Results of Experimental Research on Parameters

that Determine Stable Operating Limits of Ceramic

Burner with Packed Bed of Uniform Spheres for
Combustion of Low Calorific Gaseous Fuels
Mirjana Stameni, Branislav Jaimovi, Srbislav Geni, Goran Jankes, Tomislav Simonovi and Nikola Tanasi,
Department for Process Engineering
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Belgrade, Serbia
mstamenic@mas.bg.ac.rs
Department for Process Engineering
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Belgrade, Serbia
bjacimovic@mas.bg.ac.rs
Department for Process Engineering
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Belgrade, Serbia
sgenic@mas.bg.ac.rs
Innovative Center of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Belgrade, Serbia
gjankes@mas.bg.ac.rs
Department for Process Engineering
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Belgrade, Serbia
tsimonovic@mas.bg.ac.rs
Department for Process Engineering
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Belgrade, Serbia
ntanasic@mas.bg.ac.rs

Abstract The research presented in this paper focuses on

parameters that determine stable operating limits of porous
burner. The experimental research was carried out on
laboratory installation consisting of ceramic cylinder filled
with packed bed of Al2O3 spheres. Gaseous fuel is prepared by
mixing the compressed natural gas (CNG) and nitrogen (N2) in
defined ratio, depending on set heating value of the inlet
gaseous fuel.
Experimental program included combustion of low calorific
gaseous fuel (7.5 to 15 MJ/m3) within porous burner, where
inlet power ranged between 2 and 4 kW. Total number of
experimental sets in experimental study was 16, where seven of
them were considered as stable.
Results of experimental research are presented and discussed
within this paper.
Keywords - porous burner; stable operating limits; low
calorific fuel;
I. INTRODUCTION
In last couple of decades, thorough research and
development of new burner systems contributed in lowering
GHG emissions and increasing combustion efficiency. State
of the art combustion devices are high efficient and clean
and can burn wide variety of fuels.
Recent years bring intensive interests in combustion of
low calorific gaseous fuels. It has been derived from the fact
that fossil fuels shortfall will happen in near future. On the
other hand, there is constant struggle with tighten emission
regulations. Low calorific gases are usually generated as a
side products in technological processes (i.e. blast furnace
gas, waste gas from cupola and coke ovens, etc.), or can be
produced in biomass gasification process or as a landfill gas
and gas from mines. Low calorific gas can be burned in
furnaces or boilers, in gas turbine combustion chambers or for stable operating conditions it stays in lower part of the
internal gas engines either with or without additional high burner.
quality gaseous fuel. Common problems associated with Depending on burner construction, the most common
combustion of low calorific gaseous fuels are burning types of PIM are presented in Fig. 2. Ceramics, high
stability in narrow operating range, high cost of auxiliary temperature resistant metal alloys and some composite
equipment for safe operation of burner system and operation materials are usually used for PIM.
instability caused by fluctuation of fuel calorific value. (a) (b) (c)
Combustion within porous inert media (PIM) shows
distinctive difference from open flame burning systems. The
first important factor, which influences combustion within
PIM, is high area/volume ratio implying high efficiency in
heat transfer between flue gas and porous media. The other
factor is intensive heat recuperation within porous media,
which contributes combustion stability, possibility of
operation within the wide range and stabile burning the lean Figure 2. Common types of PIM (a) ZrO2 foam [2], (b) packed bed of
fuel/air mixtures. uniform tabular alumina spheres and (c) Al2O3 lamelar structure [2].
This paper presents basic characteristics of combustion of
low calorific gaseous fuels within PIM and focuses on Table I presents characteristics of most common used
parameters that determine stable operating limits of porous ceramic materials for PIM.
burner.
II. CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF TABLE I. CHARACTERISTICS OF MOST COMMON USED CERAMIC
CERAMIC BURNER WITH PACKED BED OF UNIFORM SPHERES MATERIALS FOR PIM [2]

Basic sketch of ceramic burner with packed bed of Characteristics Unit Al2O3 SiC ZrO2
uniform spheres (PIM) is presented in Fig. 1. Main parts of Max. operating temperature [K] 2200 1900 2600
this burner are: (1) mixing chamber -MCh, (2) flame arrestor Thermal conductivity [W/(mK)] 5-6 20-50 2-4
Emissivity at 2000 K [-] 0.28 0.9 0.31
- FA, (3) insulated chamber - ICh and (4) packed bed of
Linear temperature expansion
uniform spheres - PIM. coeficient (300-1300 K)
106 [1/K] 8 4-5 10-13
Combustion
products
Thermal shock resistance 103 [1/W] 3 23 1

The porous matrix (PIM) is the main part of each porous

ICh burner, and it is very effective as a medium for heat
recirculation between hot combustion gas and cold inlet
mixture (fuel + air). This phenomenon is usually described
with the term excess enthalpy or super-adiabatic
PIM combustion. It is characterized by flame speeds and adiabatic
flame temperature higher than corresponding adiabatic flame
flame
temperature and laminar flame speed of observed fuel/air
mixture. According to Burgess-Wheeler law excess enthalpy
combustion can lead to lowering lean-burn flammability
limits, thus extending burner operation and allowing burning
FA
of fuels with very low calorific values. The principle of
excess enthalpy flame is presented in Fig. 3.
MCh

Fuel+Air

Figure 1. Burner with packed bed of uniform spheres [3].

