Investigation on flow dynamics and temperatures of solid fuel particles in a gas-assisted oxy-fuel combustion chamber

Abstract

Flow dynamics and temperatures of solid fuel particles strongly influence flame stabilization, local heat release and fuel conversion inside pulverized solid fuel combustors. To investigate these phenomena, experiments are carried out under well-controlled inflow and boundary conditions inside a gas-assisted, swirled oxy-fuel combustion chamber. Flow fields of small particles that represent the gas phase velocity are determined in the near-burner region by PIV using a particle separation algorithm. Trajectories of large solid fuel particles are evaluated in a two-dimensional plane using a combined high-speed PIV/PTV approach. Particle temperatures and particles sizes are measured at different levels downstream the burner exit to reveal different stages of combustion. Therefore, a two-color pyrometer is used that dissolve single particles to achieve local particle temperature and particle size distributions. Two oxy-fuel operation conditions with an oxygen fraction of 33%V and a reference operation point in air are investigated within this study. In the flow fields of the gas phase the impact of the atmosphere is clearly visible in the spatial expansion of the internal recirculation area. Regions of high slip velocities and high heat release could be identified by analyzing particle trajectories in terms of direction, velocity and acceleration. Residence times of small and large particles are estimated from the flow fields. Significantly larger residence times are observed for large particles which leads to higher burn out rates in the near-burner region. Furthermore, particle temperature measurements reveal similar particle temperatures for the investigated oxy-fuel and air operation conditions.