Critical evaluation of the oxygen-enhanced combustion in gas burners for industrial applications and heating systems

Abstract

The concept of energetic efficiency in equipments is highlighted nowadays, due to its implication with the global warming issues. Amongst industrial equipments, burners have one of the greatest impacts on this discussion, since they are large scale combustion devices. The search for more efficient burners is of paramount importance, toward a more adequate use of the fossil fuels, during the transition phase between this energy source and new alternatives, which may last more than fifty years. The present work brings an evaluation of the Oxygen Enhanced Combustion technique (OEC), identifying important issues, especially those related with the heat transfer and emission of pollutants, and discussing its application in the oil industry and its supply chain, where the OEC is barely used. As far as the authors could search in the literature, there are no published critical reviews regarding the use of OEC and its implications in the oil and gas industry.