To achieve as complete fuel burnout with as little excess air as possible,
small wood log boilers (< 50 kW) use stage combustion. The first stage is
often a process similar to downdraft gasification that consequently
produces a flue gas laden with particulates. To prevent the build-up of
solids and promote heat transfer in pipes of the convective part of these
boilers, wire coils are used. The paper presents their in-situ examination
together with CFD analysis. The analysis is carried out in a 460 mm long
pipe, with a diameter of 82.5 mm, equipped with different wire coils for
flue gas temperatures in the range between 300?C and 150?C. The analyzed
coils are with and without a conical spring at their free end. The addition
of this conical top is economical and should influence the rotation of the
core flow. Proper pipe surface cleaning limited the analyzed wire coil
designs to the dimensionless pitch, p/d, in the range between 0.36-0.61,
dimensionless wire diameter e/d = 0.04-0.1, and pitch to wire diameter
ratios p/e = 3.75-14.3, and three different angles (60?, 90?, and 120?) of
the conical top. The goals are to find the optimal flue gas velocity for the
given operating conditions, pipe, and wire coil dimensions, and to
investigate the addition of the conical top on heat transfer enhancement.
Several evaluation criteria are used to achieve the goals.
Depending on their applications, heat losses from the shells of rotary kilns
account for 3 to 25% of the total heat input. Over the hottest zone of the
kiln shell, an annular duct with a variable diameter is formed. Two air
streams entering the annulus at both ends flow to a common extraction point
to receive the thermal power equal to the ambient heat loss of the bare
kiln. The design does not require airtightness, utilizes the entire heat
loss, and by the variation of the airflow can be used over the kilns with
variable operating parameters (?20% heat loss), which show similar surface
temperature patterns. The main disadvantage of the design is the approaching
of the surfaces of the kiln and the recuperator at the outlet of preheated
air. This means that for a given heat loss and a surface temperature
pattern, the rotational eccentricity of the kiln shell is the most
influencing parameter that defines the air preheating temperature and the
efficiency of the recuperator. To solve the problem, 4 redesigns with: (i)
double annuluses, (ii) the usage of radiation fins, (iii) air addition, and
(iv) a combination of two basic designs are analyzed by the use of
analytical and CFD models. From the listed redesigns: (i) could be used only
to prevent overheating, (ii) has a modest positive effect, (iii) should be
applied in combination with (iv).
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