Analysis of the effect of swirl flame shaping on emissions from the co-firing of ammonia and methane

This paper presents experimental and numerical insights into the behaviour of lean swirl flames with co-combustion of ammonia and methane. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the emissions modelling for CH4/NH3/air preheated (473 K) mixtures with an increasing share of ammonia, experimental investigations were performed, varying the share of ammonia up to 25 % in the fuel and the equivalence ratio of air to fuel of 0.71. A burner featuring swirl outflow blades with a 30-degree angle of outflow and a convergent-divergent nozzle was employed in the experimental setup. In order to determine the size of the reaction zone, the concentrations of NO and CO along the probing radius inside the combustion chamber were measured. A complete geometry of the combustion chamber and burner was modelled with RSM and EDC models. The outcomes of the Okafor, Xiao, and San Diego mechanisms were compared to the test data. A further DES simulation was conducted to assess the potential applicability of the models. For the flames tested with 3D RSM, a good agreement was achieved for NO emissions. In the case of a fuel containing between 10 % and 25 % ammonia, the Okafor mechanism demonstrated the most favourable qualitative and quantitative agreement. The reactor volume, residence time and heat transfer conditions for the CRN reactor network were calculated using numerical CFD methods. A satisfactory correlation was observed between the calculated and experimental NO emissions, with a discrepancy of only 10 %. In view of the considerable computational expense associated with the models employed and the high degree of accuracy demonstrated in the emission predictions, the 3D RSM simulation was deemed to be an appropriate means of modelling small-scale applications.