the main parameters, which can be precisely set. OH* chemiluminescence imaging is used to characterize flame stability. Multi-gas analyzers are used to measure pollutant emissions in the exhaust gas. The flow is characterized using stereoscopic PIV measurements in different longitudinal and transverse planes. A qualitative study dealing with the methane diffusion imaging is also conducted by use of acetone planar laser-induced fluorescence. Up to now only few studies have examined the dynamic behavior of this type of swirled flames with oxygen addition. Introducing swirl allows creating a central recirculation zone which favors lean flame stabilization at higher Reynolds numbers. The mapping of the combustion regimes combined with the pollutant emission results show that the stable lifted flames are related to high CO and residual CH4 emission levels in the exhaust gas. Oxygen addition, even by a few percent, allows improving CO and unburned hydrocarbons conversion and increasing flame stability at the same time via a decrease of liftoff heights and the related fluctuations. The NOx emissions increase via the thermal pathway with increasing the oxygen-enrichment rate up to 30 % vol. A comparative study in non-reacting and reacting conditions is conducted to give insight into the tridimensional flow field topology varying the above-mentioned parameters. Mean streamwise velocity and swirl number decay rates show the flame effects on the flow dynamics. A coupling mechanism between the entrainment rate of the surroundings via the external recirculation and the pollutant emissions is proposed to explain the NOx emission trend with the global equivalence ratio. A model is also proposed based on the helical vortices to identify the main features of helix structures in the jet in non-reacting and reacting conditions.

This thesis is concerned with the development and application of laser induced thermal grating spectroscopy (LITGS) as a tool for thermometry in reacting and non-reacting flows. LITGS signals, which require resonant excitation of an absorbing species in the measurement region to produce a thermal grating, are acquired for systematic measurements of temperature in high pressure flames using OH and NO as target absorbing species in the burned gas. The signal obtained in LITGS measurements appears in the form of a time-based signal with a characteristic frequency proportional to the value or the sound speed of the local medium. With knowledge of the gas composition, the temperature can be derived from the speed of sound measurement. LITGS thermometry using resonant excitation of OH in the burned gas region of in oxygen enriched CH4/O2/N2 and CH4/air laminar flames was performed at elevated pressure (0.5 MPa) for a range of conditions. Measurements were acquired in oxygen enriched flames to provide an environment in which to demonstrate LITGS thermometry under high temperature conditions (up to 2900 K). The primary parameters that influence the quality of LITGS signal were also investigated. The signal contrast, which acts as a marker for the strength of the frequency oscillations, is shown to increase with an increase in the burnt gas density at the measurement point. LITGS employing resonant excitation of NO is also demonstrated for quantitative measurements of temperature in three environments – a static pressure cell at ambient temperature, a non-reacting heated jet at ambient pressure and a laminar premixed CH4/NH3/air flame operating at 0.5 MPa. Flame temperature measurements were acquired at various locations in the burned gas close to a water-cooled stagnation plate, demonstrating the capability of NO-LITGS thermometry for measuring the spatial distribution of temperature in combustion environments. In addition, the parameters that in influence the local temperature rise due to LITGS were also investigated in continuous vapour flows of acetone/air and toluene/air mixtures at atmospheric conditions. Acetone and toluene are commonly targeted species in previous LITGS measurements due to their favourable absorption characteristics. Results indicate that LITGS has the potential to produce accurate and precise measurements of temperature in non-reacting flows, but that the product of the pump intensity at the probe volume and the absorber concentration must remain relatively low to avoid significant localised heating of the measurement region.