:: copyright 1999 - 2008 IFRF :: Wednesday 14 May 2008 ::
IFRF Members Research Programme
ISSN 1607 - 9140                    www.research.ifrf.net

Current reports


Current Reports are those published between January 2005 and the present date. They may be downloaded only by registered IFRF members and a valid user name and password will be requested. To access the IFRF’s searchable database of archived reports (published prior to January 2005) go to Search Document Archive.

Published in 2008

D 10/y/01 - IFRF Solid Fuel Database - SFDB Phase 1
Authors: J. Hercog, L. Tognotti
Publication date: January 2008Open Information
Related programme: IFRF Solid Fuel Database

Published in 2007

D00/y/36 - IFRF Triennial Report 2004–2006 and research planning
Authors: Hartmut Spliethoff, Neil Fricker, Leonardo Tognotti
Publication date: Oct 2007Open Information
Related programme: Triennial Planning

The IFRF Triennial Report 2004-2006 and Research Planning has been compiled by Professor Hartmut Spliethoff, IFRF Superintendent of Research, Dr. Neil Fricker, IFRF Deputy Superintendent of Research, and Professor Leonardo Tognotti, IFRF Director. 

From an introduction which documents the reasons for the move from IJmuiden and the decision to relocate the IFRF to Livorno, and then clarifies the mission of the “New” IFRF, the text moves through four major sections:

  • IJMUIDEN: ACHIEVEMENTS 2004 – 2006
  • IFRF FACILITIES
  • MEMBERS’ RESEARCH PROGRAMME 2006 – 2009
  • CONCLUDING REMARKS

IJMUIDEN: ACHIEVEMENTS 2004 – 2006 revisits the research projects carried out in this period, describing each individually and listing the reports which resulted.  The projects were MECBURN, BioFlam, PowerFlam 1 & 2, HEC-EEC, and CAFENOX.  Space is then dedicated to Other smaller studies and publications and then to the IFRF’s regular publications, the Online Combustion Handbook and the Online Journal.  The Topic Orientated Technical Meetings (TOTeMs) held during the triennial are also listed.

IFRF FACILITIES provides the details of the test rigs, laboratories and computing equipment accessible by Members at the Livorno plant.  This information will shortly be amplified in the form of a fully illustrated guide which is currently being compiled and will be made available on the IFRF website.

MEMBERS’ RESEARCH PROGRAMME 2006 – 2009 explains the mechanism behind the funding of the Members’ Research Programme, both historically and in the new dispensation, and identifies the various types of reports which are produced at different stages of a research project.  The status of the three projects currently underway is then outlined.  The projects are:

  • Validation of combustion modelling for practical combustion systems
  • Development of a solid (coal and secondary) fuel data base
  • Hydrogen production and utilisation- IGCC. 

G19/y/06 - Cost Abatement for Effective NOX Reduction in PF Coal-fired Power Plants
State-of-the-Art Overview of NOX reduction techniques and associated costs
Authors: Giovanni Coraggio, Neil Fricker, Patrick Lavery, John Smart, Michael Welbourne
Publication date: May 2007Open Information
Related programme: Cost Abatement for Effective NOX Reduction in PF Coal-fired Power Plants


Pulverised coal fired power plants in Europe are facing increasingly tight limits on emissions of Nitrogen Oxides (NOX). After recalling the main EU regulations facing power station boilers and other large combustion plant, this report presents a review of the mechanisms of NOX  formation in pulverised-coal fired boilers, and of the technical options available to reduce NOx. Both in-furnace and post furnace options are considered, in addition to the impact of coal type on emissions. The effectiveness and cost of the different options have also been reviewed. This work was cofunded by the European Commission.


