Advancement of cellular ceramics made of silicon carbide for burner applications

Lower emissions of CO and NOx as well as a higher power density were observed in combustion processes performed in porous media like ceramic foams. Only a few materials are applicable for porous burners. Open-celled ceramic foams made of silicon carbide are of particular interest because of their outstanding properties. Two different SiC materials have been investigated, silicon-infiltrated silicon carbide (SiSiC) and pressureless sintered silicon carbide (SSiC). The oxidation behaviour of both has been characterized by furnace oxidation and burner tests up to 500 h operating time. Up to a temperature of 1200 °C SiSiC exhibited a good oxidation resistance in combustion gases by forming a protective layer of silica. High inner porosity up to 30% in the ceramic struts was found in the SSiC material. Caused by inner oxidation processes the pure material SSiC allows only short time applications with a temperature limit of 1550 °C in combustion gases. An increase of the lifetime of the SSiC foams was obtained by development of a new SSiC with an inner porosity of less than 12%. The result was a considerable reduction of the inner oxidation processes in the SSiC struts