11 - SLE4Flame – Spray-burner development via selective laser-induced etching for flash-boiling assisted combustion of liquid ammonia
Summary
In this joint project, the applicants are pursuing a novel concept for a hybrid burner nozzle design to advance the vision of liquid ammonia combustion in stable spray-flames. The innovative design combines two mechanisms for atomization, i.e. pressurized and dispersion-gas atomization, to obtain efficient stable combustion with carbon-free fuels. The keys for the realization of this concept and for overcoming the associated scientific challenges are the subtractive manufacturing process ‘Selective Laser-induced Etching’ (SLE) and the fundamental understanding of atomization and flame processes for superheated liquefied ammonia. Only SLE is capable of producing the underlying complex three-dimensional flow topology with unsurpassed accuracy and defined surface roughness. At the same time, due to ist transparent design, it provides the basis for a first-time simultaneous nozzle-internal and nozzle-external experimental analysis of physical sub-processes involved. New insights achieved in this way will be incorporated into the development of high-fidelity models of the entire spray-flame process. In this context, flash-boiling is identified as the crucial process to be investigated and understood by taking into account the entire process chain inside and outside the nozzle.

Research Team

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reinhold Kneer
Principal Investigator (PI)
RWTH Aachen University
Institute of Heat and Mass Transfer
kneer(at)wsa.rwth-aachen

Dr.-Ing. Manuel Armin Reddemann
Principal Investigator (PI)
RWTH Aachen University
Institute of Heat and Mass Transfer
reddemann(at)wsa.rwth-aachen.de

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Constantin Häfner
Principal Investigator (PI)
RWTH Aachen University
Chair for Laser Technology
constantin.haefner(at)ilt.fraunhofer.de

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz Pitsch
Principal Investigator (PI)
RWTH Aachen University
Institute for Combustion Technology
h.pitsch(at)itv.rwth-aachen.de

Christian Hinke
Researcher
RWTH Aachen University
Chair for Laser Technology
christian.hinke(at)llt.rwth-aachen.de

Peter Augustin M.Sc.
Doctoral Researcher
RWTH Aachen University
Institute of Heat and Mass Transfer
augustin(at)wsa.rwth-aachen.de

Fabian Fröde
Doctoral Researcher
RWTH Aachen University
Institute for Combustion Technology
f.froede(at)itv.rwth-aachen.de
