Application of Variance Analysis to the Combustion of Residual Oils

Although the disposal of residual oils represents a major industrial problem it also opens an opportunity due to the energy recovery potential. If the combustion process is properly controlled the economic revenue could be added to the environmental benefits. For this purpose a test facility was developed which is based upon the application of an effervescent atomizer on a 200 kW furnace. The operating conditions were optimized through the application of a Taguchi technique for experimental planning. This enabled the analysis of 4 independent variables and 3 interactions. The CO concentration was the chosen as the control variable. The analysis on the variance data shows that the swirl and the Air Liquid Ratio are the most relevant variables for the optimization of the combustion.