Flame Stability

Flame stability can be a problem with low H2S content feeds (a flame temperature
of about 980°C appears to be the minimum for stable operation).

From: Natural Gas Processing, 2014

Related terms:

Flame Speed, Ignition, Biomass, Hydrogen, Porous Medium, Combustor, Equiva-

lence Ratio, Volatile Matter

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Biomass and Biofuel Production

A. Malmgren, G. Riley, in Comprehensive Renewable Energy, 2012

5.04.10.2.1 Flame stability

Flame stability is fundamental to good combustion in flames. In the past, the loss
of a flame followed by reignition has been responsible for boiler explosions. Today,
sophisticated burner management systems are in place to ensure that this does not
happen.

Good flame stability depends of fuel particles being rapidly heated by hot gases
recirculated from the flame to release volatile species, which combust readily in the
near-burner region. This feedback system is the key to good combustion. Modern
low NOx burners mix fuel and air in a controlled manner and are sensitive to poor
heat release in the near-burner region. Fuel properties important for good flame
stability are volatile release and the quality of volatile matter. The physical size of the
fuel is important as is the steadiness of the feed system. Biomass fuels containing
high levels of moisture are likely to hinder the generation of heat in the flame, delay
combustion, and can have a negative impact on flame stability. Wood dust can be
burned in a coal burner with no or moderate modifications if the particle size is fine
enough and the moisture content is low (see Figures 20–22).
Figure 20. Neat wood flame(courtesy of RWE npower)

Figure 21. Neat coal flame(courtesy of RWE npower).

Figure 22. Unstable coal flame(courtesy of RWE npower).

Flame stability is not an issue in fluidized bed boilers or grate-fired boilers as the
residence time in the combustion zone is magnitudes larger. Tangentially fired
boilers are also less susceptible to flame stability issues as the fireball is inherently
more stable than individual flames.

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Ultra-low nitrogen oxides (NOx) emis-
sions combustion in gas turbine sys-
tems
G.E. Andrews, in Modern Gas Turbine Systems, 2013

16.8.3 Pilot flame for premixed flame stability enhancement

Diffusion type pilot flames are often added to improve the flame stability and allow
the main premixed combustion to operate leaner. Diffusion type pilot flames are
undesirable as they create local hot zones and impair the NOx performance. Current
ultra-low NOx flames in large gas turbines do not use pilot flames (Myers et al.,
2003) and well-designed premixed flames should be sufficiently stable to operate
without a pilot at full load conditions. If a pilot is used then it should be a premixed
pilot with separate air and fuel metering. These have minimum NOx emissions and
can even reduce the NOx from the main burner operation alone, as discussed later.
These are in essence a form of lean/lean staged premixed system.

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Fuel considerations and burner design

for ultra-supercritical power plants
B. Miller, in Ultra-Supercritical Coal Power Plants, 2013

Volatile matter content

Volatile matter is one of the factors governing the ignition and flame stability, the
reactivity and burnout of chars, and the amount of unburned carbon in the fly ash
(Carpenter, 1998). It is also one of the factors determining the fineness of grind
required, and hence puvlerizer capacity and burner settings. When using a coal with
lower volatile matter than the design value, the required coal fineness needs to be
increased (i.e., higher power consumption, more mill wear) to maintain a low carbon
loss and improve combustion efficiency. Conversely, using a coal with higher
volatile matter can be beneficial for ignition and combustion processes because
they are easier to ignite, generally have better flame stability and improved carbon
burnout, and lower NOx emissions have been observed with coals with higher volatile
matter.
> Read full chapter

Lean Premixed Burners

R. Cheng, H. Levinsky, in Lean Combustion (Second Edition), 2016

5 Summary
Lean premixed burners can be deceptively simple devices that must nevertheless
provide flame stability (ie, resistance to flashback and blow-off ) over the desired
range of turndown ratio, and they must maintain this stability with varying fuel
composition (even when the fuel is nominally “natural gas”). The reliance on blowers
or fans to provide high-volume flows of air economically can make these burners'
performance very sensitive to fluctuations in fuel composition, particularly when
operating fuel lean. High swirl and surface stabilization have been two mechanisms
to achieve reliable combustion behavior, but turndown can be limited. The relatively
new low-swirl approach, on the other hand, has shown great promise in expanding
the stability map of lean premixed burners.

Implementation of the fuel-flexible combustion system would also require burners

with the capabilities to support stable flames within the range of velocities and fuels
being considered. Fuel-loading map calculated based on the combustion properties
of each fuel group is essential as foundation for developing the control scheme
for fuel-flexible operation. Additionally, requirement for fuel handling and delivery
and also for premixing differs depending on the type of fuels being considered. To
maintain system efficiency and also mange pollutant emissions during fuel-flexible
operation, the development of a control system and protocol specific is also required.
The components need to work synchronously to offer fuel flexibility.

