scholarly journals Descriptive Statistical Analysis of Vegetable Oil Combustion in a Commercial Burner to Establish Optimal Operating Conditions

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio San José ◽  
Yolanda Arroyo ◽  
María Ascensión Sanz-Tejedor
Keyword(s):  
Vegetable Oil ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Airflow Rate ◽  
Optimal Operating ◽  
Combustion Performance ◽  
Fuel Flow ◽  
Oil Fuel ◽  
Descriptive Statistical Analysis

This article studies the combustion of refined sunflower, virgin sunflower and virgin rapeseed oils in a low-pressure auxiliary air fluid pulverization burner in order to establish the optimal operating conditions. The influence of varying the type of vegetable oil, fuel flow rate and secondary airflow rate in the combustion process was analyzed. These three factors are independent in the combustion process, which means having to carry out numerous assays, combining the various factors with one another. Given the amount of variables to be optimized and the existence of three factors, a statistical approach is adopted to help interpret the results obtained and to evaluate how each factor influences the combustion results. Optimal combustion is determined based on three criteria, minimum pollutant emissions (CO, NOx and CxHy), maximum combustion performance, and minimum excess air. The result of this study showed that airflow was the principal factor affecting emissions, whereas for combustion performance, both factors (airflow and fuel flow) were determinant. In general, admissible combustion performances were obtained, with CO and NOx emissions below permitted levels. The best combustion performance was achieved under conditions of maximum fuel flow and minimum airflow rates.

Combustion Performance of Biodiesel and Diesel-Vegetable Oil Blends in a Simulated Gas Turbine Burner

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heena V. Panchasara ◽  
Benjamin M. Simmons ◽  
Ajay K. Agrawal ◽  
Scott K. Spear ◽  
Daniel T. Daly
Keyword(s):  
Vegetable Oil ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Airflow Rate ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Nitric Oxides ◽  
Secondary Importance ◽  
Combustion Performance

Recent increases in fuel costs, concerns for global warming, and limited supplies of fossil fuels have prompted wide spread research on renewable liquid biofuels produced domestically from agricultural feedstock. In this study, two types of biodiesels and vegetable oil (VO) are investigated as potential fuels for gas turbines to generate power. Biodiesels produced from VO and animal fat were considered in this study. The problems of high viscosity and poor volatility of VO (soybean oil) were addressed by using diesel-VO blends with up to 30% VO by volume. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis, and density, kinematic viscosity, surface tension and water content measurements were used to characterize the fuel properties. The combustion performance of different fuels was compared experimentally in an atmospheric pressure burner with an air assist injector and swirling primary air around it. For different fuels, the effect of the atomizing airflow rate on Sauter mean diameter was determined from a correlation for air-assist atomizers. Profiles of nitric oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions were obtained for different atomizing airflow rates, while the total airflow rate was kept constant. Results show that despite the compositional differences, the physical properties and emissions of the two biodiesel fuels are similar. Diesel-VO fuel blends resulted in slightly higher CO emissions compared to diesel, while the NOx emissions correlated well with the flame temperature. Results show that the CO and NOx emissions are determined mainly by fuel atomization and fuel/air mixing processes, and that the fuel composition effects are of secondary importance for fuels and operating conditions of the present study.

Combustion Performance of Biodiesel and Diesel-Vegetable Oil Blends in a Simulated Gas Turbine Burner

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heena V. Panchasara ◽  
Benjamin M. Simmons ◽  
Ajay K. Agrawal ◽  
Scott K. Spear ◽  
Daniel T. Daly
Keyword(s):  
Vegetable Oil ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Airflow Rate ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Nitric Oxides ◽  
Secondary Importance ◽  
Combustion Performance

Recent increases in fuel costs, concerns for global warming, and limited supplies of fossil fuels have prompted wide spread research on renewable liquid biofuels produced domestically from agricultural feedstock. In this study, two types of biodiesels and vegetable oil (VO) are investigated as potential fuels for gas turbines to generate power. Biodiesels produced from VO and animal fat were considered in this study. The problems of high viscosity and poor volatility of VO (soybean oil) were addressed by using diesel-VO blends with up to 30% VO by volume. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis, and density, kinematic viscosity, surface tension, and water content measurements were used to characterize the fuel properties. The combustion performance of different fuels was compared experimentally in an atmospheric pressure burner with an air-assist injector and swirling primary air around it. For different fuels, the effect of the atomizing airflow rate on Sauter mean diameter was determined from a correlation for air-assist atomizers. Profiles of nitric oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions were obtained for different atomizing airflow rates, while the total airflow rate was kept constant. The results show that despite the compositional differences, the physical properties and emissions of the two biodiesel fuels are similar. Diesel-VO fuel blends resulted in slightly higher CO emissions compared with diesel, while the NOx emissions correlated well with the flame temperature. The results show that the CO and NOx emissions are determined mainly by fuel atomization and fuel/air mixing processes, and that the fuel composition effects are of secondary importance for fuels and operating conditions of the present study.

