US2701011A - Apparatus for the combustion of fuel - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 1, 1955 C. A. BONVILLIAN ET AL APPARATUS FOR THE COMBUSTION OF FUEL Filed March 15, 1950 a w y 4 m m i o WZrQW I W 1 1. A 9 f e 1 United States Patent APPARATUS FOR THE COMBUSTION OF FUEL Claude Albert Bonvillian, Chattanooga, Tenn., Ralph C. Brierly, Narberth, Pa., and Samuel Letvin, Elmhurst,

Original application August 26, 1944, Serial No. 551,420. Divided and this application March 15, 1950, Serial No. 149,848

1 Claim. (Cl. 158-106) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) This invention pertains to the combustion of fuels and other vaporizable and combustible substances. The present application is a division of copending application of Claude A. Bonvillian et al., Serial No. 551,420 filed August 26, 1944, for Apparatus for the Combustion of Combustible and Vaporizable Substances, now Patent No. 2,601,242.

The invention provides novel means for the combustion of fuels and other substances, preferably at relatively high heat releases, and particularly apparatus for changing the state of aggregation of combustibles and vaporizable substances and distributing them to assure more complete combustion. The invention is applicable to a wide variety of uses such as disc, grid or ring burners, gas turbine systems, fluid heaters, rocket or jet propulsion devices,'vapor generators, fog dispelling apparatus and apparatus for drying, smelting, .sintering or baking. Apparatus of the invention, through the distribution of the combustibles or vaporizable substances, flame dispersion and apportionment obtainable therewith, permits furnaces or other devices of which it is a part to be of more compact construction and lighter weight than hitherto practicable.

Apparatus embodying and for carrying out the invention comprises means to facilitate vaporization, gasification, raising to or beyond fire point, or otherwise greatly increasing the combustibility and potential combustion speed of fuel oil or other combustible or vaporizable substance fed into the stream of gases of combustion. Furnaces suitable for the purpose are disclosed in our copending applications Serial No. 479,010 filed March 13, 1943, now Patent No. 2,500,925, Serial No. 506,670 filed October 18, 1943, now Patent No. 2,569,446; and Serial No. 509,080 filed November 5, 1943, now Patent No. 2,464,791. Although furnaces of many types other than those disclosed in these copending applications may be used to carry out the invention, the furnaces disclosed therein have the advantages of requiring but a relatively small space and of being of a minimum weight. The substance to be burned or vaporized is introduced into con tact with the stream of gases produced in the furnace preferably by nozzles connected to a manifold, as disclosed in our copending application Serial No. 509,080 filed November 5, 1943, now Patent No. 2,464,791, or through injectors at the furnace exit. If the substance is in a liquid or solid state, it is vaporized or otherwise prepared for high speed combustion either by the hot gases in or from the furnace, by contact with adjacent parts of the furnace which have become heated by gases, by the injectors which may be heated from the furnaces combustion chamber, or by distributing apparatus beyond the combustion chamber throat which is heated to a high degree. Any one or more of these methods of vaporization may be used. After vaporization of the substance and its mixture with gases of combustion, the mixture is ejected, preferably at high velocities, through the exit nozzles of distributing devices. Relatively high air pressure is employed in the furnaces windbox to serve the function of (l) furnishing oxygen for combustion; (2) supplying sufficient force to intermix the substance or substances raised to or beyond the fire point or otherwise prepared for virtually instantaneous ignition; (3) distributing the mixture of substances to individual nozzles of a distributing device; (4) maintaining a high velocity "ice through these nozzles; and (5) aspirating surrounding air by the gas-vapor issuing from the nozzles. Localization of the aspirating effect may be obtained by using hollow rings or polygonal-shaped registers around individual distributing devices, around a group of distribuiting devices or around a single nozzle of a distributing device. The distributing devices may be entirely enclosed by air ducts or have air ducts positioned on one or more sides thereof.

Perfection of these devices will depend upon the optimum proportioning of the parts to assure maximum advantages from all of these variables. The spacing and the arrangement of the nozzles of the distributing devices, as well as their free areas, are important considerations. Also optimum proportioning of air admitted to, around, or alongside the nozzles is desirable, lest the quantity or velocity either be inadequate or plethoric which would result in incomplete oxidation, blowing out, or undue dilution of the stream from the nozzles. Regulation of air flow surrounding the nozzles is a matter of importance in connection with lighting olf the mixture of gas and air at the face or faces of the distributing devices. It is frequently desirable temporarily to halt or greatly to diminish air flow while initial ignition is being secured, then to advance it to support increased flow rates and combustion speed. Substances, whether liquid or solid, or in any other state of aggregation, may be employed for feeding the distributor of distributing devices although satisfactory results can be secured through the use of the same material as that used for firing the furnace. Another important consideration is the apportionment of the injectors used to supply the substances to the vaporized, raised beyond the fire point or otherwise prepared for high speed combustion, either to the furnace or the distributing devices of the present invention, since the rate of flow from the nozzles depends upon such apportionment as Well as upon the area of the nozzles and speed of travel of the mixture expelled from the furnace exit.

The invention will be understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof and in which:

Fig. 1 is a more or less diagrammatic view in elevation, of a form of the invention which is suitable for firing a boiler; and

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of part of the apparatus shown in Fig. l, on an enlarged scale.

