Liquid-fuel combustion system

Abstract

A process for combustion with the aid of a liquid fuel and a gaseous oxidizer containing from 20% to 100% volume of oxygen, in which the fuel is injected with the aid of an injector. The injector, which has a height “d”, is placed inside a glory hole. The glory hole has a height “D” at the end thereof corresponding to the ejection of the gaseous mixture towards the zone of heating of a charge. A coefficient “S” in the following equation is maintained at a value less than or equal to 1 for substantially the entire duration of combustion to ensure the stability of the flame. S = a 1 ⁢ V equivalent - a 2 ⁢ L a 3 ⁢ d ⁡ ( 2 - e - L / 10 ⁢ D ) with a1=2.5·10−11 a2=1·10−9, dimensionless a3=(0.875·γ+0.525)·10−6, dimensionless. In the above equation, “L” is defined as the distance between the end of the liquid fuel injector and the downstream end in the fluid flow direction of the glory hole. “Vequivalent” is defined either as the equivalent velocity representative of the average velocity of the spray of drops of liquid fuel in the case of mechanical atomizers and being equal to 2.4 M/(ρπd2), or a velocity equal to 0.5 times Vatomization, in other cases. “γ” is defined as the overall (volume) percentage of oxygen in the gases at the exit of the glory hole.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.