Flameless errekuntzak klima aldaketaren aurka

Abstract

In order to improve nowadays climate change situation, energy consumption must be reduced and efficient and no-pollution technologies should be promoted. Although huge effort is made toward renewable energy technologies, according to nowadays data, today and in the near future fossil fuels consumption will be the primary source energy. Due to that, it is necessary to research in fossil fuel technologies in order to be more climate friendly. Flameless combustion was developed against climate change. Flameless combustion is based on the aerodynamic recirculation of flue gas, which diluted reactants. The dilution effect reduces O2 concentration and consequently furnace temperature is reduced. NOx emissions are directly related with furnace temperature, so that, once furnace temperature is reduced NOx emissions go down. Additionally, reactants can be preheated by recirculated product increasing energy efficiency. This new technology has a direct application in high temperature furnaces as well as in boilers; as example, thermal power plants, refineries, chemical industry, ceramic, glass, cement and steel factories, reducing NOx emissions and energy consumption. In order to understand better flameless combustion researches are working on experimental set-ups as well as on Computational Fluids Dynamics (CFD) modelling. The CFD’s models simulate accurately conventional combustions characteristics; heat transfer, fluids dynamics, thermal radiation, chemical reactions and turbulence-chemistry interaction, but not flameless combustion as reactant dilution is not considered. Consequently, new models must be developed for better simulation of flameless combustion.