Like characters of reference refer to the same or to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, reference character 10 designates the furnace which comprises an outer metallic casing 11, having a cylindrical windbox 13 from which air is supplied thereto. Fuel is supplied under pressure to the furnace 10 through a line 25, and air for the windbox 13 is supplied by a blower or compressor 13' coupled to the furnace through the conduit 26.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 1, a suitable combustible or vaporizable substance, is introduced to atomizers 28 and 29 which discharge into a cylindrical spool piece 30, connected to the outlet end of the furnace 10. This substance is fed to the atomizers under pressure from a pump, not shown, through connecting conduits 30'. The combustion gases flowing through the spool piece 30 possess reasonable homogeneity of constituents and temperatures, and vaporize the substance, raise it to and beyond the fire point, or otherwise prepare it for almost instantaneous ignition after discharged by the distributing means to be described. Grids 31 may be positioned in the spool piece which grids are of heavy screen or grating and extend entirely across the area of the spool piece immediately below the point at which the atomizers discharge thereinto. The grids 31 prevent precipitation into the furnace 10 of any residual material which may otherwise drop downwardly therein. They also assist in heating the substances to be vaporized, gasified or otherwise raised to or beyond the fire point and are particularly advantageous in the heat ing of crude oil, blends or mixtures of coal and oil since they increase turbulence of the substances and the extent of travel thereof. The mixture of heated materials is then passed through a conduit 51 or 52 into a distributor hereinafter disclosed.

Thus, in the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, the gases are distributed from the grid-like structure. This structure comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending manifolds 49, each having a plurality of nozzles 50 spaced axially along the manifolds, the nozzles in one manifold being arranged in staggered relationship with the nozzles in adjacent manifolds. The manifolds 49 are in communication at opposite ends thereof with conduits 51 and 52 respectively. The conduit 51 is connected at one end thereof to the spool piece 30 of the furnace 10, while the conduit 52 is connected at the opposite end to the spool piece 30 of a furnace so that the furnaces 10 and 10' are disposed at opposite ends of the grid-like structure. Each nozzle 50 is surrounded by a hexagonal shaped air register 53 Which projects outwardly from the side of the manifold 49 and forms a forward or discharge end and also protrudes from the opposite side of the manifold to form a rear open-end. Air is introduced into the registers 53 through the rear end thereof preferably from an air casing 53" to which air is supplied under pressure through a conduit 53. The air casing 53" is secured to the rear open-end of the grid-like structure through a pair of lon itudinal bracing members 35 extending between conduits 51 and 52 and secured thereto in parallel relationship to the manifolds 49 and at opposite sides thereof. The quantity of air supplied to the registers is controlled by shutters or dampers 54 which close against the rear ends 37, as shown in Figure 2 of the registers. The shutters 54 are fixed on revoluble shafts 55, rotatably mounted on bracing members 35, which are rotated about their axes to move the shutters toward opened or closed position, by means of gears 56 mounted on the lower ends of the shafts, and meshing with each other as shown. As shown in Fig. 1, the gears 56 are actuated to move the shutters 54, by a reversible electric motor M. It will be understood that other types of dampers may be used and that the dampers may be controlled manually or automatically by other driving means if desired. Registers of shapes other than hexagonal may be used, although hexagonal-shaped registers provide the desired structural strength and rapid air intermixture.

In the operation of the preferred embodiment of the invention, gases from the spool piece 30 connected to the furnace 10 flow into conduit 51 and into the manifolds 49, the greater proportion of the gases flowing into the manifolds at the end of the grid-like distributing structure nearest the furnace 10. Similarly the gases from the furnace 10 flow into the conduit 52 and into the ends of the manifolds 49. With this arrangement, gases from the furnaces 10 and 10' are distributed substantially equally among the manifolds 49. The gases are ejected from the manifolds 49 by the nozzles 50. The admission of air into the registers 53 is controlled by the shutters 54, the arrangement belng such that the rear end of the registers are closed when the highly heated inflammable substances are initially emitted from the nozzles 50 but are opened immediately upon issuance of flame.

The invention disclosed herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without payment of royalty thereon, or therefor.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the form, location and relative arrangement of the several parts of the apparatus disclosed herein without departing from the principles of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited excepting by the scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

In a gas combustion assembly, a gas distributing apparatus comprising a pair of parallel gas feeding conduits, a plurality of longitudinally extending manifolds connected to said gas feeding conduits to thereby form a grid-like structure, each of said longitudinally extending manifolds being parallel to each other and having a plurality of equally spaced gas nozzles located along its length, said gas nozzles of each adjacent longitudinally extending manifold being positioned in staggered relationship to each other, a hexagonal shaped air register surrounding each of said gas nozzles and projecting outwardly from the gas nozzle side of said grid-like structure to form a discharge end, each said air register protruding from the side of the grid-like structure opposite said gas nozzle side and adapted to form a rear openend, a pair of longitudinal bracing members extending between said pair of parallel gas feeding conduits and secured thereto in parallel relationship to said plurality of longitudinally extending manifolds and at opposite sides thereof, a plurality of revoluble shutter shafts secured to said pair of longitudinal bracing members on the side opposite said gas nozzles and perpendicular to said longitudinally extending manifolds, a plurality of shutters fixed to said shutter shafts behind each of said gas nozzles and said air register, actuating means, and gear means coupling said shutter shafts to each other and to said actuating means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 240,592 Houchin Apr. 26, 1881 508,410 Cowles Nov. 14, 1893 629,882 Windham Aug. 1, 1899 1,551,532 Axtell et a1. Sept. 1, 1925 1,599,015 Jackson et a1. Sept. 7, 1926 1,712,881 Gibson May 14, 1929 2,386,882 Reagan et al Oct. 16, 1945 2,559,979 Martois July 10, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 311,588 Germany Mar. 27, 1919

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