G130/y/1 - IFRF Studies on the Utilisation of Works By-Product Gases in the Iron & Steel Industry
Technical Review for the Iron and Steel Industrial Sector
Authors: Neil Fricker and Jeff Rhine
Publication date: march 2007Open Information
Related programme: Archiving of IFRF Technical Documents

In the 1970s and 1980s, the IFRF undertook several furnace trials to provide user guidance on the use of Works By-Product Gases on high temperature and low temperature steelworks plant. The studies covered beneficiation techniques and their influence on plant efficiency and NOx formation, as well as an examination of low CV gas flame stability, and the control of low CV gas flames by radiation measurements. More recently, the IFRF has undertaken a survey of the current issues facing IFRF metals sector members relating to the increased use of their Works By-Product Gases . The survey also reviewed the previous IFRF work and identified opportunities arising from recent technical advances, together with the R&D that would be needed to exploit them. The survey was undertaken by Jeff Rhine and Neil Fricker of the University of Glamorgan as part of the European Commission supported EUROFLAM programme.

IFRF Report G130/y/01 summarises the main findings of the IFRF's earlier work. The review includes summaries of the key findings relating to efficiency, NOx emissions flame stability and process control. It was also recognised that the technology has moved on in a significant way since those trials were undertaken. In particular, developments of:

  • compact regenerators for higher air and fuel preheat
  • flameless combustion
  • computer based simulation techniques
  • modern sensors
  • real-time computer based flame control to take advantage of such sensors.

offer the prospect of step changes in the effectiveness and economics of low calorific value gases as industrial fuels.



Published in 2006

F 48/y/4a - Scaling of Natural Gas Burners for Fire-tube Boilers
Final Report on Burner Scaling
Authors: Roman Weber, Roger Tellqvist, Willem van de Kamp
Publication date: June 2006Open Information
Related programme: MECBURN - Advanced Burner Design Methodology for Efficient and Clean Gas Fired Commercial and Industrial Boilers

This report contains the results of an analysis undertaken by the IFRF Research Station BV as its contribution to the EC co-funded MECBURN Project. The topic of the analysis is burner scaling, with particular application to natural gas firing of firetube boilers (so called ‘shell boilers’). In addition to providing a further interpretation of the burner scaling experiments of MECBURN, the scaling rules described and tested in the MECBURN project will also be of general application in a range of process situations of interest to IFRF Members.

The report starts with a comprehensive review of the main options for burner scaling. This includes an extensive bibliography of other relevant IFRF reports as well as publications by the IFRF and others over a 50 year period.

The experimental arrangements to test similar burners at three different scales (7 MW, 500kW and 150kW) are described. Babcock-Wanson, Gaz de France and TU Karlsruhe undertook these tests respectively. The 7MW rig was also tested at 3.5MW.

The results of these tests are presented, and scaling rules considered in terms of:

  •  Temperature fields in the flames
  •  Temperature in the post-flame zone
  •  Carbon monoxide concentrations
  •  Nitrogen oxides

The report draws conclusions about the appropriate approach for scaling shell boiler/burner systems in terms of each of the above parameters.

 


This report was originally prepared by the IFRF Research Station BV in 1999 as part of the EC co-funded CLEAN GLASS projects.  The report has been reviewed by the IFRF for publication to IFRF members. In May 2006 it has been republished in this site. 

Bulk glass melters use large reversing regenerators to preheat the combustion air in order to enhance thermal efficiency of the melting process. One of the downsides of this is a high level of NOx in the flue gases, with values exceeding 3000 ppm not uncommon in the past. NOx formation in glass melting furnaces is mostly due to thermal NOx, and should be amenable to primary reduction measures by altering the fuel air mixing arrangement to reduce peak flame temperatures while maintaining heat transfer to the glass and avoiding excessive refractory temperatures. The Clean Glass program attempted to better understand the formation of NOx in glass melting furnaces. The IFRF program consisted of an experimental part and a modelling part, which are combined to validate the improvements of the mathematical modelling. Specific objectives of this study were as follows:

1.  To reduce the NOx emission to less than 500mg/Nm3 @8percent O2 with complete combustion by primary means

Several oil atomiser conditions, burner configurations and atomisation media were tested to better understand the NOx and CO emission behaviour.

2.  To maintain optimum heat flux and distribution while reducing NOx

The heat release profile in the glass tank condition should be maintained similar while arranging the burner gun configurations to get the target NOx level. Detailed in-flame measurements were undertaken to distinguish the flame properties of low NOx and high NOx performance.

