Lateral Fuel Injection for Short Widened Flame
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Solution Overview
Problem
Melting furnaces with small melting zones face issues of increased NOx production and reduced efficiency due to lower flame luminance when the combustion space is limited in length, leading to inadequate heating and potential furnace damage.
Innovation Solution
A combustion device with a fuel ejector that ejects gas fuel laterally into the combustion space and a combustion air feeder that feeds air obliquely downward, featuring multiple fuel ejection orifices that collide to form a short, widened flame, effectively managing flame direction and luminance without increasing NOx production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If gas ejection speed is increased to shorten the flame in limited combustion space, then flame length is reduced, but efficiency decreases due to lower flame luminance and NOx generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the flame expansion direction from primarily longitudinal (lengthwise) to primarily lateral (radial) by positioning fuel ejectors at lateral locations and directing fuel injection laterally into the combustion space. This dimensional shift allows the flame to widen horizontally rather than extending vertically, achieving short flame length while maintaining high luminance and combustion efficiency through increased lateral flame spread.
2Length of moving object
If gas ejection speed is increased to shorten the flame in limited combustion space, then flame length is reduced, but NOx generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent redirects flame expansion from vertical to horizontal dimension by lateral fuel injection, preventing the flame from becoming too long and hot in the vertical direction where NOx forms. The lateral flame spread distributes combustion heat more evenly, reducing peak temperatures that promote NOx generation while maintaining efficient combustion.
3Volume of moving object
If combustion space is limited in lengthwise direction, then furnace size is reduced, but flame luminance decreases and heating efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent compensates for limited combustion space by expanding the flame in the lateral direction rather than the lengthwise direction. Lateral fuel injection creates a wide, short flame that maintains high luminance through increased surface area combustion, effectively heating the melting zone despite constrained vertical space.
4Volume of moving object
If flame is formed in limited combustion space, then furnace size is reduced, but heating of melting zone becomes inadequate and furnace damage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent ensures adequate heating of the melting zone by directing fuel injection laterally to create a wide flame that spreads heat horizontally across the melting zone. This lateral flame expansion maintains high heat input density in the melting zone while keeping the overall furnace size compact, preventing both inadequate heating and furnace damage.
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 solution ensures efficient heating of objects and furnace walls without increasing NOx or degrading efficiency, even in constrained combustion spaces, by forming a short, widened flame that effectively utilizes heat and prevents furnace damage.
Implementation Method 1
a fuel ejector for ejecting gas fuel into a combustion space above an area of a melting zone
Implementation Method 2
a combustion air feeder for feeding combustion air obliquely downward to the combustion space
Implementation Method 3
the gas fuel is caused to combust
Data Source
AI summary
An object of the present invention is to provide a combustion device which does not cause an increase in the amount of generated NOx or a degradation in efficiency due to a lower flame luminance, even when the combustion space is limited in the lengthwise direction of the flame. A fuel ejector is configured so as to be provided with at least a first fuel ejector and a second fuel ejector lined up in a specific direction as viewed in the lengthwise direction of fuel ejection, and is configured so that a first ejection stream ejected from the first fuel ejector and the second fuel ejector collide on the downstream side of ejection.