Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium

December 2-4, 2009, The University of Queensland

LCV Fuels Emissions of Turbulent Nonpremixed Jet Flames

Under MILD Combustion Conditions
A.F. Colorado1, *, P. R. Medwell2, and B. B. Dally2
1
Science and Technology of Gases and Rational Use of Energy Group (GASURE), Faculty of Engineering,
University of Antioquia. Calle 67 No. 53-108 Bloque 20-435, Medellín-Colombia
2
School of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Adelaide, South Australia, 5005 Australia

Abstract
The Moderate or Intense Low oxygen Dilution (MILD) combustion regime has proven to be particularly suitable for Low Calorific
Value (LCV) fuels, because the volumetric reactions are sustained by the hot medium above the self-ignition temperature. Those fuels
are produced by biomass gasification, using the excreta of animals in bio-digesters, vented from coalmines or as by-products in
chemical processes. These fuels can be damaging to the environment and burning them adds value and help reducing the need for
fossil fuels. MILD combustion of methane diluted with inert gases (CO2 or N2), which may be referred to as biogas, is analysed in a
controlled experimental environment that emulates MILD conditions. A Jet in Hot Coflow (JHC) burner is used in these experiments.
The effects of inert gas addition to the fuel stream on pollutant emissions such as Soot, CO and NOx are presented and analysed. It
was observed that combining MILD conditions and fuel dilution resulted in a very efficient method to reduce soot formation and
NOx. It was found that a high fuel dilution and low coflow oxygen level may lead to high emission of CO, under the conditions of the
JHC burner.

Keywords: MILD Combustion, Biogas, Low Calorific Value Fuels.

have studied the effect of adding inert gases to the fuel

1. Introduction
Nowadays, fuels derived from biomass, so-called bio-
fuels are being used as an alternative to fossil fuels, and
for many countries it offers the possibility of producing
energy from their own renewable resources. That is why
bio-fuels consumption is expected to grow steadily in the
near future as a way of achieving sustainable energy.
Some of those fuels are referred to as Low Calorific
Value fuels (LCV), due to their low heating value. The
majority of these fuels contain a large proportion of inert
which reduces their reactivity and heating value.
Flameless oxidation (FLOX®) [1] or MILD combustion
[2] is a novel combustion regime that utilizes heat
recirculation to raise the temperature of the reactants
above the autoignition temperature; and exhaust gas
recirculation to reduce the oxygen concentration. The
advantage of this approach is the avoidance of high
temperature peaks, and as a result thermal NOx is
suppressed. Also, the net radiation flux is enhanced and
with it thermal efficiency. Another important advantage
of burners that operate under the MILD regime is their
ability to burn fuels of changing and fluctuating quality,
such as LCV fuels, while maintaining stability [3].
The feasibility of flameless technology for LCV gases
and liquids has been investigated in detail within the
European R&D project BIO-PRO [4]. Currently there is
a growing enthusiasm to study the MILD combustion
regime using biomass derived fuels and some researchers
on the phenomenological characteristics of MILD
combustion [5-8]. Although MILD combustion
technology has proved high flexibility when burning
LCV fuels, the flow characteristics in those furnaces
usually are very complex and difficult to model, given
the recirculation patterns inside the combustion
chambers, its effects on the mixing process and the
volumetric nature of the reactions. Therefore, it is
necessary to investigate the emission characteristics by
using simple combustion systems, in which the
governing parameters can be quantitatively controlled.
In this paper the effect of the fuel composition on the
pollutant emissions (NOx and CO) is examined by the
systematic increase of the inert gases in the fuel mixture.
Two inert gases CO2 and N2 are used to dilute Natural
Gas (NG), thus the effect of the kind of inert on the
emissions is assessed. As well, the MILD combustion
burner used in this study allows a controlled variation of
the coflow oxygen concentration and temperature, so the
effect of these parameters on the pollutant emissions is
also analyzed.
2. Experimental details
The MILD combustion burner used in this study is
similar to the Jet in Hot Coflow (JHC) burner used
previously [9-11]. The modified burner is shown in
Fig.1. It consists of a central 22mm bluff-body with a
fuel jet (ø3 mm) within an annular coflow (ø110 mm) of

