CA1264607A - Pressurized cyclonic combustion method and burner for particulate solid fuels - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE

A pressurized cyclonic combustion method and a cylindrical burner apparatus for pressurized combustion of particulate solid fuels to produce a pressurized clean effluent gas. In the burner, the particulate solids such as wood chip are fed tangentially into a primary combustion chamber at its inlet end and flow at high tangential velocity in a helical path through the burner. Oxygen-containing combustion gas such as air is supplied tangen-tially at high velocity through multiple ports spaced along the burner length to maintain and/or increase the high tangential velocity and produce high centrifugal forces on the particulate solids and provide for prolonged combustion and produce high burner volumetric heat release rates exceeding about 400,000 Btu/hr ft3. A choke opening is provided centrally located at the combustion chamber outlet end for promoting prolonged combustion of solid fuel particles upstream of a quench zone. A secondary combustion chamber is provided downstream of the choke opening. Also, a quench gas stream is introduced into the choke zone preferably in a tangential flow direction opposite to the helical flow in the burner primary combustion chamber, so as to effectively mix the quench gas with the hot effluent gas and reduce its temperature, usually to about 1400-2000° F as determined by downstream metallurgy consid-erations. The resulting pressurized effluent gas can be further processed to remove any existing fine solids, and the clean pressurized gas can then be expanded in a gas turbine to produce useful power.

Description

6~
6~312-175 _ESSURIZED CYCLONIC COMBUSTION METHOD
AND BURNER FOR PARTICULATE SOLID FUELS

B~CRGROUND OF XNVENTION
_ Thi~ invention pertains to a pres~uriæed cyclonic combustion method and burner ap~aratu~ for effective com-bu6tion of particulate ~olid fuels to produce ~lean pres-~urized hot effluent gases. It pertain~ particularly to a cylindrical pressurized. burner which utilizes helical flow patterns ~o prnvide prolonged combustion of the fll~l solids and uses an intermediate choke zone and an air quench ~ep to ~mprove combustion and con~rol temperature of the effluent lo gases produced.
Various types of burnerfi for particulate solid fuels have been previou~ly proposed 6uch a~ dlsclo6ed by U.S.
Patent 2,614,573 to Miller et al; U.S. Patent 2,769,411 tG
Simmons; and U.S. Patent 2,881,720 to Lotz which utilize tangential ~wirling flow pattern~ and a restricted exit opening intended to retain ~olids ~n the burner longer for more complete combustion, U.S. 3,199,4i6 to Nettel discloses a s~milar burner for coal having dua~l tangential inlet for the small and coarser coal particles, a restricted throa~
exit for combustion gases and a lo~er drain port for ~lag removal. Other similar burner~ have been disclosed by U.S.
3,244,220 to Kloecher; U.S. 3,453,976 and U.S. 3,472,1~5 to Burden et al, but they do not have re~tricted outlets and ~re not intended for pressurized operation~. U.S. 3,777,678 and ~.5. 4,053,505 to Lutes et ~1 di6close a horizontal cyclonic type burner for combu~tible ~olid material3 in which the fuel is introduced tangentially into the combustion chamber at its inlet and combustion air is introduced tangen-tially along the length of the burner, which has a restricted choke outlet. Also, U.S 4,422,388 to Raskin dificlose~ a ho~lzontal cylindri~al burner for ~olid fuel introduced r .. ~

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~ 7 tangential~y a~ one end, but maintains a fluidized bed of fuel in its lower portion. In addition, ~croll or dual re~is~er horiz~n~al fired type burners such as the Coen DAZ
burner have been used for ~he combustion of ~he air conveyed solid fines. Such burners have dual registers with concen-tric louvers which in effect divide the air stream into two counter-rotating concentric streams which ~crub against each other and provide turbulent mixing action for the fuel introduced into the annular space between the dual air streams.
It is noted that these prior ar~ burners are useful for burning parti ulate solids at essentially atmospheric pressure for incineration and also for ~he recovery of heat ener~y. However, further improvements are needed in combus-tion of particulate solid fuels at above atmospheric pressure and in burner design for achieving higher throughputs for the fuels and higher heat release rates in the burner to produce relatively solids-free pressurized hot effluent gases suitable for power recovery applications.
Burning solid fuels, unlike burning vaporous and volatile liquid fuels, require increased reaction time constants which are orders of magnitude longer for complete combustion, i.e., mass diffusivity is rate con~rolling in the rapid oxi-dation of solid fuels Historically, this longer combustion time requirement has been minimized by solids size reduction, a~ in firing pulverized coal instead of chunk or briquette coal. While such size reduction is beneficial, it still does not permit the firing of solid fuel materials at combustion rates which approximate ~hose attained for non-solid fuels. This difference is most apparent when volume-tric energy releases for various heat generators are compared.
In order to increase the fuel particle retention time in a burner, which time varies inversely with combustor size for a given heat release, a new method for achieving in-creased dual phase residence time for the solid fuel par-ticles has now been developed. In this method, the solid , ' ', "' , . ., .: ~
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fuel particles having higher mass are ret~ined for very long periods of time relstive ~o the lower mass combustible volatiles and gaseous materials in a cylindrical combustion chamber having an aspect ratio of longitudinal length more than about twice that of ~he chamber inside diameter. In~o this combustion chamber the particulate solid fuel is intro-duced tangentially in lean phase transport near the inlet end. The fuel tangen~ial velocities in ~he burner are sufficient ~o that very high centrifugal forces are imposed on the fuel particles which are swirled around the inner periphery `the burner, while the gaseous material not as subject to such centrifugal forces and moving by molecular motion is free to move along the burner longitudinal axis while rapidly combusting, and then escape through a modula-ting restriction opening at the burner exit end.
The 601id fuel particles are maintained in this helical ~low pattern, trapped by their relatively high mass and high rotational ~elocity, slowly moving helically and at high Re~molds number condition toward the outlet end of the combustion chamber. This extended combustion pa~h is signi-ficantly prolonged by the tangential injection of combustion air along the longitudinal axis of the burner at a high velocity. This combustion air is introduced under conditions of high tangential velocity and associated high Reynolds number, so as to impart an additional tangential acceleration to the fuel particles ~uficient to overcome any reduction in velocity due to flowing resistance of the orbiting parti-cles. Accordingly, this combustion process is continued under high Reynolds number conditions until the fuel particles are sufficiently destructed to produce gaseous products which escape the centrifugal forces in the combustion chamber and pass out at the burner exit end.
The gas residence time in the combustion chamber is a function of the volumetric throughput only, however, the fuel ~olids residence time is pathway dependent and is determined by the combus~ion chamber circumference and the number of revolutions divided by the velocity of the parti-cles. Therefore, a particle can be retained in Lhe burner to destruction for a much longer time than can volatile uels and products of combustion which accompany the particle.
This improved combustion method also promotes more rapid combustion of solid fuels by forcing the circulating particles closely adjacent to the ho~ radiating interior surfaces of the eombustion chamber. This radiating surface is quite large relative to the particle and served to sustain the reactior ~y constantly providing ~he threshold energy needed for combustion. The addition of the acceleration air along the helical path of the fuel particle promotes rapid o~idation by continually supplying fresh oxygen very near the particulate fuel solids undergoing reac~ion.
The addition of combustion air tangentially along the length of the combustion chamber also provides an additional benefit to the mechanical integrity of the burner by buffer-in~ and tempering the surface of the heat resistant refrac-tory insulation material lining the in~erior of the burner cha~ber from the very hot products of combustion. This air addition prevents the insulation surface from reaching reaction temperatures which would be deleterious to the insulation. This air-s~eep is enhanced by the design and installation of the air inlet tuyeres.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pressurized cyclonic combustion method and burner apparatus for particulate solid fuels which provides for prolonged combustion of the fuel particles at conditions of high tangential velocities, high centrifugal forces, and high Reynolds numbers. Another object is to provide such a burner which operates at highly turbulent eonditions and high Reynolds numbers and provides very hi~h volumetric heat release rates approaching those for liquid and gaseous uels. Another object is to prov.ide a burner for solid . . ., , ~ .. ': :.:, ., .. .. .