Experimental work

Experiments were executed in February 1999. Heavy fuel oil was fired in the glass melting furnace simulator (~1MWt) at the IFRF Research Station. Air preheats of  over 1000C were achieved by means of a direct fired air preheater with oxygen addition to return to oxygen levels to  21percent. Air assisted oil atomisers were prepared by Hotwork-Köster. The following parameters were evaluated to investigate the NOx and CO emission behaviour.

  • Atomisation medium (air, nitrogen, natural gas, steam)
  • Atomisation air flow and pressure
  • Combustion air velocity (14m/s, 24m/s)
  • Firing modes (6 different burner gun arrangements)
  • Atomiser angle (5O - 18O)

At the same time in-flame measurements were carried out in three different flames to assess the flame properties of high NOx and low NOx flames.

A monochromatic infrared camera for tomographic flame reconstruction was applied in the glass melting furnace simulator in co-operation with IST (Instituto Superior Técnico).

Results

 Research Report F45/y/2 contains a detailed description of the way in which the IFRF furnace was used to simulate a full scale glass melter. It also gives complete data on the experimental conditions, fuels, parametric studies of the effect of the experimental parameters on flue NOx levels, and the detailed in-flame data collected.

It was shown that the primary measures listed above can achieve reductions in NOx emissions of 30 percent to 50 percent. The specific conditions giving rise to the best NOx/CO/Heat transfer  combinations are identified in the body of the report. It was also recognised that application of different firing modes also offer further potential, but that additional studies will be needed to explore and exploit this potential.

 


G106/g/1 - Status Report on Firing Secondary Fuels in Europe
Submitted in Nov '04, published as pdf file, in May '06
Authors: Hans-Dieter Hilpert, Jörg Maier, Wolfgang Scheurer, Klaus R.G. Hein
Publication date: may 2006Open Information
Related programme: Combustion Characterisation of Substitute Fuels for Co-Firing with Pulverised Coal

This Study Report, G 106/g/1, is the first output from the EC co-funded BioFlam R&D Project. This Consortium Project was coordinated by the IFRF Research Station BV and delivered to and approved by the EC in 2005. The review was prepared for the BioFlam Consortium by the IVD at the University of Stuttgart.
 

The thermal utilisation of secondary or recovered fuels in pulverised fuel (pf) fired power plants offers an immediate route to achieve the EC White Paper target of 6 Mtoe of biomass fuels being used in co-firing plants. Recovered fuels are inhomogeneous fractions with a large share of CO2-neutral or less carbon intensive materials. The utilisation of recovered fuels offers a CO2 reduction potential of up to 90 percent in comparison to carbon intensive fuels such as coal. Recovered fuels are suitable to replace a proportion of the coal used in existing coal-fired power stations.

 

Currently most of the waste materials in Europe are deposited on landfills (efficiency 0 percent). Consumption of land, long-term reactions on the landfills and emission of green house gases (GHG) have a negative influence on the environment in Europe. This triggered the interest in sustainable modern waste management systems encouraging reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery measures. The state-of-the-art alternative is the thermal treatment of waste in a waste incineration plant at costs of 90 Euros/tonne or more. The cost savings of co-combustion against waste incineration are over 70 percent. A further benefit of the co-combustion approach is that the energy content of the recovered fuels will be transformed into electricity in pulverised fuel fired power plant at high efficiencies (> 40 percent) compared to about 20 percent in waste incineration and 0 percent in landfill. This reduces CO2 emissions in electricity production.

 

The status report  is based on information provided by the BioFlam project partners, on publications and on information available by internet. The report includes information about 16 European countries and focuses on country specific criteria, laws and experience with PF co-combustion of recovered fuels. The report is based on a summary information relating to co-firing practice in Europe at the beginning of the 21st Century.