__________________________
* Corresponding author:
Phone: (+57) 4 2198545
Email: eafcg800@udea.edu.co -1-
hot exhaust products from a secondary burner mounted
upstream of the jet exit plane. The influences of the
coflow persist ~120 mm downstream of the jet exit
plane; beyond this the surrounding air begins to mix with
the jet and coflow. Due to the configuration of the
burner, only the reactions within 120mm of the exit
plane (the coflow potential core) are considered to occur
under the MILD combustion regime. After that, the air
entrainment leads to cooling and raises the oxygen
concentration in the oxidant stream. So, in the second
region a three-stream mixing scenario is observed. The
effect of the hot coflow and low oxygen concentration on
the first stage of the reaction and the air entrainment at
the second reaction zone on the pollutant emissions is
analyzed.
The O2 level of the coflow is controlled by a constant
flow rate secondary porous burner. The balance of air
and nitrogen supplied to the secondary porous burner
was varied to give coflow O2 levels of 3%, 6% or 9%
(volumetric). The temperature of the coflow was set at
two different levels, either 1400K or 1600K, to analyze
the effect of the coflow temperature on the emissions.
The coflow exit velocity was kept constant at 2m/s.
The fuel used in the central jet was natural gas, either
undiluted or diluted with nitrogen or carbon dioxide.
Four dilution levels were used with each inert gas; 20,
40, 60, or 80% by volume. For each fuel mixture the
Reynolds number was held constant at Rejet=10,000 in
order to maintain constant the mixing patterns of the
central jet and the hot coflow.
During the experiments a TESTO 350 emission analyzer
was used to measure O2, CO2, CO, NO2, NO and NOx
contents of the dried sample. All the emissions are
reported on a specific basis (divided by the jet thermal
input in kW) and normalized to 15% O2 on a dry basis.
This correction is necessary because the suction probe is
placed at 70 centimeters over jet nozzle (5 cm over the
flame tip of the longest flame) and the flue gases are
diluted with the surrounding air before they enter to the
probe. The accuracy of the analyzer is ±1 digit, which is
equivalent to 1ppm of NOx or CO and 0.01% of O2 or
CO2.
Direct flame photographs were captured with a digital
camera to obtain the global flame features, such as,
flame color, size, and volume. Several different exposure
times were used during the experiments in order to
obtain good images of the flame. The exposure time used
in direct flame photography was dependent on the
coflow oxygen concentration and fuel dilution. Either by
diluting the fuel or lowering the coflow oxygen
concentration the flame luminosity decreases
significantly (almost turning invisible), so a higher
exposure time is required in order to capture the flame
features. An exposure time longer than 8 seconds for the
LCV fuel jet (80% inert 20% NG) was necessary to
capture the flame.
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Figure 1. Cross-sectional diagram of JHC burner
3. Results
3.1 Visual observations
Figure 2 shows photographs of the flames studied in this
paper. It was observed that either by reducing the oxygen
concentration in the coflow or increasing fuel dilution,
the flame became less luminous and produced less soot.
As the flame luminosity is attributed to light emission
from hot radicals in the reaction zone it is clear that any
reduction in temperature and intermediates formed in
each of the flames can lead to reduced luminosity.
Furthermore, it should be noted that due to the vast
differences in the luminosity of the flames, the exposure
times have been varied, while all other camera
parameters were held constant.
It was observed for pure NG flames, when the coflow O2
concentration was reduced from 9% to 3% that the soot
free distance from the nozzle increased. In fact, for the
pure NG flame at 3% O2, the hot coflow effects on the
early region were enough to avoid the soot formation for
the entire flame. Medwell et al [10] in a previous study
using a similar burner have shown that for other fuels,
such as ethylene and LPG, soot formation is only
avoided in the region where the hot coflow influences
are present (even at 3% O2). For these fuels the soot
appears once the air of the surroundings begins to
penetrate the coflow. It is worth mentioning that sooting
tendency depends on fuel type, with acetylene and
butane produce the highest soot yield [12].
A similar trend was observed when diluting the fuel with
N2 or CO2. For a higher fuel dilution, the flame
luminosity was lower and the soot formation was not
perceptible for the entire flame. It is apparent from the
photographs that fuel dilution is an effective option to
reduce soot formation. Even for a low dilution level
(20% inert-80% NG) soot is avoided throughout the
entire flame. Combining both effects, low O2
concentration and fuel dilution, results in a total
suppression of soot formation
 % vol (CO2) 1.8
[exposure time] 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 1.6
Coflow conditions [0.6s] [0.6s] [1.6s] [1.6s] [15s]

