This week, the IFRF Handbook continues the development of its  portfolio of pre-programmed spreadsheet calculators with a new Combustion File that calculates combustion air requirements for solid fuels.

• CF235: What Tools are Available for the Calculation of Air Requirements for Solid Fuel Combustion? – Members’ Domain

CF235 has been prepared by EuroFlammer Gabriel Lopez and is based on an earlier combustion file on this topic, CF226 from Franz Winter and Georg Scmidinger of the University of Vienna. It presents the same methodology in the form of a downloadable Excel Spreadsheet into which users may introduce their own fuel properties and excess air levels and have a figure for combustion air requirements calculated automatically. It is our intention to publish in the autumn further CFs customised for other fuel types. In the meantime, although written in a format that relates to the way solid fuels are characterised, users may apply CF235 with caution to other fuel types by adapting their fuel data to the formats given in CF235.

Also this week, the Handbook completes the current activity relating to the emissivity of materials at high temperatures with two new Combustion Files, CF99 prepared by Bob Tucker of Zerontec and  CF238 prepared by me on behalf of Alan Williams and Ed Hampartsumian of Leeds University:

• CF99: What are High Emissivity Furnace Wall Coatings and How Effective are they? – Members’ Domain
• CF238: What are the Emissivity Characteristics of Coatings for In-furnace Thermocouple Measurements? – Members’ Domain

CF99 was prepared by Bob Tucker of Zerontec. It considers the emissive properties of high emissivity coatings, and goes on to explain the way in which such coatings might affect radiative heat transfer in furnaces. It also presents some guidance on the likely impact of the use of such coatings on the efficiency of high temperature furnaces, an area that often gives rise to some controversy.

CF238 is an off-shoot of the same topic, considering the impact of one type of protective ceramic coating on radiative heat exchange with (and hence the indicated temperatures of) coated thermocouples used for in furnace temperature measurements

To read or download these and other recently published Combustion Files, please go to www.handbook.ifrf.net, and select ‘New Combustion Files’ after accepting the disclaimer screen. Other Combustion Files on related themes may be found by using the links built into the new CFs and/or by searching the Handbook with the  keywords like ’emissivity’ ‘radiation’, ‘efficiency’ etc.