Variable capacity gasification burner

A variable capacity gasification burner comprising

• an outer elongated tubular shell having upstream and downstream ends and being statically sealed against the atmosphere outside the shell when the downstream end is positioned in the intended operating environment, and
• a plurality of elongated concentric tubular members positioned concentrically within said outer tubular shell and being spaced therefrom and from each other to define along and therebetween and with said outer elongated tubular shell channels along which reactants may flow, said tubular members also having upstream and downstream ends;
• said outer elongated tubular shell and said elongated concentric tubular members defining at their respective upstream ends openings through which said reactants may be introduced, and at their respective downstream ends nozzle openings from which said reactants flow and come together for reaction;
• one of said elongated tubular members being adapted when the burner is in said intended operating environment to be slidably moved in an axial direction parallel to the axis of the concentric tubular members and the wall of its nozzle opening thus being adapted to be moved toward and away from the wall of one of the outer tubular shell and tubular members to constrict and open up the nozzle opening to the channel therebetween to regulate the flow velocity of reactant therefrom;
• said outer tubular shell defining at its upstream end one wall of an annular chamber concentric with said concentric tubular members and said outer tubular shell;
• another of said elongated tubular members also defining at its upstream end the second wall of said annular chamber spaced opposite said one wall of the annular chamber;
• said slidably movable elongated tubular member at its upstream end also defining an annular piston adapted to be slidably moved axially within said annular chamber;
• said outer tubular shell also defining first and second conduit openings through which one of said reactants may be introduced to the portion of the annular chamber on said one side of said annular piston and one of said reactants or an inert gas may be introduced to the portion of the annular chamber on the other side of the annular piston to move the annular piston in one direction or the other depending upon the difference in pressure between the two sides of the annular piston;
• said annular piston having means for limiting the extent of axial movement of the annular piston in either direction and having means for providing a dynamic seal between the annular piston and the walls of the annular chamber to prevent flow of said one reactant from the portion of the annular chamber on one side of the annular piston to the portion of the annular chamber on the other side of the annular piston.