Non-centric oxy-fuel burner for glass melting systems
A burner and method of combustion for a furnace or a forehearth includes a gas delivery member and a fuel delivery member having a portion thereof disposed at an interior of the gas delivery member and offset or angled from a longitudinal axis of the gas delivery member to provide gaseous oxidant and fuel flows for combustion.
The invention relates to burners for furnaces and furnace systems.
Conical concentric oxy-fuel burners have been used in the crown of glass melting furnaces to melt batch in the furnaces. Once a pre-positioned hole is drilled in the furnace crown and a burner block is installed in the hole, there is limited if no ability to change the direction of the turbulent flame being emitted from the burner. If a different direction is required for the flame, it is required to drill and install an alternate (different) burner hole in order to re-position the burner and hence the flame. Existing furnace designs, with their steelwork and crown expansion joints, frequently limit the location that burners can be installed in the furnace and as a result optimum flame coverage is not always achieved or blocks are angled excessively so that the burner flame is less effective. Concentric oxy-fuel burners produce conical flames perpendicular to the melt which in turn produce circular flame patterns at the melt. The resulting flame pattern produced by a plurality of spaced apart burners limits the total flame coverage at the surface of the melt. Concentric burners combust uniformly in the combustion space above the melt. This uniformity and intensity of combustion can provide excessive combustion in the free space between the crown and the melt resulting in less than optimum heat transfer and higher oxides of nitrogen (NOx) at the melt surface. The aforementioned limitations and disadvantages occur also with horizontal burners and burners used in forehearths of furnaces.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA burner such as an oxy-fuel burner is provided for a furnace or a forehearth, and which includes a gas delivery member, and a fuel delivery member having a portion disposed at an interior of the gas delivery member and offset from a longitudinal axis of the gas delivery member.
There is also provided a method for combusting product in a furnace or a forehearth, comprising providing a flow of gaseous oxidant along a first flow path to the furnace or the forehearth; providing a flow of gaseous fuel along a second flow path offset from the first flow path to the furnace or the forehearth; exposing the first flow path to the second flowpath; and combusting the gaseous oxidant and the gaseous fuel to provide a non-circular burn area.
There is also provided a burner, whereby one or more of the gas and fuel delivery members may be rotated along their respective longitudinal axes to control an angle of discharge of the burner flame and the resulting non-circular burn area.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the following Figures, taken in conjunction with the detailed description, of which:
Referring to
The gas pipe 12, or oxidant pipe for example, is bent thereby providing an elbow 24 in the gas pipe 12. The pipe 12 is in fluid communication with a gas supply (not shown). A threaded exterior end 26 of the gas pipe 12 provides for releasable connection to the gas supply. An opposite or distal end 28 of the gas pipe 12 terminates in a burner block of the furnace (not shown) and is disposed at a select position above product melt in the furnace. Gaseous oxidant provided may be a single type of oxidant, such as for example oxygen, or selected from a composition of gases as well.
The interior 16 of the gas pipe 12 is sized and shaped to receive the fuel pipe 18 to be disposed therein, as shown in
Spacing or support members 34, 36, 38 are provided to support the fuel pipe 18 within the gas pipe 12 and provide the spaced relation therebetween without interrupting the flow of gas through the gas pipe 12. A weld or seal 40 is provided to seal the circumference of an inlet 42 in the gas pipe 12 through which the fuel pipe 18 is inserted.
Referring also to
The burner 10 of
Other exemplary embodiments of a burner constructed in accordance with the present invention are illustrated in
The fuel pipe 218 may also be angled sufficiently in the gas pipe 212 such that a distal end 232 of the fuel pipe contacts a distal end 228 of the gas pipe 212. Such an arrangement is shown in
In
Referring to
In
In
Referring to
As shown in
The non-circular footprints shown in
The burners of the present invention may be used for glass melting, refining, and distribution. The discharge point of the fuel pipes are not concentric to the oxygen pipes, but staggered or off-set. This off-set and/or rotation of the burners enables the direction of the flame to be changed as well as the resulting flame footprint. The degree or amount of staggering or off-set will increase the amount of flame direction that can be achieved. The off-set can be further accentuated by angling the fuel conduit relative to the oxygen conduit. By way of example, the gas and fuel pipes have a circular cross-section, however the burner design may include gas and fuel pipes having different cross-sectional shapes, including but not limited to, elliptical, square, triangular, hex, etc. The fuel pipe can have a different cross-sectional shape than the gas pipe. Multiple or staged pipes can be utilized as well.