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Fuel Gas Burners

Wilfrid Francis, Martin C. Peters, in Fuels and Fuel Technology (Second Edition),
1980

D Combustion Characteristics of Gases and Burner Design

1 Hydrogen Content
The flame speed of hydrogen is much greater than that of any other component
of coal gas. The amount present therefore greatly affects flame speed and flame
stability.

(a) Aerated Burners

The maximum permissible amount of primary air decreases with increasing hydro-
gen content. The flame stability range also changes in the same manner. This range
is that between the minimum rate of supply of gas to prevent firing back and the
maximum rate permissible before the flame is blown off the burner tip.

(b) Non-aerated Burners

No firing back is possible, but at high pressures the flame can be blown from the
burner tip.

2 Fuidge Diagrams
Diagrams have been devised by Fuidge to define the combustion characteristic of
rich gases. The diagrams are drawn from the data obtained in a tubular orifice burner
with increasing air/gas ratios plotted against thermal inputs. Typical diagrams for
vertical retort gas and carburetted water gas are shown in Fig. 117.2.

FIG. 117.2. Fuidge diagrams—town gases.

3 Aerated Test Burner (A.T.B. number)

A test burner has been designed from considerations of the Fuidge diagrams, to
provide a rapid appreciation of gas quality. This measures the air required to give
a stable, well-defined blue inner cone, exactly 20 mm high at a gas pressure of 65
mm H2O. The burner is a 300 mm Teclu, with a tube of i.d. 10.25 mm and a nipple
diameter 1.0 mm.

Air is admitted through a rectangular shutter, adjusted by a micrometer head. The

A.T.B. number is the extent to which the shutter is opened to give the standard sized
inner cone.

Conclusions
(a) The A.T.B. number is proportional to calorific value for the same type of gas,
e.g.
(b) A change in calorific value by addition of another gas changes the A.T.B.
number differently for different diluents, e.g. This effect appears to depend
upon the specific gravity of the diluent.
(c) Specific gravity, for the same calorific value and pressure, determines the
thermal input to a burner. The effect is to change 1 A.T.B. unit for each 0.01
change in specific gravity. A change of 5 A.T.B. units in the gas supply can affect
seriously the behaviour of an aerated burner.

4 Wobbe Number
The amount of heat developed by a gas burner in a given time is determined by four
factors:

(i) The size of orifice controlling the discharge of the gas.

(ii) The differential pressure across the orifice, usually referred to as the “gas
pressure”.
(iii) The calorific value of the gas.

(iv) The specific gravity of the gas.

For any given appliance, in which (i) and (ii) are fixed, the thermal output will be
proportional to the calorific value and inversely proportional to the square root of
the specific gravity of the gas, i.e.

The part of the above expression within the brackets is called the Wobbe Number or
Wobbe Index (W.I.). Its numerical value depends upon the units chosen for calorific
value and specific gravity.

The nomogram, Fig. 117.3, has been prepared for normal practice, i.e.
FIG. 117.3. Nomogram showing relationship between Wobbe number, calorific
value and specific gravity.

Calorific value in MJ m−3 at s.t.p.

Specific gravity as the weight of dry gas relative to the weight of an equal
volume of dry air at the same temperature and pressure.

The chart can be used for the rapid solution of three types of problem:

(1) To ascertain the Wobbe Index of a gas. Join the appropriate values for the
calorific value and specific gravity by a straight line and read off the intersection
on the Wobbe Scale.
(2) To ascertain the changes in calorific value and specific gravity required to
maintain a constant Wobbe Index. Pivot a straight line about the selected
Wobbe Index on the central axis and note where it cuts the calorific value and
specific gravity axes, respectively.
(3) The change in thermal output, if both calorific value and specific gravity are
changed, will be proportional to the respective Wobbe Indices ascertained as
under (1),

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Ignition, flame stability, and char com-

bustion in oxy-fuel combustion
C. Shaddix, A. Molina, in Oxy-Fuel Combustion for Power Generation and Carbon
Dioxide (CO2) Capture, 2011

Abstract:
This chapter discusses the influence of oxy-fuel combustion conditions on coal
ignition, flame stability, char combustion, and carbon burnout. Both experimental
results and theoretical analysis are employed to illustrate the predominant inf-
luences of elevated concentrations of O2, CO2, and H2O on these important aspects
of the combustion process. In some instances substantial differences in the com-
bustion behavior are apparent relative to traditional air-fired combustion practices,
whereas in other cases the influence is relatively minor. Both an understanding
of the governing physics of the processes and detailed simulations lead to an
understanding of which aspects of gas transport properties or reactions involving
CO2 and H2O are likely to be responsible for the observed trends.

