Method and burner for burning solid fuels

Abstract

The present invention relates to a burner and to a method for burning solid fuels, which comprises a tube for the supply of a flow of solid fuel; a first chamber that has an inlet and an outlet, the inlet of said chamber being connected to said tube for receiving the flow of solid fuel at a first supply rate and for increasing the rate of the supply flow of the solid fuel at the outlet from said first chamber of the burner; and a second chamber connected to the outlet of the first chamber for receiving the faster flow of solid fuel and projecting a flat flame towards a melting chamber of the glass melting furnace, with a high solid-fuel combustion efficiency and low CO and NOx emissions.

1 .- 25 . (canceled) 
   
   
       26 . A burner for burning pulverized fuel in a glass melting furnace comprising:
 a supply tube for feeding a flow of a pulverized fuel;   a first chamber having an inlet end with a square cross section and an outlet end with a rectangular cross-section positioned in a horizontal direction, the inlet end being connected to said supply tube, the cross-section of said first chamber being reduced from the inlet end to the outlet end for increasing the velocity of the flow of the pulverized  10  fuel at the outlet from said first chamber;   a second chamber of a rectangular form which is coupled to the outlet of the first chamber for receiving the flow of the pulverized fuel and for projecting a flat flame towards a melting chamber of the glass melting furnace, with a high solid-fuel combustion efficiency and low CO and NOx emissions; and   adjusting means coupled to the supply tube to adjust the position of the burners in the glass melting furnace in a direction of X, Y, Z axes.   
   
   
       27 . A burner as claimed in  claim 26 , wherein the second chamber includes a slightly inclinated section at its outlet end, which is aligned in relation to a wall of the glass melting furnace, to change the flow trajectory of the pulverized fuel and for projecting a combustion flame in angular direction toward the internal part of the glass melting furnace. 
   
   
       28 . A burner as claimed in  claim 27 , wherein the slightly inclinated section of the second chamber is an interchangeable section. 
   
   
       29 . A burner as claimed in  claim 28 , wherein the interchangeable section is an interchangeable nozzle. 
   
   
       30 . A burner as claimed in  claim 29 , wherein the interchangeable nozzle is manufactured from a ceramic material of high alumina content or of cast stainless steel. 
   
   
       31 . A burner as claimed in  claim 26 , wherein the adjusting means comprises:
 A support plate fixed to the supply tube, said support plate being adjustable by means of vertical slots located to each side of the support plate; an adjusting support located in horizontal position for adjusting the burner with a forward and backward movement, said adjusting support including two arms positioned in vertical position with regards to the adjusting support, said arms including fastening means, said fastening means being placed in coincidence with the slots of the support plate in order to selectively fix the vertical position of said burner; and adjusting means placed in a lower part of said arms to adjust the vertical position of the burner with and upward and downward movement through said slots of the support plate.   
   
   
       32 . A method for burning a pulverized fuel from a burner in a glass melting furnace, the method including the steps of:
 a) introducing a first flow of a pulverized fuel to the inlet of a first chamber having an inlet end with a square cross-section and an outlet end with a rectangular cross-section positioned in a horizontal direction, the inlet end being connected to said supply tube, the velocity of the flow of pulverized fuel being increased from the inlet end to the outlet end from said first chamber;   b) projecting the flow of the pulverized fuel from the first chamber to a second chamber of a rectangular form in a forward direction to introduce the flow of the pulverized fuel in said second chamber and for projecting a flat flame towards a melting chamber of the glass melting furnace with a high solid-fuel combustion efficiency and low CO and NOx emissions; and   c) adjusting the position of the burner, which is coupled to a supply tube of pulverized fuel, to adjust the position of the burner in the glass melting furnace in a direction of X, Y, Z axes.   
   
   
       33 . A method for burning a pulverized fuel as claimed in  claim 32 , wherein the pulverized fuel is mixed with air. 
   
   
       34 . A method for burning a pulverized fuel as claimed in  claim 32 , wherein the pulverized fuel is mixed with oxygen. 
   
   
       35 . A method for burning a pulverized fuel as claimed in  claim 32 , wherein the pulverized fuel is mixed with natural gas.