~2~L6~7 particulate fuels such as wood chips which produces a clean hot pressuri7.ed effluent yas stream suitable for use in power producing processes.

SUMMARY 0~ TRE INVE}~TIOl~
The present invention provides an improved combustion method and burner apparatus for the pressurized combustion of particulate solid materials to produce hot pressurized effluent gases having low solids content.
Different aspects of the invention are claimed. For example, according to one aspect the invention provides an apparatus for burning particulate combustible fuel to produce a pressurized gas, comprising: a house having side wall means forming a cylindrical shaped primary combus~ion chamber, a cylindrical shaped secondary combustion chamber, and a choke opening of reduced size between said primary and secondary combustion chambers, said secondary combustion chamber being in fluid communication with said primary combustion chamber through said choke opening, the end of said primary combustion chamber opposite said choke openlng being closed by end wall means, the end of said secondary combustion chamber opposlte said choke openlng having an outlet opening for the passage of hot gas to a utilization means, a fuel opening formçd through said side wall means of sald primary combustion chamber near said end wall means for introducing a particulate fuel under presæuxe therein tangentially to the inner wall of said primary combustion chamber and transverse to its axis such that the particulate fuel travels toward said choke opening in a helical path around the inner wall . .
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6~312-175 of said primary combustion c~amber for burning therein for the produc~ion of hot gas under pressure for flow ~hrouyh said choke opening to said secondary combustion chamber~ a plurality of tuyere openings formed throuyh said side wall means of said primary combustion chamber between said fuel opening and said choke opening for introducing a combustion supporting gas under pressure in$o sald primary combustion chamber tangentially to the inner wall thereof and transverse to its axis such tha~ the combustion supporting gas travels in the same helical path as that of the particulate fuel, the helical pa~h of the particulate fuel and combustion supporting gas resulting in the particulate fuel making a large number of revolutions in said primary combustion chamber prolonging the time of the particulate fuel therein to enhance burning thereof, the reduced size of said choke opening also being effective to prolong the time of the particulate fuel in said primary combustion chamber to enhance burning thereof, and at least one quench gas opening formed through said side wall means of said choke opening for introducing a quench gas into said choke opening for cooling the hot gas flowing through said choke ~0 openlng to said secondary chamber to a temperature suitable for use by a utilization means.
According to another aspect, the invention is a method of operating the novel apparatus comprising the steps of, introducing a particular fuel under pressure into said primary combustion chamber through said fuel opening tangentially through the inner wall of said primary combustion chamber and ~ransverse to its axis such that the particular fuel travels toward said Sa C

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~ 312-175 choke opening in a helical pa~h around the inner wall of said primary combustion chamber for burning therein for the production of hot gas under pressure for flow through said choke opening ~o said secondary combustion chamber, introducing the combustion supporting gas under pressure through said tuyere openings inko said primary combustion chamber tangentially to the inner wall thereof and transverse to its axis such that ~he combustion supporting gas travels in the same helical path as ~hat of the particulate fuel, flowing the particulate fuel in the helical path around the hot inner wall of said primary combustlon chamber such that the particulate fuel makes a plurality of revolutions in said primary combustion chamber prior to reaching said choke opening for substantially complete combustion therein for the production of hot gas for flow through said choke opening, the helix angle of the helical path of the particulate ~uel in said primary co~bustion chamber being only slightly less than 90 relative to ~he axis of said primary combustion chamber, and introducing a quench gas into said choke opening through said quench gas opening for cooling the hot gas flowing through said choke opening to said secondary chamber to a temperature suitable for use by a u~ilization means.
In a specified embodimenk of the method of the invention, a particulate solid fuel having particle size smaller than about 0.70 inch major dimension is pressurized and pneumatically fed tangentially into the burner primary combustion chamber opera~ed at a pressure at least about 3 atm. absolute and usually not exceeding about 20 atm. pressure. The superficial gas 5b C

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velocity for fu~l transport into the burner primary combu.stion chamber should be at least about 80 ~t/sec and preferably about 90-120 ft/secO An oxygen-containiny combus~ion yas is also supplied into the combustion chamber tangentially through mul~iple tuyeres at a hiyh tangen~ial velocity exceeding about 100 ft/sec and at a Reynolds number relative to the tuyere openings exceeding about 900 rO. The fuel particles and combustion gas ln the combustion chamber flow in a swirling helical motion or flow pattern at high tangential velocity exceeding about 100 f~sec, so as to provide high centrifugal forces on khe particles exceeding about 1~0 gravitational or 'g' units. Because of the rotational motion and the high centrifugal forces yenerated on the fuel particles, the burner accordiny to the present invention retains the fuel particles in the burner combustion chamber near the hot wall for a substantially longer ti.me than occurs for conventional prior art burners, so that the fuel solids are more rapidly and completely combusted. Also, this high rotational velocity and hlgh centrifugal force flow pattern not only retains the particulate solids in the burner longer for more complete ~0 ... .

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, combustion, but a~di~ionally achieves flows at very high Reynolds numb~rs exceeding about 150,000 and provides for very high volumetric heat release rates in the burner ex-ceeding about 400,000 Btu/hr ft3 chamber volume, which substantially exceed the heat release rates provided by conventional solid fuel burners. ~urthermore, the present burner advant~geously provides heat release rates for burning particulate solid fuels comparable to those for burning liquid or gaseous fuels in gas turbine and internal combus-tion engines.
Accordingly, it is an important feature of the present invention that the fuel particles remain near the hot radiant wall of the combustion chamber until all volatile matter is continually evolved from the fuel particles, which steadily diminish in size until the particles are substan-tially completely combusted into gas. Also, because the burner inside length to diameter ratio is at least about 2.5 and can advantageously be up to about 10, this cylindrical configuration contributes to the fuel particles remaining in the burner primary combustion zone significantly longer for more complete combustion than for prior burner configurations.
The hot pressurized effluent gas produced in the primary combustion zone is usually at temperature of about 2100-~800 F and is cooled by mixing it with a quench gas such as additional air or steam in a quench zone ~o reduce the gas temperature to a lower temperature as desired, such as limited only by the characteristics of a power recovery turbine, and usually to about 1400-2000 F. Any remaining solids in the effluent gas can be removed in a gas-solids separation step prior to expansion in a gas turbine for producing useful power.
In the embodiment disclosed any remaining particulate solids in the effluent gas leaving the burner are mechanically separated from the gas in a cyclone separator, after which the clean gas is then expanded to a lower pressure through a gas turbine for driving a compressor to provide the pres-surized combustion air required in the burner. The gas ' ~6~$~7 turbine provides net shaft power output for driving a load, which is usually an electric power generator.
The present invention also provides a burner apparatus for pressurized combustion of particulate solid fuels to produce a hot pressurized effluent or product gas. The burner includes an elongated cylindrical shaped pressurizable outer metal casing, an inner refractory lining located adjacent the casing inner wall to provide an elongated cylindrical shaped primary combustion chamber, a tangential opening located near the burner inlet end for feeding a particulate fuel tangetially into the primary combustion chamber, a plurality of tangentially oriented openings each having an aspect ratio at least about 2:1 and spaced apart longitudinally along the length of the burner for intro-ducing a combustion gas tangentially into the combustion chamber, a choke opening located at the combustion chamber exit end, and at least one aperture located tangentially in the choke opening, the aperature being preferably oriented opposite to the tangential opening in ~he combustion chamber inlet end, whereby the particulate fuel is combusted rapidly at high rotational velocity and high volumetric heat release rate and the resulting hot effluent gas is quenched and cooled to provide a lower temperature pressurized product gas. Downstream from the choke, a secondary cylindrical combustion chamber is connected pressure-tightly to the outer casing of the primary combustion chamber. The choke zone between the two chambers is tapered ou~wardly into the secondary chamber, so as to minimize irrecoverable pressure differential for the product gas flowing ther~through.
The burner of the present invention is useful for burning various combustible particulate solid materials, such as sawdust, wood chips, trim and shavings, petroleum coke, and mixtures thereof. The burner is particularly useful for combusting wood chips smaller than about 0.70 inch and preferably smaller than about 0.130 major dimension.
It is an advantage of the present pressurized combustion method and burner apparatus that because of ~he greater length/diameter ratio provided in the burner and the high .., .
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2 ~ 7 rotational veloci~ies and centrifugal forces achieved for the fuel particles, the particulate solids are retained in ~he burner for a significantly longer time for achieving more complete combustion, thereby producing higher volume-tric heat release rates and a cleaner product gas. Because of the high rotational velocity of the combustible particles in the burner and the resulting high centrifugal forces developed, the burner is substantially unaffected by gravity and can be operated while oriented in any direction. Also because the resulting hot effluent gas is effectively quenched with air, steam or mixture thereof, the effluent gas is provided at a controlled lower temperature which is advantageous for subsequent power recovery from the gas in an engine or turbine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
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The inven~ion will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1. shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a cyclonic burner assembly according to the present invention, including the primary and secondary combus-tion chambers;
Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the burner feed inlet taken along lines 2-2 of Fig. l;
Fig 3 shows a cross-sectional view taken through the burner choke section along~ lines 3-3 of Fig. 1:
Fig 4 is a graph showing the cen~rifugal forces plotted vs. tangential velocity for fuel particles in the burner, compared to similar conventional burners;
Fig. 5 is a graph showing volumetric heat release rate plotted vs. internal pressure or the burner of the present invention compared to similar conventional burners; and Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a system incor-porating the burner of Fig. 1.

