Experimental Assessment on the Coupling Effect of Mixing Length and Methane-Ammonia Blends on Flame Stability and Emissions
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Experimental Set-Up and Methods
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Flame Stability
3.2. Flame Shape
3.3. Exhaust Gas Emissions
4. Conclusions
- The lean blow-off limit for the current tested conditions was highly influenced by the ammonia fuel fraction and to a lesser extent by the mixing length. A maximum lean blow-off enhancement of ~4% was noticed when the mixing length ratio increased from L/D = 14 to 32 for the 75% ammonia fraction, while a maximum flame stability reduction of ~17% was observed when the ammonia volume fraction increased from 25% to 75% in the shorter mixing length case (i.e., L/D = 14).
- Averaged flame images showed that increasing ammonia fuel fraction, for a constant equivalence ratio, led to a larger and brighter flame. The flame size shrank when the mixing length ratio was reduced for a fixed ammonia fraction and equivalence ratio, and also became more compact near the swirler outlet.
- Increasing the mixing ratio and/or ammonia volume fraction decreased the CO concentration due to the relatively complete combustion of a more homogeneous mixture and/or the presence of less carbon caused by the increasing amount of carbon-free (ammonia) fuel, respectively.
- Regardless of the equivalence ratio, the NOx concentration was negatively influenced by the mixing length ratio and the ammonia fraction. Generally, for a fixed equivalence ratio and L/D = 32, the NOx concentration increased from ~20 ppm to 1780 ppm when the ammonia fraction was increased from 0 (pure methane) to XNH3 = 50%, before it dropped again to ~880 ppm at XNH3 = 75%.
- Delaying the injection (down to L/D = 14, which is the lower mixing limit used in current study) of the less reactive carbon-free fuel (ammonia), showed negative impacts on flame performance and emissions, leading to flame extinguishing at a larger equivalence ratio and increased CO and NOx emissions.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Properties | Methane (CH4) | Ammonia (NH3) |
---|---|---|
Density [kg/m3] | 0.657 | 0.704 |
Viscosity [kg/m.s] | 1.11 × 10−5 | 1.01 × 10−5 |
Laminar burning velocity [m/s] | 0.37 | 0.07 |
Adiabatic flame temperature [K] | 2223 | 2073 |
Heat of combustion [MJ/kg] | 50 | 18.6 |
Parameter | Test Point |
---|---|
Air flowrate (L/min) | 100 |
Equivalence ratio (ϕ) | 0.45–1.35 |
Reynold number (Re) | 6200–7200 |
Swirl number (SN) | 0.78 |
Thermal Power (kW) | ~2.1–6.1 |
L/D ratio | 14, 21, & 32 |
XNH3 (volume%) | 0, 25, 50, & 75 |
Number of ports | 3 |
Methane-air (Ref.) injection | Port 1 |
Ammonia injection | All ports |
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Abdullah, M.; Guiberti, T.F.; Alsulami, R.A. Experimental Assessment on the Coupling Effect of Mixing Length and Methane-Ammonia Blends on Flame Stability and Emissions. Energies 2023, 16, 2955. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16072955
Abdullah M, Guiberti TF, Alsulami RA. Experimental Assessment on the Coupling Effect of Mixing Length and Methane-Ammonia Blends on Flame Stability and Emissions. Energies. 2023; 16(7):2955. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16072955
Chicago/Turabian StyleAbdullah, Marwan, Thibault F. Guiberti, and Radi A. Alsulami. 2023. "Experimental Assessment on the Coupling Effect of Mixing Length and Methane-Ammonia Blends on Flame Stability and Emissions" Energies 16, no. 7: 2955. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16072955