The Editors of the IFRF Journal have received and reviewed the book Scale-up in Combustion,  edited by M. Lackner of TU Vienna  and published by Verlag ProcessEng Engineering GmbH, 2009.

At 157 pages, Scale-up in Combustion (ISBN 978-3-902655-04-2) is a very useful collection of articles by leading academic researchers on scale-up of gas-solid combustion equipment .

A brief introductory article is followed by three articles on different aspects of fluidised bed combustion.  F. Winter treats the general problem of scale-up and scale-down for gas-solid systems, with a view to the design of small-scale studies of chemical reactions for application at the full-scale.  W. de Jon and J.R. van Ommen treat combustion of biomass in fluidised beds.  B. Leckner, P. Szentennai, and F. Winter examine the theory and practice of scaling circulating fluidised bed boilers.  And there were significant practical problems going from a 35MWe plant capacity in 1994 to 460MWe in 2006.  Whilst there is some repetition among the three articles that could have been avoided,  the approach adopted by the Editor means that each article makes a useful, self-standing contribution.

The article on rotary kilns by D.R. van Puyvelde is less about combustion and more about particle processing in kilns – a complex and interesting study.  The different operating regimes and transitions depend on particle diameter, kiln diameter, loading and rotational velocity.  The active layer is the key to successful scale-up.

The final article on laser ignition for engines seems out of place with the others.  It is also less connected to the theme of scale-up, at least as this reviewer treats the subject.

A novel feature is the Glossary at the end of the book.  It is a table of principle concepts from the text, with a brief description and a pointer to the article where the concept appears.   The extensive references provided in each of the articles are quite useful.

Those interested in scale-up of fluidised beds and rotary kilns will find this an attractive book.

Note from IFRF: A copy of the book has been lodged in the IFRF Library. A  10% discount is available to IFRF Members wishing to purchase their own copy of the book. Orders requesting the discount should be sent by email to Dr. Christian Osterbauer at osterbauer@processeng.at stating “IFRF” in the header. The books will be shipped free of charge, with an invoice attached.