Burner Heat Pipe Cooling for Corrosion Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Water-cooled burners face issues such as corrosion from condensation of aggressive flue gas components, energy inefficiency, and risk of water penetration into the combustion chamber, necessitating effective cooling solutions for high-temperature applications without water cooling.
Innovation Solution
The use of heat pipes as a cooling device to transfer heat from the burner tip to a heat exchanger located within the burner housing or outside, allowing for efficient heat management and preheating of fuel or oxidizing agents, thereby eliminating the need for a water cooling circuit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If water cooling is used for the burner tip, then cooling efficiency is improved, but corrosion occurs due to condensation of aggressive flue gas components on the burner surface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thermal parameter of the burner surface by using heat pipes to maintain the burner tip surface temperature above the dew point of aggressive flue gas components. This prevents condensation and subsequent corrosion while still providing effective heat removal from the burner tip through the heat pipe mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat pipe acts as an intermediary thermal management system between the burner tip and the cooling medium. It transfers heat away from the burner tip through phase change mechanisms without requiring direct water contact with the burner surface, thus preventing corrosion while maintaining cooling efficiency.
2Power
If water cooling is used for the burner tip, then heat removal capacity is improved, but energy efficiency deteriorates due to heat extraction from the process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the previously harmful heat extraction from the combustion process into a beneficial preheating function. The heat removed from the burner tip by the heat pipes is used to preheat the combustion air or fuel, transforming waste heat removal into useful energy recovery that improves overall system efficiency.
3Temperature
If water cooling circuits are installed in the burner tip, then cooling performance is improved, but reliability decreases due to risk of water penetration into the combustion chamber
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the water cooling circuit from the burner tip area and relocates it to a safe position where water cannot penetrate the combustion chamber. The heat pipe mechanism allows thermal energy to be removed from the burner tip while the actual cooling medium remains isolated from the high-temperature combustion zone, eliminating the explosion hazard.
4Reliability
If alternative cooling methods (refractory material, cooling air stream, rotating oxygen jet) are used instead of water cooling, then reliability is improved by avoiding water-related problems, but cooling capacity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional water-based mechanical cooling systems with a heat pipe-based thermal management system. Heat pipes utilize phase change mechanisms (evaporation and condensation of working fluid) to achieve high heat transfer coefficients comparable to water cooling, while eliminating the need for water circuits in the combustion zone.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat pipe utilizes phase transitions of its working fluid (evaporation at the hot end and condensation at the cool end) to achieve efficient heat transfer from the burner tip. This phase change mechanism provides cooling capacity comparable to water cooling without the associated reliability problems.
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 solution provides effective cooling without water, reducing corrosion risks, improving energy efficiency, and allowing operation at higher temperatures, while preventing condensation of corrosive components on the burner surface.
Implementation Method 1
the heat transfer medium in the heat pipe in the area of the burner tip (evaporation zone) absorbs heat, evaporates
Implementation Method 2
in the gaseous state, is fed to the section thermally connected to one or more heat exchangers (condensation zone), in which it condenses
Implementation Method 3
the heat supplied, evaporates in an area of the heat pipe referred to here as the evaporation zone
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
A burner with a burner housing (2) equipped with feeds (4, 7) for fuel and oxidizing agent, which in the intended installation state projects into a reaction zone (9) with a burner tip (8) and to which a cooling device for cooling the burner tip is assigned, is characterized according to the invention in that at least one heat pipe (11, 12) is provided as a cooling device in which a heat transfer medium fluctuates between an evaporation zone (13, 14) arranged inside the burner housing and thermally connected to the burner tip and a condensation zone (16, 17) thermally connected to at least one heat exchanger (18, 19) arranged outside the reaction zone (9).