Abstract: A regenerative burner system comprises two burners alternately fired and each having an air and fuel supply thereto traversing separate heat exchangers. The arrangement is such that the hot gases exhausted from the furnace during firing of the one and the other burners traverse the heat exchangers associated with the other and the one burners, respectively, relinquishing heat thereto whereby both the fuel and the air supply to each burner extracts heat from its associated heat exchanger during the firing cycle of that burner. By heating both the fuel and the air input to the regenerative system, fuels of low calorific value, e.g. blast furnace gas or any gases low in or devoid of hydrocarbons may be efficiently utilized to provide a stable high temperature flame without the need for enrichment with `pilot` fuels.

Abstract: The invention provides an arrangement of controlling reactants in a chemical engineering system comprising feeding to a background electronic logic control circuit analysis signals with respect to the operation of the reactants in the reaction for interpretation therein; drawing conclusions as would a field technologist, implementing experiments from these conclusions to improve the efficiency, and if greater efficiency is achieved, feeding interpreted data signals with respect thereto from the background logic circuit to a data file; feeding data signals from the data file to a foreground electronic logic circuit together with signals relating to the activity level of the reaction and the physical conditions of the incoming supply of at least one reactant to the reaction; the foreground logic circuit controlling the flow of one or more reactants to the reaction on the basis of the signals received thereby.

Abstract: A composition comprising a particulate fuel, typically pulverized coal, carried in water is formed such that it is readily able to be pumped without adding emulsifiers or lubricants to the composition. The composition typically includes at least 25% water and preferably 30 to 50% water. The composition is pumped to a burner 2 and is atomized therein, typically by means of a stream of oxygen supplied through a passage 6 in the nozzle 6 of the burner. This oxygen is taken from that supplied to a further passage for supporting combustion of the particulate fuel. A relatively short and intense flame can be produced at relatively low coal concentrations in the composition such that the need to use expensive emulsifiers etc. is avoided.