The use of CFD and multi-objective optimisation techniques to customise an industrial pre-mixer

Abstract

Considering the use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices in industry, a case study has been undertaken implementing the goal driven optimisation of a venturi-type pre-mixer. This COTS device is used to supply the correct ratio of a specific fuel and oxidiser to a pre-mix burner. Providing the correct quantity of excess air results in a reduction of the NOx emissions; and this, in addition to the requirement for complete mixing of the constituents has been used to define the multi-objective optimisation of the device. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation has been carried out using Fluent v14.5; verified by experimental data. To find an optimised design of the pre-mixer, four geometrical dimensions of its current design have been considered. An assessment of varying sampling and interpolation techniques has been made, in order to establish the most appropriate for use with this specific problem. The evolutionary-based NSGA-II and deterministic Nelder Mead optimisation algorithms have been used and their results compared to verify the optimisation outcome. Based on these findings suggested customisation of the COTS pre-mixer’s design could result in improvements in mixing performance, in the region of 30 %.