NOx emission from high-temperature air/methane counterflow diffusion flame

Ryugo Fuse, Hideaki Kobayashi, Yiguang Ju, Kaoru Maruta, Takashi Niioka

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

The objectives of the present study are to measure NOx emission of counterflow diffusion flame, to compare the findings with numerical results, and finally to demonstrate efficacious effect of high-temperature air with low concentration of oxygen on NOx emission. Recently, high-temperature air with low concentration of oxygen is used for various industrial furnaces, resulting high efficiency and low emission of pollutants. Since high-temperature air increases NOx emission and air with low concentration of oxygen decreases it, these effects are competitive. Measurement and computation were conducted to clarify these two effects by use of counterflow diffusion flame. Since it is difficult to employ very high temperature over 1100 K in a laboratory-scale apparatus, a quantitative agreement between experimental and numerical results was confirmed first, and then a numerical approach was used to obtain a larger effect of low oxygen to reduce NOx emission. In the experiments, the methane concentration is changed from 10 to 30 vol% diluted by nitrogen, oxygen from 10 to 21 vol%, and air temperature from room temperature to 1100 K. The total amount of NOx sufficiently agreed between experimental and numerical results, although NO and NO2 could not be separated. By the numerical method, it was found that NOx emission from the counterflow diffusion flame of high-temperature low-oxygen air of 1500 K and 5% oxygen is comparable with that of room-temperature air of 21% oxygen.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1364
Pages (from-to)693-698
Number of pages6
JournalInternational Journal of Thermal Sciences
Volume41
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - 2002
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • General Engineering

Keywords

  • Counterflow diffusion flame
  • High-temperature air combustion
  • Low oxygen concentration
  • NO emission

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