Smart natural gas-air combustor. Annual report, October 1993-October 1994

The main objective of this contract is to develop - and demonstrate the feasibility and performance advantages of - a prototype micro-manufactured `smart` burner. Such a device would exploit principles for the control of entrainment and mixing of gas and air feeds to improve performance and reduce emissions in residential and commercial-type burners. The practical goal is complemented by the fundamental research goal aiming to analyze and establish design principles for the control of combustive mixing concomitant with appropriate local staging of mixture fractions or fuel air stoichiometries (e.g., `lean` burning strategies), and the effect of transient processes. These principles will assist in the development of advanced burners with reduced NOx emissions without sacrificing stability and efficiency.