Apparatus and method for thermal neutralization of gaseous mixtures

Abstract

A process atmosphere incinerator for neutralizing chemical non-innocent gaseous mixtures uses thermally induced neutralization reactions, and does not rely on the use of auxiliary components. In these reactions, chemical non-innocent gaseous mixtures are neutralized to form benign and environmentally friendly products. A plurality of flame breakers is disposed inside of the reaction chamber of the process atmosphere incinerator. The flame breakers introduce variations in gas flow paths and flame patterns, and provide surfaces of elevated temperature inside the reaction chamber. The process atmosphere incinerator is constructed in a way as to support neutralization of a wide range of amounts of non-innocent gaseous mixtures of arbitrary composition.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A process atmosphere incinerator having a reaction chamber for thermally reacting gaseous mixtures and a burner connected to said reaction chamber, said process atmosphere incinerator comprising a plurality of flame breakers disposed inside said reaction chamber, said flame breakers providing surfaces of elevated temperatures within gas flow paths.  
     
     
         2 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 1 , wherein the flame breakers introduce variations in gas flow paths and flame patterns inside said reaction chamber.  
     
     
         3 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 1 , wherein at least one flame breaker is vertically mounted to the inside of the reaction chamber, being supported by the floor section of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         4 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 3 , wherein a shape of the at least one flame breaker is substantially that of an elongated parallelepiped, a longitudinal direction of an oblong base of the flame breaker forming an acute angle with a longitudinal direction of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         5 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 4 , wherein the longitudinal direction of the oblong base of the flame breaker forms an angle of approximately 20° with the longitudinal direction of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         6 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 3 , wherein the flame breaker is formed of a ceramic material.  
     
     
         7 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 1 , wherein the burner horizontally introduces a flame into the reaction chamber along a longitudinal direction thereof.  
     
     
         8 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 1 , comprising a reaction chamber having a baffle disposed above the inlet for the flame produced by the burner, said baffle horizontally extending along the longitudinal direction of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         9 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 8 , comprising a reaction chamber having an inlet for chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures and an outlet for neutral gaseous mixtures, said inlet and set outlet disposed on opposite sides with respect to the baffle.  
     
     
         10 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 1 , further comprising a process control unit for regulating the conditions of the chemical reactions inside the reaction chamber, said process control unit including a sensor disposed for sensing the reaction conditions inside the reaction chamber, a first valve to regulate an amount of air fed to the reaction chamber, a second valve to regulate an amount of fuel fed to the burner, and a controller to control the amount of air to be fed to the neutralization chamber and the amount of fuel to be fed to the burner in dependence on the reaction conditions sensed by sensor.  
     
     
         11 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a processor.  
     
     
         12 . A process atmosphere incinerator having a reaction chamber for thermally reacting gaseous mixtures, and a burner connected to said reaction chamber for horizontally introducing a flame into said reaction chamber along a longitudinal direction thereof, said process atmosphere incinerator comprising: 
 an inlet for chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures disposed on the bottom section of the reaction chamber;    an outlet for neutral gaseous mixtures disposed on the top section of the reaction chamber; and    at least one partitioning wall inside the reaction chamber for providing a substantially horizontal gas flow path from the inlet to the outlet.    
     
     
         13 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 12 , wherein the burner is disposed to horizontally introduce a flame into the reaction chamber along a longitudinal direction thereof.  
     
     
         14 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 12 , further comprising at least one flame breaker, said at least one flame breaker being mounted to the inside of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         15 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 14 , wherein the at least one flame breaker is vertically mounted to the inside of the reaction chamber, and supported by the floor section of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         16 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 15 , wherein a shape of the at least one flame breaker is substantially that of an elongated parallelepiped, a longitudinal direction of an oblong base of the flame breaker forming an acute angle with a longitudinal direction of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         17 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 16 , wherein the longitudinal direction of the oblong base of the flame breaker forms an angle of approximately 20° with the longitudinal direction of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         18 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 14 , wherein the flame breaker is formed of a ceramic material.  
     
     
         19 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 12 , further comprising a process control unit for regulating the conditions of the chemical reactions inside the reaction chamber, said process control unit including a sensor, disposed for sensing the reaction conditions inside the reaction chamber, a first valve to regulate an amount of air fed to the reaction chamber, a second valve to regulate an amount of fuel fed to the burner, and a controller to control the amount of air to be fed to the neutralization chamber and the amount of fuel to be fed to the burner in dependence on the reaction conditions sensed by sensor.  
     
     
         20 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 19 , wherein the controller comprises a processor.  
     
     
         21 . A process atmosphere incinerator having a reaction chamber for thermally reacting gaseous mixtures, a burner connected to said reaction chamber for horizontally introducing a flame into said reaction chamber along a longitudinal direction thereof, an outlet for neutral gaseous mixtures, and at least one gas activation channel running in a direction through the reaction chamber for thermally activating gaseous mixtures, said at least one gas activation channel comprising: 
 a supply pipe for receiving chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures; and    an outlet for releasing chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures into the reaction chamber.    
     
     
         22 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 21 , wherein the burner is disposed to horizontally introduce a flame into the reaction chamber along a longitudinal direction thereof.  
     
     
         23 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 21 , wherein the outlet for releasing non-innocent gaseous mixtures of the gas activation channel is positioned in close proximity to a nozzle of the burner.  
     
     
         24 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 21 , further comprising at least one flame breaker, said at least one flame breaker being mounted to the inside of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         25 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 24 , wherein the at least one flame breaker is vertically mounted to the inside of the reaction chamber, and supported by the floor section of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         26 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 25 , wherein a shape of the at least one flame breaker is substantially that of an elongated parallelepiped, a longitudinal direction of an oblong base of the flame breaker forming an acute angle with a longitudinal direction of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         27 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 26 , wherein the longitudinal direction of the oblong base of the flame breaker forms an angle of approximately 20° with the longitudinal direction of the reaction chamber.  
     
