Combustion Of Lithium At Different Temperatures And Pres-sures And With Gas Surpluses Using Porous Tubes As Burners

Abstract

A method is provided for combusting a metal M, selected from alkali, alkaline earth metals, aluminum, and zinc, and alloys and/or mixtures thereof, using a combustion gas. The combustion is performed using a porous burner including a porous tube as the burner. A device for performing such method is also disclosed, as well as the use of a porous burner including a porous tube as the burner for combusting the metal M using the combustion gas.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A process for combusting a metal M selected from the group consisting of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, aluminium, zinc, alloys or mixtures thereof with a fuel gas, the method comprising:
 supplying the metal M in liquid form in the interior of a pore burner comprising a porous tube a burner; And   guiding the fuel gas onto an outer surfaces of the pore burner and combusting the fuel gas with the metal M.   
     
     
         2 - 3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the combustion occurs at a temperature above the melting point of salts formed in the reaction of the metal M and the fuel gas. 
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the metal M is supplied as an alloy of at least two metals M. 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 1 , comprising separating reaction products of the combustion after the combustion. 
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 6 , comprising using a cyclone to effect the separation of the reaction products. 
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 1 , further comprising using reaction products of the combustion to generate energy using at least one or an expander turbine, a gas turbine, a heat exchanger, or a boiler. 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus for combustion of a metal M selected from the group consisting of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, aluminum and zinc, and alloys or mixtures thereof with a fuel gas, the apparatus comprising:
 a pore burner comprising a porous tube as a burner,   a metal feed unit configured to feed the metal M, in liquid form, to the pore burner, and   a fuel gas feed unit configured to supply at least a portion of the fuel gas to an outer surfaces of the pore burner.   
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the pore burner is arranged such that reaction products of the combustion of the metal with the fuel gas are removed by gravity from the surface of the pore burner. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the pore burner is formed from a material selected from the group consisting of iron, chromium, nickel, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, tungsten, zirconium, alloys of these metals, stainless steel, and chromium-nickel steel. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising a separation unit configured to separate combustion products of the metal M and the fuel gas, wherein separation unit comprises a cyclone reactor. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising at least one of an expander turbine, a gas turbine, a heat exchanger, or a boiler. 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising a heating apparatus configured to liquefy the metal M before being fed to the pore burner.