Numerical simulation of biomass combustion in a downdraft boiler

Abstract

The present work meets some problems related to crop residues combustion in a small heating boiler. When the biomass is burned in small boilers, emissions from incomplete combustion such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) tend to increase. Modeling and numerical simulation synergistically complement the experiments and they represent a low-cost approach to design, allowing combustion optimization. Modeling helps us understand the fundamental processes occurring during biomass combustion and it can substantially reduce the time required for design optimization.