O interesse no desenvolvimento de sistemas eficientes de combustão para reduzir a poluição ambiental e aumentar a eficiência de queima tem chamado a atenção para a combustão em meios porosos inertes. A recirculação de calor, induzida pela matriz sólida a partir dos produtos quentes para os reagentes frios, aumenta a temperatura da chama melhorando a sua estabilidade e permitindo a utilização de combustíveis com baixo poder calorífico. Um estudo teórico recente mostra que uma chama estabilizada por um plano de estagnação imersa em um meio poroso pode, sob certas condições, estender os limites de inflamabilidade de uma mistura de ar e combustível. Por outro lado, o plano de estagnação é um problema que simula o efeito da taxa de deformação do escoamento sobre a estabilidade da chama, o que é relevante para várias configurações de queimador poroso. Portanto, o foco deste trabalho é o estudo da combustão em um queimador poroso com um plano de estagnação. Um experimento é conduzido com empacotamento de esferas, onde uma chama pode ser estabilizada por plano de estagnação devido a um anteparo. A razão de equivalência e a taxa de deformação são controladas pelos fluxos de ar e de combustível e da distância entre injetor e anteparo. A posição da chama é aproximadamente determinada pelo campo de temperaturas medidas por termopares. Complementarmente é realizada uma análise numérica simplificada do problema na qual se pode verificar o efeito da taxa de deformação sobre a estabilidade de chamas em queimadores porosos. Os resultados mostram que é possível estabilizar chamas no interior do meio poroso com plano de estagnação, porém, não foi possível atribuir um aumento de temperatura devido ao aumento da taxa de deformação. / The interest in developing efficient combustion systems to reduce environmental pollution and increase the burning efficiency has called attention to the combustion in inert porous media. The heat recirculation, induced by the solid matrix, from the hot products to the incoming cold reactants, increases the flame temperature and improves its stability, allowing for the use of fuels with low heat content. A recent study shows theoretically that a flame stabilized by a stagnation plane immersed in a porous medium may, under certain conditions, to extend the flammability limits of a mixture of fuel and air. On the other hand, the stagnation plane imposes a certain strain rate on the flow field, which is relevant to various porous burner configurations. Therefore, the focus of this work is the study of combustion in a porous burner with a stagnation plane. An experiment is conducted with packing bed of spheres where a flame can be stabilized against a stagnation plane. The equivalence ratio and the strain rate are controlled by the flows of air and fuel and the distance between the injector and the stagnation plane. The flame position is approximately determined by the temperature field measured by thermocouples. In addition, it is performed a simplified numerical analysis of the problem in which one can see the effect of the strain rate on the stability of flames in porous burners. The results show that it is possible to stabilize flames within the porous medium with stagnation plane, however, it has not been possible to assign a temperature increase due to the increased strain rate.

O interesse no desenvolvimento de sistemas eficientes de combustão para reduzir a poluição ambiental e aumentar a eficiência de queima tem chamado a atenção para a combustão em meios porosos inertes. A recirculação de calor, induzida pela matriz sólida a partir dos produtos quentes para os reagentes frios, aumenta a temperatura da chama melhorando a sua estabilidade e permitindo a utilização de combustíveis com baixo poder calorífico. Um estudo teórico recente mostra que uma chama estabilizada por um plano de estagnação imersa em um meio poroso pode, sob certas condições, estender os limites de inflamabilidade de uma mistura de ar e combustível. Por outro lado, o plano de estagnação é um problema que simula o efeito da taxa de deformação do escoamento sobre a estabilidade da chama, o que é relevante para várias configurações de queimador poroso. Portanto, o foco deste trabalho é o estudo da combustão em um queimador poroso com um plano de estagnação. Um experimento é conduzido com empacotamento de esferas, onde uma chama pode ser estabilizada por plano de estagnação devido a um anteparo. A razão de equivalência e a taxa de deformação são controladas pelos fluxos de ar e de combustível e da distância entre injetor e anteparo. A posição da chama é aproximadamente determinada pelo campo de temperaturas medidas por termopares. Complementarmente é realizada uma análise numérica simplificada do problema na qual se pode verificar o efeito da taxa de deformação sobre a estabilidade de chamas em queimadores porosos. Os resultados mostram que é possível estabilizar chamas no interior do meio poroso com plano de estagnação, porém, não foi possível atribuir um aumento de temperatura devido ao aumento da taxa de deformação. / The interest in developing efficient combustion systems to reduce environmental pollution and increase the burning efficiency has called attention to the combustion