Clean Combustion using Rotating Arc
Y. -H. Song1, K. T. Kim1, J. O. Lee1, D. H. Lee1, and N. K. Hwang2
1Plasma Engineering Laboratory, Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials, Korea
2Division of Air Pollution Control, Ministry of Environment, Korea
Abstract- Application of a rotating arc to clean combustion technology, especially for low NOx combustion, is studied. Unlike the plasma treatment of flue gases, in the present study, a rotating arc directly generates in a flame. Various characteristics of a flame affected by a rotating arc, such as changes in flame color, flame shape, reaction products, flammability limit, were investigated. Optical emission spectra (OES) tests reveal that both effects of plasma chemistry and the high-temperature environment generated by the rotating arc extend the flammability limits. By applying this wide flammability limit, a low NOx combustion technique is demonstrated, which reduces NOx emission by up to 65% without any post-treatment.
Keywords- lean combustion, rotating arc, syngas, low NOx emission