Numerical Simulation of an Enhanced Swirl-Cascade Burner

Abstract

were developed by Qubbaj and Gollahalli. The basic idea behind this passive technique is controlling the stoichiometry of the flame through changing the flow dynamics and rates of mixing in the combustion zone with a set of venturis surrounding the flame. Cascade-burners have shown advantages over other techniques; its reliability, flexibility, safety, and cost makes it more attractive and desirable. On the other hand, the application of Swirl- has shown another superiority in producing a stable flame under a variety of operating conditions and fuel types. The basic idea is to impart swirl to the air or fuel stream, or both. This not only helps to stabilize the flame but also enhances mixing in the combustion zone. As a result, nonpremixed (diffusion) swirl burners have been increasingly used in industrial combustion systems such as gas turbines, boilers, and furnaces, due to their advantages of safety and stability. Despite the advantages of cascade and swirl burners, both are passive control techniques, which resulted in a moderate pollutant emissions reduction compared to SCR, SNCR and FGR (active) methods. The present investigation will study the prospects of combining both techniques in what to be named as enhanced burner. Natural gas jet diffusion flames in baseline, cascade, swirl, and burners were numerically modeled using CFDRC package. The thermal, composition, and flow (velocity) fields were simulated. The numerical results showed that swirl and cascade burners have a more efficient fuel/air mixing, a shorter flame, and a lower NOx emission levels, compared to the baseline case. The results also revealed that the optimal configurations of the cascaded and swirling flames have not produced an improved performance when combined together in a swirl-cascade burner. The non-linearity and complexity of the system accounts for such a result, and therefore, all possible combinations, i.e. swirl numbers (SN) versus venturi diameter ratios (D/d), need to be considered.