Microwave solid fuel ignition

The article continues the study of the effect of microwave exposure on solid fuel. On the basis of the experimental studies, the dependences of changes in the temperature and humidity fields of the fuel on the time of microwave exposure, to arson, have been established. The possibility of using the microwave electromagnetic field to automate the process of burning solid fuel in a boiler plant, afterburning unburned fuel residues is considered. The mechanism and basic conditions of these processes are presented. The influence of this technology on the intensification of the fuel ignition process, its homogenization, an increase in energy characteristics and a change in the elemental composition, an increase in the efficiency of a boiler plant, a decrease in chemical, mechanical underburning and harmful emissions of a boiler plant is considered. The main conditions of the applied technology are: placement of the microwave generator on the combustion device of the boiler unit, the size of the solid fuel samples or its contacting pieces should be less than the wavelength of the microwave electromagnetic field (12.4 cm), the moisture content - within the range from 10 to 95%. The intensification of the process of burning solid fuel also depends on the type of fuel, its physical and chemical properties (various types of coal, wood fuel, including wood waste, peat, and others). Modernization of boiler plants using this technology is possible by unifying projects that take into account the correspondence of microwave generators to the thermal power of boiler units.

Environmental Impact of District Heating System Retrofitting

Retrofitting of district heating systems is a comprehensive process which covers all stages of district heating (DH) systems: production, distribution and consumption. This study quantitatively shows the effect of retrofitting measures and represents strengths and weaknesses of different development scenarios. Improvements in production units show improvements in fuel use efficiency and thus indirectly reduce CO2 emissions due to unburned fuel. For this purpose, validated district planning tools have been used. Tool uses mathematical model for calculation and evaluation of all three main components of the DH system. For the quantitative evaluation, nine efficiency and balance indicators were used. For each indicator, recommended boundary values were proposed. In total, six simulation scenarios were simulated, and the last scenario have shown significant reduction in CO2 emissions by 40% (from 3376 to 2000 t CO2 compared to the actual state), while share of biomass has reached 47%.

Industrial Wastewater As an Enabler of Green Ammonia to Power via Gas Turbine Technology

This experimental study follows on from detailed Chemkin-Pro numerical analyses assessing the viability of by-product ammonia (NH3) utilization for power generation in gas turbines (GTs). This study looks specifically at NH3 in the industrial wastewaters of steelworks, resulting from the cleansing of coke oven gas (COG). The by-product NH3 is present in an aqueous blend of 60–70%vol water and is normally destroyed. An experimental campaign was conducted using a premixed swirl burner in a model GT combustor, previously employed in the successful combustion of NH3/hydrogen blends, with favorable NOx and unburned fuel emissions. This study experimentally investigates the combustion performance of combining anhydrous and aqueous by-product NH3 in an approximate 50:50%vol blend, comparing the performance with that of each ammonia source unblended. Green anhydrous NH3, a rapidly growing research topic, is a carbon-free energy vector for renewable hydrogen. Some potential benefits of combining the two sources are suggested. Ammonia combustion presents two major challenges, poor reactivity and a potential for excessive NOx emissions. Prior numerical analyses predicted that 15%vol addition of steelworks COG, at an inlet temperature of 550 K, may provide sufficient support for raising the reactivity of the NH3-based fuels, whilst limiting undesirable emissions. Therefore, addition of 10, 15 and 20%vol COG to each NH3-based fuel was investigated experimentally at 25 kW power with inlet temperatures > 500 K, at atmospheric pressure. As nitric oxide (NO) emissions decrease significantly with increasing fuel-to-air ratio, experiments were conducted at equivalence ratios (Φ) between 1.0 and 1.3, the precise range of Φ for each blend being optimized according to the modeling predictions for emissions. Leading blends, anhydrous NH3 with 15%vol COG and the 50:50%vol blend with 15%vol COG, achieved < 100 ppm and < 200 ppm NO respectively. Modest-sized steel plants produce ∼10 metric tons of by-product NH3/day. Aspen Plus was used to model a Brayton-Rankine cycle with integrated recuperation. Adopting typical losses (48% cycle efficiency) and ∼1.2 MPa combustor inlet pressure, the net electrical power generation of 15%vol COG blended with 10 tonnes/day of aqueous industrial NH3 and 25 tonnes/day of anhydrous NH3 (i.e. achieving a 50:50%vol blend) was ∼4.7 MW, ∼47% more power than for the same amount of anhydrous NH3 with 15%vol COG. This significant increase, indicates how industrial NH3 could enable green NH3 to power.

Pulsation and Vibration Measurement on Stator Side for Turbocharger Turbine Blade Vibration Monitoring

Mechanically robust turbine design with respect to blade vibration is challenging when dealing with nozzle-ring fouling and wear. Especially for engines operating with heavy fuel oil (HFO), the nozzle rings of the turbocharger turbines are prone to severe degradation in terms of contamination with unburned fuel deposits. This contamination will lead to an increased excitation of blade resonances in comparison to the nominal design. Due to the statistical character of contamination, long-term monitoring of blade vibration amplitudes would be beneficial. In the harsh environment of HFO operation, however, conventional blade vibration measurement techniques, such as those using strain gauges or blade tip timing, cannot work reliably for a long period. Thus, the objective of this research is to develop a method that enables the monitoring of turbine blades using pulsation or vibration sensors installed on the stator side. Almost a dozen turbines, both radial and axial, have been examined in order to determine a proper measurement chain/position and analytical method. Even though the challenges specific to the turbocharger turbine application—that high-frequency (up to 50 kHz) acoustic radiation from turbine blades has to be detected by a sensor on the stator side—were demanding, in the course of the investigations several clear examples of turbine blades engine-order resonance detection were gathered. Finally, the proposed method has been tested successfully in a power plant for over one year.

