Radiation and Combustion Effects of Hydrogen-Enrichment on Biomethane Flames

Hydrogen has been presented as a promising energy vector in decarbonized economies. Its singular properties can affect important aspects of industrial flames, such as the temperature, emissions, and radiative/convective energy transfer balance, thus requiring in-depth studies to optimize combustion processes using this fuel isolate or in combination with other renewable alternatives. This work aims to conduct a detailed numerical analysis of temperatures and gas emissions in the combustion of biomethane enriched with different proportions of hydrogen, with the intent to contribute to the understanding of the impacts of this natural gas surrogate on practical combustion applications. RANS k-ω and k-ϵ turbulence models were combined with the GRI Mech 3.0, San Diego, and USC mechanisms using the ANSYS-Fluent software to evaluate its performance regarding flame prediction. The results highlight the importance of carefully selecting turbulence and chemical kinetics models, indicating a reduction in flame radiation due to hydrogen enrichment that can affect practical combustion systems such as those in glass and other ceramics industries.