Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.3
3.2
Journals
Energies
Special Issues
Optimization of Efficient Clean Combustion Technology: 2nd Edition
energies-logo
Submit to Energies Review for Energies Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Optimization of Efficient Clean Combustion Technology: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "I2: Energy and Combustion Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 February 2026) | Viewed by 4635

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jianguo Zhu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: combustion; thermal engineering; environmental engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mingxin Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Engineering Research Center of New Energy Power Generation, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
Interests: clean coal technologies; oxy-fuel combustion; waste management; pollutant emission control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Efficient clean combustion technology has been a hot topic focus of both experimental investigations and industrial applications. With a large-scale increase in the application of renewable energy electricity in the world, such as wind power, boiler operation needs to be changed, such as running an ultra-low load and increasing load at a rapid rate, to meet the requirements of grid security. The key problems facing the industry include low efficiency, high NOx emission, slow load variation rate, flame extinction, and so on. Some novel methods and technologies are being investigated and tested to overcome these difficulties, supporting the development and application of efficient clean combustion technology.

The Special Issue aims to publish review papers and research papers involving the topics of novel combustion technology, basic principle or theory for improving combustion efficiency or decreasing pollutant emissions, industrial application analyses, and system optimization, etc. By browsing this Special Issue, the readers could clearly, or at least partially, review the newest technologies and progresses in clean combustion technology.

Dr. Jianguo Zhu
Dr. Mingxin Xu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • flameless combustion
  • preheating combustion
  • flexible combustion
  • low load
  • peak shaving
  • pollutants formation and control
  • combustion optimization
  • industrial application

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Related Special Issues

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 3043 KB  
Article
Experimental Study on Element Release and Conversion of High-Alkali Coal via Fluidized Preheating
by Shengbo Jia, Jianguo Zhu, Meiheriayi Mutailipu, Yu Huang, Jingzhang Liu and Qinggang Lyu
Energies 2026, 19(3), 691; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19030691 - 28 Jan 2026
Viewed by 291
Abstract
The Zhundong coalfield in Xinjiang contains vast reserves and is a crucial source of thermal coal. However, the Zhundong coal has a high content of alkali and alkaline earth metals, which makes it prone to ash deposition and slagging in boilers, thereby limiting [...] Read more.
The Zhundong coalfield in Xinjiang contains vast reserves and is a crucial source of thermal coal. However, the Zhundong coal has a high content of alkali and alkaline earth metals, which makes it prone to ash deposition and slagging in boilers, thereby limiting its large-scale utilization. Fluidized-bed preheating is an emerging clean combustion technology that can reduce the slagging and fouling risks associated with high-alkali coal by modifying its fuel properties. This study employs circulating fluidized-bed preheating technology to treat high-alkali coal, with a focus on investigating the effect of the preheated air equivalence ratio on fuel preheating modification. Through microscopic characterization of both the raw coal and preheated char, the release and transformation behaviors of elements and substances during the preheating process are revealed. The results demonstrate that fluidized preheating promotes alkali metal precipitation, and increasing the preheated air equivalence ratio (λPr) enhances gas production and elemental release, with a volatile fraction mass conversion of up to 84.57%. As the λPr value increased from 0.28 to 0.40, the average temperature in the preheater riser increased from 904 °C to 968 °C. Compared to the raw coal, the specific surface area of the preheated char was enhanced by a factor of 3.6 to 9.1 times, with a more developed pore structure and less graphitization, thus enhancing the surface reactivity of the preheated char. The increase in λPr also facilitated the conversion from pyrrolic nitrogen to pyridinic nitrogen, thus improving combustion performance and facilitating subsequent nitrogen removal. These findings provide essential data support for advancing the understanding of preheating characteristics in high-alkali coal and for promoting the development of efficient and clean combustion technologies tailored for high-alkali coal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimization of Efficient Clean Combustion Technology: 2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 6383 KB  
Article
Study on Combustion Characteristics and Ignition Performance of a Reverse Pulverized-Coal Flame Stabilizer
by Zhenyu Liu, Mingshuang Cui, Nan Jia and Fang Niu
Energies 2026, 19(2), 393; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19020393 - 13 Jan 2026
Viewed by 299
Abstract
The rapid growth in the installation of new energy poses challenges to the stability of the power grid due to its volatility and intermittency. Coal-fired power plants have come to play an important role in flexible peak power regulation. Considering that the burner [...] Read more.
The rapid growth in the installation of new energy poses challenges to the stability of the power grid due to its volatility and intermittency. Coal-fired power plants have come to play an important role in flexible peak power regulation. Considering that the burner is the core of a pulverized coal boiler, this study proposes the application of reverse injection pulverized coal combustion technology to power plant burners to achieve better ignition and combustion stability. The results of numerical simulations combined with experimental verification indicate that for a single ignition stabilizer, recirculation zones can be formed on both sides of the primary pulverized coal pipe at the front cone, and a high-temperature flame is ejected at high speed at the outlet. As the secondary air temperature increases from 373 K to 533 K, the axial length of the high-temperature recirculation zone increases, corresponding to an increase in the average outlet flame temperature from 1510 K to 1672 K. Under different loads of the main pulverized coal burner, the high-temperature flame ejected from the stabilizer can quickly encounter and mix with the surrounding main pulverized coal airflow, thereby igniting it rapidly. This process establishes a high-temperature flame zone within the two-stage combustion chamber, demonstrating strong adaptability to load fluctuations. As the burner load decreases, the outlet airflow velocity decreases significantly and the high-speed zone area shrinks, and the two adjacent high-temperature zones initially formed at the outlet gradually merge into a larger high-temperature zone. Simultaneously, the upward deflection of the jet at the outlet weakens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimization of Efficient Clean Combustion Technology: 2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

