Compact Burner With Alternating Feed Openings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing burners for fuel cell systems are not compact enough and costly to manufacture, with complex designs that complicate the feeding of fuel and oxidant gases, leading to inefficiencies and increased installation space requirements.
Innovation Solution
The burner features a compact design with oxidant and fuel feed openings arranged alternately on a side facing away from the combustion chamber, forming a straight connection area that simplifies gas feeding and reduces manufacturing costs, utilizing a partition to separate distributor spaces and incorporating a cooling area to manage heat and airflow effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If feed openings are arranged on the inlet side of the combustion chamber, then fuel and oxidant can be fed into the combustion chamber, but the installation space required is large and the design is not compact
Solution Approach 1:
The feed openings are relocated from the inlet side (one dimension) to the lateral side of the combustion chamber (another dimension), allowing feed lines to approach from the side rather than the front, thereby reducing the required installation space while maintaining feeding functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The wall structure is segmented into distinct functional zones: a connection area for feed openings, an oxidant distributor space, and a fuel distributor space, separated by partition walls. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each zone and simplifies the overall compact design
2Ease of manufacture
If a common enclosing wall is used for oxidant and fuel distributor spaces, then manufacturing is simplified, but the feed lines must be led laterally which increases complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The common enclosing wall is segmented by inserting partition walls that divide the interior into separate oxidant and fuel distributor spaces. These partitions create distinct channels that guide feed lines directly to their respective distributor spaces, simplifying feed line configuration while maintaining the benefits of a unified wall structure
Solution Approach 2:
Partition walls act as intermediaries between the common enclosing wall and the feed line system, providing separate fluidic pathways that eliminate the need for complex lateral routing while maintaining structural simplicity
3Ease of manufacture
If multiple feed openings are arranged in a straight connection area, then the interface is simplified and manufacturing cost is reduced, but the arrangement must be on the side facing away from the combustion chamber
Solution Approach 1:
The connection area with multiple feed openings is positioned on the lateral side of the combustion chamber rather than on the inlet side, utilizing a different spatial dimension to achieve simplified interface design and reduced manufacturing costs without excessive distance from the combustion process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design results in a more compact, cost-effective burner that stabilizes flames, reduces overheating, and allows for efficient operation with low-calorific fuels, enabling stable operation in fuel cell systems with high fuel utilization and reduced dynamic pressure and electric energy consumption.
Implementation Method 1
the oxidant distributor space and fuel distributor space are separated by this from each other, namely, from the feed openings to the inlet openings
Implementation Method 2
incorporating a cooling area to manage heat and airflow effectively
Implementation Method 3
a combustion chamber (2), in which the combustion reaction takes place during the operation of the burner
Data Source
AI summary
A burner (1) for burning a gaseous oxidant with a gaseous fuel, with a combustion chamber (2), in which the combustion reaction takes place during the operation of the burner (2), has a wall structure (4) which defines the combustion chamber (2) on the inlet side and which has oxidant openings (5) for introducing the oxidant into the combustion chamber (2) and fuel openings (6), which are separate therefrom, for introducing the fuel into the combustion chamber (2). The wall structure (4) has an oxidant distributor space (7), which is fluidically connected with the oxidant openings (5) on the outlet side and is fluidically connected with at least one oxidant feed opening (9) on the inlet side, as well as contains a fuel distributor space (8), which is fluidically separated from the oxidant distributor space (7) and is fluidically connected on the outlet side with the fuel openings (6) and is fluidically connected with at least one fuel feed opening (10) on the inlet side. A plurality of oxidant feed openings (9) are formed in the wall structure (4) on a side facing away from the combustion chamber (2), a plurality of fuel feed openings (10) are formed in the wall structure (4) on the side facing away from the combustion chamber (2), and the oxidant feed openings (9) and fuel feed openings (10) are arranged next to each other and alternating with one another in a straight connection area (11).