Oil Burner With Monitoring

Abstract

An oxy-oil burner with monitoring, including an oil lance having an oil nozzle at a tip end, and an oil inlet distal from the tip end; a primary oxidant passage surrounding the oil lance; an oil nozzle temperature sensor positioned in the oil nozzle at the tip end of the oil lance; an oil inlet temperature sensor positioned near the oil inlet; an oil pressure sensor positioned near the oil inlet passage; and an instrument enclosure for receiving data from the sensors; wherein the oil nozzle temperature, the oil supply temperature, and the oil supply pressure in combination are usable to indicate an abnormal burner condition.

1 . An oxy-oil burner with monitoring, comprising:
 an oil lance having an oil nozzle at a tip end, and an oil inlet distal from the tip end;   a primary oxidant passage surrounding the oil lance;   an oil nozzle temperature sensor positioned in the oil nozzle at the tip end of the oil lance;   an oil inlet temperature sensor positioned near the oil inlet;   an oil pressure sensor positioned near the oil inlet passage; and   an instrument enclosure for receiving data from the sensors;   wherein the oil nozzle temperature, the oil supply temperature, and the oil supply pressure in combination are usable to indicate the presence or absence of an abnormal burner condition.   
     
     
         2 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 1 , wherein the abnormal burner condition includes a potential problem with the one or more of the oil nozzle, the oil supply system, the oil lance position relative to the primary oxidant passage, and the oil composition. 
     
     
         3 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 1 , wherein the oil nozzle is an atomizing nozzle, the burner further comprising:
 an atomizing gas inlet distal from the tip end of the oil lance;   an atomizing gas pressure sensor positioned near the atomizing gas inlet;   wherein the difference between the atomizing gas pressure and the oil pressure is usable to further indicate the presence or absence of an abnormal burner condition including a potential problem with one or more of the atomizing nozzle, the oil composition, and the oil temperature.   
     
     
         4 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an oxidant pressure sensor positioned to sense oxidant pressure supplied to at least the primary oxidant passage; and   wherein the oxidant pressure and staging valve position are usable to further indicate the presence or absence of an abnormal burner condition including partial obstruction of the primary oxidant passage.   
     
     
         5 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a secondary oxidant passage spaced apart at a fixed distance from the primary oxidant passage;   a staging valve for proportioning oxidant between the primary and secondary oxidant passages;   a staging valve position sensor for sensing the relative proportion of oxidant being directed to the primary and secondary oxidant passages;   wherein the staging valve position, in combination with the oxidant pressure, is usable to further indicate the presence or absence of an abnormal burner condition including one or more of a sub-optimal staging valve position and partial obstruction of one or both of the primary and secondary oxidant passages.   
     
     
         6 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a burner block having a hot face adjacent to the furnace;   a burner block temperature sensor mounted in the burner block near the hot face;   wherein the burner block temperature sensor is usable to further indicate presence or absence of an abnormal burner condition including one or more of potential block overheating and flame asymmetry.   
     
     
         7 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a position sensor for sensing the installation angle of the burner;   wherein the installation angle of the burner is usable to further indicate whether the burner is installed at a desired orientation and/or slope with respect to the furnace.   
     
     
         8 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a temperature sensor for sending an internal temperature of the instrument enclosure;   wherein the instrument enclosure internal temperature is usable to indicate potential overheating of electronic components in the enclosure.   
     
     
         9 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a unique identifier on the primary oxidant passage; and   a unique identifier on the oil lance;   wherein the primary oxidant passage identifier and the oil lance identifier are usable to tag data for analysis purposes.   
     
     
         10 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 1 , the instrument enclosure comprising:
 a data collector programmed to provide power to individual sensors only when data is to be collected, based on one or both of a combination of sensed data and a periodic schedule, and taking into account the specific requirements of each of the individual sensors; and   a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting sensor data from the data collector to a data center.   
     
     
         11 . The burner with monitoring of  claim 10 , the instrument enclosure further comprising:
 a local power generation system for powering the data collector, sensors, and tramsitter.   
     
     
         12 . A method of determining an operating condition of an oxy-oil burner including an oil lance having an oil nozzle, a primary oxidant passage surrounding the oil lance, and a burner block having a face adjacent to the furnace, the method comprising:
 receiving data for burner parameters from one or more sensors selected from the group of temperature sensors, pressure sensors, flow sensors, position sensors, angle sensors, and combinations thereof;   determining expected values for the burner parameters;   comparing the received parameter data with the burner parameter expected values to determine a deviation in the burner parameter; and   indicating that maintenance is required if the deviation in the burner parameter in a specified direction is greater than or equal to a specified threshold value.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the burner further includes a secondary oxidant passage spaced apart at a fixed distance from the primary oxidant passage and a staging valve for proportioning oxidant between the primary and secondary oxidant passages. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 sensing an oil lance inlet pressure;   sensing an oil inlet temperature;   sensing an oil nozzle temperature; and   determining based on the sense parameters whether the burner is in an abnormal operating condition including a potential problem with the one or more of the oil nozzle, the oil supply system, the oil lance position relative to the primary oxidant passage, and the oil composition.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the oil nozzle is an atomizing nozzle, the method further comprising:
 sensing an atomizing gas inlet pressure;   determining based on the difference between the atomizing gas pressure and the oil pressure whether the burner is in an abnormal operating condition including a potential problem with one or more of the atomizing nozzle, the oil composition, and the oil temperature.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 sensing oxidant pressure supplied to one or both at least the primary oxidant passage;   sensing the staging valve position; and   determining based on the oxidant pressure and staging valve position whether the burner is in an abnormal operating condition including one or more of a sub-optimal staging valve position and partial obstruction of one or both of the primary and secondary oxidant passages.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 sensing a burner block temperature near the face;   determining based on the burner block temperature the presence or absence of an abnormal burner condition including one or more of potential block overheating and flame asymmetry.