Combustion with mixed enrichment of oxygen and hydrogen in lean regime

A low global richness of combustion is interesting from an ecological and economic point of view as it helps to limit fuel consumption. In fact, the consequences of the combustion in poor mode are the appearance of local or global flame extinctions, energy loss by radiation and change in flame structure. The flammability limits of the diffusion methane flame can be resolved by the enrichment of the combustion air with oxygen or the use of the pure oxygen as oxidant as well as the addition to hydrogen in natural gas. Moreover, the use of oxygen and hydrogen as previously mentioned allow working in low ranges of richness while maintaining good flame stability. For a constant burner power of 15 kW, the reduction of the richness involves an increase in the oxidizer flow rate injected into the combustion reaction. In this present study, the variation of the richness, the fuel enrichment with hydrogen and the oxidant enrichment with oxygen are shown as major parameters where they have direct influences on the flow dynamic, the flame structure and the pollutant emissions. The Chemiluminescence of OH* radical and the PIV (Particle image velocimetry) are used in this work to characterize the flame structure, the stability and the dynamics of the flame. The measurement of pollutant emissions effected by a gas analyzer. The enrichment in oxygen and hydrogen provides a stable flame, which is well attached to the burner for the following richness values: 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 and 1. The reduction of the richness promotes the mixture quality of the reactants and leads a reduction in CO2 and CO concentration. By contrast, the decrease of the richness supports the formation of NOx. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.