Method and system for feeding and burning a pulverized fuel in a glass melting furnace, and burner for use in the same

Abstract

A method and system for feeding and burning pulverized fuel, such as petroleum coke, in a glass melting furnace, which includes a glass melting and a plurality of burners associated with a pair of sealed regenerative chambers disposed side-by-side which act as heat exchangers, the burners are arranged in a series of ports that are associated with the glass melting region of the furnace. The system includes means for supplying the pulverized fuel by each one of the burners for melting glass raw materials. The emissions of flue gases produced by the combustion process of the fuel in the furnace are controlled in order to maintain clean the flue gases and for reducing the emission of impurities from the fuel such as SO x , NO x and particulates. The regenerative chambers are manufactured with selected refractories such as, magnesium, zircon-silica-alumina or magnesia and zirconium-silicate, for conteracting the erosive and corrosive effects produced by the combustion process of the fuel in the glass melting chamber. A burner is also provided for feeding the petroleum coke, the burner including means to simultaneously mix a primary air and pulverized fuel-air mixture for the burning of the pulverized fuel.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A method for feeding and burning a pulverized fuel in a glass melting furnace of type including a glass melting region lined with refractory material and a plurality of burners associated with sealed regenerators in the glass melting furnace, which act as heat exchangers, the method comprising; 
 supplying a pulverized fuel of the type comprising fixed carbon and impurity materials of sulfur, nitrogen, vanadium, iron and nickel or mixture of the same to each one of said burners associated with the sealed regenerators of said glass melting furnace;    burning said pulverized fuel by each one of said burners in the melting region of said melting furnace, providing a flame for each burner to carry out a combustion process in said melting region for the melting of the glass;    controlling emissions of carbon and impurity materials produced by the burning of said pulverized fuel with environmental control means, said environmental control means being located in a waste gas outlet of said glass melting furnace, in order to clean the flue gases and reducing the emission of impurities from the pulverized fuel such as SO x , NO x  and particulates, said reduction of emissions being controlled during and after that the combustion of the pulverized fuel in the glass melting furnace has been carried out; and,    conteracting erosive and abrasive effects of the pulverized fuel in the glass melting furnace by refractory means, at said glass melting furnace.    
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the glass melting furnace is of the side-port type.  
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the burners are arranged in a plurality of laterally ports associated with the glass melting region of said glass melting furnace.  
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pulverized fuel is petroleum coke.  
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the step of supplying the pulverized fuel comprises: 
 feeding the pulverized fuel in distribution means;    discharging the pulverized fuel material from the distribution means toward at least a main pipe;    mixing the pulverized fuel with a first flow of air for producing a pulverized fuel-air mixture, said pulverized fuel-air mixture being distributed toward said main pipe;    supplying the pulverized fuel-air mixture from the main pipe to each one of the burners of the melting furnace, for operating said burners in an alternately operating cycle between combustion and non-combustion cycles; and,    supplying simultaneously a second flow of air or natural gas together with the pulverized fuel-air mixture, in each one of said burners, to carry out the combustion cycle in the glass melting furnace.    
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the discharging step comprises: returning the excess of pulverized fuel that is being provided in the main pipe toward the distribution means.  
     
     
         7 . The method as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the step of supplying the pulverized fuel-air mixture from the main pipe comprises: returning the excess of pulverized fuel-air mixture from the main pipe toward each one of the distribution means.  
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the step of feeding the pulverized fuel comprises: fluidizing the pulverized fuel before that said pulverized fuel be distributed toward the main pipe.  
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the step of mixing the pulverized fuel comprises: 
 distributing the pulverized fuel-air mixture in at least two distribution pipes, to supply the pulverized fuel-air mixture by each one of the burners in an alternatively operating cycle.    
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the refractory means are selected of a material with at least 98% of magnesium oxide for reducing the amount of calcium oxide present in said material at regenerative chambers.  
     
     
         11 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the refractory means are selected of a fused cast material of zircon-silica-alumina, which present an acid behavior for reducing of damage into the refractories produced by the combustion of the pulverized fuel at regenerative chambers.  
     
     
         12 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the refractory means are selected of a material containing of about of 80% magnesia and about 20% zirconium-silicate at regenerative chambers.  
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling emissions of carbon and impurity materials of sulfur, nitrogen, vanadium, iron and nickel is carried out with electrostatic precipitators, dry or partially wet scrubbers, dry scrubbing and semi-wet scrubbing or a combination of the same.  
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the method further includes: 
 supplying natural gas to a second series of burners, said second series of burners being arranged in said melting region of said melting chamber.    
     
     
         15 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the method further includes: 
 supplying fuel oil to a third series of burners, said third series of burners being arranged in said glass melting region of said melting chamber.    
     
