Burner and incinerator system for liquid waste

A liquid waste combustion system comprising:

• wall means defining a combustion zone;
• means for injecting first, second and third waste liquids into said combustion zone as separate unconfined streams, said means comprising first, second and third injectors positioned in spaced apart relationship to each other outside of said combustion zone and oriented so that the axes of said streams emitted from said injectors define the surface of an imaginary cone having its apex within said combustion zone and said streams are mixed in the area of said apex;
• means for introducing said first, second and third waste liquids to said first, second and third injectors, respectively, said first liquid having a BTU value below that required for combustion, said second liquid having a BTU value at least high enough to support combustion, and said third liquid having a BTU value significantly greater than said second liquid;
• means for supplying combustion-supporting gas to said combustion zone;
• means for igniting said waste mixture within said combustion zone;
• means for emission of combustion products from said combustion zone;
• means for measuring the temperature of combustion products within said combustion zone;
• means responsive to said temperature for controlling the rate of injecting at least one of said first and third liquids into said combustion zone;
• and
• means for maintaining the temperature of the combustion products at about the temperature existing within said combustion zone for a period of time sufficient to substantially complete conversion of said waste liquids to environmental innocuous products.

A process for buring liquid wastes comprising:

• providing a first liquid waste having a BTU content from about 0 to about 80,000 BTU per gallon, a second liquid waste having a BTU content sufficiently high to support combustion, and a third liquid waste having a BTU content greater than that of said second liquid waste and at least about 110,000 BTU per gallon;
• separately injecting said first, second and third liquid wastes into a combustion zone as separate unconfined streams, the axes of said streams lying on the surface of an imaginary cone having its apex within said combustion zone, and said streams being directed toward said apex from outside of said combustion zone and oriented so as to form a mixture of said liquid wastes in the immediate area of said apex;
• adjusting the rate of flow of at least one of said first and third streams so that said liquid waste mixture is combustible;
• introducing combustion-supporting gas into said combustion zone;
• igniting said liquid waste mixture;
• measuring at least one characteristic of the combustion products;
• and,
• controlling the rate of flow of at least one of said first and third streams in response to said measured characteristic.

A burner for combustion of liquid wastes comprising:

• wall means including a wall of refractory material defining a chamber having an inlet and an outlet;
• means for injecting first, second and third waste liquids into said chamber, said means comprising first, second and third injectors each having a nozzle for providing a radially diverging spray of waste liquid, said nozzles being positioned outside of said chamber wall so that said sprays of waste liquids enter said chamber inlet as separate unconfined streams;
• means for providing a primary combustion-supporting gas within said chamber, said sprays of waste liquids being oriented relative to each other and said chamber wall and said chamber wall confining said sprays so that said waste liquids and said primary combustion-supporting gas are mixed within said chamber and move as a confined stream toward said chamber outlet;
• control means for controlling the rate of injecting at least one of said first and third waste liquids relative to the rate of injecting the other of said first and third waste liquids so that said confined stream provides a combustion liquid waste mixture within said chamber, said first waste liquid having a BTU value below that required for combustion, said second waste liquid having a BTU value at least high enough to support combustion, and said third waste liquid having a BTU value sufficiently high for said confined stream to support combustion;
• and,
• pilot means for igniting said combustible liquid waste mixture, said ignited mixture sustaining combustion independently of said pilot means and products of said combustion passing out of said chamber through said outlet.