The report Combustion of NG and pulverised coal in a mixture of oxygen and RFG presents the results of the first phase of the experimental programme carried out by ENEL and IFRF in the period from December 2008 to January 2009.  Tests on the FOSPER furnace were initiated as part of the EU RFCS Friendly Coal project, with IFRF activity covered by ENEL and EU funding. 

The programme on FOSPER, mainly commissioning new oxy-firing capability, was a response to the pressing demand for data and information on pilot and semi-industrial scale.

The oxy-combustion process is in fact one of the most promising CCS technologies in the fields of both thermal and thermo-electric generation, but complete information for industrial development is still lacking both on the fundamental and the technological sides.  IFRF Members can access information on the state of the art as described in the proceedings of TOTeM 31, a technical meeting organised by the IFRF in Pisa in November 2008 and entitled “Oxy-Combustion technologies and applications”.  Oxyfuel was also the topic of last week’s IEA CONFERENCE in Cottbus, Germany, referred to in the previous issue of MNM.

During the experimental programme, detailed in-flame measurements were made in different conventional and oxy-combustion conditions, both with natural gas and a bituminous coal.  The in-flame data collected during this campaign has importance for the characterization of oxy-combustion with recycled flue gas in FOSPER with a Low-NOx burner (TEA-C burner).  This information may be used to develop a better understanding of the changes in the chemical and physical processes involved in this kind of combustion and can provide modellers with valuable direction for the development of oxy-combustion flame mathematical simulations.

As such, the report Combustion of NG and pulverised coal in a mixture of oxygen and RFG fits into the context of the IFRF Members Research Project “Validation of combustion modelling for practical combustion systems”, the aim of which is to produce a large set of in-flame measurements in different combustion conditions and to use this data to validate advanced mathematical models.  In October 2008 the IFRF published some preliminary tests which are described in the technical report also available in the Current Reports section of the IFRF website and entitled In flame measurements of aerodynamic and chemical composition profiles.

IFRF Member organisations wishing to have all the details of the system and burner (including the geometrical details of the burner and velocity fields in isothermal conditions) should contact Leo Tognotti here.

Additional comments and information on the validation programme will be added shortly to the IFRF’s online CFD Discussion Forum. To request membership of the Forum, write to Tracey Biller here.