Investigation of jet A-1 and waste cooking oil biodiesel fuel blend flame characteristics stabilized by radial swirler in lean pre-vaporized premixed combustor

• Published in: Energy (Oxford) Vol. 263; p. 125830
• Main Authors: Masoud, Shaimaa M., Attia, Ali M.A., Salem, Hindawi, El-Zoheiry, Radwan M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15-01-2023
• Subjects: Flame structure; Lean pre-vaporized premixed (LPP) combustion; Radial swirler; Ultrasonic assisted transesterification; Waste cooking oil biodiesel; Waste cooking oil biodiesel; Flame structure; Ultrasonic assisted transesterification; Lean pre-vaporized premixed (LPP) combustion; Radial swirler
• ISSN: 0360-5442
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.125830

Energy crisis and the new environmental legislations have motivated researchers worldwide to come up with new solutions to these emerging problems. One of the proposed solutions is to biodiesel from vegetable and waste oils to substitute the conventional fuels. The current study aims to investigate the flame characteristics of waste cooking oil biodiesel fuel blend stabilized by radial swirler in Lean Pre-vaporized Premixed (LPP) combustor. In this scope following tasks were performed (i) preparing Waste Cooking Oil Methyl (WCOME) via an ultrasonic assisted transesterification process, (ii) designing and constructing radial swirler (with swirl number SN = 0.55), and (iii) investigating the flame structures of base Jet A-1 fuel and a blend of WCOME and Jet A-1 containing 10% of WCOME (symbolized as B10). Experiments were performed at equivalence ratio Φ = 0.75 and air preheat temperature of 310 °C. Measurements revealed more temperature distribution with lower maximum value for B10 than those for base fuel. CO was higher for B10 at exit level in the range of 14,000 ppm. On the other hand, it was on average of 230 ppm for Jet A-1. NOx emissions recorded was slightly lower for B10 than Jet A-1, but both were about 10 ppm. It could be concluded that, B10 can replace Jet A-1 to reduce NOx emissions with uniform temperature distribution. Use of LPP combustion reduces gas turbine emissions and use of radial swirler to stabilize the lean premixed mixture is confirmed.
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•Waste oil biodiesel was prepared by ultrasonic-assisted transesterification process•Flame of blended fuel is stabilized by radial swirler in LPP combustor was studied•Jet A-1 and B10 flames were compared regarding temperature and species distributions•B10 exhibited a lower maximum temperature, but with more homogeneity.•B10 resulted in higher CO; 14,000 ppm at exit; but lower NOx; 10 ppm; than Jet A-1.