Evaporation of Renewable Fuels in a Lean Premixed Prevaporized Burner

Abstract

The last decades have emphasized the requirement for alternative energy sources, particularly in the transport sector, where combustible liquid fuels are expected to dominate in the foreseeable future. In such applications, the fuel must be efficiently atomized, evaporated, and mixed with the combustion air before it reaches the flame front, in order to meet the latest pollutant emission standards.
Hence, this paper investigates the utilization of nine different fossil and renewable liquid fuels. The domain of the analysis is a lean premixed prevaporized burner equipped with an air blast atomizer and a mixing tube. Analytical calculations are performed to determine the evaporation process after the atomization; then the evaporation time is compared to the residence time of the droplets in the mixing tube. The effect of preheating both the fuel and the combustion air is also examined to determine proper combustion conditions even for the low volatile crude vegetable oils.