     
         28 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 24 , wherein the flame breaker is formed of a ceramic material.  
     
     
         29 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 21 , further comprising a process control unit for regulating the conditions of the chemical reactions inside the reaction chamber, said process control unit including a sensor, disposed for sensing the reaction conditions inside the reaction chamber, a first valve to regulate an amount of air fed to the reaction chamber, a second valve to regulate an amount of fuel fed to the burner, and a controller to control the amount of air to be fed to the neutralization chamber and the amount of fuel to be fed to the burner in dependence on the reaction conditions sensed by sensor.  
     
     
         30 . A process atmosphere incinerator defined in  claim 29 , wherein the controller comprises a processor.  
     
     
         31 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures, comprising the steps of: 
 introducing chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures into a reaction chamber;    guiding the chemically non-innocent gaseous mixture along a gas flow path from an inlet to an outlet of the reaction chamber;    providing surfaces of elevated temperatures inside the reaction chamber within gas flow path and between two guiding walls of the reaction chamber, the surfaces of elevated temperature for providing atmospheric turbulences thereabouts within gas flow paths inside the reaction chamber, the turbulences other than those relating to guiding the gas flow within the gas flow path;    subjecting the chemically non-innocent gaseous mixture to thermally induced chemical reactions while guiding it through the reaction chamber;    cooling the neutralized gaseous mixture after releasing it from the reaction chamber, and before releasing it into the ambient atmosphere; and    releasing the neutralized gaseous mixture into the ambient atmosphere.    
     
     
         32 . A method for reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 31 , wherein the surfaces at elevated temperatures are provided by at least one flame breaker.  
     
     
         33 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 31 , further comprising the step of providing a predefined temperature inside the reaction chamber by controlling the amount of heat produced in a combustion of fuel and air, and by mixing gases inside the reaction chamber with additional gases at a different temperature.  
     
     
         34 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 33 , further comprising the step of adjusting the predefined temperature to fall within a range from 900° C. to 1100° C.  
     
     
         35 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 31 , further comprising the step of cooling the neutralized gaseous mixture after releasing it from the reaction chamber and before releasing it into the atmosphere by mixing the neutralized gas mixture with gases at lower temperature than the neutralized gas mixture.  
     
     
         36 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures, comprising the steps of: 
 introducing chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures into a reaction chamber;    introducing a horizontal flame into the reaction chamber along a longitudinal direction thereof;    guiding the chemically non-innocent gaseous mixture along a gas flow path from an inlet to an outlet of the reaction chamber;    providing surfaces of elevated temperatures inside the reaction chamber within gas flow path and between two guiding walls of the reaction chamber, the surfaces of elevated temperature for providing atmospheric turbulences thereabouts within gas flow paths inside the reaction chamber, the turbulences other than those relating to guiding the gas flow within the gas flow path;    subjecting the chemically non-innocent gaseous mixture to thermally induced chemical reactions while guiding it through the reaction chamber;    cooling the neutralized gaseous mixture after releasing it from the reaction chamber, and before releasing it into the ambient atmosphere; and    releasing the neutralized gaseous mixture into the ambient atmosphere.    
     
     
         37 . A method for reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 36 , wherein the surfaces at elevated temperatures are provided by at least one flame breaker.  
     
     
         38 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 36 , further comprising the step of providing a predefined temperature inside the reaction chamber by controlling the amount of heat produced in a combustion of fuel and air, and by mixing gases inside the reaction chamber with additional gases at a different temperature.  
     
     
         39 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 38 , further comprising the step of adjusting the predefined temperature to fall within a range from 900° C. to 1100° C.  
     
     
         40 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 36 , further comprising the step of cooling the neutralized gaseous mixture after releasing it from the reaction chamber and before releasing it into the atmosphere by mixing the neutralized gaseous mixture with gases at lower temperature than the neutralized gas mixture.  
     
     
         41 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures, comprising the steps of: 
 thermally activating chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures;    introducing the thermally activated chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures into a reaction chamber;    guiding the chemically non-innocent gaseous mixture along a gas flow path from an inlet to an outlet of the reaction chamber;    providing surfaces of elevated temperatures inside the reaction chamber within gas flow path and between two guiding walls of the reaction chamber, the surfaces of elevated temperature for providing atmospheric turbulences thereabouts within gas flow paths inside the reaction chamber, the turbulences other than those relating to guiding the gas flow within the gas flow path;    subjecting the chemically non-innocent gaseous mixture to thermally induced chemical reactions while guiding it through the reaction chamber;    cooling the neutralized gaseous mixture after releasing it from the reaction chamber and before releasing it into the ambient atmosphere; and    releasing the neutralized gaseous mixture into the ambient atmosphere.    
     
     
         42 . A method for reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 41 , wherein the surfaces at elevated temperatures are provided by at least one flame breaker.  
     
     
         43 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 41 , further comprising the step of providing a predefined temperature inside the reaction chamber by controlling the amount of heat produced in a combustion of fuel and air, and by mixing gases inside the reaction chamber with additional gases at a different temperature.  
     
     
         44 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 43 , further comprising the step of adjusting the predefined temperature to fall within a range from 900° C. to 1100° C.  
     
     
         45 . A method for thermally reacting chemically non-innocent gaseous mixtures defined in  claim 41 , further comprising the step of cooling the neutralized gaseous mixture after releasing it from the reaction chamber and before releasing it into the ambient atmosphere by mixing the neutralized gas mixture with gases at lower temperature than the neutralized gas mixture.