Using an Advanced Numerical Technique for Improving Pulverized Coal Combustion inside an Industrial Furnace

Abstract

When it comes to industrial activities, one of the most greenhouse gas emitting industrial sectors is the cement industry. Cement industry as an energy intensive industry is alone responsible for a large amount of CO₂ emissions. Compared to the total global CO₂ emissions in 2014, cement production contributed to global anthropogenic CO₂ emissions with 8 %. Meaning that cement industry needs to adopt more energy efficient technologies and reduce its demand for fossil fuels. The aim of this paper is to present an advanced numerical technique for improving pulverized coal combustion inside an industrial furnace. With the development of increasingly affordable and powerful computers, use of numerical techniques, have become a very useful and cost-effective tool that is increasingly used in industry for detailed understanding of the combustion process and for the appropriate design and optimisation of different combustion units. In order to study the role of pulverized coal combustion inside a cement furnace, appropriate numerical models need to be used. In this study a numerical model of the pulverized coal combustion was used for the numerical analysis. A detailed three dimensional geometry of a cement furnace was simulated. The results gained by this simulation can be used for better understanding of complex thermo-chemical phenomena occurring inside the calculated furnace.