Burner with monitoring

An oxy-fuel burner with monitoring, comprising:

• a fuel passage termination in a fuel nozzle;
• a primary oxidant passage terminating in an oxidant nozzle;
• a secondary oxidant passage spaced apart at a fixed distance from the primary oxidant passage;
• and
• a staging valve for proportioning oxidant between the primary and secondary oxidant passages;
• one or more sensors including a nozzle temperature sensor for sensing at least one of an oxidant nozzle temperature and a fuel nozzle temperature, the one or more sensors further including:
• an oxidant pressure sensor for sensing an oxidant pressure at one or more of upstream of the staging valve, downstream of the staging valve in the primary oxidant passage, and downstream of the staging valve in the secondary oxidant passage;
• and
• a staging valve position sensor for sensing a staging valve position as indicative of the relative proportion of oxidant being directed to the primary and secondary oxidant passages;
• and
• a data processor programmed to receive data from the sensors and to determine based on at least a portion of the received data the presence or absence of an abnormal burner condition including a potential partial obstruction of at least one of the primary oxidant passage and the fuel passage based on an increase or decrease in at least one of the oxidant nozzle temperature and the fuel nozzle temperature, wherein the data processor is further programmed to determine the presence or absence of one or more of a partial obstruction of one of the primary oxidant passage and the secondary oxidant passage and a sub-optimal staging valve position based on the staging valve position and the oxidant pressure at one or more of upstream of the staging valve, downstream of the staging valve in the primary oxidant passage, and downstream of the staging valve in the secondary oxidant passage.

A method of determining an operating condition of an oxy-fuel burner including a fuel passage terminating in a fuel nozzle, a primary oxidant passage terminating in an oxidant nozzle, a secondary oxidant passage spaced apart at a fixed distance from the primary oxidant passage and a staging valve for proportioning oxidant between the primary and secondary oxidant passages, and a burner block having a face adjacent to the furnace, the method comprising:

• sensing at least one of an oxidant nozzle temperature and a fuel nozzle temperature;
• comparing the at least one nozzle temperature to a threshold temperature;
• determining a potential partial obstruction of one of the oxidant nozzle and fuel nozzle based on an increase or decrease in the at least one nozzle temperature;
• sensing an oxidant pressure at a location selected from upstream of the staging valve, downstream of the staging valve in the primary oxidant passage, and downstream of the staging valve in the secondary oxidant passage;
• sensing a staging valve position indicating the proportion of oxidant being directed to the primary and secondary oxidant passages;
• and
• determining one or more of a potential partial obstruction of one of the primary oxidant passage and the secondary oxidant passage and a sub-optimal staging valve position based on the staging valve position and the oxidant pressure at one or more of upstream of the staging valve, downstream of the staging valve in the primary oxidant passage, and downstream of the staging valve in the secondary oxidant passage.