FLUE-GAS VERSUS FUEL-INJECTION RECIRCULATION: EFFECTS ON STRUCTURE AND POLLUTANT EMISSIONS

摘要

In this study, a co-flow methane/air diffusion flame at Reynolds number of 6000 was numerically simulated. The co-flow air and fuel streams were diluted with Nitrogen in the range of 0% to 20%. The thermal and composition fields in the far-burner reaction zone (close to the exhaust) were computed, and the effects of diluent's addition to the air stream (simulating FGR) and to the fuel stream (simulating FIR) were investigated. The results show that air-side dilution is very effective up to 5% diluent's addition. For which, 95% and 65% drops in NO and CO emissions, respectively, along with a 16% increase in temperature, are predicted compared to the baseline case (0% dilution). However, beyond 5% dilution, no effect (reaction) has been predicted. On the other hand, the fuel-side dilution has shown an effect for all simulated diluent's addition (i.e. 0%-20%). However, that effect is not systematic neither on temperature, CO or NO concentrations. For a similar 5% dilution to the fuel-side, a 14% increase in NO and a 97% decrease in CO are predicted, along with a 5.6% increase in temperature. The simulated results revealed that air-side dilution (simulating FGR) has a dramatic greater effectiveness in NO reduction, whereas, fuel-side dilution (simulating FIR) has a greater effectiveness in CO reduction. Besides, the results suggest an important role for Prompt-NO Fenimore mechanism.