Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Air Distribution on Turbulent Flow and Combustion in a Tubular Heating Furnace

A three-dimension full-size numerical simulation of the effect of air distribution on turbulent flow and combustion in a tubular heating furnace was carried out. A standard k - e turbulent model, a simplified PDF combustion model and a discrete ordinate transfer radiation model were used. The hybrid grid combining a structured and a non-structured grid was generated without any simplification of the complicated geometric configuration around the burner. It was found that the multistage combustion could reduce and control the peak value of temperature. At the same time, it was concluded that the amount of primary air had little effect on the global distribution of velocity and temperature in the furnace, but a great effect on that around the burner. It is recommended that 45%- 65% of the total amount of air be taken in in primary air inlets in the furnace. All the results are important to optimize the combustion progress.