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I)ETAILED DESCRIP~10~ INVEl~l,rl()~;
A pressuri2ed cycl~nic burner ~r providing pr~l~n~ed pressurized c~mbustion ~f particula~e 6c~1isl fUe~ nd c~ns~cructed and ~perated in ~ccordance ~ith lthe present inven~ion i~ 6hc>wn ~n ~ig. 1. In ~che illus~ra~ed p~eerred emb~dimen~, ~che burner a~embl~y 10 ha~ ~ cylindric.sl ~haped pres~uri2able ~u~er meeal casing 12 and a head 13 ~ whieh ~re ret~ined tl~,ether by b~lted flange 12a. A refrac~Dry linin~, material 14 i~ losated adjacent ~he inner wall of casing 12 and ~ithin head 13 and defines ~ primary ct)mbustic:n chamber 15, ~ith the lining material being ~uitable for wi~chstandi~, ~emper~Gture6 up to ~b~ut 30~0D ~.
~ he particulate ~lids combustible fuel material, ~uch wood chips preferably ~maller ~han about 0.130 inch major dimension~ is uni:l'DImly fed by 6uitable means (nc>t shown) in~t) $he burner primary eombustit>n ehamber ~5 st tangential inlet connecti~n 1~ located near the inle~ end head 13 ~f the burner. In the chamber, the ~olid~ are ~ir entrâined ~t t~n~,enticl ~el~city at least about ~0 ft/~c &nd prefer&bly 100-20~ ft/~ec. If de~ired, ~o improve igni~cion of the p~r~icul&te 601ids feed entering th~ e3mbustion chamber, the end ~11 14a of refr~ct~ry lining 1~ can be m2d~ convex shaped ~nd extend axiall~7 into the combustion chamber to c loc~ti~n not Ir.or~ thcr, ~bout (). S th~ burn~r in~ernc~ oicr.~t~r p~st the pl&n~ c)f the fu~l in~et 16, a~ ~Chc>~ in d~tted lines in ~ig. 1. This ~rr~n~ement ~esults in the solids feed meterial moving eloser to the hot refractor~ ur:f~ce 14~ to provide for more effective ~diant heatin~ of ~he feed .
Multiple t~ngential inlet openings ~r tuyeres 18c" 18b, 18c , etc ., are provided ~hrough c~sing 12 and lining 14 and spaced ~par~ alc~ng the length ~f the burner for ~upplyin,~
combustiDn air ints~ the combustit)n chamber, The tl~yere opening~ 18, 18a, e~c., are preferably prcvided as double ro~.~s, as shown in Fig. 2 ~ectiona1 dr~ing, ~ith at least 3 .
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~nd u~ually not En~re ehan 2~ ~uch ltuyere c)penin~ ~n e~h ro~n The ~uyere openin~,~ 18, 1~ tc., ~re ~aade elDn~ed ~n 6h~pe ~n a direc~ion par~llel ~ th~ lDn~i~udin~l ~xi~ of ~he burner. ~he tuyere ~peninE,~ preferably 6h~uld hav2 len~,th/width ~peclt r~t~o exceedin~, ~bc)u~ nd prefer~bl :Ln a ran~e of 3 :1 t~ 5: 1.
The combu~tit~n a~r 1~ 6upplied thr~u~h ~he ~yer~
opening~ ~t B veloc~ty exceeding ~b~ û f~/~ee ~nd ~t Re~mold~. number relative ~o ~he tuyere ~penings es~ceeding sb~ut 9~0, 000. The c~mbustion ~ir i~ pre~erably ~upplied ~hrou~h ~he guyeres a~ ~angent~l vel~ci~y of laO- 150 ~/~ec and ~t Reynolds number of 1,000,000-3, E)~O,~)D0. A fl~nged clean-~ut opening 17 i~ provided through ~che le~wer pc~r~ion of head 13 and ~ncludes ~ remoYable refractory plu,~ 17~
Also, a ~ighc ~ube 19 i~ provided through She upper pc)rtion of head 13 ~r viewing ~che combu~cion proce~s within chamber 15 .
~ he combustion chamber lS i~ oper~ted ~t internal pressuræ of ~hout 3-20 a~m. abs~lute and prefer&bl~~ 4-1 ~cm. The ufieful wei~ht rstio ~f cvmbuFtivn air to the particulate :c'uel feed range6 frorn abc)ut 1. 0 to 4 . 0 times the ~oichiometric ~ralue.
At the exi~ end of ~che burner combusti~n chambi r 15, h centrally~ cated choke element 20 i~ prDviàed ~hich has a generally cylindrical openin~ 20a therethrou~h, and h~s a cross~sectional ~re~ apprecifibly smaller ~han ~chat for the combu6tion chamber 15. The opening 2ûa in choke 20 ~h~uld ~e made small enc~u~h tt~ help ret~in the circula~in~, c~mbust-in~ solids in the primary combusti~n chamber, s~ ~s t~
prolong ~he solid~ re~iderlce ltlme for ~ub~tantially complete combustion therein, but the opening i~ not made $0 small that undesired diferentisl pres~ure for the ~ffluen~ E~a6e~
flowing through the choke iL~ appreciably irlcre~ed. The cros~-sectional ~rea ~f the choke 20 ~hDUld be at least ab~ut 30% that of the combustaon chamber 15, ~nd u~u~lly i~
40-SD% the cro~-sectivnal area of the combu~tion chamber.
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Al~o, ~ de~ired ~ ~acili~ate the pas~ge ol ~sh ~rom the primary combust~on chamber, th~ ch~ke ~penin~ 2~a can be lo~ated near the l~er port~n o~ ~he chamber, ~r alter-n~tively, ~he openin~ can be made no~-circular ~h~ped with p~rtion ~f the ~penin~ exeendi~ do~w~rdly t~ rds ~he l~wer ~all of ~he chamber. Thi~ eh~ke 20 i~ usually made snnul~r shaped and i~ preferably formed as ~ castabl~ re-frac~ory ma~erial ~hat i~ m~re ~bra6ion~lesi~tant than ~he refract~ry lining 14. ~he choke 20 pre~er~bly hss a curved inlet surf~c~ 20b and a tapered outer 6urface 20c to ~ssi~t in retaining it in place in the ~urrounding refr~c~ory material 24. Al~o, if desired, ~ refr~c~ry ce~ent material ~1 can be used between the choke element 20 ~nd th~ surround-in~ refractory material 24 to help hcld th~ choke in place.
