Numerical Simulation of a Hydrogen Burner for an Industrial Furnace

Georg Kränzel, Daniel Bernhardt (Betreuer:in), Julian Unterluggauer (Betreuer:in), Christoph Reichl (Betreuer:in)

Publikation: AbschlussarbeitMasterarbeit

Abstract

In order to mitigate the development of anthropogenic climate change, largely caused by greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion, the decarbonization of the process industry is a crucial pivot to pursue the overarching goal of a more sustainable future. High temperature metal treatment processes such as reheating furnaces are currently predominately operated with natural gas. The substitution of fuels with green hydrogen therefore promises great relief in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, but also poses some challenges in terms of implementation. `Moderate or Intense Low oxygen Dilution` (MILD) combustion offers a rapidly developing technological approach to address these challenges. The associated benefits range from significant improvements in combustion stability and energy efficiency to substantially
reduced pollutant emission rates. The aim of this thesis is therefore to investigate the establishment criteria and effects on the stability of the MILD combustion mode when using pure hydrogen. Characteristics were examined by numerical simulation methods provided by the ANSYS Fluent Software to gain a deeper understanding of the MILD combustion features as an outlook for further investigations and design processes of industrial-scale burners. A significant part of the underlying research related to the design of the burner nozzle arrangement of an industry-derived, self-designed burner geometry. The extensive burner nozzle design process, combined with the comprehensively described and justified setup of the numerical model, ultimately enabled the
successful achievement of the MILD combustion mode by reaching the geometry-specific momentum threshold for its establishment. Based on that, several series of tests were carried out to evaluate the effects of wall influence and combustion chamber dimensions on the critical entrainment of recirculated inert gases. Recirculation factors were evaluated for different test series in comparison with data from other numerical publications. In addition, the interaction of multiple burners in different layouts was investigated to explore their mutual interference. The stability of the combustion mode was confirmed in the individual studies, showing a particular robustness to multi-burner influences as well as to changes in chamber design. Although entrainment, and hence the fuel stream dilution, was found to be affected from a critically reduced lateral burner distance, the MILD combustion mode remained established at higher temperature levels. In absence of experimental validation options of the numerical results within the scope of this work, the focus of verification shifted to comparisons with other numerical work and publications. Nonetheless, any results obtained should be regarded as theoretical predictions and therefore be treated with appropriate caution until experimental validation has been carried out.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
Betreuer/-in / Berater/-in
  • Bernhardt, Daniel, Betreuer:in, Externe Person
  • Unterluggauer, Julian, Betreuer:in
  • Reichl, Christoph, Betreuer:in
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 31 Juli 2023

Research Field

  • Efficiency in Industrial Processes and Systems

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