[NOx] in ppm/kW (15% O2 dry)

1.4
@1400K
1.2

0.8
9% O2
0.6 9% O2
Series1 NG/CO2
9% O2
Series2 NG/N2
0.4
Soot free 6% O2
Series3 NG/CO2
6% O2
Series4 NG/N2
0.2
3% O2
Series5 NG/CO2

0 3% O2
Series6 NG/N2

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

[Inert] in % vol (fuel mixture)
6% O2
Figure 3. Specific NOx emissions against fuel dilution three O2 levels
at 1400K.
1.8
Soot free
1.6

[NOx] in ppm/kW (15% O2 dry)

1.4

1.2

3% O2 0.8

0.6
Series1
6% O2 @ 1600K NG/N2
0.4 3%
3%O2 1600K
O2 @ 1600K NG/N2
Series3
9% O2 @ 1400K NG/N2
0.2 Series4
6% O2 @ 1400K NG/N2
Figure 2. Photographs of diluted NG flames with CO2 at three coflow 0
3% O2 @ 1400K
Series5 NG/N2

O2 levels, Rejet=10000. Note the different exposure times (other camera 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
parameters constant). [N2] in % vol (fuel mixture)

Figure 4. Specific NOx emissions against fuel dilution at two different

Different flame sizes can be observed in Figure 2. Since
Reynolds number and fuel nozzle diameter was held
constant, it was necessary to lower the NG flow rate
when increasing inert dilution, with it flame length was
reduced. Also, it was observed for the same fuel dilution
and lower O2 level the flame length was always longer.
3.2. Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) Emission
The variation of NOx emissions for three coflow oxygen
concentrations at 1400K against inert molar fraction in
the fuel stream is shown in Fig. 3. In this figure, the fuel
stream was diluted using either CO2 or N2. With this
approach, the effect of inert gas and the coflow O2
concentration on the NOx emissions was assessed. Other
parameters such as the coflow and central jet Reynolds
numbers were held constant (Rejet=10000).
From Figure 3 and for all coflow O2 levels, the NOx
emission decreases gradually with the addition of inert.
Because of the high dilution level, LCV fuels have lower
flame temperatures [13] which leads to lower thermal
NOx emissions. The Figure also shows for all O2 levels
in the coflow that more N2 than CO2 (by volume) is
necessary in order to reduce the NOx emission to the
same level.
Additional temperature measurements were made in
coflow temperatures and three O2 levels.
It is clear that increasing the coflow temperature by
200K resulted in a similar rise in NOx as increasing the
O2 level by 3%. At either O2 level in the coflow, the
increase in the NOx at 1600K is counteracted by the
addition of 60% inert to the fuel.
The effect of low O2 levels in the coflow on NOx is
attributed to the reduction in the flame temperature in the
reaction zone and its effect on the thermal NOx
mechanism.
3.3. Carbon monoxide (CO) Emission
The CO measurements against the change in inert mole
fraction are shown in Fig. 5 and Fig 6. Interestingly, for
9% and 6% coflow O2 concentration, the CO emissions
increase nearly linearly up to 60% inert levels in the fuel
stream. For an inert mole fraction higher than 60% a
large amount of CO is measured. At these conditions the
flame appeared closer to extinction and the large amount
of CO may have been a consequence of localizad
extinction. For the 3% O2 case the CO increases
gradually with inert addition and is almost four fold
higher than the 6% and 9% O2 cases.
700
Jet fuel
Coflow condition
mixture
600 Series1
9% O2 @ 1400K NG/CO2
[CO] in ppm/kW (15% O2 dry)

