US 10,001,278 B1Granted

Apparatus and method for operating a gas-fired burner on liquid fuels

AssigneePrecision Combustion, Inc.

InventorsSubir Roychoudhury, Richard Mastanduno, Bruce Crowder, David Lang Spence, Francesco Macri, Julian David Prada Bernal

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Abstract

An apparatus and method for operating a gas-fired burner on a liquid fuel. The apparatus integrates a catalytic liquid fuel reformer with a flame burner designed for operation on a gaseous fuel of high Wobbe Index, e.g., natural gas. The method involves reacting a mixture of a liquid fuel and oxidant in a catalytic reformer to obtain a gaseous reformate having a low Wobbe Index; and thereafter combusting the gaseous reformate, optionally augmented with liquid co-fuel and oxidant, in the gas-fired burner under diffusion flame conditions. The invention allows commercial gas-fired appliances, such as stoves, ovens, ranges, grills, griddles, stock pot burners, clothes dryers, hot water heaters, and boilers to be operated on a liquid fuel, which offers advantages in logistics and camp operations.

Claims26

Dependent claims

A burner system comprising:

(a) a reformer configured under operative conditions to exhaust a gaseous reformate having a Wobbe Index greater than 145 BTU/scf (5.4 MJ/Nm3) and less than 700 BTU/scf (26.0 MJ/Nm3), comprising:
(i) a housing defining a reforming chamber;
(ii) a first inlet configured to input a liquid fuel into the reforming chamber;
(iii) a second inlet configured to input an oxidant into the reforming chamber;
(iv) a reticulated metal substrate having one or more catalytic metals supported thereon, the metal substrate being disposed within the reforming chamber and fluidly coupled to the first and second inlets for inputting the fuel and oxidant, respectively;
and
(v) an outlet for exhausting a reformate from the reforming chamber, the outlet being fluidly coupled to the metal substrate;
(b) a connecting member comprising an inlet end and an outlet end, wherein the inlet end of the connecting member is fluidly coupled to the outlet of the reformer, and wherein the outlet end of the connecting member is fluidly coupled to an inlet of a gas-fired burner;
and
(c) the gas-fired burner configured to operate with a gaseous fuel having a Wobbe Index in a range from 1,250 to 2,300 BTU/scf (46.6-85.7 MJ/Nm3), the burner comprising;
(i) the inlet fluidly coupled to the outlet end of the connecting member;
and
(ii) one or more orifices downstream of the burner inlet, the orifices configured to support flame combustion.

10 more elements

A method of operating a gas-fired burner on a liquid fuel, the process comprising:

(a) feeding a liquid fuel and a first supply of oxidant into a reformer in a fuel-rich fuel/oxidant ratio, the reformer comprising a reticulated metal substrate having one or more catalytic elements supported thereon;
(b) contacting the liquid fuel and the first supply of oxidant with the reticulated metal substrate having one or more catalytic elements supported thereon, under reaction conditions sufficient to produce a gaseous reformate comprising hydrogen, the gaseous reformate having a Wobbe Index greater than about 145 BTU/ft3 (5.4 MJ/Nm3) and less than about 700 BTU/scf (26.0 MJ/Nm3);
(c) feeding the gaseous reformate, a liquid co-fuel, and a second supply of oxidant into a connecting member wherein the liquid co-fuel is vaporized;
(d) transmitting a resulting mixture comprising the gaseous reformate, the vaporized liquid co-fuel, and the second supply of oxidant from the connecting member into a gas-fired burner, the burner configured to receive a gaseous fuel having a Wobbe Index in a range from about 1,250 to about 2,300 BTU/scf (46.6-85.7 MJ/Nm3);
and
(e) at one or more orifices of the gas-fired burner, igniting the mixture under diffusion flame conditions sufficient to produce a combustion product stream.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/998,388Filed 28 Dec 2015 · us provisional application
Priority: 30 Dec 2014
Granted: 19 Jun 2018
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

F23K 5/08
Liquid fuel: preparation of fuel
F23D 5/126
Details: catalytic elements
F23D 17/002
Burners for combustion simultaneously or alternately of gaseous or liquid or pulverulent fuel: gaseous or liquid fuel
F23K 2900/05081
Special features of, or arrangements for fuel supplies: treating the fuel with catalyst to enhance combustion