Numerical study of the flame stability of premixed methane-air combustion in a combined porous-free flame burner

Premixed methane-air combustion process within a combined porous-free flame burner was investigated numerically in the present study. The burner consisted of a perforated porous ceramic pellet forming combination of submerged and free flame zones. Nonequilibrium thermal condition between the gas and solid phases was implemented and governing equations were solved in a two-dimensional model using finite volume method. Detailed chemistry based on reduced GRI 3.0 mechanism with 41 reaction steps and 16 species including NOx mechanisms was utilized to simulate the combustion processes and pollutant emissions. In order to investigate the validation of the implemented numerical model, the burner was manufactured and tested. The predicted results were consistent with the experimental data. Comparison of the combined porous-free flame burner with porous burner showed that the flame stability limits of the combined burner were higher than those of porous burner. Multimode heat transfer within the porous medium was perused and the effect of heat recirculation on the flame stabilization was discussed. Investigation of the effect of pore density on the flame stabilization showed that the lower pore densities were desirable in order to improve the flame stability limits. Pollutant emission analysis proved that the NO concentration increased with increasing the equivalence ratio while the minimum quantity of CO concentration was evaluated at an equivalence ratio of 0.6.