Pilot stabilized burner

A method for operating a burner system, comprising:

• providing heat to a distal flame holder from a pilot flame supported by a pilot burner, the pilot flame being fueled by a pilot fuel, the distal flame holder and the pilot burner being disposed in a furnace and in proximity to one another, the pilot burner disposed between the distal flame holder and one or more main fuel nozzles, a distance between the pilot burner and the distal flame holder being smaller than a distance between the pilot burner and the one or more main fuel nozzles;
• introducing mixed main fuel and air to the distal flame holder;
• and
• holding at least a portion of a combustion reaction of the mixed main fuel and air with the distal flame holder while the pilot burner continues to support the pilot flame.

A low emissions modular burner system, comprising:

• one or more burner modules, each burner module including:
• a main fuel source, separately valved from all other fuel sources, configured to selectively deliver a main fuel stream for dilution by a flow of combustion air,
• a main fuel igniter configured to cause ignition of the main fuel stream emitted from the main fuel source,
• a distal flame holder, separated from the main fuel source and the main fuel igniter by respective non-zero distances, the distal flame holder being configured to hold a combustion reaction supported by the main fuel stream when the distal flame holder is at or above a predetermined temperature, and
• a pre-heating apparatus configured to pre-heat the distal flame holder to the predetermined temperature;
• a common combustion air source configured to provide combustion air to each of the plurality of burner modules;
• and
• a wall encircling all of the one or more burner modules, the wall being configured to laterally contain combustion fluids corresponding to the one or more burner modules.