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Industrial Gas Burner Combustion: Oilon - The Warm Way
Industrial Gas Burner Combustion: Oilon - The Warm Way
• Burner technology
• Emission formation
Industrial burner
flames are always
turbulent
Introduction for gaseous combustion
Applications for industrial gas burner Other applications for industrial gas combustion:
combustion: • Engines
• Power plants Automotive
Steam & hot water generation, Marine
Marine applications, Mechanical power/electricity production
Fluidized bed start up/support, • [Fuel cells]
Absorption cooling
Etc.
• Industrial processes
Side product/waste gas incineration • Gas combustion is widely used in different
Hot air/oil production
applications
Material processing
• Relatively clean
Drying
Etc.
• Can utilize both: fossil & renewable energy
• Gas turbines
CHP/electricity production
• Will be utilized in future to an increasing extent
Airplanes
Introduction for gaseous combustion
Applications for industrial gas burner combustion:
Powerplant
burners
Airplane
turbines
Introduction for gaseous combustion
Applications for industrial gas burner combustion:
Burner technology
Burner requirements:
• Stability
• Cost effectiveness
• Flame dimensions
• Reliable in use (ignition,
capacity adjustment, O2
tolerances)
• Emissions
• Fuel versatility
• Turndown ratio
Burners can be divided into
• Energy efficiency two groups depending the
• Ease of maintenance fan integration level
• Compact and elegant design • Monoblock burners
Since this lecture is all about gas combustion, we will concentrate our efforts today especially
into two of before mentioned burner requirements: Stability & Emissions
Let us start with flame stability issues. Emission formation and reduction tecniques will be
discussed later.
Flame stabilization means control over the reaction front.
• Pilot flame
• Fuel/air counterflow
• Combinations of these
High swirl
Low swirl
Hot recirculation products are constantly igniting the mixture
Different bluff body shapes (Source: Baukal et al. 2001 – The John Zink Combustion Handbook, Cheng - Low Swirl Combustion
Burner technology
Air damper +
servo
PI diagram
Burner technology
Basic structure and components in dual fuel (gas & oil) burner head
Gas manifold/lance
Oil gun Ignition system
(pilot burner/spark)
Gas nozzles
Flame scanner
Flame stabilization
• swirl
• bluff body
• flame speed etc.
• Turbulence control
Air dampers
• swirl control
• air distribution control
Emission formation
SOx
particulates
Unavoidable with burner technology
Soot
CO2
Green house gas
Unavoidable with burner technology
• CO is an intermediate combustion product and is formed and further oxidized into Carbon dioxide (CO2) in
normal furnace conditions (R1 & R1).
(Source: Wunning et al. 2009 – Handbook of Burner Technology for Industrial Furnaces, Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen)
Emission formation – NOx
NOx
NOx
NOx C) Gaseous fuels
NOx containing nitrogen
components such as
ammonia NH3 and
hydrogen cyanide
HCN.
o Thermal NO formation.
o Prompt NO formation.
(Source: Wunning et al. 2009 – Handbook of Burner Technology for Industrial Furnaces, Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen
Emission formation – NOx
Thermal NO formation:
• Bounding energy of N2 molecyle is so high, that combustion air oxygen O2 cannot break it
in normal combustion conditions.
𝑁2 + 𝑂2 → 2NO NOx
• Instead the formation of NO happens as a result of more complicated reaction path which is
actuated by a single atomed O-radical:
𝑁2 + 𝑂 → NO + N (R3)
N + 𝑂2 → NO + O (R4)
• This reaction path was first introduced in 1940’s and represents the so called Zeldovich mechanism.
• Later it was found that the importance of reaction R4 diminishes when residual O2 is decreased. In this
case reaction R4 is partly replaced by R5, where hydroxyl radical is operating as an oxidizer.
N + 𝑂𝐻 → NO + H (R5)
• The amount of generated O & OH-radicals is exponentially proportional to flame temperature thus
resulting high temperature dependency for the whole process.
• Studies show that Zeldovich NO formation is not significant below 1400 C but in temperatures above
1600 C it’s many times the dominating formation mechanism.
• For these reasons the presented mechanism is widely called ”thermal NO”.
(Source: Wunning et al. 2009 – Handbook of Burner Technology for Industrial Furnaces, Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen
Emission formation – NOx
Prompt NO formation
• Backround of Prompt NO formation goes back to 1970’s, when Fenimore showed that all
NO formation could not be explaned with Zeldovich mechamism in Hydrocarbon flames NOx
experiensing sub stoichiometric conditions.
• Instead he suggested that combustion air Nitrogen N2 would react according to reaction R6
in these conditions.
𝑁2 + 𝐶𝐻 → HCN + N (R6)
• Hydrogen cyanide HCN would then further oxidize to NO through many possible reaction paths.
• Prompt NO formation is only relevant in the flame reaction zone, when the combustion is not
complete and the needed hydrocarbon radicals (CH) are available.