~ cr the burner ~f the present invention, visual obser-vations made of the 601id fuel pareicles in ~he burner during combustion c~peration indica~e ~Lhat the particle~
mo~e in 8 helical flo~ pa~ch t~hich is nearl~ perpendicular to th~ lonitudinGl c,xis of t~l~ burn~, thus ir~oiectin~ that the helix angle ~ the particle path relctive t~ the burner axis is ~nly ~lightly less than 9~ hi~ flo~ p~ttern indic~tes that the fuel particles m~ke a great n~mber of re~olutions in the burner primcr~ combustior, ch~ber ~ntil th~ ar~ com~let~l~ d~ lc~ d end cons~-.~c. ~.lsc, b~ccus~
c~f the p~rticle sot~tional velc>cit~, th~ pcrticulc,te ~olidc r~spond to hi~h centrifug&l forces produced in the burneY
and the gaseous pr~duct~ of combu~tion respond t~ ~eynolds number~ ~hich ~re very high. B~ using the burner configu-rfiti~n of thi~ invention, ~he volumetric heat release rates for pressurized burnin~ ~f partic~l~te ~olid fuels are si~nificantly higher than ~or con~en~ion~l type burners, and approach hea~ ~elea~e ~ates which ~ccur for burning liquid ~r gaseou~ fuel~ ~n internal combusti~n ængines.
Because ~f the high ~angential velocity and high eentri-fu~al forces genera~ed on the sQlid fuel particles in the burner primary combu~tion zone 15, ~he part~cula~e ~oliBs ~ ~L0~
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~c~ke very many rev~lutiDns ~therein ~nd ~re ~h~as re~ined in the cDmbusti~n ~ne ~d~cent the h~t r~fractory lininE 14 for ~ ~ubst~n~ially lon~,er ~e6idence ~i~e unt~ he lid~ h~ve been dev~ 2ed ~nd c~mbu~ted~ ~hereby achiæ~-~n~ the ~ery h~gh ~l~ne~ric 3hea~ rele~ce ~tes~ The centri-fu~,al f~rce produced ~n ~he ~p~r~icul~e 6t)1id~ being bu~ned exceeds ~b~ut 14~ times earth &~r~vi~y 'g ' ~nd i~ pr~fgr~bly ab~ut 150-3~ nd Reyn~ld~ n~mber for ~he hot ef~luent ~a~es i~ ~t least ~b~ut 150~0~û ~nd preferably 2ûO,ODû-50û, 000. The vc~l~De~ric heat rele~e r~e~ in oche burner primary c~mbu~ n chamber i~ &lt le~t ~ ut 4~, OD~ Btulh~
ît3 prim~ry c~mbu~ti~n chamber ~Dlume, snd ~ prefer~bly 5~û, 000 to 3, 9û~. 00~ Btu/hr ft3.
A sec~nd~ry cyllndric~l ~haped c~mbustion chsmbe~ 25 i~
preferably p~oYi~ed d~m6tr~am frc~m ~he pri~ary cham~ber 1 ~nd cho3te 20, and ab~ut 25~ f the tot~l c~mbustic>n occur in the secQndary chamber. Sec~ndary cc>mbu~io~
cha~.be:r 25 h~s a c~lindrie~l ~h~ped ~,e~l c~in~ 22 ~u~r~und-refrsctory linin,~ 24. The ca~in,g 22 i6 connected pressure-tightly to the ¢asin,~ 12 c)f primary combusti~n ~ha~ber 15 by b~lted flaa~e 26, and c~n be c~nnested pre~sure-~i~h~l~ t~ d~3tream ductin~, ~s desired b~ flan~e 27.
.ls~ fract~r~ lininE 24 ~buts ~ainst th~ actc~s~
lininE 14 ~t ~ loc~ti~n ~adaally c)ut7~rdl~ from ch~k~ 2QA A
reduced diameter inter~ediate ~one 2B iE prt~id~d immedi~t~l~
d~ tream from ch~ke 20 ~nd ~ually h&~ ~ lerl~th: diame~er rati~ of abDut 1:1 to 1.5:1. The ~nteraedi~e zone ~ ii6 followed by ou~wardly ltspered ~one 29 connecting ltO 6 full diameter ~ne ~ ~eeond~ry ehamber 25 hav:in~ an in~ide di~meter ~ppr~xima~ely the ~aD~e ~ fo~ the prim~ry c~mbu~tic~n chamber 1 g .
A quench ga~ ~uch a~ add~t~on~l pre6~ur~2ed ~ir c>r ~team ~6 provided ~nto ~ec~ndary chamber 25 througll ~t le~t one ~peni~g 30 through refr~etory 24 located i~edi~t~ly down~tream from ch~e 20 for quenching ~nd cDc~ling ~he h~t effluent gas flowing from ~he choke. Vsually two openings 30 are provided ~nd ~re preferably orien~ed in a ~angenti~l directi~n opposite to thAt for the fuel inle~ l& and multiple openings 18 for the combustion air in ~he primary combus~i~n chamber 15, Thus, the eounter ~r ~ppo~itely ~lowing guench gas ~tream flowin~ tangentially from conduit 32 through openings 30 pro~ides a high velocity æhear type mixing flow pattern for the quench gas and ~he hot effluent gas upstream from ~ecoIIdary combustion chamber ~4, ~hereby advant~geou~ly achieves highly effective mixing of the hot effluen~ gas find the qu nch gas 80 as to lower the hot effluent gas temp-erature from abou~ 2700 F to a lower ~emperature, ~uch as 1500-1800D ~ suitable for passing to a gas turbine. ~he preferred quench gas is pressurized air because of its general availability~ The useful weight ratio ~f the quench air to the combustion gas upstream of choke 20 is from about O.B to about 1.5. If ~team is used as the quench gas, the 6team conditions and amount used ~hould be ~uch that no condensate is provided in the gas turbine exhaust.
Also, to facilitate transfer of ash from the lower portion of the primary combustion chamber 15 into the fiecondary combustion chamber 25, a passageway is provided which bypasses the choke 20.
The pressurized cyclonic combustion method and burner apparatus of this invention will be further described with reference to ~he following example, which 6hould no~ be construed as limiting the ~cope of the invention.

