Effect of inlet air velocity on NOx emission from a gas-fired cylindrical furnace

Furnaces have many practical applications such as heating and steam generation in industrial units, buildings, etc. Increasingly stringent standards for NOx emission necessitate carrying out more research into furnaces and introducing new strategies for NOx reduction. In this paper, methane combustion in a horizontal furnace with circular cross section is simulated to study the effect of inlet air velocity on NOx emission from the furnace at constant fuel to air ratio. CO and CO2 emissions are also considered. Five cases with different inlet air velocities are studied. Combustion in a natural gas-fired furnace is simulated to verify the simulation methodology and the solution algorithm and results are compared with those of the existing references. According to the results, raising the inlet air velocity at constant fuel to air ratio reduces NO and CO emissions and increases CO2 emission from the furnace.

Keywords:

NOx emission , methane combustion , cylindrical furnace , diffusion flame , CFD