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Flaring
Olavo Cunha Leite, Olavo Cunha Leite, in Underbalanced Drilling: Limits and
Extremes, 2012

12.10.5 Flare Pilots

The flare tips should come complete with reliable heavy duty pilots and designed for
continuous operation and flame stability, regardless of wind conditions. Each pilot
is fed by its own separate natural draught aspirator, positioned at the flare tip base
for maximum performance and reliability. Fuel gas consumption is about 65,000
Btu/hr of fuel gas per pilot. If propane or butane is used as a pilot fuel, consumption
would be about the same required heat output. Pilot burners are made out of high
nickel alloy to ensure a long operational life.

The pilots can be ignited by direct spark or more commonly by flame front genera-
tors. Pilot flames can be detected by optical UV/IR, flame ionization, and acoustical
systems as well as by the most commonly used thermocouple system. Although less
reliable, the thermocouples have the advantage of detecting the pilot flame without
being directly exposed to the flare flame.

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Abnormal Operating Conditions
Dipak K. Sarkar, in Thermal Power Plant, 2015

13.2.16 Loss of Primary Air (PA) fan

Sudden tripping of a PA fan will in general result in marked disturbance in the fur-
nace and may affect flame stability, apart from drop in boiler outlet steam pressure
and temperature. In the event of loss of one of the running PA fans, the first action
has to be automatic preferential tripping of running pulverizers as recommended
by manufacturers. Thereafter, urgent action should be taken to stabilize the flame
by putting oil support followed by load runback commensurate with the number
of pulverizers in service. This will prevent an abnormal drop in boiler outlet steam
pressure and temperature. At the same time all out effort should be made to cut in
the standby pulverizer/s as earliest as possible to restore the unit output.

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Interfacial engineering of functional

textiles for biomedical applications
U. Vohrer, in Plasma Technologies for Textiles, 2007

8.1 Introduction
Textiles for clothing increasingly offer special functionalities, such as hydrophobicity,
soil release, breathability, UV-stability, flame-protection, antibacterial and antista-
tic properties. These technical textiles are used, in particular, for outdoor sports,
and protective and safety clothing. Other technical textiles include geotextiles, and
textiles for architecture, vehicles, transport and packaging. Textiles for medical and
healthcare are another well-known industrial sector, with increasing market poten-
tial (Rajendran, 2002).

Biomedical textiles must be designed to meet a range of requirements, including

minimising non-specific protein adsorption, biocompatibility (blood-, cyto- or tis-
sue-compatibility), and the presence of active functional coatings, such as antibac-
terial finishes, bioactive layers or drug delivery systems. To achieve these properties,
tailor-made surfaces are needed that do not alter the bulk properties of the polymer
material used. Sometimes only one type of chemical functionality is required, e.g.
carboxyl- or aminogroups homogeneously distributed at a defined density over
the total surface area. For some products or production lines, the use of toxic or
hazardous chemicals must be avoided. To achieve these requirements, low-pressure
plasma functionalisation may be the method of choice.

In this chapter, Section 8.2 gives a brief introduction to technical textiles for bio-
medical applications and Section 8.3 introduces plasma-based techniques. Different
methods for activation, functionalisation, grafting and polymerisation are explained,
together with the interaction between plasma and textiles. Specific functionalisa-
tion retaining the monomer structure will be examined in detail. In Section 8.4,
some technical aspects of experimental set-ups and industrial plants are given, and
Section 8.5 deals with assessing the treated samples. Examples of plasma-finished
biomedical textiles are given in Section 8.6, and the final section looks at applications
and products under investigation or currently on the market, together with an
overview of future trends.

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Effect of silane coupling agent and air

plasma treatment on interfacial shear
strength of carbon fiber/polyphenylene
sulfide composites
B.Y. Liu, ... Q. Yang, in Recent Advances in Structural Integrity Analysis - Proceedings
of the International Congress (APCF/SIF-2014), 2014

1 INTRODUCTION
Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) is a kind of semi-crystalline engineering thermoplastic
with high chemical resistance, excellent thermal stability, flame retardance and good
mechanical properties, etc. Therefore, PPS is an ideal high performance matrix for
thermoplastic composite[1]. Carbon fiber (CF) has been widely used as a reinforce-
ment of PPS due to its excellent comprehensive performance. However, the strength
of CF reinforced PPS composite is always much lower than the theoretically predicted
value due to the weak interface[2]. Thus, the research on interface modification
of carbon fiber reinforced PPS composites is very important in the composites
applications.

Plasma and silane coupling agent treatments are widely used in surface modification
of reinforcing fiber and resin fiber to improve the interfacial adhesion. However, the
quantitative research on what content the plasma and silane treatment can improve
is still limited. In this paper, we present our recent work on the interfacial adhesion
behaviour of PPS/CF composites. Either air dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma
 or silane coupling agent treatment was employed to modify the PPS/CF interface
adhesion.

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