Detonation of process gases when burner restarts
Detonation of process gases when burner restarts
(OP)
I am building a fume incinerator which destructs flammable gases which will be generated inside a muffle during a continuous process. The muffle is just a pipe that is heated externally by electric heaters. Our product (a powder) is pushed thru the pipe, and it is heated in a nitrogen atmosphere. The powder offgases hydrogen, ammonia, carbon monoxide, all of which are flammable. These gases are sent to a fume incinerator, which is fired by a natural gas burner. If the burner shuts off accidentally, my process gases will continue to be generated for many hours thereafter (thermal momentum). There is no way to stop them. These gases are still being sent to the fume incinerator even though its burner has shut down. When the burner is reignited, we would have to begin a purge, which introduces air, which I assume would cause an explosion inside the fume incinerator since it is filled with process fumes that are at approximately 1200F to 1400F (above auto ignition temp). How do I prevent an explosion when the burner is relit? Should I purge the entire furnace with large volumes of nitrogen gas anytime we lose the burner? I'm not sure this will help.





RE: Detonation of process gases when burner restarts
There are several companies that make flares for landfill gas, sewage treatment plant gas, and petroleum and other processing plant gases. I would contact them for possible solutions. You shouldn't have to "reinvent the wheel," so try a google search. Callidus made the fully enclosed LFG flare at the site I am near. The control system (Honeywell) includes an autodialer function to notify responsible persons that the flare shut down.
Just my thoughts on the subject, hope they are useful.
RE: Detonation of process gases when burner restarts
RE: Detonation of process gases when burner restarts
RE: Detonation of process gases when burner restarts
IMHO you are operating an unsafe system!!
The waste gases should be diverted from the incinerator feed to another system designed to accept the stream on a temporally basis. The application of an igniter burner does NOT solve your particular problem.
For further information on safety of incinerators please feel free to email me
thermicatech@yahoo.com
I will forward a paper that I presented a few years ago at the International Conference of Incineration and Thermal Threatment Technologies, aka, IT3, about safety and process control of incinerators. The ignitor burner application is widely covered.