Patent ID: 7029271

Claim:
An apparatus for flameless oxidation of fuels comprising a device ( 1 ) defining a reaction chamber ( 2 ) and having a first side wall ( 3 ) adjacent the reaction chamber ( 2 ), a burner ( 6 ) extending through the first side wall ( 3 ), said burner ( 6 ) including a burner head ( 23 ) that defines an elongated interior burner chamber ( 25 ) having a longitudinal axis and at a least one outlet opening ( 24 ) an air supply for directing air into said burner head chamber ( 25 ), a fuel supply having a first outlet ( 28 ) in said burner head chamber ( 25 ) and a second outlet ( 27 ) in said burner head chamber ( 25 ), said first and second fuel supply outlets ( 28 , 27 ) being located at different distances from said at least one burner chamber outlet opening ( 24 ), said first fuel supply outlet ( 28 ) being sufficiently remote from said at least one burner headoutlet opening ( 24 ) such that fuel and air introduced into said burner head chamber ( 25 ) is combustible with a flame at least partially within said burner chamber ( 25 ); said second fuel supply outlet ( 27 ) being in sufficiently close proximity to said at least one burner head outlet opening ( 24 ) such that said fuel and air introduced into said burner chamber ( 25 ) forms a fuel/air mixture that is emitted from said outlet opening without forming a flame, a control device for selectively operating said burner ( 6 ) in a first operating mode in which fuel introduced into said burner head chamber ( 25 ) from said first fuel outlet ( 28 ) burns with a flame at least partially within said burner head ( 23 ) and a second operating mode in which fuel and air introduced into said burner head chamber ( 25 ) from said second fuel outlet ( 27 ) and are discharged from said at least one burner head outlet opening ( 24 ) as an fuel/air mixture without forming a flame, said device having an exhaust gas chamber ( 17 ) with an inlet opening ( 18 ) adjacent the burner head ( 23 ) through which an exhaust gas flow in said reaction chamber is directed for withdrawal from the reaction chamber ( 2 ), and said at least one burner head outlet opening ( 24 ) being oriented for directing the flameless fuel/air mixture into said reaction chamber ( 2 ) during operation of said burner in said second operating mode in non-perpendicular relation to the first side wall ( 3 ) at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said burner head chamber ( 25 ) in a recirculation pattern that crosses the exhaust gas flow for preventing formation of a flame at the at least one burner head outlet opening ( 24 ) and effecting flameless oxidation of the fuel/air mixture in said reaction chamber along an area adjacent the first side wall ( 3 ).