     
         16 . A method for feeding and burning a pulverized fuel in a glass melting furnace for melting glass raw materials of type including a melting region lined with refractory material and a plurality of burners associated with a pair of sealed regenerators disposed side-by-side which act as heat exchangers, the burners being arranged in each of a plurality of first and second ports associated with the glass melting region of said glass melting furnace, the method comprising; 
 supplying a pulverized fuel of the type comprising fixed carbon and impurity materials of sulfur, nitrogen, vanadium, iron and nickel or mixture of the same to a glass melting furnace of the side-port type by means of the burners arranged in said plurality of first and second side ports in the glass melting region of said glass melting furnace;    burning said pulverized fuel by each one of said burners in said glass melting region of said melting chamber, providing a flame for each burner to carry out a combustion process in said melting chamber for the melting of the glass raw materials;    controlling emissions of carbon and impurity materials produced by the burning of said pulverized fuel with environmental control means, said environmental control means being located in a waste gas outlet of the furnace, in order to clean the flue gases and reducing the emission of impurities from the pulverized fuel such as SO x , NO x  and particulates, said reduction of emissions being controlled during and after that the combustion of the pulverized fuel in the glass melting furnace has been carried out; and,    conteracting erosive and corrosive effects by the burning of the pulverized fuel in the glass melting furnace by refractory means, at said glass melting.    
     
     
         17 . A system for feeding and burning a pulverized fuel in a glass melting furnace of type including a glass melting region lined with refractory material and a plurality of burners associated with sealed regenerators in the glass melting furnace, which act as heat exchangers, the system comprising: 
 means for supplying a pulverized fuel of type comprising carbon and impurity materials of sulfur, nitrogen, vanadium, iron and nickel or mixture of the same by each one of the burners in order to burn said pulverized fuel in the glass melting region of said glass melting furnace, providing a flame by each burner to carry out cycles of melting glass;    means for controlling the emissions of carbon and impurity materials produced by the burning of said pulverized fuel, said means for controlling the emissions being located in a waste gas outlet of said glass melting furnace, in order to clean the flue gases and reducing the emission of impurities from the pulverized fuel such as SO x , NO x  and particulates, said reduction of emissions being controlled during and after that the combustion of the pulverized fuel in the glass melting furnace has been carried out; and,    refractory means for conteracting erosive and abrasive effects produced by the burning of the pulverized fuel in said glass melting region, said glass melting furnace being constructed with said refractory means for controlling said erosive and abrasive effects produced by the burning of said pulverized fuel in said furnace.    
     
     
         18 . The system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the glass melting furnace is of the side-port type.  
     
     
         19 . The system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the burners are arranged in a plurality of laterally ports associated with the glass melting region of said glass melting furnace.  
     
     
         20 . The system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the refractory means are selected of a material with at least 98% of magnesium oxide, said material reducing the amount of calcium oxide present in said material at regenerative chambers.  
     
     
         21 . The system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the refractory means are selected of a fused cast material of zircon-silica-alumina, which present an acid behavior for reducing damages in the refractories produced by the burning of the pulverized fuel.  
     
     
         22 . The system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the means for supplying the pulverized fuel comprises: 
 means for feeding the pulverized fuel material in distribution means;    means for discharging the pulverized fuel material from said distribution means toward at least a main pipe;    means for mixing the pulverized fuel with a first flow of air and for discharging a constant flow of a pulverized fuel-primary air mixture toward at least one of said main pipes;    means for supplying the pulverized fuel-air mixture from each main pipe to at least a burner of a glass melting furnace, for operating said burners in an alternately operating cycle between a combustion and non-combustion cycle; and,    means for supplying a second flow of air or natural gas by each one of said burners, said second flow being simultaneously fed with the pulverized fuel-air mixture in each burner to carry out the combustion cycle of each burner in the glass melting furnace.    
     
     
         23 . The system as claimed in  claim 22 , wherein the system for feeding and burning a pulverized fuel in at least a burner of a glass melting furnace further comprises: means for fluidizing the pulverized fuel within said distribution means.  
     
     
         24 . The system as claimed in  claim 22 , wherein the means for supplying the pulverized fuel-air mixture from each main pipe comprises: 
 means for distributing the pulverized fuel-air mixture in at least two distribution pipes, to supply the pulverized fuel-primary air mixture by each one of the burners in the glass melting furnace in an alternatively operating cycle.    
     
     
         25 . The system as claimed in  claim 22 , wherein the means for discharging the pulverized fuel of the distribution means comprises: means for returning the excess of pulverized fuel toward said distribution means.  
     
     
         26 . The system as claimed in  claim 22 , wherein the means for supplying the pulverized fuel-air mixture to the main pipe comprises: means for returning the excess of the pulverized fuel-air mixture from the main pipe toward said distribution means.  
     
     
         27 . The system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the means for controlling the emissions comprises: electrostatic precipitators, dry or partially wet scrubbers, dry scrubbing and semi-wet scrubbing or a combination of the same.  
     
     
         28 . The system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the system further includes: 
 a second series of burners, said second series of burners being arranged in said plurality of first and second ports in said glass melting region of said melting chamber for burning natural gas in said melting chamber.    
     