F36/y/20 - Measurements and computations of quarl zone flow field and chemistry in a swirling pulverized coal flame
Results of the MMF 5-2 Investigation - (First published in Mar '92; re-published as pdf file, with the co-operation of MBEL, in Apr '06)
Authors: R Weber, J Dugue, A Sayre, A A F Peters and B M Visser
Publication date: april 2006Open Information
Related programme: Archiving of IFRF Technical Documents

IFRF Report F36/y/20 was first published in 1992 as part of the Dutch NOVEM sponsored MMF5-2 Investigations. The report contains detailed laser doppler based measurements of gas velocities, turbulence and compositions in the inlet and quarl zone of swirling low-NOx  pulverised coal flames. In addition to the experimental data, the report describes a mathematical model used to simulate the flames studied, and makes comparisons between the measured and modeled parameters. Parameters explored include temperature, gas composition, char burnout, and radiative heat fluxes together with NOx and nitrogen precursors concentrations.


F98/y/2 - APG 2- Combustion of Pulverised Coal in a Mixture of Oxygen and Recycled Flue Gas
Report on the APG 2 Experiment - (First published in Mar '95; re-published as pdf file, with the co-operation of MBEL, in Mar '06)
Authors: D M Woycenko, WL van de Kamp
Publication date: March 2006Open Information
Related programme: Advanced Power Generation

This report is the 2nd of a series of Research Reports prepared at the IFRF Research Station in the period 1994-1995.  The IFRF work was part of a wider co-operative programme co-funded by the European Commission within the JouleII programme. The general objective was to assess the technical and economic feasibility of carbon dioxide separation from the flue gas of coal fired power plant for subsequent sequestration.

This process could permit near zero carbon dioxide emissions from power production from fossil sources. It can be achieved by increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the flue gas to levels where efficient liquefaction becomes feasible; which can generally be done by eliminating nitrogen from the system by burning the coal with oxygen instead of air. 

The overall programme was divided into three project areas, with overall coordination by the IFRF. The Project Areas were:

1. Pulverised coal combustion systems for CO2 capture 

Coordinated by Babcock Energy Limited

Participating partners were:

  • University of Ulster (GB)
  • University of Naples (IT)
  • Air Products (GB)

2. Evaluation of advanced coal-based systems for power generations

Coordinated by IFRF

International Advisory Group: IFRF European Members

3. Coal combustion in advanced burners for minimal emissions and carbon dioxide reduction technologies

Coordinated by Rolls Royce International Combustion Limited

 Participating partners were:

  • Imperial College (GB)
  • Lambda Technical (GR)
  • IST Lisboa (PT)
  • Electr. de Portugal (PT)

This programme, although a decade old, set the scene for the present day major research thrust on this aspect of Carbon Sequestration.               

The present report describes the second phase of the APG experiment performed at the IFRF Research Station.


F98/y/1 - APG 1- Combustion of Pulverised Coal in a Mixture of Oxygen and Recycled Flue Gas
Report on the APG 1 Experiment - (First published in Nov '94; re-published as pdf file, with the co-operation of MBEL, in Feb '06)
Authors: D M Woycenko, I Ikeda, WL van de Kamp
Publication date: February 2006Open Information
Related programme: Advanced Power Generation

This report is the 1st of a series of Research Reports prepared at the IFRF Research Station in the period 1994-1995.  The IFRF work was part of a wider co-operative programme co-funded by the European Commission within the JouleII programme. The general objective was to assess the technical and economic feasibility of carbon dioxide separation from the flue gas of coal fired power plant for subsequent sequestration.

This process could permit near zero carbon dioxide emissions from power production from fossil sources. It can be achieved by increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the flue gas to levels where efficient liquefaction becomes feasible; which can generally be done by eliminating nitrogen from the system by burning the coal with oxygen instead of air. 

The overall programme was divided into three project areas, with overall coordination by the IFRF. The Project Areas were:

1. Pulverised coal combustion systems for CO2 capture 

Coordinated by Babcock Energy Limited

Participating partners were:

  • University of Ulster (GB)
  • University of Naples (IT)
  • Air Products (GB)

2. Evaluation of advanced coal-based systems for power generations

Coordinated by IFRF

International Advisory Group: IFRF European Members

3. Coal combustion in advanced burners for minimal emissions and carbon dioxide reduction technologies

Coordinated by Rolls Royce International Combustion Limited

 Participating partners were:

  • Imperial College (GB)
  • Lambda Technical (GR)
  • IST Lisboa (PT)
  • Electr. de Portugal (PT)

This programme, although a decade old, set the scene for the present day major research thrust on this aspect of Carbon Sequestration.               