Series2
9% O2 @ 1400K NG/N2
500
order to determine the effect of the inert gas on the flame Series3
6% O2 @ 1400K NG/CO2
Series4
temperature (not shown). These measurements 400 6% O2 @ 1400K
Series5
NG/N2
3% O2 @ 1400K NG/CO2
confirmed that CO2 has a higher cooling effect, than N2 300 Series6
3% O2 @ 1400K NG/N2

due to its higher heat capacity (Cp) value

200
(CpCO2/CpN2=1.31/1.24 at 1400K).
100

The effect of increasing the coflow temperature on NOx 0

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
emissions as function of dilution level is shown in Fig 4. [Inert] in % vol (fuel mixture)
Figure 5. Specific CO emissions against fuel dilution at three O2 levels.

-3-
 300
Coflow condition
250 Series1
9% O2 @ 1400K
[CO] in ppm/kW (15% O2 dry)
Series3
6% O2 @ 1400K
200 Series4
6% O2 @ 1600K
3% O2 @ 1600K
Series6
150
100
50
0
0% 20%
[CO2] in % vol (fuel mixture)
Figure 6. Specific CO emissions against fuel dilution at two different
coflow temperatures and three O2 levels.
It is clear that the reduction of O2 levels slows the
reaction down, starves the flame of O2 and that can
impact on the conversion of CO to CO2. This effect is
compounded when using LCV fuels. Worth noting
however, that in a MILD furnace environment a much
longer residence time is expected induced by enhanced
mixing. In contrast the JHC flame volume is much
smaller for the higher dilution cases and cold air
entrainment suppresses the CO to CO2 conversion. In a
furnace environment, the O2 distribution and temperature
field is more uniform given the recirculation patterns
inside the combustion chamber. As CO emissions are
strongly dependent on flame temperature, the small
differences between the CO emissions when diluting the
fuel with CO2 or N2 are related to the higher flame
temperature of the LCV fuel when is diluted with N2.
Another interesting result was observed in Fig 6. When
raising the coflow temperature from 1400K to 1600K, it
was possible to avoid the large amount of CO in the
products for dilution cases of up to 60% inert
concentration and even for the 3% O2 in the coflow.
These results indicate that a higher coflow temperature
leads to an increase in the reaction rate, which benefits
oxidation of CO into CO2. It is noteworthy regarding the
CO emissions that an increase in the temperature from
1400K to 1600K at 3% O2 is equivalent to increase O2
concentration from 3% to 9% at 1400K.
These findings imply that with LCV fuels under MILD
conditions residence time and elevated furnace
temperature are essential to maintain NOx and CO at low
levels while maintaining stable and efficient burning.
4. Conclusions
It has been found that MILD combustion is effective in
significantly reducing NOx emissions, and in preventing
soot formation. Due to the configuration of the JHC
burner the CO emissions seem to increase for a high fuel
dilution or O2 reduction; it is expected that in a furnace
environment given the longer residence time of the fuel,
the CO emission will be reduced as well.
The effects of the type of inert gas on the emissions are
related to their ability to affect flame temperature, since
for N2 the flame temperature was always higher, NOx
emissions were higher, but CO emissions lower than
Jet fuel
mixture when diluting the fuel with CO2.
NG/CO2
NG/CO2
NG/CO2
An increase of the coflow temperature led to a drastic
NG/CO2 decrease in CO emissions due to the fact that the
oxidation rate is faster at high combustion temperature.
Although a slight change on NOx was found, the amount
emitted is still low due to the influence of the diluted
fuel and coflow on the flame temperature.
40% 60% 80%
5. Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the
University of Adelaide. Mr. Colorado thanks to the
GASURE Group, Professor A. Amell, Dr. F. Cadavid
and the financial support of The University of Antioquia
that made this work possible during his internship at the
University of Adelaide
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