Lean Combustion

Lean Combustion: Technology and Control, Second Edition outlines and explains the latest advances in lean combustion technology and systems. Combustion under sufficiently fuel-lean conditions can have the desirable attributes of high efficiency and low emissions. The book offers readers both the fundamentals and latest developments in how lean burn (broadly defined) can increase fuel economy and decrease emissions, while still achieving desired power output and performance. This volume brings together research and design of lean combustion systems across the technology spectrum in order to explore the state-of-the-art in lean combustion.

Readers will learn about advances in the understanding of ultra-lean fuel mixtures and how new types of burners and approaches to managing heat flow can reduce problems often found with lean combustion (such as slow, difficult ignition and frequent flame extinction).

This book offers abundant references and examples of real-world applications. New to this edition are significantly revised chapters on IC engines and stability/oscillations, and new case studies and examples. Written by a team of experts, this contributed reference book aims to teach its reader to maximize efficiency and minimize both economic and environmental costs.

• Presents a comprehensive collection of lean burn technology across potential applications, allowing readers to compare and contrast similarities and differences
• Provides an extensive update on IC engines including compression ignition (diesel), spark ignition, and homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI)
• Includes an extensive revision to the Stability/Oscillations chapter
• Includes use of alternative fuels such as biogas and hydrogen for relevant technologies
• Covers new developments in lean combustion using high levels of pre-heat and heat recirculating burners, as well as the active control of lean combustion instabilities

Professional engineers in mechanical, automotive, aerospace, and chemical engineering industries, particularly those involved with combustion engineering; graduate students in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, and physics

1. Introduction and Perspectives

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Brief Historical Perspective
• 3. Defining Lean Combustion
• 4. Regulatory Drivers for Lean Combustion Technology Development
• 5. Lean Combustion Applications and Technologies
• 6. Brief Highlights of the Chapters

2. Fundamentals of Lean Combustion

• 1. Combustion and Engine Performance
• 2. Burning in Flames
• 3. Autoignitive Burning
• 4. Recirculation of Heat From Burning and Burned Gas
• 5. Flame Stabilization
• 6. Conclusions

3. Highly Preheated Lean Combustion

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Moderate and Intense Low Oxygen Dilution Combustion
• 3. Elementary Processes in MILD Combustion
• 4. Process and Applications of MILD Combustion in Gas Turbines
• 5. Conclusion

4. Lean-Burn Internal Combustion Engines

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Fundamental Combustion Thermodynamics
• 3. Conventional and Advanced Spark-Ignition Engines
• 4. Extending the Lean Limit of Spark-Ignited Engine Operation
• 5. Conventional and Advanced Compression-Ignition Engines

5. Lean Combustion in Gas Turbines

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Background
• 3. Lean Gas Turbine Combustion Strategies: Status and Needs
• 4. Summary

6. Lean Premixed Burners

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Principles of Natural Gas Variability
• 3. Stabilization Methods
• 4. Fuel Flexibility Considerations
• 5. Summary

7. Combustion Instabilities in Lean Premixed Systems

• 1. Overview and Motivation
• 2. Combustion Instability Fundamentals
• 3. Acoustics of Lean Combustion Systems
• 4. Coupling Mechanisms and Flame Oscillations
• 5. Control Strategies