The present report describes the first phase of the APG experiment performed at the IFRF Research Station. This work was probably the first demonstration of the process at a near industrial scale.  


G23/y/2 - Chemical Looping Combustion For Fossil Fuel Utilisation with Carbon Sequestration
A Technology Review
Authors: Raymond Tan, Stanley Santos
Publication date: January 2006Open Information
Related programme: Advanced Power Generation

Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) is a combustion technology with inherent separation of the greenhouse gas CO2. This combustion process involves the use of a metallic oxygen carrier to allow indirect burning of gaseous fuel to yield CO2-rich flue gas to facilitate carbon sequestration. 

Two reactors in the form of interconnected fluidized beds are used in the process. The metallic oxygen carrier undergoes cyclic oxidation (in air) and reduction (with gaseous fuel) reactions so that combustion takes place without contact between the fuel and air.  Combustion of the fuel takes place in the absence of nitrogen, yielding flue gas consisting mainly of CO2 and water vapour. 

The net chemical reaction over the two reactors is the same as for normal combustion with the same amount of heat released, but with the important difference that carbon dioxide is inherently separated from nitrogen, and no extra energy is needed for this separation.

Although the technology is still in its infancy, CLC offers the same advantages as oxy-fuel combustion with the added advantage of potentially higher thermal efficiency.  This paper reviews the fundamental principles of CLC, key results of oxygen carrier characterization studies, some CLC system concepts with associated design issues and thermo-economic assessments.  The potential for related applications such as hydrogen production are also discussed along with promising directions for future research.     


Published in 2005

K70/y/156 - Towards Industrial Application of High Efficiency Combustion
Authors: B.T. Burggraaf, B. Lewis, P.D.J. Hoppesteyn, N. Fricker, S. Santos and B.K. Slim
Publication date: September 2005Open Information
Related programme: High Efficiency Combustion

In 2001 the IFRF commenced a programme of research aiming to provide information through which process industries could improve the thermal efficiency of their heating processes, reduce costs, NOx emissions and net CO2 emissions. This is the IFRF High Efficiency Combustion Research Programme.

Following from developments at IJmuiden the research was based on application of modern regenerative burner operating in “flameless” mode. In the work described in the paper the IFRF cooperated with Corus RD&T and Gasunie Engineering & Technologies; the specific industrial application envisaged was steel slab-reheating, in particular, pusher type furnaces.

The IFRF set up a 1MW semi-industrial scale test facility to simulate the reheating process equipped with two commercially available HEC burners. The paper gives details of the facility design and operation and the measurement capability with details of the results of both natural gas and coke oven gas firing campaigns.

In order to investigate the application of the experience gained in the experimental investigations to a pusher type slab-reheating furnace, CFD modelling was developed based on a commercial code. Details of these developments and the application of the model are described.

Finally there is a comparison between the operational data of a conventionally fired furnace and the predicted HEC fired furnace, with analysis of the gains to be made, leading to conclusions and the planning of full scale application.

 


G23/y/1 - Oxy-Coal Combustion with Flue Gas Recycle For the Power Generation Industry
A literature Review
Authors: Raymond Tan, Giovanni Coraggio, Stanley Santos
Publication date: September 2005Open Information
Related programme: Advanced Power Generation

 

The ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and the implementation of the EU directives for greenhouse gas emissions trading present a mounting pressure to the coal utilisation community (including coal users in the power generation industry) to mitigate their CO2 emissions.  This is an environmental challenge that is greater than any it has previously faced. The magnitude of the problem will require parallel actions to be implemented by the industry; and these include options such as the increase in efficiency, co-firing with renewable fuels, and CO2 capture and sequestration.

This report presents a general review on Oxy-Coal Combustion with Recycled Flue Gas, one of the potential techniques for CO2 capture and sequestration. The aim of this work is to provide an overview of the current state of the technology from the point of view of both technical and economic issues.