scholarly journals Effect of Fuel and Air Dilution on Syngas Combustion in an Optical SI Engine

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.D. Martinez-Boggio ◽  
S.S. Merola ◽  
P. Teixeira Lacava ◽  
A. Irimescu ◽  
P.L. Curto-Risso
Keyword(s):  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Visible Spectrum ◽  
Propagation Speed ◽  
Fuel Mixture ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Inert Gases ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Si Engine ◽  
Lean Burn

To mitigate the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, energy production processes must change from fossil to renewable resources. Bioenergy utilization from agricultural residues can be a step towards achieving this goal. Syngas (fuel obtained from biomass gasification) has been proved to have the potential of replacing fossil fuels in stationary internal combustion engines (ICEs). The processes associated with switching from traditional fuels to alternatives have always led to intense research efforts in order to have a broad understanding of the behavior of the engine in all operating conditions. In particular, attention needs to be focused on fuels containing relatively high concentrations of hydrogen, due to its faster propagation speed with respect to traditional fossil energy sources. Therefore, a combustion study was performed in a research optical SI engine, for a comparison between a well-established fuel such as methane (the main component of natural gas) and syngas. The main goal of this work is to study the effect of inert gases in the fuel mixture and that of air dilution during lean fuelling. Thus, two pure syngas blends (mixtures of CO and H2) and their respective diluted mixtures (CO and H2 with 50vol% of inert gases, CO2 and N2) were tested in several air-fuel ratios (stoichiometric to lean burn conditions). Initially, the combustion process was studied in detail by traditional thermodynamic analysis and then optical diagnostics were applied thanks to the optical access through the piston crown. Specifically, images were taken in the UV-visible spectrum of the entire cycle to follow the propagation of the flame front. The results show that hydrogen promotes flame propagation and reduces its distortion, as well as resulting in flames evolving closer to the spark plug. All syngas blends show a stable combustion process, even in conditions of high air and fuel dilution. In the leanest case, real syngas mixtures present a decrease in terms of performance due to significant reduction in volumetric efficiency. However, this condition strongly decreases pollutant emissions, with nitrogen oxide (NOx) concentrations almost negligible.

Numerical Optimization of a Waste-to-Energy Plant Under Different Operating Conditions

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niko Samec ◽  
Miran Kapitler ◽  
Filip Kokalj
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Optimization ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Input Parameter ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Plant Design ◽  
Energy Plant ◽  
Input Parameters

The combustion process for using municipal solid waste (MSW) as a fuel within a waste-to-energy plant calls for a detailed understanding of the following phenomena. Firstly, this process depends on many input parameters such as MSW proximate and ultimate analysis, the season of the year, primary and secondary air-inlet velocity and, secondly, on output parameters such as the temperatures or mass-flow rates (MFR) of the combustible products. The variability and mutual dependence of these parameters can be difficult to manage in practice. Moreover, another problem is how these parameters can be tuned to achieving optimal combustion with minimal pollutant emissions during the initial plant-design phase. In order to meet these goals, a waste-to-energy plant with bed-combustion was investigated by using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach with ANSYS CFX 12.0 code within a WORKBENCH 2 environment. In this paper, the adequate variable input boundary conditions based on the real measurement and practical calculations of known MSW composition compared with other authors are used and the whole computational work is updated using real plant geometry and the appropriate turbulence, combustion and heat transfer models. Furthermore, the operating parameters were optimized on output parameters through a trade-off study. The different operating conditions were varied and the fluid flow direction, residence time, temperature field, velocity-field, nitric oxide formation and combustion products through the plant’s combustion chamber and preheat intersection in 3D were predicted and visualized. Optimization in real-time has showed the amounts for each input parameter when meeting the optimal operating conditions. Finally, the response charts between the input and output parameters are presented in order to monitor the dependence among these parameters. Further simulations have to be done to include the geometry dimensions as input parameters when applying the CDF simulation and numerical optimization within the project phase.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation on an Effusion-Cooled Lean Burn Aeronautical Combustor: Aerothermal Field and Emissions

