Burner assembly for an inlet manifold of an internal combustion engine

An internal combustion engine having an air inlet manifold in combination with a burner assembly for heating air in said air inlet manifold, said burner assembly comprising (i) a hollow body mounted in said inlet manifold, said hollow body including a first annular casing and a second annular casing spaced inwardly of said first annular casing so as to define an air passage between said casings, (ii) a plurality of inlets at one end of said body, (iii) a plurality of outlets at an opposite end of said body, (iv) baffle means dividing said air passage into a first series of compartments alternating with a second series of compartments, each compartment of said first series being connected with one of said inlets, and each compartment of said second series being connected with one of said outlets, (v) an aperture through said annular casing serving to connect each said compartment with an interior of said second annular casing, which interior defines a combustion zone of said burner assembly, and (vi) a fuel sprayer arranged to discharge fuel into said combustion zone, the arrangement being such that air passing through said inlets is constrained to flow into said combustion zone before reaching said outlets, said outlets being arranged to communicate directly with said combustion zone.