The report briefly described the various semi-industrial scale studies undertaken for this technology during the past decades. The review also presented the key results obtained from various laboratory scale studies made. The technical issues related to this kind of combustion were summarized.

Furthermore, the report discussed the expected additional economic and thermodynamic costs for the production of O2 and for the recovering and storage of CO2 from the exhaust flue gas. The various solutions and methods for lowering these costs were also shown.

 


F104/y/03 - Combustion of Pulverized Fuel and Alternative Fuels in Blast Furnaces
Final Research Report (Re-published in the IFRF searchable website)
Authors: D.J.Morgan, M. Kösters, J. Haas and W. L. Van de Kamp
Publication date: July 2005Open Information
Related programme: Combustion of Pulverised Fuel and Waste Plastic in Blast Furnaces

 
The Final Research Report - F104/y/03 - is published as a pdf file. This may be downloaded by clicking on the Icon on the left hand side below "Contents" - check on the file size before commencing the download.

The abstract of the report is published as an html file. Click on the "Executive Summary" title to the right of the pdf icon, to review the summary on screen. We recommend you to do this prior to downloading the report.


981231 - Project Summary Report
Authors: D J Morgan, J. Haas, W L van de Kamp
Publication date: March 1999Open Information
Related programme: Combustion of Pulverised Fuel and Waste Plastic in Blast Furnaces
This profile gives the background to the IFRF Members Funded Research Project "Combustion of Pulverised Fuel and Waste Plastic in Blast Furnaces". The project was co-funded by the European Commission.  The work was completed at the IFRF Research Station in 1998; this profile was published in 1999.  The Profile and the associated Final Research Report; F104/y/3 are republished in July 2005 in this IFRF searchable website in order to ensure that they are fully accessible to IFRF Members. 

F108/y/3 - EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS OF THE HEC-EEC FURNACE AND BURNERS FIRING COKE OVEN GAS
Authors: Jonas Brobäck Adolfi, Connie Ellul, Ferry Frinking and Stanley Santos
Publication date: June 2005Open Information
Related programme: High Efficiency Combustion

This report presents the observations and experimental data collected during the final phase of the IFRF HEC Project. A 5m x 2m x 2m furnace fitted with a pair of proprietary compact regenerative burners was fired with Coke Oven Gas in a flameless combustion mode. The regenerative burners reversed at approximately 30-second intervals, and provided combustion air preheat levels of up to 1250C.

Input/output measurements and in-flame measurements were made at a range of throughputs between 300kW and 1MW. Measured parameters included gas temperatures, wall temperatures, gas compositions, NOx concentrations and radiative heat fluxes to the furnace walls. In addition, an extensive set of photographs and some video recordings of the flames were made. The approaches to measuring in flame parameters in a rapidly cycling combustion system developed in earlier phases of the HEC project were deployed. This has resulted in a consistent set of in-flame data for both natural gas and COG fuels.

Although primarily intended to generate data sets for the development and validation of mathematical models of the effect of fuel type on high temperature flameless combustion systems, a number of direct observations of the characteristics were made, and these are set out in the main text of this report.

 


F106/y/1 - Interim Research Report on the Combustion Characterisation of Substitute Fuels for Co-Firing with Pulverized Coals during the period 2000-2001
Republication of an Interim Research Report published originally in September 2001
Authors: M Tamura and WL van de Kamp
Publication date: June 2005Open Information
Related programme: Combustion Characterisation of Substitute Fuels for Co-Firing with Pulverised Coal

Reducing greenhouse gas emission is of considerable public concern. A large portion of greenhouse gases are discharged from generation equipment in the power industry, especially coal fired plants. Thus power producers must find solutions of this.

Utilisation of the "alternative" or "fossil replacement" fuels derived from biomass or waste for electricity production is one of most realisable and economic way to achieve CO2 reduction. Technical information on combustion of pulverised coal has been accumulated over recent decades. The methods of burner design, operation and methodologies of pollutant emissions have been well established. However the co-firing behaviour between biomass and coal is not yet well understood.

