Lecture27:

PrinciplesofBurnerDesign
Contents:
Howdoescombustionoccur?
Whatisaburner?
Mixingofairandgaseousfuel
Characteristicfeaturesofjet
Behavioroffree(unconfined)andconfinedjet
Roleofprimaryair
Degreeofrecirculation
Selectionofburner
KeyWords:Combustion,Burnerdesign,Recirculatoryflow,Primaryair,Secondaryair
Howdoescombustionoccur?
Thereleaseofpotentialenergyoffuelbycombustionwithairrequiresseveralstages,namely.
Mixingofairandfuel
Ignitionofthemixture
Chemicalreaction
Disposalofproductsofcombustionfromthereactionsitesothatfreshreactantsareavailable.
Exceptmixingofairandfuel,allotherstagesareextremelyfastsuchthatitissaidthatiffueland
airaremixed,fuelisburnt.Accordinglymixingisthesloweststepintheprocessofcombustion
This can be understood by considering that each mole of carbon theoretically requires 1 mole of
oxygen for complete combustion. But 1 mole of oxygen is obtained from 4.76 moles of air. That
means 3.76 moles of nitrogen are present with 1 mole of oxygen. Nitrogen is inert and does not
takepartincombustionthereforemixingofair+fuelisimportant.
Whatisaburner?
Aburnerisamechanicaldevicethat.
suppliesrequiredamountoffuelandair
createsconditionforrapidmixingoffuelandair
producesaflamewhichtransfersthermalenergytofurnaceandcharge
Inoilburners,oilisatomizedintoafinespraybyaspraynozzleandairissuppliedforcombustioninthe
spray chamber. Alternatively oil may be atomized by high speed air to produce a fine dispersion of
dropletsintoair.
There are liquid fuel and gaseous fuel burners. In liquid fuel burner, oil is heated and atomised either
mechanicallyorbyhighspeedgaseousjet.Inmechanicalmethodsoilisatomisedbymeansofarotating
discorcuporbyswirlerasshowninthefigure27.1aandb

Figure1:Spreadingofanaxissymmetricjetinthesurrounding
Mechanicalatomizationproduceswidersprayofoilandwideflameareawithuniformdropletsize.

In atomization, compressed air or steam is the atomizing fluid. Air atomization produces higher flame
temperature than steam atomization. Steam atomization is preferred for viscous oil. Some ways of air
atomizationareshowninthefigure27.2

Figure2:Entrainmentofthesurroundinginthefreejet.

Forfurtherdetails,seethereferencesgivenattheendofthelecture.

Agaseousfuelburnercouldeitherbeofpremixedtypeordiffusiontype.Inapremixedtypegasandair
are mixed prior to passing through the nozzle. In diffusion type fuel and some amount of air is mixed
and the mixture is passed through the burner. Rest air for combustion is supplied in the furnace
chamber. Combustion of fuel is controlled by the rate of mixing of air and fuel. In these burners small
portionofairismixedwithfuelasprimaryairandtherestamount,knownassecondaryairissupplied
inthefurnace.
Industrialburnersforgaseousfuelarediffusivetype.
Mixingofairandgaseousfuel
In diffusion burner air and gaseous fuel are supplied separately in the furnace. In modt combustion
systems mass of air is at least 8 to9 times than fuel. When air and fuel pass through the burner, the
momentumfluxofairisseveraltimesgreaterthanfuel.Somefractionoftotalairismixedwiththefuel
and this air is known as primary air. Rest amount of air, known as secondary air is supplied in the
furnacethroughappropriatelocations.Mixingandcombustiontakeplacesimultaneously.
When a mixture of air and gaseous fuel passes through the burner, a free jet is produced downstream
theburner.Iftheairfuelmixtureisdischargedinthefurnacethenaconfinedjetisproducedbecauseof
thefurnacewalls.Thedifferencebetweenthefreejetandconfinedjetisthatintheformertheamount
ofsurroundingisunlimitedwhereasinthelatertheamountislimited.Mixingofsecondaryairinthejet
is important for complete and efficient combustion. In the absence of mixing the chances of
formationcannotberuledout.
C0
Characteristicfeaturesofjet
A jet is produced when a fluid is discharged through the nozzle. In the jet the velocity of the fluid is
accelerated.Freejetisproducedwhenthefluidisdischargedinthesurroundingwithnoconfinement.A
jetissaidtobeconfinedwhenthefluidisdischargedinthecontainer.Thecharacteristicfeatureofthe
jet (whether free of confined) is that it spreads due to the difference in the density of the jet and the
surrounding. A hot jet in the cold surrounding spreads faster than a cold jet in the same surrounding.
Spreading of the jet is due to entrainment of the surrounding. Due to entrainment of the surrounding,
the axial velocity of the jet decreases. For any downstream axial distance, the maximum velocity is at
the centre and minimum at the periphery such that a parabolic profile is developed as shown in the
figure27.3

