Alzeta porous radiant burner. CRADA final report

An Alzeta Pyrocore porous radiant burner was tested for the first time at elevated pressures and mass flows. Mapping of the burner`s stability limits (flashback, blowoff, and lean extinction limits) in an outward fired configuration and hot wall environment was carried out at pressures up to 18 atm, firing rates up to 180 kW, and excess air rates up to 100%. A central composite experimental design for parametric testing within the stability limits produced statistically sound correlations of dimensionless burner temperature and NO{sub x} emissions as functions of equivalence ratio, dimensionless firing rate, and reciprocal Reynolds number. The NO{sub x} emissions were below 4 ppmvd at 15% O{sub 2} for all conditions tested, and the CO and unburned hydrocarbon levels were simultaneously low. As a direct result of this cooperative research effort between METC and Alzeta, Solar Turbines has already expressed a strong interest in this novel technology