2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Mazzei ◽  
S. Puggelli ◽  
D. Bertini ◽  
A. Andreini ◽  
B. Facchini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Distribution ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Flame Spray ◽  
Distribution Factor ◽  
Lean Burn ◽  
Radial Temperature ◽  
Flamelet Generated Manifold ◽  
The Impact

Lean burn combustion is increasing its popularity in the aeronautical framework due to its potential in reducing drastically pollutant emissions (NOx and soot in particular). Its implementation, however, involves significant issues related to the increased amount of air dedicated to the combustion process, demanding the redesign of injection and cooling systems. Also, the conditions at the combustor exit are a concern, as high turbulence, residual swirl, and the impossibility to adjust the temperature profile with dilution holes determine a harsher environment for nozzle guide vanes. This work describes the final stages of the design of an aeronautical effusion-cooled lean burn combustor. Full annular tests were carried out to measure temperature profiles and emissions (CO and NOx) at the combustor exit. Different operating conditions of the ICAO cycle were tested, considering Idle, Cruise, Approach, and Take-off. Scale-adaptive simulations with the flamelet generated manifold (FGM) combustion model were performed to extend the validation of the employed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodology and to reproduce the experimental data in terms of radial temperature distribution factor (RTDF)/overall temperature distribution factor (OTDF) profiles as well as emission indexes (EIs). The satisfactory agreement paved the way to an exploitation of the methodology to provide a deeper understanding of the flow physics within the combustion chamber, highlighting the impact of the different operating conditions on flame, spray evolution, and pollutant formation.

An Experimental Investigation of HCCI Combustion Stability Using N-Heptane

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailin Li ◽  
W. Stuart Neill ◽  
Wally Chippior ◽  
Joshua D. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Heat Release ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Combustion Stability ◽  
Fuel Flow Rate ◽  
Fuel Flow ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cyclic Variations

In this paper, cyclic variations in the combustion process of a single-cylinder HCCI engine operated with n-heptane were measured over a range of intake air temperatures and pressures, compression ratios, air/fuel ratios, and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rates. The operating conditions produced a wide range of combustion timings from overly advanced combustion where knocking occurred to retarded combustion where incomplete combustion was detected. Cycle-to-cycle variations were shown to depend strongly on the crank angle phasing of 50% heat release and fuel flow rate. Combustion instability increased significantly with retarded combustion phasing especially when the fuel flow rate was low. Retarded combustion phasing can be tolerated when the fuel flow rate is high. It was also concluded that the cyclic variations in imep are primarily due to the variations in the total heat released from cycle-to-cycle. The completeness of the combustion process in one cycle affects the in-cylinder conditions and resultant heat release in the next engine cycle.

Analysis of the Flame Structure in a Trapped Vortex Combustor Using Low and High-Speed OH-PLIF

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradip Xavier ◽  
Alexis Vandel ◽  
Gilles Godard ◽  
Bruno Renou ◽  
Frederic Grisch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Laser Diagnostics ◽  
Flame Structure ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Lean Combustion ◽  
Stage Combustion ◽  
Trapped Vortex

Operating with lean combustion has led to more efficient “Low-NOx” burners but has also brought several technological issues. The burner design geometry is among the most important element as it controls, in a general way, the whole combustion process, the pollutant emissions and the flame stability. Investigation of new geometry concepts associating lean combustion is still under development, and new solutions have to meet the future pollutant regulations. This paper reports the experimental investigation of an innovative staged lean premixed burner. The retained annular geometry follows the Trapped Vortex Combustor concept (TVC) which operates with a two stage combustion chamber: a main lean flame (1) is stabilized by passing past a vortex shape rich-pilot flame (2) located within a cavity. This concept, presented in GT2012-68451 and GT2013-94704, seems to be promising but exhibits combustion instabilities in certain cases, then leading to undesirable level of pollutant emissions and could possibly conduct to serious material damages. No precise information have been reported in the literature about the chain of reasons leading to such an operation. The aim of this paper is to have insights about the main parameters controlling the combustion in this geometry. The flame structure dynamics is examined and compared for two specific operating conditions, producing an acoustically self-excited and a stable burner. Low and high-speed OH-PLIF laser diagnostics (up to 10 kHz) are used to have access to the flame curvature and to time-resolved events. Results show that the cavity jets location can lead to flow-field oscillations and a non-constant flame’s heat release. The associated flame structure, naturally influenced by turbulence is also affected by hot gases thermal expansion. Achieving a good and rapid mixing at the interface between the cavity and the main channel leads to a stable flame.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation on an Effusion-Cooled Lean Burn Aeronautical Combustor: Aerothermal Field and Emissions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Mazzei ◽  
S. Puggelli ◽  
D. Bertini ◽  
A. Andreini ◽  
B. Facchini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Combustion Process ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Combustion Model ◽  
Flame Spray ◽  
Lean Burn ◽  
Flamelet Generated Manifold ◽  
Nozzle Guide ◽  
Nozzle Guide Vanes ◽  
The Impact

