Investigation of the soot formation during wood log combustion

Paper in proceeding, 2021

Soot formation is an important issue in the design of modern wood stoves, as soot not only deteriorates the combustion efficiency but also poses threats to human health. Although soot formation in biomass combustion has been studied previously, the investigation at wood stove level is still rare due to its complex nature. In this paper, a preliminary numerical simulation is carried out to uncover the basic trends of soot formation during wood log combustion. The soot formation model is developed based on a virtual particle multiphase flow algorithm, where the mass fraction and the particle size of the soot are both resolved. Three wood logs combusting in a confined wood stove with a parallel stacking is studied. The coupling effect of the soot formation with the heating and the combustion of the wood logs is analyzed. This work is helpful for the design and the optimization of modern wood stoves. The predicted soot mass fraction and size distribution provide important information for a better control of particulate matter emission.