Investigation of oxygen-enriched biomass flames in a lab-scale entrained flow reactor

Oxygen-enriched air combustion of pulverized biomass fuel is an effective method to improve char combustion and improve flame stability. Moreover, understanding the impact of O2 addition is an important step toward oxyfuel combustion, one of the most promising technologies for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). Our previous studies focused on flow manipulation methods, e.g., swirling co-flow and acoustic forcing, to enhance particle dispersion during biomass combustion and gasification. This work aims to extend the understanding of the effect of different manipulation methods on oxygen-enriched combustion at different levels in a lab-scale entrained flow reactor. This methodology combines the analysis of visible flame characteristics, CO and NO gas emissions, and coarse particle emissions characterization with thermogravimetric analysis and particle size distribution by dynamic imaging. The results indicated that oxygen-enriched combustion leads to lower liftoff distance and higher flame brightness. Moreover, oxygen-enriched combustion presented coarse particle emissions with finer particle size distribution and lower carbon content. The acoustic forcing further decreased the flame liftoff and decreased CO emissions, increasing combustion efficiency under conditions with similar equivalence ratios and lower momentum flux at the secondary air.