Experimental study of argon dilution effects on NO emission in a non-premixed flame in comparison with nitrogen.

The effects of nitrogen and argon dilution on NO emission of turbulent propane-air non-premixed flame in a furnace are experimentally investigated. Dilution is an effective process in reducing NO emission, since diluents cause an increase in the mass flow of the fuel, and consequently the temperature in the combustion chamber and NO emission decreases. We measured NO emission and temperature for a wide range of dilution and equivalence ratios. The results show that nitrogen dilution is more effective than argon dilution in reducing NO emission. In addition, both dilutions caused the yellow color of the non-premixed flame to turn blue, which indicates more complete combustion and better mixing of fuel and oxidant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]