EXPERIMENTAL AND MODELING STUDIES OF STAGED COMBUSTION USING A REACTOR ENGINEERING APPROACH

Abstract

Combustion research, long dominated by mechanical engineers, is becoming increasingly a chemical engineering application. It is therefore desirable to have a well defined reactor in which to conduct combustion chemistry studies. A two zone laboratory reactor emulating a perfectly stirred reactor + plug flow reactor (PSR + PFR) sequence has been constructed and validated for use in high temperature normal and staged combustion studies. A premixed fuel/eed enters the backmixed primary zone. The effluent mixes with additional injected oxidant and/or steam, and then enters the linear flow secondary zone. Extracted gas samples from cooled probes located in each zone are subjected to several dedicated on-line stack gas analyzers, and separation/analyses by on-line gas chromatography. Detailed reaction mechanisms from the literature are incorporated into a PSR + PFR reactor engineering model. The experimental feed rates and measured temperatures are also input to the model. Good comparisons between model predictions and experimental data have been obtained for normal and air-staged combustion studies. Rate-of-prod,uction calculations from the modeling offers helpful insight into the reaction pathways responsible for important species, especially pollutants.

KEYWORDS:

• Experimental
• Modeling
• Combustion
• Reaction engineering

Additional information

Notes on contributors

ROBERT B. BARAT

Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed