An Optically Approachable Chamber for Determining the Characteristics of Combustion of Process, Hydrogen Mixed and Natural Gases on a Near-Industrial Scale

This contribution presents a novel pilot plant for advanced combustion research to address current issues related to the conversion from conventional to renewable fuels. It consists of an optically accessible combustion chamber and a Nd:YAG-Dye-Laser-System, which allows a wide range of measurements within the flame, e.g. distribution of NO/OH/CH species by LIF as well as Raman and Rayleigh radiation measurements. The modularly designed combustion chamber consists of four replaceable segments and therefore is a versatile system for investigation of specific flame parameters. Gas-burners up to 50 kW fuel power can be installed, supplied by gas mixtures of up to six components and oxidants with variable oxygen content. Flue-gas recirculation is implemented as well as a staged air inlet. 18 optical windows and an axial adjustable burner guarantee a high-resolution flame examination with radial and axial profiles over the whole flame volume. In experiments with natural gas it could be shown that the deviation between the gas temperature and the wall temperature is less than 70 K. Additionally, it was also possible to precisely reproduce a previously defined target in terms of temperature, equivalence ratio and heating rate.