Patent ID: 8177546

Claim:
A furnace having combustion between fuel and air therein, said furnace comprising: a furnace housing, said furnace housing having an inlet and an outlet, the outlet being connected to the furnace housing for removing exhaust gases resulting from the combustion in said furnace housing; a fuel supply line having a fuel nozzle as an outlet; an ignition device comprising: at least three electrodes having electrode tips, said electrode tips define a polygonal area disposed in close proximity to a location where fuel is introduced, said fuel nozzle being disposed in close proximity to and separate from said at least three electrodes; and a plurality of high voltage generation circuits, each of said plurality of said high voltage generation circuits being connected to a separate one of said at least three electrodes with its respective electrode tip for receiving electrical energy to create a high voltage output that is delivered to said at least three electrodes; and wherein said at least three electrode tips are arranged so that when the high voltage output from each of said high voltage generation circuits is supplied to each of said at least three electrodes, a plasma ionization zone is formed at least in the polygonal area between said at least three electrode tips in order to cause combustion in said furnace between the fuel and air.