Figure27.3:Spreadingofanaxissymmetricjetinthesurrounding

Inaddition,jetcarrieswithitmomentumflux.Themomentumfluxwithinthejetis
Nomentum flux = Nass of the jet X velocity of je
Nass of jet = Nass of aii at the exit of the nozzle Nass of suiiounuing
t
+
Mass of the air at the exit of the nozzle is constant. The entrainment of the surrounding in the jet
increases the mass of the jet but decreases the velocity of the jet. The cumulative effect is that
momentumfluxwithinthejetremainsconstant.Entrainmentofthesurroundingandhenceincreasein
mass of jet depends on the difference in the momentum flux within the jet and that of surrounding
(note that as the jet is discharged into a still surrounding, the surrounding sets in motion). The
entrainmentofthesurroundingwillcontinueaslongasthedifferenceinthemomentumfluxexists.
Behavioroffree(unconfined)andconfinedjet
Afreejethasnoconfinementandhencecanspreadtillthedifferencebetweenthemomentumfluxof
thejetandthesurroundingbecomeszero.Figure2showstheentrainmentinthefreejet

Figure27.4:Entrainmentofthesurroundinginthefreejet.

Wenoteinthefigurethat
1. Afreeunconfinedgetspreadsinthesurrounding
2. Spreadingofthegetisduetoentrainmentofthesurrounding
3. Entrainment of the surrounding is due to the difference in momentum flow rate within the jet
and that within the surrounding. Entrainment of surrounding continues till the difference
becomeszero.
4. Entrainmentofsurroundingdependsonmassflowrateandjetvelocity
In furnaces jet is confined by furnace walls. Due to confinement, mass of the surrounding is limited to
the amount equal to secondary air. The primary air mixes rapidly with the fuel at the nozzle but the
remainingairmustbeentrainedandforthispurposeexcessmomentumfluxinthejetisrequired.Ifthe
confined jet has momentum flux in excess of that required for the complete entrainment of the
secondary air, products of combustion will entrain and a circulatory jet is produced. Figure3 shows
recirculationofproductsofcombustioninthejet

Figure 5: Entrainment of products of combustion in the jet. At point secondary air is entrained.
BeyondpointAtheproductsofcombustionentrainduetotheexcessmomentuminthejet.
A

Roleofprimaryair
Thusinthedesignofburnerforgaseousfuelitisimportanttodesigntheprimaryairdependingonthe
requirement.Sincetheamountofairismanytimesgreaterthanthefuel,momentumfluxwithinthejet
iscontrolledbytheprimaryair.Theprimaryair
controlsthefuel/airmixingrate
assistsinstabilizingthejetandtocontrolrecirculation.
In designing a gaseous fuel burner total mass flow rat of air is subdivided into primary, secondary and
tertiaryair.Whereasprimaryairismixedwithfuel,secondaryandtertiaryamountsofairareintroduced
throughthepotsinthefurnace.
Degreeofrecirculation
Recirculation sets in when the secondary air is mixed completely with the fuel. Degree of recirculation
indicatescompletemixingoffuelwithair.
Inconfinedgets,absenceofrecirculationresultsinatendencyfortheflametoexpanduntilitimpinges
into the furnace walls of load. Hot gases will be in direct contact with the refractory brick which may
result in failure. The recirculating gases provide a cushion of cooler inert flue gases which prevents
direct impingement of flame. A high momentum recirculartory jet will also produce a stable flame
whichiscomfortable.
Selectionofburner
Combustionvolume
The space occupied by the fuel and the products of combustion varies considerably with the burner
design,upstreampressuresandflowrates.Gaseousfuelburnerscanbedesignedtoreleaseheatashigh
as11u ofcombustionvolume. 1u
6
K cal hi
-1
m
-2
Stability
Turndown ratio is defined as the ratio of minimum heat input rate to maximum heat input rate.
Minimumheatinputrateiscontrolledbythephenomenonbackfirewhereasmaximumheatinputis
controlledbytheextinguishingoftheflame.Itthevelocityofmixtureoffuel+airisgreaterthanflame
velocity,flamewillextinguish.Thebackfirewilloccurwhenthevelocityofmixtureoffuel+airislower
thanflamevelocity,
Combustionsystemsandburnercomponents
Gaseous fuel supply, air supply and control valves form the essential components of a gaseous fuel
burner.Furtheraburnerdesignedforoneparticularfuelisnotsuitableforother
Liquid fuel burners are two types: Oil is vaporized before ignition, and atomization followed by
combustion.
Atomizedtypeburnersarecommonlyused.Mechanismofatomizationofoildifferentiatestheburners.
Oilmaybeatomizedmechanicallybyarotationdiscorcuporswirled.Highpressureairisalsousedto
atomizethefuel.Fordetailsthereadermayseethefollowingreferences.
References:
O.P.Gupta:elementsoffuels,furnacesandrefractories
P.MullingerandB.Jenkins:IndustrialandProcessfurnaces