Experiment and simulation to develop clean porous medium surface combustor using LPG

This paper presents the development, charcterization and numerical simulation of compact premixed LPG burner based on surface combustion in porous inert medium. The preheating and reaction zones are made up of Alumina (Al ₂O₃) foams of pore sizes 26 ppcm and 8 ppcm, respectively. Experiments are conducted with 0.45 litres per minute (lpm) of LPG fuel, which is found to be the minimum quantity required to produce a sustainable flame when mixed with 4 lpm of air. The temperature distribution within the combustor, flame stability, maximum flame temperature, NO, CO and SO₂ emissions and thermal efficiency are measured and compared with those of conventional LPG stove. It is found that the proposed burner could yield 80% saving in fuel consumption and 75% reduction in NOx emission compared to the conventional one. The CO and SO₂ emissions are also within the permissible limits. The thermal efficiency is estimated to be 71% whereas for the conventional burner is 47%, for a thermal load of 0.62 kW. Effects of porosity and thickness of reaction layer are studied by means of a two dimensional simulation using FLUENT software, considering single step reaction and thermal equilibrium between phases. Experimental and numerical findings are found in satisfactory agreement.