Furnaces – With control means responsive to a sensed condition
Patent
1998-10-21
2000-11-28
Lazarus, Ira S.
Furnaces
With control means responsive to a sensed condition
110203, 110210, 110250, 110259, 110336, F23N 300, F23N 524, F23J 1500, F23M 500, F23M 508
Patent
active
061520500
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a novel design of a lightweight and compact furnace used for the treatment of wastes. Moreover, the invention includes various elements of such design, such as the use of a unique lightweight, multi-layered refractory wall structure which incorporates advanced materials to provide both structural integrity at elevated operating temperatures and high energy efficiency, as well as dynamic cooling control.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Navy ships and commercial vessels operate in virtually all of the world's waterways. For the purpose of waste management, these ships can be viewed as small floating cities. Solid wastes surveys conducted aboard U.S. Navy ships indicate that approximately 3.0 pounds (1.4 kilograms) of solid wastes are generated per person per day while at sea. Thus, the people on a typical aircraft carrier generate over 9.9 tons (9 tonnes) of solid wastes per day. Overall, thousands of tons of solid wastes are generated throughout the world's waterways. Presently, the vast majority of these wastes are dumped into the sea, creating significant environmental problems.
In 1987, the United States Senate unanimously ratified an international law which prohibits the discharge of solid wastes into certain "special areas" of the world's oceans. The application of this law extends to all public vessels, including U.S. Navy ships. A congressional provision in 1993 established a deadline of Jan. 1, 2000, for the U.S. Navy surface fleet to meet this requirement.
Presently, the U.S. Navy needs a waste treatment facility which can be installed on board ships. The facility must be lightweight, compact, and modular, so that it can be transported in and out of ships without the need to modify the ship's basic design. Furthermore, the facility must offer high energy efficiency and quick startup or shut-down potential. The technology, disclosed herein, meets all the needs of the U.S. Navy. However, the disclosed technology can also be used for any application where weight and size must be kept to a minimum, such as in transportable or mobile waste destruction systems.
One of the most versatile technologies for the destruction of solid wastes is thermal treatment. Thermal treatment can be accomplished either by incineration or by pyrolysis.
In incineration, the solid wastes are essentially burned in an oxygen rich environment. The combustible constituents of the wastes, such as paper, plastics and other organic compounds, are used as the fuel, with additional hydrocarbon fuels added as needed to maintain a sufficiently hot flame. Typically, incineration is characterized by very large furnaces, incomplete combustion, the generation of polluting emissions, such as dioxins, and the generation of ashes. As such, conventional incineration is not a practical technology for use as a light, compact facility that must generate no detectable emissions.
A number of inventors have described incineration technologies which are specifically aimed at making the systems more compact and efficient. U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,720 describes an incineration system which uses pressurized oxygen and hydrogen, instead of the conventional air and either gas or oil, to create a flame temperature within the chamber of at least 4,000.degree. F. (2,250.degree. C.). The burning of oxygen and hydrogen significantly reduces the amount of gas needed and therefore, the size of the unit. Furthermore, by burning at extremely high temperature, the polluting emissions in the off-gas are dramatically reduced. However, one may expect that this type of operation is extremely dangerous and the risk of explosions may hinder the commercial use of this technology. Additionally, large amounts of hydrogen and oxygen must be available for operating this type of furnace.
Other incineration based technologies are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,627,365 and 4,579,067, respectively. U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,365 describes a portable incineration facility which is installed onto the truck that also collects municipal garbage. This type
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Alexakis Theodora
Drouet Michel G.
Manoliadis Platon
Rademacher, Jr. Edward L.
Rivers Timothy J.
Ciric Ljiljana V.
Lazarus Ira S.
Pyrogenesis Inc.
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