Flame visualization control for a burner including a perforated flame holder

Abstract

A combustion system includes a perforated flame holder, a camera, and a control circuit. The perforated flame holder sustains a combustion reaction within the perforated flame holder. The image capture device takes a plurality of images of the combustion reaction. The control circuit produces from the images an averaged image and adjusts the combustion reaction based on the adjusted image.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 a fuel and oxidant source configured to output fuel and oxidant;   a perforated flame holder disposed to receive the fuel and oxidant and configured to sustain a combustion reaction of the fuel and oxidant primarily within the perforated flame holder;   an electrocapacitive tomography device configured to capture a plurality of electrocapacitive tomography images of the combustion reaction; and   a control circuit configured to produce from the plurality of electrocapacitive tomography images an averaged image of the combustion reaction.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the electrocapacitive tomography device includes a plurality of electrodes positioned laterally around the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of electrodes include one or more pairs of electrodes separated from each other by the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the electrocapacitive tomography device generates the electrocapacitive tomography images based on a capacitance between the one or more pairs of electrodes. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of electrodes includes one or more first pairs of electrodes separated from each other by the perforated flame holder and facing each other in a first orientation substantially perpendicular to a primary direction of a flow of the fuel and oxidant toward the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of electrodes includes one or more second pairs of electrodes separated from each other by the perforated flame holder and facing each other in a second orientation substantially perpendicular to both the first orientation and the primary direction of the flow of the fuel and oxidant. 
     
     
         7 . A combustion system, comprising:
 a fuel and oxidant source configured to output fuel and oxidant;   a perforated flame holder including:
 an input face positioned proximal to the fuel and oxidant source and configured to receive the fuel and oxidant; 
 an output face positioned distal to the fuel and oxidant source; and 
 a plurality of perforations extending between the input face and the output face and configured to support a majority of the combustion reaction within the perforations; and 
   an image capture device positioned to capture an image of the combustion reaction.   
     
     
         8 . The combustion system of  claim 7 , wherein the image indicates a heat distribution of the combustion reaction. 
     
     
         9 . The combustion system of  claim 8 , wherein the image indicates a heat distribution of the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         10 . The combustion system of  claim 7 , comprising a control circuit communicatively coupled to the image capture device and the fuel and oxidant source. 
     
     
         11 . The combustion system of  claim 10 , wherein the control circuit is configured to receive the image from the image capture device. 
     
     
         12 . The combustion system of  claim 11 , wherein the control circuit is configured to adjust the combustion reaction based on the image. 
     
     
         13 . The combustion system of  claim 12 , wherein the control circuit is configured to adjust the combustion reaction by adjusting an output of the fuel and oxidant from the fuel and oxidant source. 
     
     
         14 . The combustion reaction of  claim 13 , wherein the image indicates that a significant portion of the combustion reaction is blue flame occurring above the perforated flame holder and the control circuit is configured to adjust the combustion reaction to reduce an amount of blue flame occurring above the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         15 . The combustion system of  claim 13 , wherein the fuel and oxidant source includes a fuel nozzle. 
     
     
         16 . The combustion system of  claim 15 , wherein the fuel and oxidant source includes multiple fuel nozzles. 
     
     
         17 . The combustion system of  claim 16 , wherein adjusting the output of the fuel and oxidant includes adjusting a number of fuel nozzles from which the fuel is output. 
     
     
         18 . The combustion system of  claim 17 , wherein the adjusting the output of fuel and oxidant includes outputting fuel from one or more fuel nozzles that were not active prior to analyzing the image. 
     
     
         19 . The combustion system of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 a hydrogen source; and   a valve coupling the hydrogen source to the fuel and oxidant source.   
     
     
         20 . The combustion system of  claim 19 , wherein the control circuit is configured to operate the valve to increase an amount of hydrogen output by the fuel and oxidant source based on a darkness of the image. 
     
     
         21 . The combustion system of  claim 20 , wherein the control circuit is configured to operate the valve to increase the amount of hydrogen output by the fuel and oxidant source when the image indicates that the combustion reaction is above the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         22 . The combustion system of  claim 19 , wherein the control circuit is configured to output a signal that indicates that a technician should operate the valve to adjust an amount of hydrogen output by the fuel and oxidant source based on the image. 
     
     
         23 . The combustion system of  claim 10 , wherein the image capture device includes an electrocapacitive tomography device. 
     
     
         24 . The combustion system of  claim 23 , wherein the electrocapacitive tomography device includes a plurality of electrodes positioned laterally around the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         25 . The combustion system of  claim 10 , wherein the image capture device includes an electromagnetic induction tomography device. 
     
     
         26 . The combustion system of  claim 25 , wherein the electromagnetic induction tomography device includes a plurality of inductor coils positioned laterally around the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         27 . The combustion system of  claim 10 , wherein the image capture device includes an electroresistive tomography device. 
     
     
         28 . The combustion system of  claim 27 , wherein the electroresistive tomography device includes a plurality of electrodes positioned within the perforations of the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         29 . A method, comprising:
 outputting fuel and oxidant from a fuel and oxidant source onto a perforated flame holder;   supporting a combustion reaction of the fuel and oxidant primarily within the perforated flame holder;   capturing an image of the combustion reaction with an image capture device; and   adjusting the combustion reaction based on the image.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , comprising:
 passing the image to a control circuit; and   adjusting the combustion reaction by altering, with the control circuit, the output of fuel and oxidant from the fuel and oxidant source.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , comprising analyzing, with the control circuit, the image. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , comprising adjusting the combustion reaction based on the analysis of the image. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein analyzing the image includes analyzing multiple images. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein analyzing the image includes analyzing an averaged image produced from multiple images of the combustion reaction. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein adjusting the combustion reaction includes stopping the output of fuel from the fuel and oxidant source. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the image capture device is an electrocapacitive tomography image capture device including a plurality of electrodes positioned adjacent to the perforated flame holder. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein capturing an image includes capturing a plurality of electrocapacitive tomography images of the perforated flame holder.