Reaction Mechanism Reduction for Ozone-Enhanced CH4/Air Combustion by a Combination of Directed Relation Graph with Error Propagation, Sensitivity Analysis and Quasi-Steady State Assumption

In this study, an 18-steps, 22-species reduced global mechanism for ozone-enhanced CH4/air combustion processes was derived by coupling GRI-Mech 3.0 and a sub-mechanism for ozone decomposition. Three methods, namely, direct relation graphics with error propagation, (DRGRP), sensitivity analysis (SA), and quasi-steady-state assumption (QSSA), were used to downsize the detailed mechanism to the global mechanism. The verification of the accuracy of the skeletal mechanism in predicting the laminar flame speeds and distribution of the critical components showed that that the major species and the laminar flame speeds are well predicted by the skeletal mechanism. However, the pollutant NO was predicated inaccurately due to the precursors for generating NO were removed as redundant components. The laminar flame speeds calculated by the global mechanism fit the experimental data well. The comparisons of simulated results between the detailed mechanism and global mechanism were investigated and showed that the global mechanism could accurately predict the major and intermediate species and significantly reduced the time cost by 72%Peer reviewe

Verification and Validation of a Low-Mach-Number Large-Eddy Simulation Code against Manufactured Solutions and Experimental Results

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).To investigate turbulent reacting flows, a low-Mach number large-eddy simulation (LES) code called ‘LESsCoal’ has been developed in our group. This code employs the Germano dynamic sub-grid scale (SGS) model and the steady flamelet/progress variable approach (SFPVA) on a stagger-structured grid, in both time and space. The method of manufactured solutions (MMS) is used to investigate the convergence and the order of accuracy of the code when no model is used. Finally, a Sandia non-reacting propane jet and Sandia Flame D are simulated to inspect the performance of the code under experimental setups. The results show that MMS is a promising tool for code verification and that the low-Mach-number LES code can accurately predict the non-reacting and reacting turbulent flows. The validated LES code can be used in numerical investigations on the turbulent combustion characteristics of new fuel gases in the future.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study of the Tube Receiver's Performance of Solar Thermal Power Tower

AbstractA water-vapor tube receiver is a significant component in the solar thermal power tower plant. However, the tube flow performance is much different from others. Because semi-circumference of the tube is heated with an uneven heat flux, which is into a Gaussian distribution in this paper, and the other semi-circumference is insulated. A 5kW- Xe-arc lamp was used to simulate a solar light source. In this study, the effect of different entrance velocity on the flow performance and thermal efficiency of the tube receiver are investigated with numerical and experimental methods. The results of experiment and simulation agree well. The results show that the temperature distribution of water and tube wall are very uneven both in the axial and radial directions. The thermal efficiency of the tube receiver increases with the increase of entrance velocity

Hydrodynamics and heat transfer of suspended surface in a supercritical cfb furnace

With the scaling-up of CFB boilers, more heating surfaces like suspended surfaces and/or mid-partition walls, are arranged in the furnace to ensure adequate heat absorption. The length of suspended surface reaches almost half height of the furnace in the Baima 600MW supercritical CFB boiler. Since the gas-solids hydrodynamics and heat transfer on those surfaces are different from that on waterwall, further researches are needed to investigate the characteristics of hydrodynamics and heat transfer on the suspended surfaces. Beside the experimental measurements on the suspended surfaces in a scale down test rig, the hydrodynamic characteristics on the suspended surfaces were computed by a CFD simulation combined with EMMS model in a supercritical CFB of annular furnace. The results present an uneven axial solid concentration profile on the suspended surface, and descending particles are found on some locations especially where those surfaces far away from the furnace exits. Based on the gas-solids hydrodynamic results, the modified cluster renewal model was applied in the heat transfer coefficient calculation of the suspended surfaces. The result shows the heat transfer coefficient varies with the height and it has difference between two sides of a surface. In addition, the average heat transfer coefficients of suspended surface at different locations are compared. References Basu P, Nag P K. Heat transfer to walls of a circulating fluidized-bed furnace[J]. Chemical Engineering Science, 1996, 51(1): 1-26. Cen K F, Ni M J, Luo Z Y, et al. Theoretical design and operation of circulating fluidized bed boiler[J]. China Electric Power Press, Beijing, 1998: 647-663. Cheng L M, Wang Q H, Shi Z L, et al. Heat transfer in a large circulating fluidized bed boiler[J]. Journal of Power Engineering, 2006, 26(3): 305-310. Huang C, Cheng L M, Zhou X L, et al. Suspended surface heat transfer in a large circulating fluidized bed boiler furnace[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University. Engineering Science, 2012, 46(11): 2128-2132. Sundaresan R, Kolar A K. Axial heat transfer correlations in a circulating fluidized bed riser[J]. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2012. * “Strategic Priority Research Program” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. XDA0703010

