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As the issue of
energy source adoption consideration in the search of
alternative energy for
fossil fuel
takes on more prominence, in
respect of the
concerns for global warming and its consequences both
direct and
derivative, an issue of significant attention is the
combustion of all forms of biofuels available in every country as each
country must adapt to using biofuel endemic to that society. Considered
forms of biofuels currently include the
alcohols:
ethanol,
butanol;
bio-diesel and outright
vegetable oil.
Then, of course, the combustion of these bioenergy sources for supporting
distributed power generation systems such as by utility
corporations is just as efficacious for
alleviating the potential impacts of global warming. Designing
Combustion Technologies around these bioenergy sources both for use and
for adoption considerations requires the elicitation of the general
specifications as well as template designs on which these have been
applied to serve as base technologies, as per the presentation of
the analysis.
Distilled to its essence, any
Combustion Technology consists of three
integrated components:
- Fuel Combustion Burner
- Combustion Chamber
- Fuel Burner Supply System
and its on these components
that all designs must be configured, although each use-specific
configuration will be unique. The delineation of each of these
components presently elucidates the functional specifications.
Fuel Combustion Burner
This component is
mission-critical, because its the device that actually delivers the
fuel for combustion into the combustion chamber. The design is often
very complex depending on the need. A concept configuration facilitates the delineation of the design issues
and consequent specification for an efficacious equipment design.
The basic
burner is essentially a cylinder chassis of diameter "d" within
which is a Fuel Atomizer System about some distance "h" from top the
direction of discharge of the atomized droplets: The Fuel-Air Mixing
Zone, FAMZ; necessarily to enable the complete vaporization of the
atomized liquid fuel before entering the ignition zone - which is
most likely in the combustion chamber. The fuel inlet to
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the atomizer is a tube which
can be connected to the Fuel Burner Supply System for delivery
of fuel into the Fuel Atomizer System.
Within the FAMZ is laterally
embedded fuel igniter, flow-sensor, and temperature sensor. The
height of the FAMZ "h" is the maximum range of travel from the tip
of the fuel atomizer at which every fuel droplet has completely
vaporized, and as such is determined by the latent heat of
vaporization required to make gaseous all the fuel droplets from the
atomization. Obviously, the larger the maximum of the fuel-droplets
size-distribution the larger the required heat of vaporization and
the longer the length of the FAMZ. Effectively, then the discharge
opening of the tip of the fuel atomizer is of critical design and
likely directly impacts the efficiency of a design of Fuel
Combustion Burner.
During operation, fuel flowing
into the atomizer gets discharged into the FAMZ as tiny droplets of
fuel and is mixed with air while flowing out. the flow sensor on
sensing gaseous motion, actuate the fuel igniter by sending ignite
signal which then continuous to discharge electric sparks until the
fuel ignites, and at which point the temperature sensor on sensing a
change in temperature and terminates the ignite actuation by sending
a terminate ignite signal.
The igniter, flow sensor and
temperature sensor electronics may be preferentially centralized on
a single electric circuit mother-board. This choice entails the
development of embedded system software and associated enclosure
packaging.
Combustion Chamber
In a combustion Technology,
the Combustion Chamber can be a simple cylinder or it can have a
complex yet cylindrical shape that enable high velocity discharge of
the combustion effluent gases in which case a funnel shape exhaust
may be opted for, to increase the combustion product-gases momentum.
The orientation and shape of this device depends on the objects of
the design. The Combustion Chamber, however, is fitted with
modules of air inlet ports through which air is fed into the
chamber, while exiting at the effluent discharge end of the chamber.
Of course, provisions are made to have the Chamber
interface with the Fuel Burner base. The attachment of the
burner to the combustion chamber is also use dependent: it may be
lateral or axial as may be required to meet the design needs. |
The actual final design
configuration of the outlet of the Combustion Chamber should
necessarily allow maximum flexibility of deployment.
Fuel Burner Supply System
The delivery of fuel and air to the Fuel Combustion Burner is
accomplished with Fuel Burner Supply System. The equipment
configuration is specific to the fuel of target for burning, given
that the fluid dynamic properties of each fuel is different.
Irrespective of the design, as a design specification, the device
must present for use two fluid outlets, one that is providing fuel
and the other that provides air supply. The two outlets: fuel outlet
port, and air-outlet port should readily interface with the fuel and
air inlet ports of the Combustion Burner.
Effectively the Fuel Burner
Supply System must connect the Fuel Combustion Burner to the fuel
reservoir(s), and be able to deliver fuel in pulses or continuously
as the application design specification may stipulate. |
