Experimental study of combustion characteristics of lean LPG/air mixture in Porous Media Burner

The performance of a porous media burner (PMB) is immensely dependent on the selection of porous material. Present experimental work investigates the impact of burner's material on the thermal performance of lean LPG/air mixture. This includes the study of stable combustion limits on the surface of porous media, uniformity of temperature distribution in porous media during stationary combustion and damage of porous media. Experimental investigation shows that the high temperature zone of the burner filled with foam ceramic is closer to the burner inlet than that of the burner filled with honeycomb ceramics under the same inlet velocity. In addition, the temperature at the inlet of the burner filled with foam ceramics is higher than that of the burner filled with honeycomb ceramics under the same inlet velocity. What's more, lean burn limit range of the burner filled with foam ceramic is broader than the burner filled with honeycomb ceramics. The axial temperature distribution of the burner filled with honeycomb ceramics is more significant fluctuation than that filled with foam ceramic and the burner filled with honeycomb ceramics is more prone to local heat concentration. Therefore, the fracture of honeycomb ceramics after experiments subjected to thermal stress is much more serious than that of foam ceramics. Overall performance assessment confirms that foam ceramics is a better choice over honeycomb ceramics for lean combustion of the mixture of LPG/air in the PMB.