     
         29 . The system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the system further includes: 
 a third series of burners, said third series of burners being arranged in said plurality of first and second ports in said glass melting region of said melting chamber for burning fuel oil in said melting chamber.    
     
     
         30 . A system for feeding and burning a pulverized fuel in a glass melting furnace of type including a glass melting region lined with refractory material and a plurality of burners associated with a pair of sealed regenerators disposed side-by-side which act as heat exchangers, the burners being arranged in each of a plurality of first and second ports associated with the glass melting region of said glass melting furnace, the system comprising: 
 means for supplying a pulverized fuel comprising carbon and impurity materials of sulfur, nitrogen, vanadium, iron and nickel or a mixture of the same, in the glass melting furnace of side-port type by each one of the burners arranged in said plurality of said first and second ports of the glass melting region of said melting chamber, said burners being fed with said pulverized fuel for burning said pulverized fuel in the glass melting region of said melting chamber, providing a flame by each burner to carry out a combustion process in said melting chamber for the melting of glass;    means for controlling the emissions of the carbon and impurity materials produced by the burning of said pulverized fuel, said means for controlling the emissions being located in a waste gas outlet of said glass melting furnace, in order to clean the flue gases and reducing the emission of impurities from the pulverized fuel such as SO x , NO x  and particulates, said reduction of emissions being controlled during and after that the combustion of the pulverized fuel in the glass melting furnace has been carried out; and,    refractory means for conteracting erosive and abrasive effects produced by the burning of the pulverized fuel in said glass melting region, said glass melting furnace being constructed with said refractory means for controlling said erosive and said abrasive effects produced in the glass melting region by the burning of said pulverized fuel.    
     
     
         31 . A burner for burning a pulverized fuel for use in a glass melting furnace, which comprises: 
 a main body comprising an outer pipe, an intermediate pipe, and a inner pipe, said pipes being concentrically arranged one with the other, said outer pipe and said intermediate pipe forming a first chamber, said outer pipe including an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe for introducing and for circulating a cooling fluid within of said first chamber for the cooling of the burner; said intermediate pipe including a first inlet for introducing a first flow of air or gas in a second chamber, said second chamber being defined between said inner pipe and said intermediate pipe; said inner pipe including a second inlet for introducing of a pulverized fuel-air mixture through said inner pipe; and,    distribution means connected in a lower end of said main body, said distribution means including a first reception chamber, said first reception chamber being connected at a lower end of said second inlet of said inner pipe, for receiving the pulverized fuel-air mixture; a second reception chamber, said second reception chamber being formed between at the lower end of said inner pipe and said intermediate pipe; and a third chamber surrounding a exterior section of the distribution means for receiving and circulating the cooling fluid that is being introduced in said first chamber for the cooling of said distribution means, and at least one exit passage formed from the first reception chamber to an exit end of said distribution means, said exit passage being disposed for conveying the mixture of pulverized fuel-air out of the exit end of said distribution means; and,    at least a discharge nozzle connected by each one of said exit passages of said distribution means, said discharge nozzle including a central orifice for conveying the pulverized fuel-air mixture, and a second plurality of orifices disposed in coincidence with the second reception chamber to provide a swirl movement of the first flow of air or gas, said first flow of air or gas and said pulverized fuel-air mixture being simultaneously mixed to be burned in a combustion zone of a glass melting furnace.    
     
     
         32 . The burner as claimed in  claim 31  wherein the exit passage includes a first inner annular section and a second intermediate annular section, said first inner annular section and said second intermediate annular section defining an access for receiving the discharge nozzle.  
     
     
         33 . The burner as claimed in  claim 31  wherein the first inner annular section includes a first annular recess for deviating the flow of the primary air or gas toward the frontal part of the distribution means.  
     
     
         34 . The burner as claimed in  claim 31  wherein the cooling fluid is water.  
     
     
         35 . The burner as claimed in  claim 31  wherein the discharge nozzle comprises: a head; a cylindrical member coupled in the rear part of said head, said cylindrical member comprising a central orifice in a frusto-conical form, with a diameter less in the front of the head; at least one a plurality of orifices formed in the periphery of said cylindrical member, said orifices being formed transversally around the periphery of the cylindrical member to provide communication between the second reception chamber and the central orifice of said discharge nozzle.  
     
     
         36 . The burner as claimed in  claim 35 , wherein the plurality of orifices of the cylindrical member are formed in a perpendicular form with respect to the cylindrical member.  
     
     
         37 . The burner as claimed in  claim 35 , wherein the plurality of orifices of the cylindrical member are formed tangentially with an angle from  0  to  15  degrees, to produce a swirl movement of the first flow of air or gas around the pulverized fuel-air mixture.  
     
     
         38 . The burner as claimed in  claim 31  wherein the distributing means are separated with an angle from about  100  to about  200  between each other.