CFD Steady Model Applied to a Biomass Boiler Operating in Air Enrichment Conditions

Miguel Ángel Gómez, Rubén Martín, Joaquín Collazo and Jacobo Porteiro
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Miguel Ángel Gómez: Defense University Center, Spanish Naval Academy, Plaza de España s/n 36900 Marín, Spain
Rubén Martín: Industrial Engineering School, University of Vigo, Lagoas-Marcosende s/n 36310 Vigo, Spain
Joaquín Collazo: Industrial Engineering School, University of Vigo, Lagoas-Marcosende s/n 36310 Vigo, Spain
Jacobo Porteiro: Industrial Engineering School, University of Vigo, Lagoas-Marcosende s/n 36310 Vigo, Spain

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: A numerical model is proposed to perform CFD simulations of biomass boilers working in different operating conditions and analyse the results with low computational effort. The model is based on steady fluxes that represent the biomass thermal conversion stages through the conservation of mass, energy, and chemical species in the packed bed region. The conversion reactions are combined with heat and mass transfer submodels that release the combustion products to the gas flow. The gas flow is calculated through classical finite volume techniques to model the transport and reaction phenomena. The overall process is calculated in a steady state with a fast, efficient, and reasonably accurate method, which allows the results to converge without long computation times. The modelling is applied to the simulation of a 30 kW domestic boiler, and the results are compared with experimental tests with reasonably good results for such a simple model. The model is also applied to study the effect of air enrichment in boiler performance and gas emissions. The boiler operation is simulated using different oxygen concentrations that range from 21% to 90% in the feeding air, and parameters such as the heat transferred, fume temperatures, and emissions of CO, CO 2 , and NO x are analysed. The results show that with a moderated air enrichment of 40% oxygen, the energy performance can be increased by 8%, CO emissions are noticeably reduced, and NO x remains practically stable.

Keywords: CFD modelling; biomass boiler; combustion; air enrichment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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