Numerical investigation of methane-air jet flame with hydrogen addition in industrial kiln burners

Abstract

Emission reduction and decarbonisation in the industry are crucial for low-carbon industry and energy transition at the global level. Replacing traditional fossil fuel with clean energy is an effective approach to reduce carbon emissions and optimize energy efficiency in manufacturing processes. Industrial kiln, which requires high natural gas fuel consumption, typically releases amounts of harmful combustion products. In this paper, the objective is to study the influence of hydrogen addition into methane-air jet flame in industrial kiln burners. The industrial burner analysed in this study is a cylinder vessel with axial orifices and swirl turbulent co-flow air jets in the fuel-air inlet structure. A more recent reduced chemical kinetic mechanism for methane-hydrogen combustion is utilized in the present flame simulation and validated in benchmark flames. The chemical mechanism involves 45 reactions and 18 species. Various methane-hydrogen blending fuels are studied in the jet flame, where flame structure and flame characteristics including chemical species, temperature, and velocity are predicted.