Numerical investigation of a Claus sulfur recovery combustor

A 3-D numerical simulation on the combustion of a Claus sulfur recovery combustor was carried out on the basis of commercial CFD software FLUENT. The Eddy Dissipation Concept model was employed for calculating the chemical reaction rate. The turbulent flow was simulated by using the RNG k-e model combined with the standard wall-function method. The second-order upwind difference scheme and the pressure-based implicit algorithm were adopted for solving the flowfield. The distribution of pressure, temperature, velocity and component concentration of combustion product in the Claus sulfur recovery combustor was obtained. The numerical simulation validated the design scheme of the combustor and revealed the operational characteristics of the combustor. The result of the study show that the numerical simulation, as an important supplement of the conventional design methodology and experimental investigation, is of great value for assessing the performance and improving the design of the combustor.