Development and simulation of a new type of combustor with a turntable for wood-chips from the construction industry

A new type combustor with a turntable at the bottom was proposed in order to deal effectively and cleanly with wood-chips produced by the construction industry. The turntable made it possible to clean up combustion residue and ash during combustion and to operate the combustor continuously. First, the optimum air ratio for the combustor was experimentally determined. Under this condition, two-phase (solid and gas) combustion was then analyzed numerically and the results were compared with experimental ones in order to examine the validity of the mathematical model. The calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental ones in terms of temperature and O₂ and CO₂ concentration distributions in the combustor, thus demonstrating the validity of the mathematical model. Both sets of results revealed low O₂ concentration and high CO concentration in the middle part of the combustor over the solid phase, and though this phenomenon is thought to cause high CO emission, a favorable mixture of uncombnsted gas and air was achieved in the middle and top part of the combustor. The new type of combustor developed in this study was thus found to be effective.