Patent ID: 6250917
Filing Date: 2001-06-26
Classification: F27B

Abstract:
An apparatus for heating a fuel-fired industrial furnace having a wall defining an interior for confining a molten bath, said apparatus comprising:at least three regenerator-burner modules arranged at an outside of said wall to be in direct communication with said interior of said industrial furnace, each of said regenerator-burner modules including a regenerator and a burner which are detachably connected to said wall of said industrial furnace,a hot exhaust gas conduit flow connected to said interior of said industrial furnace though said regenerator-burner modules,a cold combustion air intake flow connected to said interior of said industrial furnace through said regenerator-burner modules,at least two ventilators, a first ventilator communicating with said cold combustion air intake, positioned between said air intake and said burner-regenerator modules, and adapted to selectively provide cold combustion air to said regenerator-burner modules as desired, and a second ventilator communicating with said hot exhaust gas conduit, positioned between said hot exhaust gas conduit and said burner-regenerator modules, and adapted to selectively provide hot exhaust gas to said hot exhaust gas conduit from said industrial furnace,each of said regenerator-burner modules being operable to produce a flame in a burner mode and to exhaust hot gases in a regenerator mode as selected,each of said regenerators being disposed between one of said burners and both of said ventilators for providing communication there between, andeach of said burners comprising a back burner housing, a front burner housing head which seats into said wall of said industrial furnace to provide said detachable connection between said burner and said wall of said industrial furnace, and an inner replaceable burner insert disposed within said front burner housing head, a plurality of axial through-channels in said inner burner for permitting passage there though of combustion air or hot exhaust gas, and a gas jet disposed centrally relative to said through-channels, anda controller operatively connected to the regenerator-burner modules and having output signals which control each regenerator-burner module independently to be in either the burner mode or the regenerator mode.