Experimental Investigation of an Air-Staged Swirl Burner with Hemispherical Stabilizer for Low-NOx Combustion

This study investigates the emission characteristics and flame behavior of an air-staged swirl burner operating on LPG. The burner is equipped with a 45° vane swirler and an adjustable secondary-air section. Experiments were conducted at air velocities ranging from 20 to 43 m/s using a Testo 350 gas analyzer, while temperature measurements were obtained with thermocouples positioned 90 mm downstream of the burner exit. The results show that increasing the secondary-air opening leads to a monotonic decrease in the mean exit temperature and NOx formation over the entire velocity range. In contrast, CO concentrations increase at higher air velocities and larger secondary-air fractions due to reduced residence time and partial quenching of the reaction zone. The fully staged configuration (100%) achieved the lowest NOx levels (≤3 ppm) at 20 m/s, whereas the non-staged case resulted in the highest temperatures and NO emissions. Overall, the experimental results demonstrate that a moderate secondary-air opening provides the best compromise between low NOx emissions and acceptable CO levels for compact LPG-fired swirl combustors.