Opportunities in pulse combustion

Abstract

In most pulse combustors, the combustion occurs near the closed end of a tube where inlet valves operate in phase with the pressure amplitude variations. Thus, within the combustion zone, both the temperature and the pressure oscillate around a mean value. However, the development of practical applications of pulse combustion has been hampered because effective design requires the right combination of the combustor's dimensions, valve characteristics, fuel/oxidizer combination, and flow pattern. Pulse combustion has several additional advantages for energy conversion efficiency, including high combustion and thermal efficiency, high combustion intensity, and high convective heat transfer rates. Also, pulse combustion can be self-aspirating, generating a pressure boost without using a blower. This allows the use of a compact heat exchanger that may include a condensing section and may obviate the need for a chimney. In the last decade, these features have revived interest in pulse combustion research and development, which has resulted in the development of a pulse combustion air heater by Lennox, and a pulse combustion hydronic unit by Hydrotherm, Inc. To appraise this potential for energy savings, a systematic study was conducted of the many past and present attempts to use pulse combustion for practical purposes. The authors recommended areas where pulse combustion technology could possibly be applied in the future and identified areas in which additional R and D would be necessary. Many of the results of the study project derived from a special workshop on pulse combustion. This document highlights the main points of the study report, with particular emphasis on pulse combustion application in chemical engineering.