Lean burn combustion is increasing its popularity in the aeronautical framework due to its potential in reducing drastically pollutant emissions (NOx and soot in particular). Its implementation however involves significant issues related to the increased amount of air dedicated to the combustion process, demanding the redesign of injection and cooling systems. Also the conditions at the combustor exit are a concern, as high turbulence, residual swirl and the impossibility to adjust the temperature profile with dilution holes determine a harsher environment for nozzle guide vanes. This work describes the final stages of the design of an aeronautical effusion-cooled lean burn combustor. Full annular tests were carried out to measure temperature profiles and emissions (CO and NOx) at the combustor exit. Different operating conditions of the ICAO cycle were tested, considering Idle, Cruise, Approach and Take-Off. Scale-adaptive simulations with the Flamelet Generated Manifold combustion model were performed to extend the validation of the employed CFD methodology and to reproduce the experimental data in terms of RTDF/OTDF profiles as well as emission indexes. The satisfactory agreement paved the way to an exploitation of the methodology to provide a deeper understanding of the flow physics within the combustion chamber, highlighting the impact of the different operating conditions on flame, spray evolution and pollutant formation.

Multi-Coupled Numerical Analysis of Advanced Lean Burn Injection Systems

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Cosimo Bianchini ◽  
Gianluca Caciolli ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Andrea Giusti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Liquid Film ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Injection System ◽  
Lean Burn ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Primary Breakup

Lean burn aero-engine combustors usually exploit advanced prefilming airblast injection systems in order to promote the formation of highly homogeneous air-fuel mixtures with the main aim of reducing NOx emissions. The combustion process is strongly influenced by the liquid fuel preparation and a reliable prediction of pollutant emissions requires proper tools able to consider the most important aspects characterizing liquid film evolution and primary breakup. This paper presents the numerical analysis of an advanced lean burn injection system using a multi-coupled two-phase flow three-dimensional solver developed on the basis of OpenFOAM modelling and numerics. The solver allows the coupled solution of gas-phase, droplets and liquid film exploiting correlation-based and theoretical models for liquid film primary atomization. A detailed analysis of the liquid film evolution is presented together with an investigation of the influence of film modelling and primary breakup on the combustion process at different operating conditions. The combustion field is strongly influenced by the characteristics of droplet population generated by the liquid film and this study proposes a computational setup, suitable for industrial calculations, able to account for all the main physical processes that characterize advanced prefilming airblast injection systems.

Emission and Performance Characteristics of a Single Cylinder Compression Ignition Engine Operating on Esterified Rice Bran Vegetable Oil and Diesel Fuel

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Nagaraj ◽  
G. P. Prabhu Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Vegetable Oil ◽  
Rice Bran ◽  
Diesel Fuel ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Alternative Fuel ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Compression Ignition ◽  
Compression Ignition Engine ◽  
Single Cylinder ◽  
Cylinder Compression

The alkyl monoesters of fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, known as bio diesel, are attracting considerable interest as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. Biodiesel-fueled engines produce less carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons, and particulate emissions than diesel-fueled engines. However, bio diesel has different chemical and physical properties than diesel fuel, including a larger bulk modulus and a higher cetane number. Some of these properties can be affected by oxidation of the fuel during storage. These changes can affect the timing of the combustion process and potentially increase the emissions of oxides of nitrogen. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of injection and combustion timing on bio diesel combustion and exhaust emissions. Bio diesel fuel is a clean burning fuel made from natural renewable sources such as rice bran vegetable oil. Bio diesel operates in compression ignition engines similar to diesel fuel. It can be burnt in any standard unmodified diesel engine blended with 20% to 30% bio diesel with diesel. Rice bran oil can be converted into bio diesel fuel as ethyl ester by transestirification. Experimental investigations have been carried out using bio diesel as an alternative fuel in single cylinder, compression ignition engine under varying operating conditions and by varying the injection timings with respect to TDC. In this work various parameters such as brake power, peak pressure rise, and emissions during combustion process under varying operating conditions with diesel, bio diesel, bio diesel blends were measured. The exhaust emissions from the engine were measured using exhaust gas analyzer.

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