• Usually the formation of prompt NO is very rapid and only slightly dependent from temperature.
• In conventional burner applications prompt NO contribution to the total emission level is no more
than 5 %.
• How ever in low NOx-applications, where the flame is relatively cool and strongly staged, the prompt
NO contribution becomes more relevant and should be taken into account in burner combustion
performance desing.
(Source: Wunning et al. 2009 – Handbook of Burner Technology for Industrial Furnaces, Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen
Emission reduction methods – CO
• As was mentioned earlier, CO as an incombustible substance is detected in flue gases due to following
reasons:
• Complete CO burn out could be promoted by altering the above mentioned conditions, but the problem is
that CO formation conditions are often in conflict with NOx formation conditions.
• However there are few variables that will promote both CO and NOx reduction:
o Choosing larger boiler.
o Adding more residual oxygen.
• Unfortunately these decisions are not something that burner manufacturer can make and there are some
downsides related to them as well (investment costs, operational costs).
5. Burner technology/design
5.1 Air and fuel distribution.
5.2 Air and fuel staging.
5.3 Internal FGR.
5.4 Steam/water injection.
6. Boiler design
6.1 Furnace shape & dimensions.
6.2 Wall temperature.
6.3 Refractory walls.
6.4 Burner placement and number.
7. Secondary methods
7.1 OFA/reburn.
7.2 SCR.
7.3 SNCR.
7.4 Oilon catalytic reduction (not be discussed in this presentation).
Emission reduction methods – NOx
1. Oxidizer and fuel composition:
• Calorific value (MJ/kg) determines the energy content of the fuel. NOx
It can be stated as rule of thumb, that the bigger it is, the more NOx emissions there are
likely to emerge, since the fuel is more reactive.
• In case of Hydrocarbon combustion a Hydrogen/Carbon ratio will also affect to the NOx emissions
together with calorific value.
NOx reduction with FGR
Usually there tends to be more NOx’s when hydrocarbons get heavier and Hydrogen/carbon
ratio of the fuel molecule decreases.
• Air contains 78 vol-% of molecular Nitrogen N2. N2 is an inert substance it does not participate
in major reactions.
o If air as an oxidizer is replaced for example with pure Oxygen, NOx emissions will rise
drastically.
o On the other hand if air as an oxidizer is diluted with recirculated flue gas, the relative portion
of inert substances will grow and NOx emissions will decrease.
• Combustion air moisture content will also have an influence to overall NOx emission.
The bigger the relative moisture, the more inert substances there are → NOx will decrease.
(Source: Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen, Baukal et al. 2001 – The John Zink Combustion Handbook)
Emission reduction methods – NOx
2. Oxidizer and fuel temperature:
• The amount of NOx increase is case/fuel/burner dependent, but rough estimates can be made
from these figures.
(Source: Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen, Baukal et al. 2001 – The John Zink Combustion Handbook)
Emission reduction methods – NOx
3. Oxidizer and fuel pressure:
• Altitude of the boiler plant will have an effect to the burner operating conditions.
NOx
• This needs to be taken into account in the project design process.
• In higher altitudes air density decreases. Sometimes temperature drop will compensate this
phenomena.
Example case
• Density change will have multiple effects on burner 35 Burner
pressure
operation: drop
33 [mbar]
o Burner pressure drop increases.
31
o Velocities will grow in burner head and in the
furnace. 29
Possible risk for flame stability. Δp_poltin [mbar]
27
o Flame begins to grow in size (CO risk).
Altitude[m]
o NOx emissions decrease. 25
0m 1000 m 2000 m 3000 m
Sea level
2. Lambda (Europe).
(Source: Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen, Baukal et al. 2001 – The John Zink Combustion Handbook)
Emission reduction methods – NOx
5. Burner technology/design:
NOx
• There are different ways to reduce NOx emissions with burner design (primary
methods):
• Ensuring that air and fuel are distributed symmetrically/as designed to the burner head is one NOx
of the basic functions of the burner head as a component.
o Usually this is done with sufficient pressure drop on both gas/air sides.
o Air cabin design and internal guiding vane structures etc. will help to achieve even distribution
with reduced pressure drop.
o A common mistake for inexperinced customer is to have improper air ducting before the burner.
This is something that cannot be fully compensated with burner design.
• Uneven flow profile will undermine the effectiveness of air staging in the burner head, thus NOx and
CO emissions will grow bigger than in optimal circumstances.
• Air and fuel staging is the traditional and most commonly used primary method for NOx NOx
reduction purposes.
• Air staging reduces NOx emissions due to its ability to create local regions for fuel rich and lean mixtures.
Rich
Lean
(Source: Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen, Baukal et al. 2001 – The John Zink Combustion Handbook)
Emission reduction methods – NOx
5.3 Burner technology/design: Internal FGR
• Internal FGR is a process where combustion products inside the furnace are recirculated NOx
back into the flame.
• Although the furnace flue gases are relatively hot, they are
considerably cooler than the flame itself when recirculated
back into the flame root.