in inert porous media. The heat recirculation, induced by the solid matrix, from the hot products to the incoming cold reactants, increases the flame temperature and improves its stability, allowing for the use of fuels with low heat content. A recent study shows theoretically that a flame stabilized by a stagnation plane immersed in a porous medium may, under certain conditions, to extend the flammability limits of a mixture of fuel and air. On the other hand, the stagnation plane imposes a certain strain rate on the flow field, which is relevant to various porous burner configurations. Therefore, the focus of this work is the study of combustion in a porous burner with a stagnation plane. An experiment is conducted with packing bed of spheres where a flame can be stabilized against a stagnation plane. The equivalence ratio and the strain rate are controlled by the flows of air and fuel and the distance between the injector and the stagnation plane. The flame position is approximately determined by the temperature field measured by thermocouples. In addition, it is performed a simplified numerical analysis of the problem in which one can see the effect of the strain rate on the stability of flames in porous burners. The results show that it is possible to stabilize flames within the porous medium with stagnation plane, however, it has not been possible to assign a temperature increase due to the increased strain rate.

O interesse no desenvolvimento de sistemas eficientes de combustão para reduzir a poluição ambiental e aumentar a eficiência de queima tem chamado a atenção para a combustão em meios porosos inertes. A recirculação de calor, induzida pela matriz sólida a partir dos produtos quentes para os reagentes frios, aumenta a temperatura da chama melhorando a sua estabilidade e permitindo a utilização de combustíveis com baixo poder calorífico. Um estudo teórico recente mostra que uma chama estabilizada por um plano de estagnação imersa em um meio poroso pode, sob certas condições, estender os limites de inflamabilidade de uma mistura de ar e combustível. Por outro lado, o plano de estagnação é um problema que simula o efeito da taxa de deformação do escoamento sobre a estabilidade da chama, o que é relevante para várias configurações de queimador poroso. Portanto, o foco deste trabalho é o estudo da combustão em um queimador poroso com um plano de estagnação. Um experimento é conduzido com empacotamento de esferas, onde uma chama pode ser estabilizada por plano de estagnação devido a um anteparo. A razão de equivalência e a taxa de deformação são controladas pelos fluxos de ar e de combustível e da distância entre injetor e anteparo. A posição da chama é aproximadamente determinada pelo campo de temperaturas medidas por termopares. Complementarmente é realizada uma análise numérica simplificada do problema na qual se pode verificar o efeito da taxa de deformação sobre a estabilidade de chamas em queimadores porosos. Os resultados mostram que é possível estabilizar chamas no interior do meio poroso com plano de estagnação, porém, não foi possível atribuir um aumento de temperatura devido ao aumento da taxa de deformação. / The interest in developing efficient combustion systems to reduce environmental pollution and increase the burning efficiency has called attention to the combustion in inert porous media. The heat recirculation, induced by the solid matrix, from the hot products to the incoming cold reactants, increases the flame temperature and improves its stability, allowing for the use of fuels with low heat content. A recent study shows theoretically that a flame stabilized by a stagnation plane immersed in a porous medium may, under certain conditions, to extend the flammability limits of a mixture of fuel and air. On the other hand, the stagnation plane imposes a certain strain rate on the flow field, which is relevant to various porous burner configurations. Therefore, the focus of this work is the study of combustion in a porous burner with a stagnation plane. An experiment is conducted with packing bed of spheres where a flame can be stabilized against a stagnation plane. The equivalence ratio and the strain rate are controlled by the flows of air and fuel and the distance between the injector and the stagnation plane. The flame position is approximately determined by the temperature field measured by thermocouples. In addition, it is performed a simplified numerical analysis of the problem in which one can see the effect of the strain rate on the stability of flames in porous burners. The results show that it is possible to stabilize flames within the porous medium with stagnation plane, however, it has not been possible to assign a temperature increase due to the increased strain rate.