Air/gas burner system

Abstract

A burner manifold for one or a series of burners including a first chamber having at least one outlet leading to said one or more burners and gas supply means arranged to introduce gas to mix with the air. Air is introduced into the first chamber from a second chamber, which is supplied with air under pressure via an inlet and the first and second chambers are arranged to be in fluid communication via a plurality of apertures.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The invention to which this application relates is a system for allowing the controlled and efficient introduction of air and gas into a burner for the air and gas mixture to be burned to provide a heating effect. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Under traditional means gas flows through a tubular steel manifold to a controlled brass orifice to regulate the quantity of gas injected into a burner. Changes in gas pressure affect the volume of primary air being induced into the burner. Therefore, any loss in gas pressure translates to a reduction in air entering the burner under atmospheric conditions. Typically, atmospheric burners operate between 50-70% primary aeration with NOx emission of approximately 200-250 ppm. [0003] The apparatus typically comprises a manifold into which air is introduced and, in relation to said manifold, there are provided one or a series of gas inlets for introducing gas into or through the manifold. Connected to the manifol...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The invention provides a burner manifold system for premix burners that can efficiently mix air and gas for combustion. The system includes a manifold with two chambers connected by a plate with apertures to allow air to flow uniformly. The system also includes gas supply means to introduce gas into the air flow downstream of the chamber. The gas and air pass through the outlets in the manifold to a burner or burners connected directly to the manifold. The system can operate at low gas pressure and is not reliant upon high gas pressure to induce aeration atmospherically. The technical effects of the invention include improved NOx emissions control, lower cost combustion, and more efficient use of air and gas for combustion."

Problems solved by technology

While it is claimed that this provides an efficient manner of providing an air and gas mixture, it has been found to be impractical in that in order to operate successfully, the pressure of the gas is required to be at a relatively high level and, furthermore, of a uniform flow rate so as to ensure that the required gas and air mixture ratio occurs every time.

However, in certain areas such as, for example, certain States in the USA, it is found that the gas supply pressure is relatively low which can cause problems in the operation and, furthermore, that there can be relatively large fluctuations in the gas pressure over time which can also cause problems in the operation.

These problems, in turn, mean that the burning efficiency is poor and emissions can be too high such that emission limit requirements can be exceeded therefore meaning that the burners cannot be used.

These factors cause conflict for the appliance designer.

A further problem which is experienced is that the gas and air mixture is not efficiently supplied to each of the burners such that, for example, one burner may receive a higher proportion of gas in the gas and air mixture than other burners connected to the manifold at different locations with respect to the manifold.

Similarly this problem can be attributed to other burner arrangements wherein varying amounts of the mixture with differing proportions of air and gas are supplied to different areas of one or more burner plates, resulting in inconsistent temperature distributions during use.

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