The Vital Role of CFD Simulation in Troubleshooting and Optimizing Burners

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is no longer a luxury tool, but has become an integral part of every industrial combustion project.

By accurately modeling air flow, fuel injection, flame formation, and heat transfer before any physical changes are made, engineers can anticipate all possible problems.
Common problems in industrial burners include flame impingement, dead zones and reverse circulation, poor temperature distribution, excessive CO production due to incomplete mixing, and NOx formation in local hot spots. All of these can be identified and fixed with CFD.

In a real-world reformer furnace retrofit project in a petrochemical plant, CFD showed that the air entry angle caused reverse circulation and overheating of the tubes. By changing the angle and adding swirl, the maximum tube temperature was reduced by more than 60 degrees and the tube life was extended by several years.

Using CFD in the design phase of new burners reduces the costs of physical trial and error by 90% and reduces start-up time from months to weeks. Today, no reputable combustion company implements a project without using CFD.