Gaseous fuel and combustion air are separately brought

to the mixing chamber. Mixed gases then flow through flame
arrestor (layer of small size uniform spheres, dFA=6 mm),
mixes additionally and enter the PIM, where combusts. The
Figure 3. Principle of excess enthalpy [1].
position of the flame within PIM depends on working
conditions, e.g. velocity of inlet mixture and flame speed, but
Internally recirculated enthalpy between burnt and unburnt analysis (ADG), (6) Acquisition system (temperature
gases can be transported by conduction, convection and measurement - NI-AQ-Tc, and flue gas analysis AQ-ADG).
radiation within porous media. For the same volume, the

AQ-ADG
emissive and absorptive power of thermal radiation of the
porous solid is much higher than for gas emission,

ADG
FDG
supposing that both are maintained at high temperature.
Porous material with high porosity and fine pores has large

HDG

FR
surface area for heat convection between the gas flow and

Temperature within porous media - thermocouple type R (PtRh-Pt)

the solid matrix. Additionally, the small-pore (i.e. foam)
structure is very effective in inducing turbulence, which

PG

Vs v
further increases the convection heat transfer coefficient [1].

Sdg

MK
The quantity of recirculated enthalpy, as well as the

Acquisition system (temperature measurement)

influence of each heat transfer mechanisms highly depends

Acquisition system (flue gas analysis)

T10
T9
T8
T7
T6
T5
T4
T3
T2
T1
on the properties of material and geometry of the porous

Rotameter (gas flow measurement)

Orifice (air flow measurement)

matrix. As previously said, enthalpy recirculation cause

Differential pressure at orifice

Mixing chamber of a burner

Static pressure of the fluid
Atmospheric temperature

Regulating unit for air fan

Inlet gas mixing chamber
higher flame speeds, higher adiabatic flame temperature,

Atmospheric pressure
thus extending the flammability limits of particular fuels.

Flue gas analyzer

Regulating valve
NI-AQ-Tc

Air temperature

Flue gas cooler

Flue gas probe
Porous burner

Flue gas filter

Previous extensive research work (theoretical modeling
and experimental research) in the field of combustion of

Air fan
gaseous fuels within porous inert media showed that: (1) it

MB

LEGEND:

NI-AQ-Tc
AQ-ADG
is difficult to predict a priori combustion stability for given

pMB

HDG

ADG
FDG
Tatm
patm
MG

MB

pMB

MK

PG
RV

Sdg
Vsv
FR
fuel/air mixture, (2) it is not possible to mathematically

Tv

ps
R

T
predict exact position of the flame front within the porous

ps
matrix, but it is possible to predict trend of flame movement

patm

TV
(upstream or downstream) as a reaction on change of inlet
Tatm
parameters of fuel/air mixture (equivalence ratio, flow
velocity, preheating of inlet mixture, etc.), (3) flame always
stabilizes at interface between two sections of a porous
matrix (each section with different porosity, i.e. small-pored
material in the upstream region, and a large-pored material
in the downstream section), (4) large heat capacity of the
porous bed allows combustion stability over vide range of
R5

flow rates (burner power range) as well as fluctuation in fuel

RV 4

quality (concentration of combustibles/variation of fuel

R1 R2 R3 R4
MG

RV 3

calorific value), and large turndown ratios, (5) it is possible

RV 2

to reignite the burner after shutdown, where the term

N2

critical cooling time is important parameter that primarily

RV 1

depends on material and structure of the porous matrix.

One particular research segment belongs to transient
CNG

combustion within porous inert media, so called filtration
combustion, but in this paper will not be analyzed in more
details.
III. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
The purpose of experimental research was to determine
the operating parameters of porous burner, when burning low
calorific gaseous fuels in stabile operating regime.
Experimental installation, built at Laboratory for process
engineering at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Belgrade (Fig.4) consists of the following
elements: (1) preparation of combustible and inert gases
mixture (MG) and flow measurement of different
combustible and inert gases (R1, R2, R3 and R4), (2)
combustion air supply (Vsv) and its flow measurement using
orifice (MB), (3) porous burner (PG), (4) temperature
measurement within porous bed (T1 to T15), (5) flue gas
Figure 4. Experimental installation.
Porous burner is designed as a cylinder of internal
diameter DPG=75 mm and height HPG=500 mm. The wall of
cylindrical chamber is made of three layers (insulating
ceramic blanket - PG1=42.5 mm, refractory concrete -
PG2=20 mm and ceramic fibers PG3=17.5 mm). Porous bed
is made up of tabular alumina spheres of diameter
dPB=13 mm, forming a bed porosity of =0.45. The height of
porous bed is zk=253 mm. At inlet of the burner there is a
flashback arrestor consisting of porous plate and layer of
packed ceramic spheres of small diameter dFA=6 mm. The
premixed fuel-air mixture enters the burner through mixing
chamber (MCh) with excess air equal to =(1.12.0), at
initial atmospheric temperature Tatm. Lower heating value of
inlet gaseous fuel is set in the range of 7.0 to 15.0 MJ/m3 by
mixing compressed natural gas (CNG) and nitrogen (N2), in
defined ratio. The burner output is set to 2 to 4 kW.
Thermocouples (T1 to T10) are positioned in the axis of 1400

porous bed, at axial distance lPB=27.5 mm from each other, 1200

and they are measuring temperature of gas phase. Five more
thermocouples (T11 to T15) are positioned at axial distance of 1000