EXAMPLE

A cylindrical 6haped cyclonic type pressurizable test burner was con~ructed to have ~tructural feature~ and performance characteri6tic~ according to the present inven-tion, as li~ted below in Table I, which provides a compari-son with twn 6imilar conven~ional horizontal burners and a pro~otype cylindrical ~haped cyclonic ~urner used for burning particulate solid fuel~ and havin~ simil~r nominal or total heat release ratings. This new test burner was operated by burning wood chips having particle size ~maller than about 0.125 inch, which were fed tangentially into the burner under pressurized operAting conditions ~s liGted in Table 1.
For this burner compariæon, the particulate fuel is intro-duced into each burner at es6entially ambient temperature.
Numerous observations of the burner operation by viewing through ports ~ndicated that the ~olid particles in the primary combustion chamber swirled around in a helical flow path about the periphery of ~he burner until consumed.
Table I also æhows the tes~ burner operating results achieved as compared to performance characteristics o ~he other similar conventional non-pressurized burner~.

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~ r~m ~h~ e cDml-ari~n D ~he bu3rne~ ~trc~ural ~eature~ ~nd per~rmance eh~r~cteri~tic~, it i~ 6een ~h~
the pri~ary cDmbusti~n cha~ber :1 ~r th~ improved p~e~suri2ed cycl~n~e burner c~ the pre~ent ~nvent~c~n he~ e ~,reater ~spec~ reti~ ~nd lar~ger chc)ke res~ric~i~n ~Btir:~ ~han ~r th~
6i~ilar kn~n cycl~nic type ~ d fuel b-lrner~. Al~, it n~ted that ~he pre~en~ burner proYide~ e ~i~nif~e~ntly hi~her Reync~lds number fc)r the cc~mbus~i~n ~ir ~nltering ~che primary cDmbustiDn char~ber, en~ als~ pr~vide~ grecter tsn~æntial fl~ Yel~ci~ie~ ~nd ~ignificantly gre~er centri-fu~al fvrces on t~e helic~l flowing ~olid fuel particl~
bein~ combu~ted, ~s iB ~dditi~nally sho~ by ~i~. 4. ln ~dditi~n, it i~ ~een ~hat ~he pre~ent burner pr~ideE
~ubst~ntially higher volumetric hea~ rele~e ~tes ~nd hi~her Reyn~lds number~ for the h~t effluent ~as mâ~erial fl~in~ fr~m the pre~suri2ed burner prlmary ~nd ~ec~ndary c~mbu~;tion chamber~ ~han d~ the ~imil~r conventional burners.
A compari~n ~f ~he ~lumetric he~t release r~in~ is ~ls~
s~ rcphiccll~ in ~ . Such i~.p~vveo burn~ perf~r-m~n~e at pressurized ~per~tin~ conditi~ns ~s unexpected ~nd th~ present in~enti~n ~d~nta~ec~usl~ pr~id~E th~ c~m~ustion industr~ ~ith ~ nific~nt and un~bviouc impro~e~,en~ in burner desi~n and perform~nc~ f~r pressuri~ed burnirE of c~liG ~crticu~ct~ , cuch ~E ~ uc~ in p~ T ~rDdUCinE
pr~cesses~

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Referring now to Fig. 6, there will be described the system incorporating the burner 10 of Fig. 1.
A source 110 provides wood chips having size smaller than about 0.70 inch major dimension, and preferably smaller than about 0.130 inch, which chips are collected at 111 in the hopper 112 maintained at substantially atmospheric pressure. The chips 111 are fed from the hopper 112 by a variable speed screw conveyor 114 driven by motor 114a into a vPrtically oriented chute 115, and are then passed to a suitable feeder means 116 for delivering the wood particu-late solids material into pressurized conveying conduit 118.
Feeder 116 preferably consists of two rotary valves 116a and 116b connected in series and arranged for transferring the particulate solids material by gravity flow from the chute 115 into the conduit 118 at a pressure of about 3-20 atm.
absolute, and preerably at 4 15 atm. pressure. The pres-surized transport air from condui. 117 flows in conduit 118 at 40-120 ft/sec superficial velocity and preferably at 60-100 ft/sec velocity and pneumatically conveys the particulate solids material tangentially to the pressurized burner 10.
The particulate solids fuel material is fed pnuemati-cally into burner 10 at near its inlet end through ~angential inlet port 16 at superficial gas velocity exceeding about 80 ft/sec and preferably at 90-150 ft/sec into primary combustion chamber 15. Additional combustion air is introduced tangen-tially into the primary combustion chamber 15 at superficial velocity exceeding about 100 ft/sec, and preferably 110-150 ft/sec, through multiple spaced-apart openings or tuyeres 18a, 18b, 18c, etc., located axially along the length of chamber 15. I preheating or drying the solids in conduit 118 is desired, such preheating can be provided in heat exchanger 119 using any convenient source of heat such as turbine exhaust gas flowing through a jacket surrounding an elongated heat exchanger.
In the combustion chamber 15, the fuel solids are made to swirl around at high rotational velocity exceeding about 80 ft~sec and preferably at 100-150 ft/sec and produce high centrifugal forces exceeding about 140 gravitational units : ,. . . . .
, . . .
, , ' ', ~ ' ~LZ646CD7 ~gl, while the particles are rapidly heated by the ho~
chamber walls and progressively devolatized and burned to produce a hot pressurized effluent gas at a temperature of about 2100-2800 F. The particles are also advan~ageously retained in the primary chamber lS for prolonged combus~ion therein, not only by the high centrifugal forces but also by the effect of choke opening 20a, located at the exit end of the primary chamber 15. The choke opening 20a has a smaller cross-sectional opening area than the combus~ion zone 15 so as to prolong the particle solids combustion time therein and thereby provide for more complete combustion of the particulate fuel solids and produce very high volumetric heat release rates exceeding about 400,000 Btu/hr ft3 of primary chamber volume ~nd prefersbly 500,~00-3,000,000 Btu/hr ft .
It has been found advantageous that the primary com-bustion chamber 15 should have a length/diameter aspect ratio for the chamber at least about 2.5:1 and usually need not exceed about 10:1 to provide for adequate combustion time for the solids. The combustion chamber inside diameter should be at least about 1.5 ft. for achieving a reasonable throughput rate for the combustible solids material and usually should not exceed about 3 ft. diameter to achieve adequate rotational velocity for the solid particles therein.
In the choke section 20 of chamber 15, the hot effluent gas is mixed with additional combustion air provided through conduit 32, to quench and cool the hot effluent gas to lower temperature such as 1500~1800 F suitable for extended use in a gas turbine.
The secondary or quench air is introduced in the choke zone through dual openings 30 oriented in a tangential di-rection opposite to that for tuyeres 18 in the primary com-bustion chamber 15, thereby producing highly turbulent shear type mixing of the two streams in the choke zone leading to secondary combustion zone 25. The flow of supplementary air at conduit 32 is controlled relative to combustion air . . .

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in conduits 123a, 123b, 123c, etc. to the tuyeres 18a, 18b, 18c, etc. by controller 132, which monitors the air flows at flow meters 131a, 131b, and operates control valve 129 in condiut 32.
The resulting cooled effluent gas in the secondary com-bustion chamber 25, which may still contain a very small concentration of incombustible particulate solids, is passed through a cyclone type separator device 34 for substantially complete removal of such fine solids. The cyclone separator 34 preferably uses an axial flow type element 35 to provide for a more compact separator overall arrangement. From separator 34, a clean hot effluent gas stream at 1500-1800 F temperature is removed at 36, while the particulate solids removed are withdrawn through valve 37 for suitable disposal.
The cleaned effluent gas at 36 at 3-10 atm. pressure is then passed through conduit 38 to the inlet of gas turbine 40, which is connected to drive air compressor 42 for supplying pressurized air source at 44 for the combustion air at tuyers 18 and the quench air at 32. Also, a portion of the compressed air stream at 44 is cooled at 45 against stream 45a sufficient to avoid combustion of the particulate solids such as to about 200 F, usually by heat exchange with ambient air. The air at 47 is further compressed at 46, preferably by a positive displacement type compressor, to a differential pressure such as 2-10 psi and preferably 4-8 psi to provide the pressurized air at 117 required in conduit 118 for pneumatically conveying the wood chips into the burner 10.
Turbine 40 also rotatively drives a load device 50, which is usually an electric generator for generating electric power. From turbine 40, exhaust stream 41 at near atmospheric pressure and at 900-1000 F temperature can be passed to a heat recovery step at 52 and used as a heat source for generating steam, for heating another fluid used for heating purposes, or as a hot gas for preheating and/or drying the particulate feed material in heat exchanger 119.

