LACO

The MILD (Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution) combustion laboratory is one of the laboratories of the Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management (DMMM). The test rig can be conducted either under conventional combustion conditions, with air as oxidizing gas, or using an air-flue gas mixture with varying levels of exhaust gas and different temperature levels, in such a way as to obtain a MILD combustion. The rig is equipped with automatic control systems capable of varying the mass flow rates, the dilution factors, as well as the thermal power.
The system consists of:
•    A balanced draft test rig for the execution of experimental campaigns aimed to the observation of both conventional and MILD combustion processes;
•    Two burners: an experimental burner with an 80 kWt load capacity and a 200 kWt auxiliary fueled by natural gas. The experimental burner can be fueled by liquid diesel oil or gaseous natural gas and is able to operate under both conventional or MILD combustion regimes;
•    Two fans (a blower and discharge fan), both regulated by a Variable-Frequency Drive (VFD), capable of controlling the air mass flow rate and the flue gas recirculation together with the pressure inside the combustion chamber;
•    The exhaust gas cooling system based on a shall and tube heat exchanger.

A facility of the MILD combustion lab is represented by the transesterification plant for the production of bio-diesel from vegetable oils to be used as fuel in the experimental burner.