Catalytic Burner Utilization Chamber for Stirling Engine Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional catalytic combustors waste interior volume, known as 'dead space,' which is not utilized for secondary components, especially in larger burners, limiting their efficiency and utility.
Innovation Solution
A catalytic burner design featuring a housing with an inner and outer tube configuration, where the volume between them forms a burner chamber and a utilization chamber, allowing for the placement of a thermally conductive heat sink and other components, such as a Stirling engine or heat recuperator, to maximize space utilization without sacrificing combustion efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If conventional catalytic combustors are designed with standard housing configurations, then the combustion function is achieved, but interior volume is wasted as 'dead space' that cannot accommodate secondary components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements nesting by placing the burner chamber inside the housing, and the utilization chamber inside the burner chamber. This nested arrangement allows the utilization chamber to occupy space that would otherwise be dead space in conventional combustors, enabling accommodation of secondary components like heat sinks or Stirling engines without increasing the overall external dimensions of the device.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a radial dimension to the traditional axial combustion path by creating a utilization chamber that extends radially inward from the burner chamber. This dimensional change transforms wasted interior volume into functional space, allowing heat sinks or other components to be positioned in the radial direction rather than requiring additional axial length.
2Power
If the burner size is increased to handle higher thermal inputs, then combustion capacity is improved, but the proportion of dead space increases, reducing overall efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The utilization chamber serves multiple functions: it captures heat from combustion products, accommodates secondary components like heat sinks or Stirling engines, and preheats incoming air or fuel. This multi-functionality ensures that even as burner size increases to handle higher thermal inputs, the proportion of useful space increases rather than dead space, maintaining efficiency across different power levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent recovers energy from combustion products by directing them through the utilization chamber where heat is extracted before exhaust. This energy recovery mechanism ensures that increasing burner size for higher thermal input does not proportionally increase energy waste, as the utilization chamber captures and repurposes heat that would otherwise be lost.
3Loss of energy
If secondary components are added to maximize space utilization, then energy capture is enhanced, but combustion efficiency may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the combustion process into distinct zones: the burner chamber where combustion occurs, and the utilization chamber where heat capture takes place. This segmentation allows secondary components to be positioned in the utilization chamber without interfering with the combustion process in the burner chamber, maintaining combustion efficiency while enhancing energy capture.
Solution Approach 2:
The utilization chamber acts as an intermediary between the burner chamber and the exhaust system. It provides a transition zone where heat can be extracted from combustion products before they are exhausted, allowing secondary components to capture energy without disrupting the combustion process. This intermediary function enables both efficient combustion and effective energy capture simultaneously.
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 effectively eliminates wasted space by integrating secondary components within the burner, enhancing energy capture and utilization while maintaining efficient combustion, particularly suitable for burners with thermal inputs greater than 1,000 Wth and less than 5,000 Wth.
Implementation Method 1
Catalytic burners operate by contacting the fuel with the oxidant in the presence of a combustion catalyst capable of facilitating conversion of the fuel to carbon dioxide and water
Implementation Method 2
Heat is transferred in a longitudinal direction down the burner
Data Source
AI summary
A catalytic burner comprising a burner chamber and a utilization chamber, the burner chamber functionally divided into a fuel-oxidant mixing zone and a catalytic combustion zone. The burner chamber occupies a space disposed between outer and inner tubular walls of the burner. The utilization chamber, which is a space bounded by the inner tubular wall, remains hollow for secondary useful purposes, for example, connection to a heat sink of a Stirling engine and/or incorporation of a second heat source (e.g., solar or geothermal heat source). Auxiliary system components can also be packaged into the utilization chamber. The burner can function in hybrid flame and/or flameless modes, and can further include a recuperator to capture heat by-passing the heat sink.