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Show EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF A HIGH-EFFICIENCY SURFACE COMBUSTOR-HEATER CONCEPT WITH LOW POLLUTANT EMISSIONS Mark J. Khinkis, Walter Kunc, Tian-yu Xiong Institute of Gas Technology Chicago, Illinois 60616 ABSTRACT In a surface combustor-heater being developed by the Institute of Gas Technology (IGT), heat-exchange surfaces are embedded in a stationary bed (porous matrix) of refractory material where gaseous fuel is burned. The overall heat-transfer rate from the combustion products to the embedded heat-exchange surfaces can be significantly enhanced. Also, by removing heat simultaneously with the combustion process, NOx formation can be significantly reduced. To prove this concept, the bench-scale surface combustor-heater has been tested. Preliminary experimental results have demonstrated the remarkable advantages, such as high combustion intensity (up to 0.44 X 106 Btu/h-ft2) with just one row of tubes, high heat flux to the embedded tubes (up to 83 X 103 Btu/h-tt2), high heat-extraction rate (up to 60%), as well as low combustion emissions (NOx as low as 10 ppm and CO as low as 50 ppm, both at 0% 02). The surface combustor-heater performance data are rather promising. Further research and development work is recommended to explore the interaction between combustion and heat transfer and to develop data for optimizing the design and unit scale-up. 1 INSTITUTE o F GAS TEe H N 0 LOG Y |