Electric Field Control of the Polluting Emissions from a Propane Flame

The present study is performed with the aim to reduce the levels of polluting emissions from fuel combustion that produce acid rains and the greenhouse effect (NOx, CO2). The electric field effects on the processes of heat/mass transfer and propane combustion are studied in order to perform electric control of the levels of polluting emissions from the flame. The results of experimental studies show the direct influence of the electric field's enhanced mass transfer on local variations of the flame composition and fuel combustion. The related variations of the flame temperature, processes of soot formation, carbon capture and deposition along the flame channel flow are studied by varying the field strength and the equivalence ratio of the propane-air mixture. The results show that the electric field effect on soot for- mation, carbon capture and sequestration, for fuel-rich flame flow, can be used to reduce the levels of CO2 emissions from the flame. In addition, the field-enhanced heat/ mass transfer to the channel walls, for fuel-lean conditions, can be used to control the fuel combustion, flame temperature and temperature- sensitive levels of NOx emissions. The most pronounced electric field effects on fuel combustion and composition of the products are observed in the limit of the weak fields (U<1,2 kV, E<105 V m-1).