Method and apparatus to promote non-stationary flame

Abstract

A burner has a central port and 3 or more outer ports whose axes are angled toward or away from the central port axis. Sequentially varying the outer port(s) from which material is injected at a high enough momentum to deflect the flame from the axis of the central port changes the orientation of the flame with respect to the central port axis.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to methods and apparatus useful in carrying out combustion. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Many industrial processes require subjecting material to elevated temperatures on the order of 1000° F. to 3000° F. Examples of such processes include melting aluminum and other metals, maintaining molten metal in the molten state, melting glassmaking materials, and maintaining glass in the molten state. To generate the required elevated temperature, processes requiring such elevated temperatures often combust carbonaceous fuel, in one or more burners each of which produces a flame situated close enough to the material that the heat of combustion establishes the desired elevated temperature in the material. [0003] Typically the one or more burners used for this purpose each generate a flame that extends outward from the burner in a fixed position, such as extending from a side wall of a furnace across and over the top of a portion...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0083] The invention provides many other advantages. One is that the present invention provides a flame with wide coverage to transfer heat more efficiently to the material being heated. Also, flame direction can be changed easily, even during operation of the burner, without requiring any change to the hardware (bumer and / or flow control valves), simply by changing the directions to the controller that governs the sequential feeding through the outer ports.

Problems solved by technology

Such arrangements are not necessarily as efficient as possible, because the temperatures at various points around the outer surface of the flame and along the length of the flame are not uniform so that there is a region of the flame that has the highest temperature and heat flux to the material.

This lack of uniformity means that the position of the burner relative to the material being heated, and the conditions under which the burner is operated, must be set so that the highest temperatures and heat flux generated by the burner are not so high as to produce unwanted results such as “hot spots”0 in the material or the enclosure in which the combustion is being carried out, excessive oxidation of the material, or damage to the enclosure.

However, doing so often requires accepting temperatures at other points around the flame that are not as high as could be tolerated, and thereby requires accepting less than optimum performance of the burner.

This lack of efficiency has heretofore been considered acceptable for a number of reasons including the absence of a useful method and apparatus that can provide greater uniformity of temperature.

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