A Consortium of Large Scale Facilities in the Field of Energy, Combustion and the Environment

Combustion Technology: Research, Development & Training
Transnational Access to Major Research Infrastructures

Project listing - Cardiff University, Cardiff
Dr A. J. Griffiths

General description

Waste from a range of sources whether commercial or household has become a major concern in Europe. Disposal or its reuse requires a number of crucial activities to take place, one of the most important is that of potential markets. The practice of simple disposal is under pressure due to environmental regulations, site availability and the unacceptable nature of incineration. In the UK for instance waste sites are small and the stream is highly variable. Research is currently underway to examine the potential to extract energy using a range of techniques, which vary from gasification, pyrolysis to direct combustion. The former two processes allow greater flexibility in terms of processing temperatures, furnace design and material state. These are some of the critical parameters. Hence the areas of research are:

• Energy potential of highly variable waste streams;
• Life cycle analysis to access the best economic options for processing waste;
• Feasibility study of the potential to develop an integrated strategy for energy extraction, combining wind, renewable, landfill gas and other site specific energy sources.

Cyclone technology offers a robust techniques for processing a range of materials for the production of heat energy or a raw gas for further processing using conventional technology. A novel inverted cyclone gasifier has been developed to process wood powder. Research input is required to extend the range of wood feed rates, different materials, gas clean up requirements and the use of the gas generated as a feed for a gas turbine. Another aspect of the product will also include modelling of the proposed system.

Gasification of Household material. As the changing face of legislation hits a range of energy conversion processes, The changing behaviour of society will have a significant impact on the generation of CV gas from such systems. Work is underway to develop a robust process that analyses the effect of waste composition change on the evolution of gas and hence its behaviour under combustion conditions.

This new project is concerned with an integrated process whereby charcoal will be generated over typically two to four hour cycles in pressurised reactors, whilst the resulting waste gas is fed directly to a gas turbine system which directly generates electricity. There are also possibilities for heat recovery. The economies of the process depend on the efficient production of a high added value product, charcoal, together with electricity from the gas turbine. There are a wide variety of engineering problems in this project including:

• The evolution of the best design of charcoal reactor. Here various design of reactor need to be examined such that the charcoal generating cycle can be truncated to between 2 and 4 hours, whilst still giving good yields of charcoal from a range of different feedstocks.
  
• Efficient design a gas turbine combustor to effectively deal with the variable quality, low calorific value gases evolved by the charcoal reactors. NOx and CO levels must be simultaneously minimised to levels commensurate with existing legislation. A secondary aim is also to incinerate any fine carbon that is carried over from the charcoal reactors.
  
• Effective control systems for start up, shut down, and dealing with the variable quality gases produced by the reactors. Gas oil will be used for start up, shut down and to trim the gas turbine combustor when the calorific value of the waste gases drop below predetermined levels.

Change over systems such that the charcoal reactors can be changed on line, under the gas turbine operating pressure.

Professor Nick Syred

1. Burner, gasifiers, combustors and gas turbine combustors modelling
2. Predictions of oscillations in combustors, both stationary and gas turbine, using a variety of different fuels.
3. Prediction of large frequency jumps and the effect of system geometry change, as well as the effect of scale in the area of conventional burners and gas turbines.
4. Prediction of engines and explosions.

Dr Tim O'Doherty

1. Modelling of a jet flow using FLUENT.
2. Turbulent structures associated with jet flows
3. Modelling of novel heat transfer surfaces using Fluent
4. Experimental analysis of novel heat transfer surfaces
5. Turbulent structure of swirl flows

Dr. Philip Bowen

1. Large-scale Combustion Hazards
2. Transient Combustion Modelling
3. Liquid-Fuel Combustion
4. Biofuel
5. Combustion Particulates
6. Combustion and Laser Diagnostics
7. Jet Breakup and Novel Atomisation Research

Dr D M ODoherty

1. Thermal stress modelling of heat exchanger surfaces

Dr C J Bates

1. Droplet Coalescence and Break-Up

For further information on the EuroFlam programme, mail to: info@euroflam.net
Page designed and executed by "Aristide Of St. Michael" in co-operation with Peter Roberts at IFRF NET,
Tony Griffiths at UWCC and Mario Graziadio at ENEL.