Combustion system for burning fuel having various particle sizes
AssigneeStearns Catalytic World Corporation
InventorsThomas E. Stringfellow, Warnie L. Sage
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is a process and associated apparatus for obtaining energy from a fuel source having particles varying in size from fines to coarse. The fuel source is introduced into a passageway formed between an upper combustor and a lower combustor. A gas stream is moved upwardly through the passageway such that the fine particles are entrained in the gaseous stream and carried into the upper combustor.
Claims16
A process for obtaining energy from a fuel source having particles ranging in size from fines to coarse by combusting said fuel in a combustion apparatus having an upper combustor and a lower combustor connected via a passageway, wherein a venturi is formed in said passageway such that the velocity of gases entering the passageway from the lower combustor is increased, said process comprising:
- (a) introducing the fuel source, having fine and coarse particles into the combustion apparatus, at a point along or directly above the passageway;
- (b) introducing an oxygen-containing gas into the lower combustor in a quantity sufficient to support combustion in the lower combustor;
- (c) moving a gas stream upwardly through the passageway such that the fine particles are entrained in the gaseous stream and carried into the upper combustor, while the coarse particles fall into the lower combustor;
- (d) combusting the fine particles in the upper combustor to generate heat;
- (e) combusting the coarse particles in the lower combustor to generate heat;
- and
- (f) using the generated heat to provide useful energy.
A combustion apparatus for obtaining energy from a fuel source having particles ranging in size from fines to coarse, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) a lower combustor having inwardly slanting walls at its upper end forming an exit port having a smaller diameter than the diameter of the lower combustor;
- (b) a passageway connecting the exit port of the lower combustor with an inlet of an upper combustor located above said lower combustor, said passageway having a smaller diameter than both the lower and upper combustors;
- (c) a means for introducing said fuel source into the combustion apparatus at a point at or directly above said passageway;
- and
- (d) a means for providing a moving, gaseous stream upward through said passageway at a velocity sufficient to separate the fuel source into fines and coarse particles, whereby the coarse particles fall into the lower combustor to generate heat and the fines are entrained in the moving gas stream and carried up into the upper combustor to generate heat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.