Research and Development of a Dual-Fuel Radiant Burner for Diverse Applications: Utilizing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Bio-Ethanol

Gas burners are widely used for cooking in households and restaurants. The commonly used LPG burners currently exhibit relatively high efficiency and stability. However, LPG, being a non-renewable fossil fuel, is a significant source of air pollution. Bioethanol, as a renewable fuel, shows great promise in replacing LPG for cooking purposes, as it can be domestically produced from agricultural products. Utilizing bioethanol as an energy source results in net zero carbon emissions. Nonetheless, controlling the ignition and heating rate of ethanol remains complex due to its inability to vaporize autonomously under atmospheric conditions. This research aims to develop a high-efficiency dual-fuel cooking burner capable of utilizing both LPG and ethanol gas. The burner head comprises lightweight, highly porous ceramic foam made of silicon carbide and incorporates a single conventional gas injector for supplying both fuels. The burner demonstrates high stability in feeding both LPG and ethanol, with combustion temperature increasing as the firing rate rises. Increasing primary air has a positive effect on LPG combustion, leading to reduced carbon dioxide emissions. However, it has the opposite effect on ethanol combustion, resulting in increased CO emissions with higher primary air entrainments. Feeding LPG yields higher combustion efficiency compared to ethanol. Nevertheless, at an ethanol firing rate of 5.5 kW, the maximum temperature reached is similar to that of LPG at the same rate, representing the optimal condition for this developed burner using ethanol as fuel.