The arrows 66, 68 and are with respect to all burner 10, etc. embodiments of the invention as such can be rotated in the block 58. Such rotation can occur by the individual components of the gas pipes and fuel pipes, or by the integral units formed of a gas pipe or pipes and fuel pipe or pipes.
In the combustion process, the fuel reacts with the oxidant. By off-setting the pipes 12, 18, there is created a fuel-rich flame at the point where the pipes are closest, and a fuel-lean area at the point where the pipes are furthest apart. The fuel-rich portion of the flame will react with the oxidant at the fuel-lean side. This staging will also provide the benefit of lower oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and increase heat transfer. The staging lowers the amount of pre-combustion in the burner block 58 and reduces the momentum of the flame emerging from the burner block. Whilst the flame is turbulent the lower momentum flame will reduce the velocity on the batch surface and reduce volatilization of batch components including but not limited to boron and lead.
The lower momentum of the flame with respect to a furnace increases the residence time of the carbon in fuel and increases luminosity and heat transfer by radiation through sooting. The primary benefit of this invention is that the off-set of the gas and fuel pipes 12, 18, respectively, and hence the gas and fuel flows, delays the mixing of the gaseous fuel and gaseous oxidant until the flame hits the raw batch surface 64. The excess oxygen from the lean portion of the flame continues in its primary direction away from the remaining fuel components. The resulting flame footprint 62 or burn area is non-circular as shown in
The lower momentum of the flame with respect to a forehearth or distributor for a furnace provides for the flame not to impact a surface of the melt, but rather to “curl” or alter direction to become substantially parallel to a surface of the melt.
It will be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary, and that a person skilled in the art may make many variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the claims as described herein. It should be understood that embodiments described above are not only in the alternative, but may also be combined.
Claims
1. A burner for use in a furnace or a forehearth, comprising a gas delivery member, and a fuel delivery member having a portion disposed at an interior of the gas delivery member and offset from a longitudinal axis of the gas delivery member.
2. The burner according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the gas delivery member and the portion of the fuel delivery member are parallel with each other.
3. The burner according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the fuel delivery member is disposed at an angle at the interior of the gas delivery member.
4. The burner according to claim 1, wherein the gas delivery member and the fuel delivery member are formed as an integral unit.
5. The burner according to claim 1, wherein each of the gas delivery member and the fuel delivery member are adapted for rotational movement.
6. The burner according to claim 1, wherein the gas delivery member comprises a gas pipe.
7. The burner according to claim 1, wherein the gas delivery member comprises a first gas pipe with a first interior; and a second gas pipe with a second interior disposed in the first interior of the first gas pipe, the second interior sized and shaped to receive a portion of the fuel delivery member therein.
8. The burner according to claim 1, wherein the fuel delivery member comprises a fuel pipe.
9. The burner according to claim 1, wherein the fuel delivery member comprises a plurality of fuel pipes.
10. The burner according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of fuel pipes are an integral unit.
11. The burner according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of fuel pipes are disposed at an angle at the interior of the gas delivery member.
12. The burner according to claim 1, further comprising at least one support member disposed to support the gas delivery member in spaced relation with respect to the fuel delivery member.
13. A method for combusting product in a furnace or a forehearth, comprising providing a flow of gaseous oxidant along a first flow path to the furnace; providing a flow of gaseous fuel along a second flow path offset from the first flow path to the furnace; exposing the first flow path to the second flow path; and combusting the gaseous oxidant and the gaseous fuel to provide a non-circular burn area.
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the first flow path and the second flow path are angled with respect to each other.
15. The method according to claim 13, further comprising providing another flow of gaseous oxidant along a third flow path to the furnace, the third flow path disposed within the first flow path and arranged to receive the second flow path therein.
16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the first flow path and the second flow path are alterable with respect to each other to control the disposition of the non-circular burn area.
17. The method according to claim 13, wherein the gaseous oxidant is selected from the group consisting of oxygen, oxygen and nitrogen, oxygen and other noble gases, and combinations thereof.
18. The method according to claim 13, wherein the gaseous fuel is selected from the group consisting of natural gas, propane, liquid petroleum gas, synthetic gas, and combinations thereof.
19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the synthetic gas is derived from a source selected from the group consisting of organic solid sources, organic liquid sources, organic gaseous sources, and combinations thereof.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 5, 2006
Publication Date: Dec 6, 2007
Inventor: Neil Simpson (Phillipsburg, NJ)
Application Number: 11/446,738
International Classification: F23C 5/08 (20060101); F23D 11/00 (20060101);