The Impact of Hydrogen on Flame Characteristics and Pollutant Emissions in Natural Gas Industrial Combustion Systems

To improve energy savings and emission reduction in industrial heating furnaces, this study investigated the impact of various molar fractions of hydrogen on natural gas combustion and compared the results of the Non-Premixed Combustion Model with the Eddy Dissipation Combustion Model. Initially, natural gas combustion in an industrial heating furnace was investigated experimentally, and these results were used as boundary conditions for CFD simulations. The diffusion flame and combustion characteristics of natural gas were simulated using both the non-premixed combustion model and the Eddy Dissipation Combustion Model. The results indicated that the Non-Premixed Combustion Model provided simulations more consistent with experimental data, within acceptable error margins, thus validating the accuracy of the numerical simulations. Additionally, to analyze the impact of hydrogen doping on the performance of an industrial gas heater, four gas mixtures with varying hydrogen contents (15% H₂, 30% H₂, 45% H₂, and 60% H₂) were studied while maintaining constant fuel inlet temperature and flow rate. The results demonstrate that the Non-Premixed Combustion Model more accurately simulates complex flue gas flow and chemical reactions during combustion. Moreover, hydrogen-doped natural gas significantly reduces CO and CO₂ emissions compared to pure natural gas combustion. Specifically, at 60% hydrogen content, CO and CO₂ levels decrease by 70% and 37.5%, respectively, while NO emissions increase proportionally; at this hydrogen content, NO concentration in the furnace chamber rises by 155%.