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, ,, The gas turbine unit 40 can be divided into two sepa-rate turbines each operating at different rotational shaft speeds, with the first tur~ine ~Oa used for driving the compressor 42 at a high rotational speed, and the inter-mediate exhaust gas stream at 41a from the first turbine 40a being passed to second turbine 40b which is gear-connected to an electric generator 50 for driving the generator at a lower rotational speed. Alternatively, a single shaft type turbine-compressor unit can be used in which bo~h the com-pressor and electric generator are driven by a single t~rbine.
During start-up of the process, an auxillary burner (not shown) using a hydrocarbon fuel source such as propane is used to initially heat the refractory walls of primary combustion chamber 10 to a temperature sufficient ~o ignite the particulate solid fuel introduced at 16. Also, an auxillary drive motor 54 is used to drive compressor 42 to provide the hot air source initially needed for combustion.
Also, air further compressed by compressor 46 is used for initially pneumatically conveying the particulate fuel solids through conduit 118 into the burner 10.
The solid fuel pressurized combustion and power gene-ration process of this invention will be further described with reference to the following example of operations, which should not be construed as limiting the scope of the in-vention~

EXAMPLE

Wood chips and shavings, such as produced from a wood processing mill source and having nominal size of about 1/8 inch, were transferred from an atmospheric pressure col-lection hopper through tandem rotary feeder valves into a pressuri~ed transfer pipe operating at about 5 atm. pressure.
The wood chips were pneumatically conveyed at superficial gas velocity of about 80 ft/sec and fed tangentially into the inlet end of a horiæontally oriented cylindrical cy-clonic burner primary combustlon chamber having dimensions , ~:

.
". : ' ~2,~ ~ 6 as shown in Table II below. Pressurized combustion air was also supplied tangentially into the combustion chamber through 6 sets of dual tuyeres spaced-apart axially along the chamber length and at superficial gas velocity of about 100 ft/sec. Numerous observations of burner opera~ion made through viewing ports indicated that the particulate solids were circulated in a swirling helical flow pa~h in the combustion chamber at calculated tangential ~elocity of about 100 ft/sec until consumed.
In the primary combustion chamber, the wood particles being circulated at the high rotational velocity developed high centrifugal forces of about 200 'g', which provided for prolonged total combustion of the particles at high Reynolds number and produced high volumetric heat release rates of about 1,800,000 Btu/hr ft3. Thus, the solid fuel particles were rapidly devolatized and combusted to produce a hot effluent gas at 2700-2800 F temperature, which passed ~hrough a restricted choke opening at the exit end of the combustion chamber.
The resulting hot effluent gas at about 2700-2800 F
temperature was quenched by additional pressurized secondary air injected tangentially into the throat portion of the choke opening. The quench air was injec~ed tangentially in a direction opposite to that of the swirling effluent gas rom the primary combustion chamber, thus producing highly turbulent shear type mixing o the two gas streams so that the hot effluent gas was effectively cooled to about 17004 F
and then passed into a secondary combustion chamber located immediately downstream from the choke.
From the secondary combustion chamber, a portion of the cleaned effluent gas containing about 250 ppm (wt.) fine particulate solids was then passed through a centrifugal type gas-solids separator in which the fine particulate solids in the gas were substantially all centrifugally separated and removed.
The resulting cooled and cleaned gas at about 16004 F

~26a~6~

temperature is then expanded through a gas turbine driving a rotary air compressor to provide the pressurized transport and combustion air, and also driving an electric generator to produce net electric power. Based on burner operating data and related experience, the projected continuous oper-ating period for this process is in excess of 30,000 hours.
Performance data obtained for the pressurized combus-tion step and typical performance for the power-producing process of this invention are provided in Table II below:

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TABLE ~I
Solid Fuel Pressurized Combustion and Process Ch~racteristics Test ~nit Prototy~
Primary combustion chamber:
Inside di~meter, in. 20 27 Length/diameter, ratio 3 ~3 Choke diameter, in. 6 6.5 Wood Chip feed rate, lb/hr 2020 6100 Transport and combustion air flow rate, lb/hr 26,300 85,5C)n Combustor pressure, psia 66 95 Combustor pressure, ~tm. abs. 4.5 6.5 Volumetric heat release rate, Btu/hr ft3 1,866,0001,900,000 Quench air flow rate, lb/hr 9,000 ~5,000 Secondary combustion chamber effluent:
Gas Temperature, ~F 17~0 1780 Solids concentration, ppm (~t.) 250 250 Solids concentration o~ separator effluent, ppm (wt.) 3~ 30 Gas turbine:
Inlet temperature, CF . 1700 lnlet pressure, psia G
Exhaust temperature, CF 900 Exhaust pressure, pSia 15 Gas flow rate, lb/hr 17~"600 ~et power produced, kw 3000 ~ ~, - , . . . .

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From the above data, is is seen that the present process utilizes improved pressurized combustion of wood chips or other particulate solid combustible material to provide high volumetric heat release rates in the burner.
The process also utilizes effective quenching and cooling of the hot effluent gas together with gas-solids separation to provide a clean pressurized effluent gas suitable for extended use in a gas turbine to produce electrical power.
Although the present invention has been described broadly and also in terms of certain preferred embodiments, it will be understood that various modification and varia-tions can be made within the spirit and scope of the inven-tion, which is defined by the following claims:

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.

Claims (49)

WE CLAIM:

1. A method for pressurized combustion of particulate solid fuel materials to produce a pressurized hot combustion gas, said method comprising:
(a) pressurizing a particulate solid fuel having size smaller than about 0.70 inch major dimension to at least about 3 atm. pressure, and feeding the fuel solids tangentially into the inlet end of a burner cylindrical shaped primary combustion chamber;
(b) introducing an oxygen-containing combustion gas tangentially into said combustion chamber through a plurality of tuyere openings spaced apart along the burner length, said tuyeres having an aspect ratio of at least about 2:1, said combustion gas having a Reynolds number at the tuyere opening exceeding about 900,000, so as to provide a swirling helical flow pattern for the solids therein at a high tangential velocity and at centrifugal force exceeding about 140 gravitational units, thereby producing a volumetric heat release rate exceeding about 400,000 Btu/hr ft3; and (c) passing the resulting hot effluent gas through a choke zone located at the combustion chamber exit end, the choke zone containing an opening having a cross-sectional area about 20-50% that of the combustion chamber, thereby producing a hot pressurized effluent gas product.

2. A pressurized combustion method according to Claim 1, wherein the particulate fuel is wood chips having a major dimension not exceeding about 0.130 inch.

3, A pressurized combustion method according to Claim 1, wherein the combustion chamber internal pressure is 3-20 atm.abs. and the superficial gas velocity for combustion air introduced into the primary combustion chamber exceeds about 100 ft/sec.

4. A pressurized combustion method according to claim 1, wherein the combustion gas is air and the weight ratio of the combustion air to the particulate fuel is from 1.0 to about 4.0 times the stoichiometric value.

5. A pressurized combustion method according to claim 1, wherein the combustion gas is introduced into said primary combustion chamber at a Reynolds number between about 1,000,000 and 3,000,000.

6. A pressurized combustion method according to claim 1, wherein the particulate solids in the primary combustion chamber are subjected to centrifugal forces of about 150-200 gravitational units.