This study evaluates the effects of alternative fuels blended with pulverised coal on combustion characteristics in an Isothermal Plug Flow Reactor (IPFR). The aim of the experiments was to assess whether the combustion behaviour of co-firing could be predicted from that of the parent fuels. Several alternative fuels such as paper sludge, pure wood and plant substrates were selected and characterised.


F98/y/4 - APG 4 - Combustion of Pulverised Coal in a Mixture of Oxygen and Recycled Flue Gas
Summary of the APG Research Programme (Published in Oct '95; re-published as pdf file in March '05)
Authors: D M Woycenko, W L van de Kamp, Peter Roberts
Publication date: March 2005Open Information
Related programme: Advanced Power Generation

This report is the 4th of a series of Research Reports prepared at the IFRF Research Station in the period 1994-1995.  The IFRF work was part of a wider co-operative programme co-funded by the European Commission within the JouleII programme. The general objective was to assess the technical and economic feasibility of carbon dioxide separation from the flue gas of coal fired power plant for subsequent sequestration.

This process could permit near zero carbon dioxide emissions from power production from fossil sources. It can be achieved by increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the flue gas to levels where efficient liquefaction becomes feasible; which can generally be done by eliminating nitrogen from the system by burning the coal with oxygen instead of air. 

The overall programme was divided into three project areas, with overall coordination by the IFRF. The Project Areas were:

1. Pulverised coal combustion sistems for CO2 capture 

Coordinated by Babcock Energy Limited

Participating partners were:

  • University of Ulster (GB)
  • University of Naples (IT)
  • Air Products (GB)

2. Evaluation of advanced coal-based systems for power generations

Coordinated by IFRF

International Advisory Group: IFRF European Members

3. Coal combustion in advanced burners for minimal emissions and carbon dioxide reduction technologies

Coordinated by Rolls Royce International Combustion Limited

 Participating partners were:

  • Imperial College (GB)
  • Lambda Technical (GR)
  • IST Lisboa (PT)
  • Electr. de Portugal (PT)

This programme, although a decade old, set the scene for the present day major research thrust on this aspect of Carbon Sequestration.               

The present report summarises the overall results of the IFRF Research Station work, a programme which was probably the first demonstration of the process at a near industrial scale


G108/y/3 - NON-ISOTHERMAL CFD MODEL OF THE HEC FURNACE AND BURNERS (ADDITIONAL CALCULATIONS)
Authors: René Hekkens
Publication date: January 2005Open Information
Related programme: High Efficiency Combustion

The combination of compact regenerative burners with flameless firing delivers the high thermal efficiency needed for reducing carbon emissions and fuel costs while at the same time reducing NOx emissions. The IFRF Research Station is undertaking detailed measurements and modelling of such a system in its High Efficiency Combustion (HEC) furnace, the objective being to provide generic information on the combustion behaviour of regenerative flameless combustion systems, together with data that may be used to develop and validate mathematical models of such processes. Although the HEC furnace design is intended as a simulation of a large steel-reheating furnace, it is anticipated that the output from the HEC tests will find application over a wide range of industrial processes.

G108/y/3 is the third of three reports dealing with the CFD modelling of a high temperature furnace fired by a pair of compact regenerative burners operating in the ‘flameless’ mode. The report describes the validation of a non-isothermal CFD models used to simulate mixing, combustion and heat transfer taking place in the IFRF’s HEC furnace when fired flamelessly.

A comprehensive description of the model configurations adopted is given in G108/y/1 and G108/y/2. Further details of the furnace and burner geometry are available in the HEC Planning report (D108/y/1) and the HEC Furnace Commissioning reports (C108/y/1 and C108/y/2).

In this report, additional comparisons are made between the output of the G108/y/2 CFD model and data collected when firing the furnace on natural gas and which was not available at the time of the original comparisons. At the same time, the opportunity has been taken to better reproduce the actual furnace boundary conditions in the CFD model.

All HEC reports cited in this summary are available to IFRF Members as downloads from:

http://www.research.ifrf.net/research/programmes.html