Flame arresting conduit section, combustor and method
AssigneeHoechst Celanese Corporation
InventorEarl Vickery
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A flame arresting method, conduit section and apparatus for the safe disposal of combustible waste gases from a source such as a reactor. The invention involves providing a waste gas conduit section with a flame-detecting chamber and one or more upstream snuffing chambers divided by flame arresting grid members, and automatically introducing snuffing gases to the snuffing chamber(s) whenever a flame is detected in the flame-detecting chamber. The outlet from the waste gas conduit section opens to a combustion chamber, for incineration purposes, or to a scrubber.
Claims25
An apparatus for receiving and safely disposing of combustible gases, which comprises an elongate flame arrestor conduit section having (a) an upstream inlet end for receiving a supply of combustible waste gas to be disposed;
- (b) a downstream outlet end for discharging the waste gas for disposal;
- (c) at least one spaced pair of gas-permeable flame-arresting grid members located upstream of said outlet end and forming a detection chamber within said flame arrestor conduit section through which said combustible waste gas must pass;
- (d) a flame-detecting means within said detection chamber for sensing the presence of any flame which might travel upstream through the downstream grid member of said detection chamber;
- (e) snuffing gas inlet means opening into said flame arrestor conduit section at a location at or upstream of said flame-detecting means;
- and (f) means associated with said flame-detecting means for activating the introduction of a snuffing gas through said snuffing gas inlet means into said flame arrestor conduit section to render the gas mixture therewithin non-combustible in response to the actuation of said flame detecting means.
A flame arrestor conduit section designed to be interposed as a section of the length of a waste gas disposal conduit between a waste gas supply conduit and a means for safely converting the waste gas to a more harmless condition, said flame arrestor conduit section having an upstream inlet end for engagement with a waste gas supply conduit to receive waste gas therefrom, a downstream outlet end for discharging the waste gas to a means for converting the waste gas to a more harmless condition, at least one spaced pair of gas-permeable flame arresting grid members located adjacent the downstream outlet end forming a detecting chamber within said conduit section through which the waste gas must flow, a flame-detecting means within said detection chamber for sensing the presence of any flame therewithin;
- at least one snuffing gas inlet means opening into said flame arrestor conduit section at a location at or upstream of said detecting chamber, and electrical means associated with said flame-detecting means and said snuffing gas inlet means for causing a supply of snuffing gas to flow through said inlet means into said upstream location of said conduit section when said flame detecting means detects the presence of a flame within said detecting chamber.
A method for preventing the upstream propagation of a flame within a waste gas conduit having an upstream inlet end through which a combustible waste gas is admitted, at least one gas-permeable flame-arresting grid member, and a downstream outlet end from which the waste gas is discharged to a means for converting it to a more harmless condition, which method comprises providing a flame arresting conduit section having a gas-permeable detecting chamber containing a flame detecting means upstream of said outlet end, locating a snuffing gas inlet means within said flame arresting conduit section at a position at or upstream of said flame detecting means, and introducing a snuffing gas through said inlet means upon the detection of a flame within said detecting chamber by said flame detecting means, whereby the snuffing gas atmosphere within the flame arresting conduit section, upstream of the flame detecting means, snuffs the flame and thereby prevents the migration of the flame to the upstream inlet end of the conduit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.