EP0039909A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Starved-air combustor
Assignee: Boeing Co
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Filing: 1981-05-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2001-05-07
Abstract
Abstract The present invention relates to a starved-air combustor of the type capable of consuming non-conventional fuels such as the byproducts of wood, pulp, and paper mills, and household and commercial refuse. Prior art starved-air combustors have not been entirely satisfactory in entirely consuming the combustible elements of the fuel at high throughput without producing air pollution. While the pollution problem can be solved to a degree by the utilization of scrubbers and other antipollution devices, such mechanisms are very expensive and their cost may militate against the use of alternative energy sources. The disclosed starved-air combustor includes a combustion chamber which is divided into a plurality of combustion chamber zones with separate overfire and underfire airflows being individually provided for each zone. Fuel is fed to the combustor in selectable constant weight ' batches and the supply of underfire air is proportional to the rate at which an auger rotates to convey the fuel through the combustor. Overfire air is supplied to each combustion zone in an inverse relationship to the variance of a sensed temperature within the zone from a predetermined temperature.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert E. Fitch
- 👤 Robert C. Tyler
- 👤 Gordon H. Tucker
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 13:12
CPC Classifications
F; F23; F23G; F23G5/00; F23G5/50; F23G5/08; F23G5/14; F23G5/16; F23N; F23N1/00; F23N1/02; F23N3/00; F23G2202/00; F23G2202/10; F23G2202/101; F23G2202/103; F23G2203/00; F23G2203/80; F23G2203/801; F23G2203/8013; F23G2207/00; F23G2207/10; F23G2207/101; F23G2207/30; F23G2900/00; F23G2900/55; F23G2900/55009
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
135 words
I. A starved-air combustor system for producing a variable quantity of heat responsive to a demand for said heat, said combustor system comprising: a combustion chamber having an inlet end for receiving said fuel, said combustion chamber for combusting said fuel to produce a quantity of heat related to the rate of combustion; means for conveying said fuel through said combustion chamber at a variable rate; means for supplying a variable quantity of air to said combustion chamber; and means for controlling the rate of said conveying means and the quantity of fuel supplied by said supplying means to increase the quantity of heat produced by said system responsive to an increase in said heat demand and to decrease the quantity of heat produced by said system responsive to a decrease In said heat demand.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
27 words
A starved-air combustor system according to Claim I, including means for feeding selectable weights of fuel into said inlet end of said conveyor In a batch mode.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
108 words
A starved-air combustor system according to Claim 2, wherein said combustor chamber is cylindrical and includes an outlet end for discharging combustion residue produced by said combustion and wherein said conveying means comprises: a rotatable screw conveyor in said combustion chamber for conveying said constant weight batches of fuel from said inlet end of said combustion chamber to said outlet end of said combustion chamber and for conveying said combustion residue toward said outlet end of said combustion chamber; and means for rotating said rotatable screw conveyor at a variable rate directly proportional to said heat demand to control the flow of said fuel through said combustion chamber.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
72 words
A starved-air combustor system according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said combustion chamber has an outlet end for discharging said hot combustion gases, said combustion chamber being divided Into a plurality of combustion zones serially spaced from said inlet end to said outlet end, and a plurality of air supply means singularly associated with each of said combustion zones for independently supplying to said associated combustion zone a variable airflow.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
112 words
A starved-air combustor system according to Claim 4, wherein said air supplying means comprises at least one overfire air injector associated with at least one of said plurality of zones for injecting air above the fuel in said associated combustion chamber zone, a temperature sensor associated with said at least one of said combustion chamber zones for determining the temperature in said associated combustion chamber zone, and an overfire air controller for control ling the quantity of air injected into said at least one of said combustor zones by said at least one overfire air injector in response to the temperature in said associated zone as determined by said associated temperature sensor.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
87 words
A starved-air combustor system according to Claim 4 or 5, wherein said air supply means includes at least one underfire air injector associated with at least one of said combustion chamber zones for injecting air into said associated zone beneath said fuel in said associated zone, and an underfire air controller for controlling the quantity of air injected into said last-mentioned at least one of said zones by said at least one underfire air injector In direct proportion to said flow of fuel through said conbustion chamber.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
57 words
A starved-air combustor system according to Claim 5 or 6 wherein said at least one overfire air injector comprises a set of overfire air injectors associated with each of said combustor chamber zones and said overfire air controller controls the quantity of air injected Into each of said combustor zones by said set of overfire air injectors.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
58 words
A starved-air combustor system according to Claims 5, 6 or 7, wherein said at least one underfire air injector comprises a set of underfire air injectors associated with each of said combustor chamber zones and said underfire air controller controls the quantity of air injected into each of said combustor zones by said set of underfire air injectors.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
139 words
A starved-air combustor comprising: a cylindrical combustion chamber having an inlet end for receiving fuel and an outlet end for discharging combustion gases and combustion residue, said combustion chamber for combusting said received fuel to produce said combustion gases and said combustion residue; a rotatable screw conveyor in said combustion chamber for conveying said fuel from said inlet end toward said outlet end, said screw conveyor comprising a cylindrical axle extending along the length of said chamber and a spiral flight concentrically connected to said axle, said spiral flight and said cylindrical axie defining In said combustion chamber a plurality of spaces around said cylindrical axle, a first of said spaces located beneath said inlet end of said cylindrical combustion chamber; and means for selectively feeding predetermined weights of said fuel into said first space through said Inlet end.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
50 words
A starved-air combustor according to Claim 9, including means for sensing the orientation of said screw conveyor In said cylindrical combustion chamber and wherein said feeding of said fuel into said first space Is responsive to the rotation of said screw conveyor into a predetermined orientation In said combustion chamber.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
144 words
A starved-air combustor comprising: a combustion chamber having an inlet end for receiving fuel, said combustion chamber for combusting said received fuel to produce hot, combustion gases and combustion residue, said combustion chamber Including an outlet end for discharging said combustion residue; means for conveying said fuel through said combustion chamber from said inlet end toward said outlet end; first means communicating with said combustion chamber proximate said inlet end of said combustion chamber for exhausting said hot, combustion gases from said combustion chamber; second means communicating with said combustion chamber proximate said outlet end of said combustion chamber for exhausting said hot, combustion gases from said combustion chamber; and means for controliing the exhausting of said combustion gases from said combustion chamber to exhaust selectively said evolved gases entirely through said seocnd means or proportionately through said first means and said second means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
199 words
A starved-air combustor comprising: a combustion chamber having an inlet end for receiving fuel, said combustion chamber for combusting said received fuel to produce hot combustion gases and a combustion residue, said combustion chamber further including an outlet end for discharging said combustion gases; means in said combustion chamber for conveying received fuel from said inlet end towards said outlet end; a plenum adjacent to said combustion chamber and communicating with said chamber through at least one aperture located beneath said fuel in said combustion chamber; means for receiving said hot, combustion gases from said combustion chamber and for further combusting any combustible material entrained In said combustion gases to produce a hot, non-combustible gas; means for selectively mixing a portion of said non-combustible gas with selected amounts of air to heat said air and for supplying said mixture to said plenum for injection into said combustion chamber through said at least one aperture to heat and to dry said fuel in said chamber; and means for sensing the temperature of said mixture of air and non-combustible gases and for controlling the amount of air mixed with said non-combustible gas to maintain a preselected temperature range for said mixture.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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