7. A pressurized combustion method according to claim 1, wherein the effluent gas in the combustion chamber has a Reynolds number of 150,000-500,000.

8. A pressurized combustion method according to claim 1, wherein the volumetric heat release rate in the combustion chamber is about 500,000 to 3,000,000 Btu/hr gt3.

9. A pressurized combustion method according to claim 1, wherein a quench gas stream is introduced into said choke zone with a rotational direction, opposite to that of the solids in the primary combustion chamber, so as to limit the effluent gas temperature to not exceeding about 2000° F.

10. A pressurized combustion method according to claim 1, including passing the combustion gas from said choke section into a secondary combustion chamber for further combustion and cooling the gas to 1400-2000° F temperature.

27a

11. A method for pressurized combustion of particulate solid wood materials to produce a pressurized hot combustion gas, said method comprising:
(a) pressurizing wood chips having size smaller than about 0.130 inch major dimension to 3-20 atm.
pressure and feeding the wood solids tangentially into the inlet end of a burner cylindrical shaped primary combustion chamber;
(b) introducing combustion air tangentially into said combustion chamber through a plurality of tuyere openings spaced apart along the burner length and at a Reynolds number range of 900,000 to 3,000,000, so as to provide a swirling helical flow pattern for the fuel solids therein at tangential velocity of 80-120 ft/sec, so as to produce a volumetric heat release rate in the combustion chamber exceeding about 400,000 Btu/hr ft3, (c) passing the resulting hot effluent gas through a choke located at the combustion chamber exit end, the choke zone containing an opening having cross-sectional area about 20-40% that of the combustion chamber and thereby producing a hot pressurized effluent gas; and (d) introducing a quench air stream into said choke zone to limit the hot effluent gas temperature to not exceeding about 2000° F, said quench air being introduced with a rotational direction opposite to that for the solids in the primary combustion chamber to provide a shear type mixing pattern, thereby producing a hot pressurized effluent gas product at controlled temperature.

12. A burner apparatus for burning particulate combustible fuel to produce a pressurized effluent gas, said burner comprising:

(a) a pressurizable cylindrical shaped outer metal casing;
(b) an inner refractory lining located adjacent said casing inner wall, said refractory lining providing therein an elongated cylindrical shaped primary combustion chamber;
(c) a tangential opening located tangentially in said combustion chamber inlet end for introducing a fuel tangentially into the combustion chamber;
(d) a plurality of tangentially oriented tuyere openings for introducing a combustion gas tangen-tially into said combution chamber, said tuyere openings each having an aspect ratio at least about 2:1, and being spaced apart longitudinally along the length of the chamber;
(e) a choke opening located at the exit end of said primary combustion chamber; and (f) at least one aperature located in the choke opening, said aperture oriented for flow of a quench gas relative to the helical flow of a hot effluent gas, whereby the particulate fuel is combusted rapidly at high rotational velocity and high heat release rates and the resulting hot product gas is quenched to provide a lower temper-ature pressurized product gas.

13. A burner apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein the primary combustion chamber internal length to diameter ratio is between about 2:1 and 10:1.

14. A burner apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein said tuyere openings each have an aspect ratio between about 3:1 and 5:1,

15. A burner apparatus according to Claim 12 wherein, the inlet and refractory lining 12 is made convex-shaped and extends into the combustion chamber to a cross-sectional plane past said tangential opening for introducing a fuel.

16. A burner apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein said choke opening has a cross-sectional area about 30-50% the cross-sectional area of the primary combustion chamber.

17. A burner according to Claim 12, wherein the refractory lining for the primary combustion chamber is selected so as to provide sufficient heat outflow o the environment to avoid fuel slagging conditions on the refractory surface in the primary combustion chamber.

18. A burner apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein a secondary cylindrical combustion chamber is provided joined pressure-tightly to the burner downstream from said choke opening.

19. A burner apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein said choke opening is tapered outwardly into the secondary combustion zone to minimize irrecoverable pressure differen-tial for effluent gas flowing therethrough.

20. A burner apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein the choke opening is provided by an annular shaped removable element of abrasion-resistant refractory material.

21. A burner apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein said aperture located in the choke opening is oriented tangentially opposite to said tangential opening at the primary combustion chamber inlet end to provide turbulent shear type mixing of the gas streams.

22. A burner apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein a passageway extends from the primary combustion chamber lower portion into the secondary combustion zone downstream from the choke.

23. A burner apparatus for burning particulate combustible fuel to produce a pressurized effluent gas, said burner comprising:
(a) a pressurizable cylindrical shaped outer metal casing;
(b) an inner refractory lining located adjacent said casing inner wall, said refractory lining shaped to provide an elongated cylindrical shaped primary combustion chamber;
(c) an opening located tangentially in the burner cylindrical wall near the burner inlet end for introducing a fuel tangentially into said combustion chamber;
(d) a plurality of tangential oriented tuyere openings spaced apart along the length of the burner for introducing a combustion gas tangentially into the combustion chamber;
(e) a choke opening located at the exit end of said primary combustion zone;
(f) a secondary combustion chamber joined pressure-tightly to the exit end of the burner outer casing;
and (g) dual apertures located tangentially in the choke opening, said apertures oriented opposite to the tangential opening at the combustion chamber inlet end for tangential flow of a quench gas in direction opposite to the helical flow of a hot effluent gas, whereby the particulate fuel is combusted rapidly at high velocity and high heat release rate and the resulting hot effluent gas is effec-tively quenched to provide a lower temperature pressurized product gas.

24. A process for the pressurized combustion of particulate solid combustible materials for producing power, comprising:
(a) feeding a particulate solid combustible material from an ambient pressure source through metering means and transferring the combustible material into a conveying conduit at a pressure of about 3-20 atm. abs.;
(b) mixing said pressurized particulate solid material with a pressurized transport air stream and pneumatically conveying the particulate solids tangentially at superficial gas velocity exceeding about 80 ft/sec. into primary combustion chamber of a cylindrical cyclonic burner;
(c) supplying pressurized combustion air into said primary chamber and combusting said particulate solids material in said chamber at high rotational velocity so as to provide a high volumetric heat release rate exceeding about 400,000 Btu/hr ft3, and producing a hot pressurized effluent gas containing minimal particulate solids;
(d) quenching and cooling said hot effluent gas by mixing with it sufficient quench air in a secon-dary combustion chamber to produce a gas mixture temperature not exceeding about 2000° F;
(e) centrifugally separating any existing particulate solids from said gas mixture stream to produce a clean cooled pressurized product gas stream; and (f) expanding the cooled gas stream through a gas turbine driving an air compressor for providing said pressurized transport and combustion air, said gas turbine also driving a mechanical load to produce a net output of power.

25. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein said particulate solid material is wood chips having particle size smaller than about 0.130 inch major dimension and available from an atmospheric pressure source.

26. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein the primary combustion chamber is 4-15 atmospheres absolute.

27. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein the particulate solid combustible material is fed into the combustion chamber at a tangential velocity of 100-120 ft/sec.

28. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein the particulate solids in the primary combustion chamber are subjected to centrifugal forces exceeding about 140 gravitational units.

29. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein the volumetric heat release rate in the burner is 500,000-3,000,000 Btu/hr ft3.

30. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein the flow of quench air is con-trolled relative to the flow of combustion air.

31. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein said gas quenching step is provided by quench air flowing tangentially in a direction opposite to the helical flow of said effluent gas through said choke zone.

32 The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein said gas-solids separation step occurs in a centrifugal type separator.

33. The pressurized combustion and power generating process of Claim 24, wherein the cleaned mixed gas is ex-panded in a first gas trubine for driving the air compressor at first rotational shaft speed and is then further expanded in a second gas turbine for driving an electric generator at a second lower rotational shaft speed to generate electrical power.

34. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein the hot compressed air for pnue-matically conveying the particulate solids to the burner is cooled to below the ignition point of the particulate solids.

35. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein said solid combustible material is transferred into said pressurized conveying conduit by two rotary feeder valves connected in series.

36. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein said solid combustible material is preheated while being pneumatically conveyed through the conduit to the combustion chamber, using heat from the gas turbine exhaust gas.

37. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein a portion of said compressed combustion air is further compressed by 1-10 psi differential pressure to provide said transport air stream.

38. The pressurized combustion and power producing process of Claim 24, wherein the flow of quench air to the secondary combustion chamber is controlled relative to the combustion air supplied to the primary com-bustion chamber.

39. A process for the pressurized combustion of particulate solids combustible materials for producing power, comprising:
(a) feeding wood chips having particulate size smaller than about 0.130 inch major dimension an ambient pressure source through a rotary metering means for transferring the combustible material into a conveying conduit at a pressure of about 4-15 atm. abs.;
(b) mixing said pressurized wood chips with a pressurized transport air stream and pneu-matically conveying the wood chips tangentially into a primary combustion chamber of a cylindrical cyclonic burner;
(c) supplying pressurized combustion air into said primary combustion chamber and combusting said particulate wood chips in said primary combustion chamber at high rotational velocity with excess secondary combustion air to provide a high vol-umetric heat release rate of 500,000-3,000,000 Btu/hr ft3 and producing a hot pressurized effluent gas containing minimal particulate solids;
(d) quenching and cooling said hot effluent gas by mixing with it sufficient quench air in a secon-dary combustion chamber to produce a gas mixture at temperature of about 1400-2000° F;
(e) centrifugally separating any existing fine par-ticulate solids from said gas mixture stream to produce a clean cooled pressurized product gas stream; and (f) expanding the cooled gas stream through a gas turbine arranged for driving an air compressor for providing said pressurized transport air and combustion air, said gas turbine also driving an electric generator to produce a net output of electric power.

40. An apparatus for burning particulate combustible fuel to produce a pressurized gas, comprising:
a house having side wall means forming a cylindrical shaped primary combustion chamber, a cylindrical shaped secondary combustion chamber, and a choke opening of reduced size between said primary and secondary combustion chambers, said secondary combustion chamber being in fluid communication with said primary combustion chamber through said choke opening, the end of said primary combustion chamber opposite said choke opening being closed by end wall means, the end of said secondary combustion chamber opposite said choke opening having an outlet opening for the passage of hot gas to a utilization means, a fuel opening formed through said side wall means of said primary combsution chamber near said end wall means for introducing a particulate fuel under pressure therein tangentially to the inner wall of said primary combustion chamber and transverse to its axis such that the particulate fuel travels toward said choke opening in a helical path around the inner wall of said primary combustion chamber for burning therein for the production of hot gas under pressure for flow through said choke opening to said secondary combustion chamber, a plurality of tuyere openings formed through said side wall means of said primary combustion chamber between said fuel opening and said choke opening for introducing a combustion supporting gas under pressure into said primary combustion chamber tangentially to the inner wall thereof and transverse to its axis such that the combustion supporting gas travels in the same helical path as that of the particulate fuel,, the helical path of the particulate fuel and combustion supporting gas resulting in the particulate fuel making a large number of revolutions in said primary combustion chamber prolonging the time of the particulate fuel therein to enhance burning thereof, the reduced size of said choke opening also being effective to prolong the time of the particulate fuel in said primary combustion chamber to enhance burning thereof, and at least one quench gas opening formed through said side wall means of said choke opening for in-troducing a quench gas into said choke opening for cooling the hot gas flowing through said choke opening to said secondary chamber to a temperature suitable for use by a utilization means.

41. The apparatus of Claim 40, wherein:
said inner wall of said primary combustion chamber is formed of a refractory material which becomes hot and causes the particulate fuel to burn when the particulate fuel travels in the helical path around said inner wall.

42. The apparatus of Claim 41, wherein:
said quench gas opening is located to introduce the quench gas into the choke opening tangentially to the inner wall of the choke opening in a direction opposite to that of the helical path of the hot gas in said primary combustion chamber.

43. The apparatus of Claim 42, comprising:
fuel source means for introducing the particulate fuel entrained with air under pressure into said primary combustion chamber through said fuel opening, combustion supporting gas source means for introducing the combustion supporting gas into said primary combustion chamber at a given velocity through said tuyere openings, quench gas source means for introducing the quench gas into said choke opening through said quench gas opening.

44. The apparatus of Claim 43, wherein:
the length and diameter of said primary combustion chamber, the size of said choke opening, the positions of said fuel opening and tuyere openings being such that said fuel source means and said combustion supporting gas source means can be operated to cause the helix angle of the helical path of the particulate fuel to be only slightly less than 90°.

45. The apparatus of Claim 43, comprising:
means coupled to the outlet of said secondary combustion chamber for separating any existing particulate solids from the hot gas flowing from said secondary combustion chamber to produce a cleaner gas for use by a utilization means.

46. The apparatus of Claim 44, comprising:
means coupled to the outlet of said secondary combustion chamber for separating any existing particulate solids from the hot gas flowing form said secondary combustion chamber to produce a cleaner gas for use by a utilization means.

47. A method of operating a burner for burning particulate combustible fuel, said burner comprising a housing having side wall means forming a cylindrical shape primary combustion chamber, a cylindrical shape secondary combustion chamber, and a choke opening of reduced size between said primary and secondary combustion chambers, said secondary combustion chamber being in fluid communication with said primary combustion chamber through said choke opening, the end of said primary combustion chamber opposite said choke opening being closed by end wall means, the end of said secondary combustion chamber opposite said choke opening having an outlet opening for the passage of hot gas to a utilization means, a fuel opening formed through said side wall means of said primary combustion chamber and there said end wall means, a plurality of tuyere opening formed through said side wall means of said primary combustion chamber between said fuel opening and said choke opening, and at least one quench gas opening formed through said side wall means of said choke openings, said method comprising the steps of:
introducing a particular fuel under pressure into said primary combustion chamber through said fuel opening tangentially through the inner wall of said primary combustion chamber and transverse to its axis such that the particular fuel travels toward said choke opening in a helical path around the inner wall of said primary combustion chamber for burning therein for the production of hot gas under pressure for flow through said choke opening to said secondary combustion chamber, introducing the combustion supporting gas under pressure through said tuyre openings into said primary combustion chamber tangentially to the inner wall thereof and transverse to its axis such that the combustion supporting gas travels in the same helical path as that of the particulate fuel, flowing the particulate fuel in the helical path around the hot inner wall of said primary combustion chamber such that the particulate fuel makes a plurality of revolutions in said primary combustion chamber prior to reaching said choke opening for substantially complete combustion there-in for the production of hot gas for flow through said choke opening, the helix angle of the helical path of the particulate fuel in said primary combustion chamber being only slightly less than 90° relative to the axis of said primary combustion chamber, and introducing a quench gas into said choke opening through said quench gas opening for cooling the hot gas flowing through said choke opening to said secondary chamber to a temperature suitable for use by a utilization means.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein:
the quench gas is introduced into said choke opening tangentially to the inner wall of the choke opening and transverse to the axis thereof in a direction opposite to that of the helical path of the hot gas in said primary combustion chamber.

49. The method of claim 48, comprising the step of flowing the hot gas from said secondary combustion chamber through its outlet to a separating means and in said separating means separating any existing particulate solids from the hot gas flowing from said secondary combution chamber to produce a cleaner gas for use by a utilization means.