Compact flat plate premix fuel combustion system, and fluid heating system and packaged burner system including the same

A premix combustion burner, comprising:

• a burner casing configured to receive a fuel-air mixture at a burner inlet and to provide hot combustion gas at a burner output;
• a solid combustion substrate disposed within the burner casing, the substrate having a shape comprising at flat surface, having a substrate porosity defined by a plurality of pores, and having a substrate inner surface and a substrate outer surface;
• the substrate configured to receive the fuel-air mixture at the outer surface of the substrate, the fuel-air mixture passing through the pores at a mixture flow rate from the substrate outer surface toward the substrate inner surface;
• a fan having a fan speed which forces the premix fuel-air through at least one pore and provides a predetermined pressure drop across a pore of the substrate, and wherein a substrate thickness, t, and at least one pore characteristic diameter, dc, are set such that the substrate inhibits flashback by conducting heat through the pore walls of the substrate sufficiently to ensure premix fuel-air in the pore remains below its autoignition temperature, for a predetermined substrate material, fan speed and substrate porosity;
• the burner configured such that, in operation, the fuel-air mixture ignites near the plurality of pores to form a respective plurality of flamelets, each flamelet corresponding to one of the pores;
• and
• wherein the substrate inhibits flashback by conducting heat through walls of the pores sufficiently to ensure premix fuel-air in the pore remains below its autoignition temperature.

A premix combustion burner, comprising:

• a burner casing configured to receive a fuel-air mixture at a burner inlet and to provide hot combustion gas at a burner output;
• a combustion substrate disposed within the burner casing, the substrate having a shape comprising at flat surface, having a substrate thickness, t, and at least one pore characteristic diameter, dc, having a substrate porosity defined by a plurality of pores, and having a substrate inner surface and a substrate outer surface, and the substrate made of a substrate material having a predetermined thermal conductivity;
• the substrate configured to receive the fuel-air mixture at the outer surface of the substrate, the fuel-air mixture passing through the pores at a mixture flow rate from the substrate outer surface toward the substrate inner surface;
• the burner configured such that, in operation, the fuel-air mixture ignites near the plurality of pores to form a respective plurality of flamelets, each flamelet corresponding to one of the pores;
• a blower fan having a predetermined fan speed configured to force the fuel-air mixture through the pores;
• and
• wherein the substrate thickness t and characteristic diameter dc, are set such that the substrate inhibits flashback by conducting heat through walls of the pores sufficiently to ensure premix fuel-air in the pore remains below its autoignition temperature, for a predetermined substrate material, fan speed and substrate porosity.