Premixed jet flame characteristics of syngas using OH planar laser induced fluorescence

Lean premixed flame characteristics of several typical low calorific value (LCV) syngases (basis CO/H-2/CH4/CO2/N-2), including bituminous coal, wood residue, corn core, and wheat straw gasification syngas, were investigated using OH planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) technology. OH radical distributions within the turbulent flame were measured for different turbulence intensities. Flame structures of syngases were analyzed and characterized with respect to burnt and unburnt regions, flame curvature (sharp cusp), local extinction (holes and penetration), OH reaction layer thickness, wrinkling, and other features, with OH-PLIF instantaneous images and statistical analysis. Results show that H-2 content, LCV, and turbulence intensity are the most effective factors influencing the OH radical intensity and thickness of OH radical layers. The bituminous coal gasification syngas with relatively higher LCV and H-2 content tends to burn out easily. Through changes in thickness of the OH radical layers and signal intensities, the reaction layer can be compressed by intensifying turbulence and thereby the combustion processes of syngas

Gas-Solids Hydrodynamics in a CFB with 6 Cyclones and a Pang Leg

Solids volume fraction and particle velocity profiles were measured with a fiber optical probe in a cold circulating fluidized bed test rig with 6 parallel cyclones and a pant leg. Results in the pant leg zone, main bed zone and exit zone of the furnace are reported. The work also includes the influences of superficial gas velocity, secondary air rate and static bed height on the gas-solids hydrodynamics

Boosting biomethane yield and production rate with graphene: the potential of direct interspecies electron transfer in anaerobic digestion

Interspecies electron transfer between bacteria and archaea plays a vital role in enhancing energy efficiency of anaerobic digestion (AD). Conductive carbon materials (i.e. graphene nanomaterial and activated charcoal) were assessed to enhance AD of ethanol (a key intermediate product after acidogenesis of algae). The addition of graphene (1.0 g/L) resulted in the highest biomethane yield (695.0 ± 9.1 mL/g) and production rate (95.7 ± 7.6 mL/g/d), corresponding to an enhancement of 25.0% in biomethane yield and 19.5% in production rate. The ethanol degradation constant was accordingly improved by 29.1% in the presence of graphene. Microbial analyses revealed that electrogenic bacteria of Geobacter and Pseudomonas along with archaea Methanobacterium and Methanospirillum might participate in direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET). Theoretical calculations provided evidence that graphene-based DIET can sustained a much higher electron transfer flux than conventional hydrogen transfer

Characteristics of alkali species release from a burning coal/biomass blend

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Solvent fractionation, Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and chemical analysis were applied to binary fuel mixtures of Zhundong coal and cornstalk agricultural class to investigate the release characteristics of alkali species during co-firing of coal and biomass. As the biomass proportion increases, the water-soluble, NH 4 Ac-soluble and HCl-soluble alkali species interconvert; the extent of the conversion depends on the composition of the blend. From LIBS measurements, it was found that adding the biomass accelerates combustion and outgassing processes. The higher the proportion of the biomass in the blend, the earlier the peak concentrations of alkali appear, and the magnitude of peak concentrations of sodium and potassium decrease and increase, respectively. Furthermore, the interaction between coal and biomass can generate crystals causing the eutectic melting phenomenon (similar to feldspar in XRD results), which results in a sharp decline of the ash fusion temperatures (AFTs). The results not only provide the information of fundamental transformation but also guide industrial co-firing applications of lignite and agricultural class biomass to reduce the risk of ash deposition