LIGHTWEIGHT AGGREGATE AND ASHES SLAG BASED CONCRETE WITH HIGH RESIDUAL FUEL CONTENT

Ashes slag materials in the chemical and mineralogical composition are largely identical to natural mineral raw materials. They are a source of environmental pollution, pose a threat to public health, and a threat to the flora and fauna of the surrounding areas. Ashes slag waste contains a large amount of unburned fuel. In some ashes, the content of unburned fuel can reach 20-40%. In this case, it is advisable to use it as a raw material for the production of artificial porous aggregates. The paper presents the results of studies on the development of lightweight aggregate technology based on ashes slag with a high residual fuel content. To develop the technology of lightweight aggregate, ashes slag was used by Nova Zinc LLP (Karaganda region, Kazakhstan), in which the content of unburned coal is up to 75%. Based on ashes slag, lightweight aggregates were obtained using burning and non-burning technologies. By roasting (burning) technology, aggregates were obtained by burning at a temperature of 1000 and 1100 °C. The aggregates obtained have a bulk density of 395-687 kg/m3 and a compressive strength in the cylinder of 0.5-2.4 MPa. By non-burning technology Portland cement M400 was used as an astringent. After hardening, the aggregates have a bulk density of 400-600 kg/m3 and a 679 compressive strength of 0.65-1.5 MPa in the cylinder. Samples of light concrete with a density of 1200 and 1700 kg/m3, a compressive strength of 80 (B5) and 120 kg/cm2 (B7.5), and thermal conductivity coefficients of 0.43 and 0.67 W/mоС were obtained on the basis of the non-fired light aggregate, respectively. Lightweight aggregate and lightweight concrete in their functional properties meet the requirements of regulatory documents.

Modeling and Efficiency Optimization of Steam Boilers by Employing Neural Networks and Response-Surface Method (RSM)

Boiler efficiency is called to some extent of total thermal energy which can be recovered from the fuel. Boiler efficiency losses are due to four major factors: Dry gas flux, the latent heat of steam in the flue gas, the combustion loss or the loss of unburned fuel, and radiation and convection losses. In this research, the thermal behavior of boilers in gas refinery facilities is studied and their efficiency and their losses are calculated. The main part of this research is comprised of analyzing the effect of various parameters on efficiency such as excess air, fuel moisture, air humidity, fuel and air temperature, the temperature of combustion gases, and thermal value of the fuel. Based on the obtained results, it is possible to analyze and make recommendations for optimizing boilers in the gas refinery complex using response-surface method (RSM).

Modeling and Efficiency Optimization of Steam Boilers by Employing Neural Networks and Response-Surface Method (RSM)

Boiler efficiency is called to some extent of total thermal energy which can be recovered from the fuel. Boiler efficiency losses are due to four major factors: the dry gas flux, the latent heat of steam in the flue gas, the combustion loss or the loss of unburned fuel, radiation and convection losses. In this research, the thermal behavior of boilers in gas refinery facilities is studied and their efficiency and their losses are calculated. The main part of this research is comprised of analyzing the effect of various parameters on efficiency such as excess air, fuel moisture, air humidity, fuel and air temperature, the temperature of combustion gases, and thermal value of the fuel. Based on the obtained results, it is possible to analyze and make recommendations for optimizing boilers in the gas refinery complex using response-surface method (RSM).

Comprehensive organic emission profiles for gasoline, diesel, and gas-turbine engines including intermediate and semi-volatile organic compound emissions

Emissions from mobile sources are important contributors to both primary and secondary organic aerosols (POA and SOA) in urban environments. We compiled recently published data to create comprehensive model-ready organic emission profiles for on- and off-road gasoline, gas-turbine, and diesel engines. The profiles span the entire volatility range, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs, effective saturation concentration C*=107–1011 µg m−3), intermediate-volatile organic compounds (IVOCs, C*=103–106 µg m−3), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs, C*=1–102 µg m−3), low-volatile organic compounds (LVOCs, C*≤0.1 µg m−3) and non-volatile organic compounds (NVOCs). Although our profiles are comprehensive, this paper focuses on the IVOC and SVOC fractions to improve predictions of SOA formation. Organic emissions from all three source categories feature tri-modal volatility distributions (“by-product” mode, “fuel” mode, and “lubricant oil” mode). Despite wide variations in emission factors for total organics, the mass fractions of IVOCs and SVOCs are relatively consistent across sources using the same fuel type, for example, contributing 4.5 % (2.4 %–9.6 % as 10th to 90th percentiles) and 1.1 % (0.4 %–3.6 %) for a diverse fleet of light duty gasoline vehicles tested over the cold-start unified cycle, respectively. This consistency indicates that a limited number of profiles are needed to construct emissions inventories. We define five distinct profiles: (i) cold-start and off-road gasoline, (ii) hot-operation gasoline, (iii) gas-turbine, (iv) traditional diesel and (v) diesel-particulate-filter equipped diesel. These profiles are designed to be directly implemented into chemical transport models and inventories. We compare emissions to unburned fuel; gasoline and gas-turbine emissions are enriched in IVOCs relative to unburned fuel. The new profiles predict that IVOCs and SVOC vapour will contribute significantly to SOA production. We compare our new profiles to traditional source profiles and various scaling approaches used previously to estimate IVOC emissions. These comparisons reveal large errors in these different approaches, ranging from failure to account for IVOC emissions (traditional source profiles) to assuming source-invariant scaling ratios (most IVOC scaling approaches).