Liquid fuel atomiser
AssigneeNorthern Engineering Industries plc
InventorAlan G. Rennie
Life of this patent
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Abstract
NOx production from pressure-atomised burners is reducible by shaping, e.g. splitting, the fuel film leaving the burner. This is achieved, in accordance with the invention, by having an external wall 54 which surrounds the fuel outlet orifice 52 and from which external formations 56 extend radially inwardly towards the axis 20 of the burner. The formations 56 penetrate the frusto-conical pattern of fuel (not shown) emitting from the orifice 52 to split the flame into four discrete lobes. Other arrangements are possible in which different numbers of lobes are formed; or assymetric patterns are produced; or shaped flame patterns having no discrete lobes are produced.
Claims18
A liquid fuel atomiser comprising a body within which are defined a fuel supply passage, a swirl chamber and annularly-distributed internal passages for fuel to flow from said supply passage to said swirl chamber to rotate therein about an axis of rotation passing through said chamber, an orifice defined by said body coaxially with said axis, said orifice having an inlet opening communicating with said chamber and an outlet opening from which fuel exits from said orifice in a substantially hollow diverging frusto-conical pattern, an external wall having an inner diameter greater than said outlet opening being formed on said body coaxially with said axis immediately downstream, relative to fuel flow, of said orifice and external formation extending both parallel to said axis and radially inwardly from said wall at circumferentially spaced-apart positions about said wall, said external wall being continuous both in a direction parallel to said axis and in a circumferential direction, and each of said radially inwardly extending formations terminating in an inward edge, the radial distance between generally opposite inward edges thereof being greater than the diameter of the outlet opening of said orifice, thereby to interact with the fuel exiting from said orifice to alter the shape of said frustoconical pattern into a split pattern.
A liquid fuel atomiser comprising a body within which are defined a fuel supply passages, a swirl chamber and annularly-distributed internal passages for fuel to flow from said supply passage to said swirl chamber to rotate therein about an axis of rotation passing through said chamber, an orifice defined by said body coaxially with said axis, said orifice having an inlet opening communicating with said chamber and an outlet opening from which fuel exits from said orifice in a substantially hollow diverging frustoconical pattern, an external wall having an inner diameter greater than said outlet opening being formed on said body coaxially with said axis immediately downstream, relative to fuel flow, of said orifice and external formations extending both parallel to said axis and radially inwardly from aids wall at circumferentially spaced-apart positions about said wall, said external wall being continuous both in a direction parallel to said axis and in a circumferential direction, and each of said radially inwardly extending formations terminating in an inward edge, all said inward edges together defining a circle which is coaxial with and has a diameter greater than the outlet opening of said orifice, thereby to interact with the fuel exiting from said orifice to alter the shape of said frusto-conical pattern into a split pattern.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.