Multifunctional Fluidic Burner Flame Axis Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-temperature industrial equipment, such as electric arc furnaces, face inefficiencies in melting solid materials like scrap metal due to energy consumption and processing challenges in producing steel.
Innovation Solution
A multifunctional burner design with a conical converging, throat, and diverging sections, along with biasing gas passageways and a flame collar, allows for controlled combustion and flame directionality to efficiently melt solid materials by feeding gaseous oxidant and fuel, and using biasing gas to alter the flame axis for uniform heating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional burners are used in electric arc furnaces, then the furnaces can operate and melt solid material, but the energy consumption is substantial and efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The burner is divided into multiple functional sections: a conical converging section for accelerating oxidant flow, a throat section for mixing, a conical diverging section for flame stabilization, and a flared diverging section for flame direction control. This segmentation allows each section to optimize specific aspects of combustion, improving overall energy efficiency and melting performance
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the burner have specialized geometries tailored to specific functions: the converging section creates high-velocity oxidant flow for intense local heating, while the flared diverging section controls flame direction for uniform heat distribution across the charge. This local optimization of quality enables efficient energy utilization throughout the melting process
2Productivity
If high-temperature combustion is used to melt solid material quickly, then productivity increases, but temperature distribution uniformity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The burner employs nested flow structures where secondary oxidant and fuel streams are embedded within the primary combustion flow. This nested arrangement creates multiple combustion zones that release heat at different locations and times, achieving both high melting rates and uniform temperature distribution across the charge
Solution Approach 2:
The burner design ensures continuous combustion through properly configured passageways and mixing sections that maintain stable flame propagation. The conical diverging and flared sections work together to sustain continuous high-temperature zones, providing uninterrupted heating action for efficient melting with uniform temperature distribution
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 burner design enhances energy efficiency and processing efficiency by allowing precise control over the flame direction and temperature distribution, improving the melting and processing of solid materials in steelmaking furnaces.
Implementation Method 1
a passageway through the body which has a central axis, wherein the passageway includes a conical converging section... the width of the conical converging di section decreases in the direction toward its downstream end
Implementation Method 2
combusting said oxidant and said fuel in the flame collar to form a flame that emerges from the body of the burner
Implementation Method 3
one or more biasing gas passageways within the body of the burner, each ending in a downstream biasing gas opening in the throat section or the conical diverging section... to alter the axis of the flame to another axis with the biasing gas
Implementation Method 4
passageways within the flame collar through which coolant can flow to absorb heat generated by combustion occurring at the burner
Data Source
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AI summary
A burner that is useful for providing a melting flame whose axis can be altered during operation, and for providing a supersonic jet of oxidant that can penetrate through the surface of the molten material, has a unique combination of features including a specially contoured flame collar at its open discharge end.