CIVS Senior Research Engineer Presents at Industrial Combustion Symposium
On September 30-October 3, CIVS Senior Research Engineer Nicholas Walla attended and presented at the AFRC Industrial Combustion Symposium in Calgary, Alberta Canada. Nicholas presented “Exploring Decarbonization of a Steel Reheating Furnace using Simulations of Natural Gas/Hydrogen Fuel Blending”.
The symposium was held by the American Flame Research Committee (AFRC). The AFRC is composed of representatives of industrial and research organizations and associated eminent combustion expert members in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The AFRC sponsors open forums in North America on applied combustion technology and research and supports the applied combustion research activities of the International Flame Research Foundation (IFRF). One of the organizers of the conference is the Chairman for the AFRC, David Schalles, of Bloom Engineering. David is a member of the board for the Steel Manufacturing Simulation & Visualization Consortium (SMSVC).
The steel industry is a cornerstone of U.S. manufacturing, infrastructure, and defense, supplying one of the most vital materials. The slab reheating furnace, a crucial process in steelmaking, is highly energy-intensive and produces substantial CO2 emissions due to natural gas combustion. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation has emerged as a powerful research and development tool to optimize furnace performance, enhance energy efficiency and productivity, and investigate alternative fuels like hydrogen to reduce CO2 emissions.
Currently, in real-world furnaces using natural gas, pre-heated air is used for combustion, whereas the natural gas inlets are kept at room temperature. But while transitioning to hydrogen combustion, this may not be required. This paper showcases state-of-the-art CFD simulations of industry-scale reheating furnaces that use methane-hydrogen fuel blends with varying air inlet temperatures. Using a hydrogen fuel blend can potentially lead to significant reductions in CO2 emissions. Examples from the PNW Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation (CIVS) and the Steel Manufacturing Simulation and Visualization Consortium (SMSVC) will be included.