Today we publish an IFRF Research Digest entitled:

“Towards industrial application of
High Efficiency Combustion“

prepared by
Ben Burggraaf, Barry Lewis and Peter Hoppesteyn of CORUS RD&T, Neil Fricker, Stanley Santos of IFRF,
and Berthil Slim of Netherlands Gasunie E&T.

Abstract

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 E&T; 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.

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Editors Note:
This Research Digest is published by the IFRF for IFRF Members to download from: http://www.research.ifrf.net/research/document.html?did=33.   ( IFRF Members “User Name” and Password required to access the document.)  It has been prepared for presentation and publication at a series of IFRF Flame Days – details are given in the Digest. IFRF Members.  IFRF Members are reminded that full details of Planning, Research and Study reports associated with the High Efficiency Programme are available to for IFRF Members to download at: http://www.research.ifrf.net/research/programme.html?pid=8.