Thermodynamic Irreversibility Analysis of Thermal Radiation in Coal-Fired Furnace: Effect of Coal Ash Deposits

In this paper, a three-dimensional (3-D) high-temperature furnace filled with a gas-solid medium was investigated, and the radiative transfer equation and the radiative entropy transfer equation in the chamber were applied in order to analyze the effect of coal deposits on thermal radiation. The heat flux on the walls of the furnace and the entropy generation rate were determined due to the irreversibility of the radiative heat transfer process in the furnace. Furthermore, the effect of ash deposits on the wall surface on the irreversibility of the radiation heat transfer process was investigated. The numerical results show that when burning bituminous and sub-bituminous coal, ash deposits in the furnace led to a 48.2% and 63.2% decrease in wall radiative heat flux and a 9.1% and 12.4% decrease in the radiative entropy rate, respectively. The ash deposits also led to an increase in the entropy generation number and a decrease in the thermodynamic efficiency of the radiative heat transfer process in the furnace.