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[May 2003]
New Vortex Burners for Low NOx Emissions
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, PA, USA) has announced the commercial availability of its Large Scale Vortex(tm) burner technology, designed to significantly decrease nitrous oxide (NOx) air emissions and provide environmental and operational benefits to combustion industry applications.The Large Scale Vortex Burner is Air Products' latest portfolio offering as part of its recently announced Environmental Solutions Initiative.
At the heart of the system is a proprietary fluidic flame stabiliser which enables the primary flame to operate at ultra-lean conditions for low NOx operation. A typical mechanical flame retention device, used in current burner designs, requires more fuel to keep the primary flame attached at the burner; however, it produces higher NOx emissions.
Instead of a mechanical stabiliser, the new Air Products burner anchors the primary flame by a designed mismatch in velocity between flowing fuel and flowing air, generating a large scale vortex of the oxidant and fuel as they mix. This new flame stabilising method requires very little fuel in the primary flame, which keeps temperatures low and, according to Air Products, almost eliminates NOx emissions.
The burner's remaining fuel is introduced through proprietary fuel nozzle tips designed for rapid fuel dilution without customary clogging problems.
The company's Director, Chemical & Process Industries Global Services and Solutions, David Ashworth, said: "This technology offers companies with operations including high temperature processes a combustion solution to their environmental compliance strategies. Our burner retrofit project at a hydrogen plant in New Orleans has confirmed the ultra-low NOx potential of this novel technology.
"In addition to achieving low NOx, the uniform heat distribution reduced tube-wall temperatures by 10°, while maintaining both plant production and
efficiency levels. The easy retrofit design made the installation of this technology very economical and reduced the operator maintenance required to operate the new burners."
ENDS