Plasma-assisted ignition and combustion in pulverised fuel burners

Abstract

This work focuses on the application of plasma-assisted ignition and combustion in pulverised fuel burners. Plasma-assisted ignition of pulverised fuel as an alternative technology for the start-up of pulverised fuel furnaces is investigated in a 400 kWpilot-scale facility using various qualities of lignite as well as woody biomass with distinct ignition characteristics. Short-time plasma-supported ignition under the cold furnace condition was demonstrated with parametric studies regarding the required power of plasma torch, air swirling, torch positioning, particle size distribution, etc. to identify the influence of different burner design parameters.