ICSE Research - Institute for Clean and Secure Energy

Simulation of NO_x Emissions in Glass Furnaces

Minimization of pollutant emissions, specifically thermal NO, from high-temperature glass-melting furnaces is a central concern to the glass industry, both to improve productivity and to reduce environmental impact. In general, turbulent nonpremixed combustion processes are characterized by wide ranges of overlapping length and time scales associated with mixing and chemical reactions. Formation of pollutants (NOx), governed by slow reactions, is due to selective interaction of mixing and reaction time scales in local regions. However, to accurately predict pollutants, explicitly resolving these wide ranges of scales in the presence of turbulence is a formidable task due to current computational limitations. In practice, averaged governing equations are solved with subgrid scale models to account for the unresolved scales and interactions among them. These physics-based subgrid models have a profound effect on predicting NOx due to the underlying assumptions in formulation.

ICSE is working to:

Identify and systematically validate the subgrid scale models (See poster) for accurately predicting thermal NO from nonpremixed turbulent flames.




Research Fires and explosions Aerosol formation Black liquor gasification Coal- and natural-gas-fired boilers Glass-melting furnaces Spreader stoker-fired combustors Diesel and gas-turbine engines Air toxics Clean Coal Utilization Flares process heaters and cracking furnaces mixing tanks	Simulation of NO_x Emissions in Glass Furnaces Minimization of pollutant emissions, specifically thermal NO, from high-temperature glass-melting furnaces is a central concern to the glass industry, both to improve productivity and to reduce environmental impact. In general, turbulent nonpremixed combustion processes are characterized by wide ranges of overlapping length and time scales associated with mixing and chemical reactions. Formation of pollutants (NOx), governed by slow reactions, is due to selective interaction of mixing and reaction time scales in local regions. However, to accurately predict pollutants, explicitly resolving these wide ranges of scales in the presence of turbulence is a formidable task due to current computational limitations. In practice, averaged governing equations are solved with subgrid scale models to account for the unresolved scales and interactions among them. These physics-based subgrid models have a profound effect on predicting NOx due to the underlying assumptions in formulation. ICSE is working to: Identify and systematically validate the subgrid scale models (See poster) for accurately predicting thermal NO from nonpremixed turbulent flames. Apply these tools for predicting and minimizing emissions from industrial-scale glass furnaces. Key personnel: Philip Smith