55 mm from each other. These thermocouples are connected

with the surface for measuring the surface temperature. 800

t, [oC]
IV. RESULTS 600

Results of experimental research are presented at Fig.5 400

=1.2 =1.3

and 6. Total number of experimental sets was 16, and seven tg tg

200
of them are considered as stable. ts ts

(a) LHV:15.0 MJ/m3, Inlet power: 2 kW

-0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

1400
Figure 6. Common view of temperature distribution along z axis
1200 (dimensionless =z/zm) for gaseous fuel of LHV: 7.0 MJ/m3
(tg gaseous phase temperature, ts solid phase temperature) [3]
1000

800
Table II presents range of operating parameters of ceramic
burner with PIM in experimental research.
t, [oC]

600

TABLE II. RANGE OF OPERATING PARAMETERS FOR CERAMIC

400 =1.5 =1.65 BURNER WITH PIM
tg tg
200 ts ts Parameter Unit Operating range
Lower heating value MJ/m3 7 15
0
-0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Burner inlet power kW 24
Excess air ratio - 1.0 2.0
3
(b) LHV:15.0 MJ/m , Inlet power: 3 kW
1400
The analysis of presented experimental results shows the
1200 following:
Increasing the inlet flow of fuel/air mixture,
1000
flame is pushed to exit of the burner,
800 Inlet power influences the adiabatic flame
temperature (if inlet power increase, adiabatic
t, [oC]

600
temperature will also increase),
400 Stable operating regime of burner is achieved
=1.4 =1.5 =1.6
when the flame is located in lower part of PIM,
tg tg tg
200
ts ts ts If the flame is firmly located at plane that
0
separates flame arrestor and PIM, burner
-0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4

0.6 0.8 1.0
operates in stable regime,
(c) LHV:15.0 MJ/m3, Inlet power: 4 kW Temperature of combustion products increases
1400 with upstream movement of a flame,
Marginal position of a flame that indices stable
operating regime of porous burner is set to
1200

1000 zm<55.7 mm,

Lowering volume flow of fuel/air mixture at the
800
burner inlet, it is possible to stabilize burner
t, [oC]

600 operation (i.e. put the flame back to position

zm<55.7 mm).
400
=1.3 =1.4 =1.5
tg tg tg V. CONCLUSIONS
200
Comparing to the classic types of open flame burners,
ts ts ts

0
-0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
ceramic burners with PIM have the following advantages:
(1) small volume/rate ratio, (2) higher combustion
Figure 5. Common view of temperature distribution along z axis temperature, (3) extended flammability limits, (4) flame
(dimensionless =z/zm) for gaseous fuel of LHV: 15.0 MJ/m3 stability in wider operating range and (5) lower pollutant
(tg gaseous phase temperature, ts solid phase temperature) [3] emissions.
 Stable operation of ceramic burner with PIM is
influenced by several parameters:
LHV of gaseous fuel,
Inlet velocity of fuel/air mixture,
Geometry, porosity and material of PIM.
Increasing the inlet flow of fuel/air mixture, flame is
pushed to exit of the burner. Inlet power influences the
adiabatic flame temperature (if inlet power increase,
adiabatic temperature will also increase). Stable operating
regime of burner is achieved when the flame is located in
lower part of PIM. If the flame is firmly located at plane that
separates flame arrestor and PIM, burner operates in stable
regime. Temperature of combustion products increases with
upstream movement of a flame. Marginal position of a
flame that indices stable operating regime of porous burner
is set to zm<55.7 mm. Lowering volume flow of fuel/air
mixture at the burner inlet, it is possible to stabilize burner
operation (i.e. put the flame back to position zm<55.7 mm).
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of
Education, Science and Technological Development,
Republic of Serbia for financial support of the Project No.
TR 33049: Development of CHP demo facility with
biomass gasification. We would like to thank Almatis
Iwakuni, Japan for providing free of charge tabular alumina
spheres and Messer Tehnogas A.D. Belgrade for supplying
necessary gases for the experimental work.
REFERENCES
[1] P.F. Hsu, Analytical and experimental study of combustion in
porous media, PhD Thesis, The University of Texas at Austin, 1991.
[2] S. Wood, Ultra-lean methane combustion in porous burners -
Mitigation of methane emissions, pilot-scale demonstration and
computational fluid dynamics model, PhD Thesis, The University of
Sydney, 2010.
[3] M. Stameni, Research on working parameters of combustion the
low calorific gaseous fuels and waste industrial gases in porous
ceramic burner, PhD Thesis, The University of Belgrade, Faculty of
Mechanical Engineering, 2014.