Gas flame stabilization method and apparatus

Abstract

A burner includes: a body defining an interior cavity; a burning surface located in the body and defining, at least in part, the interior cavity; a defusing surface located on an exterior portion of the body; ports on the body extending through the defusing and burning surfaces and configured to provide fluid communication between the interior cavity and ambient air outside the body; and an opening larger than at least one of the ports, the opening providing fluid communication between the interior cavity and a space outside of the body. A method of burning a gas and reducing acoustic feedback in a combustion device are also described.

1 . A method of burning a gas comprising:
 flowing an air and fuel mixture through a hole in a burner into an interior cavity in the burner;   burning the air and fuel mixture on an interior surface defining, at least in part, the interior cavity; and   moving heated gas from the interior cavity through a hole in the burner to outside the burner.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising containing substantially all of the combustion in the cavity. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising burning the air and fuel mixture with at least one of a blue flame and infrared flame. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing more air to the air and fuel mixture than the stoichiometric required amount to burn the fuel. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein 50% more air is provided to than the stoichiometric required amount to burn the fuel. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising moving the heated gas into a heat exchanger. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein no combustion occurred outside of the burner. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising moving the heated gas through a gap between the burner and the heat exchanger. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising moving the heated gas through one of a convergent tube and a divergent tube fluidly connecting the interior of the burner with the heat exchanger. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising providing an air pressure ambient to the burner greater than an air pressure in the cavity within the burner. 
   
   
       11 . A burner comprising:
 a body defining an interior cavity;   a burning surface located in the body and defining, at least in part, the interior cavity;   a defusing surface located on an exterior portion of the body;   ports on the body extending through the defusing and burning surfaces and configured to provide fluid communication between the interior cavity and ambient air outside the body; and   an opening larger than at least one of the ports, the opening providing fluid communication between the interior cavity and a space outside of the body.   
   
   
       12 . The burner of  claim 11 , further comprising a flange for connecting the burner to a support structure. 
   
   
       13 . The burner of  claim 11 , further comprising a second opening larger than at least one of the ports, the opening providing fluid communication between the interior cavity and a space outside of the body. 
   
   
       14 . The burner of  claim 11 , wherein the burner is generally shaped in of the following: a cylinder, a box, a sphere, torus, and a U. 
   
   
       15 . The burner of  claim 11 , wherein the ratio of the surface area of the burning surface and the opening is at least 1.4 units of burning surface to 1.0 units of opening. 
   
   
       16 . The burner of  claim 11 , further comprising a combustion device, wherein the burner is located in a combustion chamber of the combustion device. 
   
   
       17 . The burner of  claim 16 , wherein the combustion device is configured to provide a air and fuel mixture to the burner at a greater pressure than a pressure of the space in the interior cavity so that the air and fuel mixture will flow through the ports into the interior cavity, and wherein more air is provided than stoichiometricly necessary to burn the fuel. 
   
   
       18 . The burner of  claim 11 , further comprising a heat exchanger located and configured to define a flow path for gas vented out of the interior chamber through the opening. 
   
   
       19 . The burner of  claim 18 , wherein the opening of the burner and an opening in the heat exchanger are separated by a gap. 
   
   
       20 . The burner of  claim 18 , wherein the opening of the burner and an opening in the heat exchanger are connected by a conduit configured to fluid communication between the interior cavity and the heat exchanger wherein the conduit is one of: converging from the cavity and the heat exchanger and diverging from the cavity to the heat exchanger. 
   
   
       21 . A method of reducing acoustic feed back to a combustion device comprising:
 creating a concentrated flow path for hot gases generated in a combustion device;   locating a heat exchanger in the flow path for harvesting heat from the hot gases; and   locating in the flow path between the combustion device and the heat exchanger one of: a gap, a connector diverging from the combustion device to the heat exchanger, and a connector converging from the combustion device to the heat exchanger.