Additively Manufactured Burner Nozzle With Trapped Vortex Flame Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing industrial burner designs for low NOx emissions require complex assemblies that need wall or floor mounting space for air and fuel mixing geometries, making them large and costly, and there is a need for a compact burner design leveraging additive manufacturing technology.
Innovation Solution
A burner nozzle design utilizing additive manufacturing to create a compact single nozzle with a central air/fuel port, staged gas fuel ports, and a trapped vortex chamber for flame stability, eliminating the need for external devices like cones and swirlers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-generated harmful factors
If complex fabricated assemblies are used to achieve low NOx emissions, then emission control is improved, but device complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple burner components (fuel ports, air mixing channels, flame stabilization structures) into a single integrated nozzle assembly. This merging eliminates the need for separate wall-mounted or floor-mounted assemblies while maintaining low NOx emission control through staged fuel injection and proper air-fuel mixing geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The design nests the trapped vortex chamber within the main air/fuel port structure, and further nests staged fuel ports within the vortex chamber. This nested arrangement allows complex multi-stage combustion functionality to be contained within a compact single-nozzle form factor, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining emission control.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If wall or floor mounting space is allocated to create air and fuel mixing geometries, then low NOx emissions are achieved, but installation space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the air mixing chamber, fuel injection ports, and flame stabilization structures into a single compact nozzle assembly that requires minimal mounting space. The integrated design eliminates the need for separate wall-mounted or floor-mounted mixing geometries, allowing low NOx combustion to be achieved in space-constrained applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The trapped vortex chamber creates three-dimensional swirling flow patterns within the compact nozzle structure, enabling efficient air-fuel mixing and flame stabilization without requiring extended mounting space. The vortex geometry utilizes spatial arrangement within the nozzle rather than external mounting structures.
3Volume of moving object
If additive manufacturing is used to create compact single nozzle geometry, then device size and cost are reduced, but manufacturing capability requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes additive manufacturing parameters (layer thickness, infill density, material selection) to optimize the nozzle geometry for both compactness and manufacturability. The design incorporates features specifically suited for AM processes, such as optimized support structures and gradual geometry transitions, enabling complex internal vortex chambers and staged fuel ports to be manufactured cost-effectively.
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
The design achieves reduced size and cost while maintaining low NOx emissions, allowing for higher thermal inputs in a smaller device by utilizing a trapped vortex chamber for stable combustion without external stabilization devices.
Implementation Method 1
a trapped vortex chamber formed in a wall of the main air-fuel port and which can communicate with a plurality of primary gas ports in a fuel circuit, wherein the trapped vortex chamber facilitates flame stability
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of staged gas fuel ports that surrounds the main air-fuel port and which can direct fuel to an established flame zone downstream from the burner nozzle
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2E
Figure 3~5
AI summary
A burner nozzle and a method of operating the burner nozzle can include a main air/fuel port located centrally within the burner nozzle, and a group of staged gas fuel ports that surrounds the main air-fuel port and which can direct fuel to an established flame zone downstream from the burner nozzle. Furthermore, a trapped vortex chamber can be formed in a wall of the main air/fuel port and can communicate with a group of primary gas ports in a fuel circuit, such that the trapped vortex chamber facilitates flame stability with respect to a flame produced by the burner nozzle.