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Ultra-lean methane combustion in porous burners is investigated by means of a pilot-scale demonstration of the technology supported by a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling study. The suitability of porous burners as a lean-burn technology for the mitigation of methane emissions is also evaluated. Methane constitutes 14.3% of total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The mitigation of these emissions could have a significant near-term effect on slowing global warming, and recovering and burning the methane would allow a wasted energy resource to be exploited. The typically low and fluctuating energy content of the emission streams makes combustion difficult; however porous burners—an advanced combustion technology capable of burning low-calorific value fuels below the conventional flammability limit—are a possible mitigation solution. A pilot-scale porous burner is designed expressly for the purpose of ultra-lean methane combustion. The burner comprises a cylindrical combustion chamber filled with a porous bed of alumina saddles, combined with an arrangement of heat exchanger tubes for preheating the incoming methane/air mixture. A CFD model is developed to aid in the design process. Results illustrating the operating range and behaviour of the burner are presented. Running on natural gas, the stable lean flammability limit of the system is 2.3 vol%, a considerable extension of the conventional lean limit of 4.3 vol%; operating in the transient combustion regime allows the lean limit to be reduced further still, to 1.1 vol%. The heat exchanger arrangement is found to be effective; preheat temperatures of up to 800K are recorded. Emissions of carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons are negligible. The process appears stable to fluctuations in fuel concentration and flow rate, typically taking several hours to react to any changes. A CFD model of the porous burner is developed based on the commercial CFD code ANSYS CFX 12.0. The burner is modelled as a single 1-dimensional porous domain. Pressure loss due to the presence of the porous solid is accounted for using an isotropic loss model. Separate energy equations for the gas and solid phases are applied. Models for conductive heat transfer within the solid phase, and for convective heat transport between the gas and solid phases, are added. Combustion is modelled using a finite rate chemistry model; a skeletal mechanism for ultra-lean methane combustion is developed and incorporated into the model to describe the combustion reaction. Results from the model are presented and validated against experimental data; the model correctly predicts the main features of burner behaviour. Porous burners are found to show potential as a methane mitigation technology.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Ultra-lean methane combustion in porous burners is investigated by means of a pilot-scale demonstration of the technology supported by a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling study. The suitability of porous burners as a lean-burn technology for the mitigation of methane emissions is also evaluated. Methane constitutes 14.3% of total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The mitigation of these emissions could have a significant near-term effect on slowing global warming, and recovering and burning the methane would allow a wasted energy resource to be exploited. The typically low and fluctuating energy content of the emission streams makes combustion difficult; however porous burners—an advanced combustion technology capable of burning low-calorific value fuels below the conventional flammability limit—are a possible mitigation solution. A pilot-scale porous burner is designed expressly for the purpose of ultra-lean methane combustion. The burner comprises a cylindrical combustion chamber filled with a porous bed of alumina saddles, combined with an arrangement of heat exchanger tubes for preheating the incoming methane/air mixture. A CFD model is developed to aid in the design process. Results illustrating the operating range and behaviour of the burner are presented. Running on natural gas, the stable lean flammability limit of the system is 2.3 vol%, a considerable extension of the conventional lean limit of 4.3 vol%; operating in the transient combustion regime allows the lean limit to be reduced further still, to 1.1 vol%. The heat exchanger arrangement is found to be effective; preheat temperatures of up to 800K are recorded. Emissions of carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons are negligible. The process appears stable to fluctuations in fuel concentration and flow rate, typically taking several hours to react to any changes. A CFD model of the porous burner is developed based on the commercial CFD code ANSYS CFX 12.0. The burner is modelled as a single 1-dimensional porous domain. Pressure loss due to the presence of the porous solid is accounted for using an isotropic loss model. Separate energy equations for the gas and solid phases are applied. Models for conductive heat transfer within the solid phase, and for convective heat transport between the gas and solid phases, are added. Combustion is modelled using a finite rate chemistry model; a skeletal mechanism for ultra-lean methane combustion is developed and incorporated into the model to describe the combustion reaction. Results from the model are presented and validated against experimental data; the model correctly predicts the main features of burner behaviour. Porous burners are found to show potential as a methane mitigation technology.