ACE
• One way to reduce flame temperature is to inject water or steam into the combustion zone or
NOx
mix it with combustion air.
• Water is typically more effective in reducing NOx emissions compared to steam, but it will
have a bigger impact to the boiler efficiency, which will in both cases decrease.
• This is because of the latent heat absorbed by water and increased amount of flue gases,
which both will in turn increase flue gas losses. Water latent heat can be partly recovered in
condensing boilers.
• Water/steam injection
also increases the plant
operating costs.
(Source: Wunning et al. 2009 – Handbook of Burner Technology for Industrial Furnaces)
Emission reduction methods – NOx
6.1 Boiler design: Furnace shape & dimensions
• The emission performance of a burner does always depend strongly from the boiler it is
installed. NOx
• When estimating the emission levels for a certain fuel, one of the first things to consider are the
furnace dimensions and shape.
o For NOx performance point of view the width and height are the most important factors,
because they determine the base level for internal flue gas recirculation.
o Also the furnace cross sectional shape must be reasonable in order to confirm that
internal FGR is distributed symmetrically to the flame root.
• Wall temperature of heat transfer surfaces inside the furnace is proportional to the total heat NOx
transfer rate from the flame into the boiler water/steam.
The hotter the surface, the less heat transfers there can be from the flame.
The less heat transfer there is, the hotter the flame will be.
The hotter the flame is, the more NOx emissions it will generate.
• There are multiple factors that have an impact to the wall temperature:
NOx
• It is an experimental fact, that NOx emission will increase if
a flame flow pattern is influenced by another flame.
• OFA (Over Fire Air) is a form of air staging that can be utilized in large furnaces with low
NOx
thermal heat loads.
(Source: Wunning et al. 2009 – Handbook of Burner Technology for Industrial Furnaces, Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen)
Emission reduction methods – NOx
7.2 Secondary methods: SCR
• SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) involves injecting a NOx reducing chemical NOx
into an exhaust gas stream in the presence of a catalyst within a specific
temperature window (230 – 600 C).
• Disadvantages SCR:
(Source: Wunning et al. 2009 – Handbook of Burner Technology for Industrial Furnaces, Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen)
Emission reduction methods – NOx
7.3 Secondary methods: SNCR
• SNCR (Selective Noncatalytic Reduction) involves injecting a NOx reducing chemical into a NOx
furnace within a specific temperature window (800– 1100 C).
• No catalyst is involved to the process.
• Disadvantages SNCR:
(Source: Wunning et al. 2009 – Handbook of Burner Technology for Industrial Furnaces, Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen)
Modelling of gaseous flames – Theory
o Or if we are modelling monoblock burner (with integrated fan) we need to use Sliding meshes or
moving reference frame model.
• It is safe to say that in practical applications the geometry representation are always
generated in 3D-form, since there are no simple 2D cases in real world.
o Lab models are complitely different thing.
o This requirement for 3D is also affecting to our model options, since 3D-meshes are more
complicated, thus resource intensive.
→ Usually we are not able to use time dependent schemes or particle tracking methods
together with combustion modelling.
• Because of the vast amount of available models, I will concentrate only to the ones that
are most often used on Oilon’s applications.
(Source: Wunning et al. 2009 – Handbook of Burner Technology for Industrial Furnaces, Raiko et al. 2002 – Poltto ja Palaminen), Ansys Fluent 18.0 theory manual 2017).
Modelling of gaseous flames – Theory
Work procedure:
• Calculation initialization
• Calculation start
o Iterating 1 hour…
o Iterating 2 hours…
o Iterating 1 day…..
o Iterating 1 week……..
Lately (last 10 years) more and more results are gained with computer simulations (CFD).
250 120
Current NOx levels
TP-burner
S-burner 100
200
NOx level [mg/nm3] ref O2 = 3 %
60
ULTRAX
100
40
50 ACE
FGR 20
catalytic
Year
0 0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Modelling of gaseous flames – Case ACE
Initial modelling was followed by performance optimization, which was carried out with more detailed
modelling that included skeletal reaction mechanisms and more comprehensive meshes with minimal
boundary condition assumptions.
Stability control
(eg. OH-radical
formation)
Furnace geometry
influence to emissions
and stability
Modelling of gaseous flames – Case ACE
Lab tests were straightforward and fast to conduct because of the virtual experience gained from CFD modelling.
3. Identical testing procedure and combustion optimization with liquid fuels (light/heavy oil).
Modelling of gaseous flames – Case ACE
Primary flame photo Primary flame modelled Reaction heat (visible part of the flame is red) Temperature
90
CO (dry, O2,ref = 3%) [ppmv]
25 25 25 CFD model
80
Burner Δp [mbar]
20 20 20 measurements
70
15 15 15
60
10 10 10 50
5 5 5 40
FGR amount [%]
0 30
0 0
modelled measured 0 5 10 15 20
modelled measured modelled measured
Thank you for your attention!