The Combustion of a Diesel Oil-Based/Coal/Water Slurry in a Horizontal Cylindrical Furnace: An Experimental Investigation

The current work investigates the use of a coal/oil/water slurry as an alternative fuel in boilers and industrial furnaces. Experiments were carried out on chosen flames with constant input heat throughput and variable air/fuel ratios for three major oil/coal/water mixtures (on a mass basis) as follows: (Case1: pure oil; reference case), (Case2: 80%, 10 %, 10 %) and (Case3: 70%, 15%, 15%). The results showed that case 2 had a significant improvement in both heat transfer to the cooling jacket and combustion efficiency, which was accompanied by a decrease in NOx emissions. Further increase in the ratio of coal and water in the fuel mixture (case 3) produced a significant degradation in the overall combustion characteristics, referring to an upper limit of coal and water loading ratios of only 10%. Oil-coal-water slurries are considered a significant alternative source of energy.