Research On The Computational Simulation And Micro/Low Gravity Adaptability Of Biomass Mineralized Furnace

Solid waste treatment system plays an essential role in the Environment Control and Life Support System(ECLSS)which is the key technology in long duration space exploration missions.In order to achieve material recycling and improve the ECLSS closure,a high temperature mineralization furnace was used in the 4-Subject 180 Days CELSS Integration Experiment to recovery the resource from inedible biomass produced in the system.The mineralization furnace was simulated by FLUENT.To verify the validity of the calculation model,a transparent experimental furnace was built.The simulation results and experimental data were compared under the same parameters,showing that the obtained distribution of physical fields basically agree with the actual working condition.The gas-solid flow characteristics and combustion characteristics were studied through the obtained temperature and velocity distribution and the fuel particles trajectories.The effects of different air inlet rates were also studied.The results show that the biomass particles can be fully fluidized and completely burned under the conditions of feed rate 5 g/min and air inlet rate 40 L/min.The fluidization degree decreases as the air rate turns down,11% of the biomass particles which cannot be fluidized when the air inlet rate gets to 30 L/min.40 L/min would be the best choice as the feed rate set to 5 g/min.Micro/low gravity is an important factor that cannot be ignored due to the special application background,this paper examined the influence of gravity on the biomass combustion process.The result shows that the light-off position of the biomass get higher and the burning region stretches in micro/low gravity caused by an increase in the speed of the fuel particles.At the same time the maximum and average temperature of the furnace decrease.The combustion reaction at micro/low gravity is slower than normal gravity,and the production of CO increases.Therefore,to get a better micro/low gravity adaptability the furnace height should be appropriately increased.