Boiler with cyclonic combustion

Claim 2

A boiler having a cyclonic combustor, comprising: A first chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall which is substantially uncooled and refractory lined; a second chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall, the rear end of the first chamber in fluid communication with and substantially longitudinally aligned with the front end of the second chamber; means for supplying air and fuel directly into the first chamber and for forming a cyclonic flow pattern of hot gases for combustion within the first chamber and the second chamber; a substantially cylindrical exit throat at the rear end of the second chamber and aligned concentrically therewith for exhausting hot gases from the second chamber, the exit throat having a diameter less than the inner diameter of the second chamber for inducing reverse flow zones within the first and second chambers; and heat exchange means surrounding the second chamber for substantially cooling the wall of the second chamber without substantially cooling the wall of the first chamber.

Claim 3

The boiler of claim 1 including a substantially cylindrical tube extending from the rear end of the second chamber and substantially longitudinally aligned with the second chamber.

Claim 4

The boiler of claim 1 wherein the supplying means includes means for separately supplying air and fuel directly into the first chamber and for mixing and combusting them in the first and second chambers.

Claim 5

The boiler of claim 3 wherein the air supplying means and the fuel supplying means are concentric nozzles for tangentially injecting air and fuel into the first chamber.

Claim 6

The boiler of claim 1 wherein the first to second chamber length ratio is substantially in the range of about 0.2:1 to 1.5:1.

Claim 7

The boiler of claim 1 wherein the front end of the outer wall of the second chamber is lined with refractory material.

Claim 8

A fire tube boiler comprising: a first chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall which is substantially uncooled and refractory lined; a second chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall, the rear end of the first chamber in fluid communication with and substantially longitudinally aligned with the front end of the second chamber, the second chamber comprising at least a portion of the boiler fire tube; means for supplying air and fuel directly into the first chamber and for forming a cyclonic flow pattern of hot gases for combustion within the first chamber and the second chamber; a substantially cylindrical exit throat at the rear end of the second chamber and aligned substantially concentrically therewith, the exit throat having a diameter less than the inner diameter of the second chamber for inducing reverse flow zones within the first and second chambers; and heat exchange means surrounding the second chamber for substantially cooling the wall of the second chamber without substantially cooling the wall of the first chamber, the heat exchange means including an outer shell, gas tubes between the outer shell and the second chamber for conducting hot gases from the second chamber, and space within the shell outside the gas tubes and the second chamber for conducting water which is heated by the heated gases in the second chamber and the gas tubes.

Claim 9

A fire tube boiler comprising: a first chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall which is substantially uncooled and refractory lined; a second chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall, the rear end of the first chamber in fluid communication with and substantially longitudinally aligned with the front end of the second chamber, the second chamber comprising at least a portion of the boiler fire tube; means for supplying air and fuel directly into the first chamber and for forming a cyclonic flow pattern of hot gases for combustion within the first chamber and the second chamber; a substantially cylindrical exit throat at the rear end of the second chamber and aligned substantially concentrically therewith, the exit throat having a diameter less than the inner diameter of the second chamber for inducing reverse flow zones within the first and second chambers; and heat exchange means surrounding the second chamber for substantially cooling the wall of the second chamber without substantially cooling the wall of the first chamber, the heat exchange means including an outer shell, gas tubes between the outer shell and the second chamber for conducting hot gases from the second chamber, and space within the shell outside the gas tubes and the second chamber for conducting water which is heated by the heated gases in the second chamber and the gas tubes.

Claim 10

The boiler of claim 7 wherein the heat exchange means includes means for directing the flow of the hot gases from the second chamber through a first predetermined set of the gas tubes and back through a second predetermined set of the gas tubes.

Claim 11

The boiler of claim 7 including a substantially cylindrical tube extending from the rear of the second chamber and substantially longitudinally aligned with the second chamber.

Claim 12

The boiler of claim 9 wherein the fire tube comprises the second chamber and the substantially cylindrical tube and wherein the heat exchange means includes means for directing the flow of hot gases from the cylindrical tube through the gas tubes.

Claim 13

The boiler of claim 7 wherein the gas tubes longitudinally extend parallel to the second chamber.

Claim 14

A boiler having a cyclonic combustor, comprising: a first chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall which is substantially uncooled and refractory lined; a second chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall, the rear end of the first chamber in fluid communication with and substantially longitudinally aligned with the front end of the second chamber; means for supplying air and fuel directly into the first chamber and for forming a cyclonic flow pattern of hot gases for combustion within the first chamber and the second chamber, with a Swirl number of at least about 0.7 and a Reynolds number of at least about 18,000 at the boiler maximum capacity; a substantially cylindrical exit throat at the rear end of the second chamber and aligned substantially concentrically therewith, the exit throat having a diameter less than the inner diameter to the second chamber for inducing reverse flow zones within the first and second chambers; and heat exchange means surrounding the second chamber for substantially cooling the wall of the second chamber without substantially cooling the wall of the first chamber.

Claim 15

A boiler having a cyclonic combustor, comprising: a first chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall which is substantially uncooled and refractory lined; a second chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall, the rear end of the first chamber in fluid communication with and substantially longitudinally aligned with the front end of the second chamber; means for supplying air and fuel directly into the first chamber and for forming a cyclonic flow pattern of hot gases for combustion within the first chamber and the second chamber, with a Swirl number of at least about 0.7 and a Reynolds number of at least about 18,000 at the boiler maximum capacity; a substantially cylindrical exit throat at the rear end of the second chamber and aligned substantially concentrically therewith, the exit throat having a diameter less than the inner diameter to the second chamber for inducing reverse flow zones within the first and second chambers; and heat exchange means surrounding the second chamber for substantially cooling the wall of the second chamber without substantially cooling the wall of the first chamber.

Claim 16

The boiler of claim 7 wherein the ratio of the diameter of the exit throat divided by the diameter of the inside surface of the second chamber lies within the range of about 0.4 to about 0.7.

Claim 17

A cyclonic combustor comprising: a first chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall which is substantially uncooled and refractory lined; a second chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall, the rear end of the first chamber in fluid communication with and substantially longitudinally aligned with the front end of the second chamber; means for supplying air and fuel directly into the first chamber and for forming a cyclonic flow pattern for combustion within the first chamber and the second chamber; a substantially cylindrical exit throat at the rear end of the second chamber and aligned substantially concentrically therewith, the exit throat having a diameter less than the inner diameter of the second chamber for inducing reverse flow zones within the first and second chambers; and means for substantially cooling the wall of the second chamber without substantially cooling the wall of the first chamber.

Claim 18

A cyclonic combustor comprising: a first chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall which is substantially uncooled and refractory lined; a second chamber having a front end, a rear end and a substantially cylindrical longitudinally extending outer wall, the rear end of the first chamber in fluid communication with and substantially longitudinally aligned with the front end of the second chamber; means for supplying air and fuel directly into the first chamber and for forming a cyclonic flow pattern for combustion within the first chamber and the second chamber; a substantially cylindrical exit throat at the rear end of the second chamber and aligned substantially concentrically therewith, the exit throat having a diameter less than the inner diameter of the second chamber for inducing reverse flow zones within the first and second chambers; and means for substantially cooling the wall of the second chamber without substantially cooling the wall of the first chamber.