Design and testing of small‐scale unsteady‐state afterburners and reactors

Abstract

AbstractThe design and testing of small‐scale and pilot‐scale apparatus using the reverse‐flow concept is focused on. The combustion of lean air–methane mixtures was considered as a test reaction both for modeling purposes and for the experimental investigation. A one‐dimensional two‐phase model was used to highlight that thermal properties of the reactor wall and radial heat losses affect the thermal stability of bench‐scale rigs more than that of large‐scale industrial reactors, where adiabatic behavior is generally achieved. As a consequence, a special temperature‐control system, based on dynamic compensation of the thermal losses, was designed to attain adiabatic operation in a small‐scale apparatus, avoiding overcompensation and thus allowing the scale‐up of the results obtained. This system was realized and tested, proving to be effective in a wide range of operating conditions such as inlet concentration and feed flow rate. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2005