29 pages, 5590 KB  
Article
Ammonia—A Fuel of the Future? Economies of Production and Control of NOx Emissions via Oscillating NH3 Combustion for Process Heat Generation
by Krasimir Aleksandrov, Hans-Joachim Gehrmann, Janine Wiebe and Dieter Stapf
Energies 2025, 18(22), 5948; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18225948 - 12 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1557
Abstract
This study investigates the viability of using Ammonia as a carbon-free fuel for heat generation in terms of both reactive Nitrogen and Carbon emissions and production cost. As a carbon-free, environmentally friendly energy carrier, Ammonia has the potential to play a significant role [...] Read more.
This study investigates the viability of using Ammonia as a carbon-free fuel for heat generation in terms of both reactive Nitrogen and Carbon emissions and production cost. As a carbon-free, environmentally friendly energy carrier, Ammonia has the potential to play a significant role in the sustainable, clean energy supply of the future. However, a major drawback of the steady combustion of ammonia for process heat generation is the extremely high levels of NOx emissions it produces. In this pilot-scale study, the experimental results show that, through the oscillating combustion of NH3, NOx emissions can be reduced by as much as 80%. Production costs were compared to evaluate the economic feasibility of Ammonia-based heat; the results reveal the economic challenges associated with using Ammonia compared to natural gas, even when accounting for the development of CO2 pricing. Only in terms of Carbon Capture and Storage requirements is Ammonia-based heat economically advantageous. This study also scrutinizes the economies of the production of gray and green Ammonia. Considering CO2 certificate costs, the cost of green ammonia would be competitive in the near future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimization of Efficient Clean Combustion Technology: 2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 3413 KB  
Article
Determination of Coal and Biomass Co-Combustion Process States Using Convolutional Neural Networks
by Andrzej Kotyra and Konrad Gromaszek
Energies 2025, 18(19), 5219; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18195219 - 1 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 891
Abstract
The paper presents the application of high-speed flame imaging combined with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for determining different states of biomass–coal co-combustion in terms of thermal power and excess air coefficient. The experimental setup and methodology used in a laboratory-scale co-combustion system are [...] Read more.
The paper presents the application of high-speed flame imaging combined with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for determining different states of biomass–coal co-combustion in terms of thermal power and excess air coefficient. The experimental setup and methodology used in a laboratory-scale co-combustion system are described, highlighting tests conducted across nine defined operational variants. The performance of several state-of-the-art CNN architectures was examined, focusing particularly on those achieving the highest classification metrics and exploring the dependence of input image resolution and applying a transfer learning paradigm. By benchmarking various CNNs on a large, diverse image dataset without preprocessing, the research advances intelligent, automated control systems for improved stability, efficiency, and emissions control, bridging advanced visual diagnostics with real-time industrial applications. The summary includes recommendations and potential directions for further research related to the use of image data and machine learning techniques in industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimization of Efficient Clean Combustion Technology: 2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 5968 KB  
Article
Assessment of Charge Dilution Strategies to Reduce Fuel Consumption in Natural Gas-Fuelled Heavy-Duty Spark Ignition Engines
by Davide Di Domenico, Pierpaolo Napolitano, Dario Di Maio and Carlo Beatrice
Energies 2025, 18(8), 2072; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18082072 - 17 Apr 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1007
Abstract
The need to decarbonize the road transport sector is driving the evaluation of alternative solutions. From a long-term perspective, biomethane and e-methane are particularly attractive as green energy carriers and a part of the solutions for the sustainable freight on-road transport, as they [...] Read more.
The need to decarbonize the road transport sector is driving the evaluation of alternative solutions. From a long-term perspective, biomethane and e-methane are particularly attractive as green energy carriers and a part of the solutions for the sustainable freight on-road transport, as they offer significant CO2-equivalent emissions savings in a net Well-to-Wheel assessment. However, to make methane-fuelled spark ignition (SI) heavy-duty (HD) engines competitive in the market, their efficiency must be comparable to the top-performing diesel applications that dominate the sector. To this end, dilution techniques such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) or lean air–fuel mixtures represent promising solutions. Within limits specific to the engine’s tolerance to the used strategy, charge dilution can improve thermal efficiency impact on the pumping and wall heat loss, and the heat capacity ratio (γ). However, their potential has never been explored in the case of methane SI HD engines characterized by a semi diesel-like combustion system architecture. This work presents an experimental study to characterize the energy and pollutant emission performance of a state-of-the-art SI HD gas single-cylinder engine (SCE) operating with EGR or with lean conditions. The engine type is representative of most HD powertrains used for long-haul purposes. The designed test plan is representative of the majority of on-road operating conditions providing an overview of the impact of the two dilution methods on the overall engine performance. The results highlight that both techniques are effective for achieving significant fuel savings, with lean combustion being more tolerable and yielding higher efficiency improvements (10% peak vs. 5% with EGR). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimization of Efficient Clean Combustion Technology: 2nd Edition)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-5
Back to TopTop