Entrained flow gasification: Impact of fuel spray distribution on reaction zone structure

Entrained flow gasification (EFG) is an important process for generating syngas from biogenic and anthropogenic waste based feedstocks for a future circular economy. The EFG process is characterized by complex interactions between different physical and thermo-chemical sub processes which determine syngas quality and process efficiency. The understanding of these sub processes is essential for the development of validated models, and therefore for design and scale up of EFG reactors. EFG processes using a central jet burner configuration feature flames that can be described as inverse diffusion flames superimposed by a fuel spray. The flames are characterized by (i) the conversion of liquid and slurry droplets and (ii) the oxidation of recirculating synthesis gas with the gasification medium. This work studies the interactions between fuel and oxidizer in the near-flame region of an atmospheric EFG process. The model fuel ethylene glycol was gasified using oxygen-enriched air for two different burner nozzle configurations. Spray imaging, OH-LIF and Fuel Tracer-LIF measurements were carried out in addition to gas temperature measurements to characterize the fuel distribution and the flame structure. ... mehrThe experimental results show that narrower fuel spray distributions result in shorter flames and changes in flame shape from a compact to a hollow cone shape in the downstream flame region. The experiments were accompanied by 2-phase free-jet modeling and RANS based CFD modeling. The models were improved to reflect the experimental findings including the fuel spray distributions. The simulation results predict the observed flame structures well using both models and for both burner nozzle configurations. The changes in flame structure for different spray distributions can be explained by local stoichiometry using the results of the 2-phase free-jet model.