Advancing natural gas combustion science and technology low NOx. Final technical report, May 1989-September 1992

Technical Report · Tue Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:7089523

Correa, S M

The three issues of NOx, CO/UHC and dynamics were studied. First, NOx was measured in lean premixed methane combustion stabilized over a 5 cm dia. perforated-plate burner in the range 3-10 atm, inlet temperature 300-615K (80-647 F), and fuel-air equivalence ratio 0.5 - 0.8. Experimental data compared to within 50% with predictions of a stirred/plug-flow reactor model. For flames below about 1750K (2690 F), (i) NOx formation rates in post-flame gas are < 1 ppm/ms, so combustors can be lengthened to burn out CO and unburned hydrocarbons without increasing NOx and (ii) NOx formation becomes slow enough to decouple from the turbulence, so the flameholder shape can be optimized based on CO and dynamics. Second, analyses suggest that CO quenching effects are generally too small to be significant but (i) CO can be quenched in stagnation point flow of post-flame gas towards the combustor wall, (ii) CO can be quenched in turbulent eddies if unburned fuel-air premixture escapes the flame zone and pyrolyzes downstream in cooler flow, and (iii) the acoustic interaction can exacerbate CO emissions in those cases where the base CO is high (e.g., 10-100 times equilibrium levels) and the pressure fluctuations are large (e.g., 5-10% peak-to-peak). Except in these extreme cases, however, CO/UHC emissions should not be a limiting factor in the use of lean premixed combustion to minimize NOx. Last, Discrete Vortex calculations were compared with data from a 13.5 cm (5.3 in.) burner at lean conditions approaching blowoff. Strouhal shedding frequencies were detected, suggesting a role for flameholder-shed vorticity.

• Research Organization: General Electric Co., Schenectady, NY (United States). Research and Development Center
• OSTI ID: 7089523
• Report Number(s): PB-93-146231/XAB; CNN: GRI-5089-260-1912
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
034000 -- Natural Gas-- Combustion
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200202* -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Waste Management-- Noxious Gas &amp; Particulate Emissions
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring &amp; Transport-- (1990-)
ALKANES
BLOWOFF
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
COMBUSTORS
DATA
DETECTION
DYNAMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUATIONS
EQUILIBRIUM
EQUIPMENT
EXHAUST SYSTEMS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLAMES
FLUCTUATIONS
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GAS TURBINES
GASES
HYDROCARBONS
INFORMATION
MACHINERY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICS
METHANE
NATURAL GAS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN OXIDES
NUMERICAL DATA
OPTIMIZATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PREDICTION EQUATIONS
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
QUENCHING
REDUCTION
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
STABILITY
STAGNATION POINT
STATISTICAL DATA
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TURBINES
TURBOMACHINERY
TURBULENCE
TURBULENT FLOW
VARIATIONS