Effect of nitrogen dilution on the lean blowout limit and emissions of premixed propane/air swirl flame

• Main Authors: Chong, Cheng Tung, Kew, Chen Wei, Ng, Jo-Han, Tee, Boon Tuan, Mohd. Jaafar, Mohamad Nazri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Penerbit UTM 2014
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/52530/1/ChengTungChong2014_Effectofnitrogendilution.pdf; http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/52530/; https://dx.doi.org/10.11113/jt.v71.3724
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

The effects of nitrogen dilution on propane/air flame and emissions was investigated using a model gas turbine type swirl flame burner. The burner consists of a six-vane axial swirler and a combustor wall made from quartz tube. Nitrogen was diluted at 5%, 10% and 15% by volume of the total main air flow rate with propane/air mixture at the burner plenum prior to combustion at atmospheric condition. Direct flame imaging was performed using a digital camera to observe the flame shape, intensity and lean blowout phenomenon of premixed nitrogen-diluted propane/air flames. The result shows that nitrogen addition to propane/air flame reduces flame intensity and lean blowout limit, making the nitrogen-diluted flames more susceptible to blowout. Emissions results show that NOx reduce with the increase of nitrogen dilution rate, while the effect on carbon monoxides and unburned hydrocarbons are insignificant