Pulsed combustion reactor with pulsating flame, in particular for thermal material treatment or material synthesis

Abstract

A method and a device for reliably preventing undesired flashback or excessive separation/extinction of a pulsating flame for use in pulsed combustion reactors or pulsation reactors for thermal material treatment or thermal material synthesis is disclosed. The invention makes it possible to operate pulsed combustion reactors or pulsation reactors with thermal material treatment at markedly greater amplitudes of an oscillation of a hot gas flow in the reactor, and to improve the properties of the thermally treated/thermally synthesized material, and to markedly increase the throughput rates of the reactor (reactor capacity), and thus to reduce production costs in comparison to other thermal methods/apparatus for material treatment, and hence to make the pulsed combustion reactor technology or pulsation reactor technology more competitive. According to the invention, the invention uses a swirl burner to generate a swirl-stabilized flame, an essentially conical diffuser being connected downstream of the burner.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A device for thermal treatment of a raw material in an oscillating hot gas stream of a pulsed combustion reactor, having a burner to which is supplied, via at least one line, a mass flow to form at least one pulsating flame which generates the oscillating hot gas stream, wherein the flame is arranged in a combustion chamber,
 wherein the burner is a swirl burner, and   wherein a diffuser is connected downstream of a burner outlet of the burner.   
     
     
         2 . The device as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pulsating flame is a swirl-stabilized flame and has an inner, central recirculation zone. 
     
     
         3 . The device as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the diffuser is conical in shape, with a cross-sectional area that increases in the axial direction. 
     
     
         4 . The device as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the diffuser has an opening half-angle in the range between 3 degrees and 45 degrees. 
     
     
         5 . The device as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the diffuser has an axial extent of between 0.5 times and 10 times the free diameter of the burner outlet. 
     
     
         6 . A method for thermal treatment of a raw material in an oscillating hot gas stream of a pulsed combustion reactor, having a burner to which is supplied, via at least one line, a mass flow of fuel gas and air to form at least one pulsating flame which generates the oscillating hot gas stream, wherein the flame is arranged in a combustion chamber with an adjoining reaction space,
 wherein
 the fuel/air mixture flowing to the pulsating flame is guided through a swirl burner and a diffusor adjoining this burner.