Technical Committee Fuel Oils

Deposit formation in pre-mixing burner systems - investigation of the cause and minimisation by modifying the evaporator surface

The aim of the present study was to reduce the formation of deposits in premixing combustion systems under the requirement that any change of the operation conditions of the technical system is avoided. The method was to physically and chemically modify the heated metallic surface by the following treatments: variation of roughness, coating and oxidation. The deposit formation was examined by pulsed evaporation and the continual evaporation of a spray on a hot surface. A minor reduction of the deposits was denoted for the oxidized surfaces in the pulsed evaporation test. With both test methods it was possible to distinguish the examined low Sulphur light heating oil (LHO) with respect to their inclination to form deposits during evaporation. Two fuels were fractionated by distillation and the fractions were tested. These experiments showed that deposits are mainly due to fuel components with boiling range above 360 °C. There are indications that the amount of deposits correlates with the aromatic hydrocarbon content of the fuels.

The IGF project (17600 N) of the research association DGMK Deutsche Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Erdöl, Erdgas und Kohle e.V., Überseering 40, 22297 Hamburg was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy via the AiF within the framework of the programme for the promotion of joint industrial research (IGF) on the basis of a resolution of the German Bundestag.