Apparatus for activity controlled waste incinerator afterburner

Abstract

This invention involves an improved technique for the modulation of waste in an actively controlled compact waste incinerator afterburner. This improved technique utilizes acoustic driving to affect indirect modulation of waste flow velocities. The waste surrogate gases are modulated indirectly by periodic entrainment created by the roll-up of the main air vortex as well as indirect acoustic excitation of secondary air injection. One of the main advantages of this new configuration is the acoustic drivers used to phase inject the waste into the vortex for proper combustion are not in direct contact with the hot waste and therefore can be less expensive and more durable over the long term.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. An apparatus for actively controlling a compact incinerator comprising: 
       an incinerator housing which defines an air inlet and transtage duct, a combustion chamber, a fuel and waste inlet duct, and an exhaust nozzle;  
       a vortex generating actuator disposed in the inlet and transtage duct of said incinerator housing and adapted for the generation of coherent, large-scale vortices in said combustion chamber proximate said fuel and said waste inlet duct;  
       a fuel modulator disposed proximate said combustion chamber and adapted for adjusting and controlling the injection of fuel into vortices within said combustion chamber where said fuel can be mixed with an oxidizer and burned, in which modulation of waste is effected indirectly via an acoustically modulated secondary air stream; an incineration controller device connected to the vortex generating actuator and the means to regulate the injection of said fuel and waste, said controller device is further adapted for receiving and processing information collected from various sensors located in said combustion chamber in order to actively control the frequency, phase shift, and magnitude of the large scale vortices generated by said vortex generating actuator as well as frequency, timing, and rate of the pulsed injection of said fuel and waste.  
     
     
       2. The apparatus for actively controlling a compact incinerator of claim  1  wherein said vortex generating actuator further comprises an electro-mechanical or electro-acoustical transducer disposed in the inlet and transtage duct of said incinerator housing and adapted for the generation of coherent, large-scale vortices in the combustion chamber proximate the fuel and waste inlet duct. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus for actively controlling a compact incinerator of claim  1  wherein the means to regulate the injection of the waste is an electro-acoustic transducer modulating a secondary air flow stream which interacts with the unmodulated waste flow stream, coming in perpendicular to the primary air flow, and indirectly modulates said waste via fluid dynamic interactions of the exit jets in free space. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus for actively controlling a compact incinerator of claim  3  wherein the means to regulate the injection of the waste is an electro-acoustic transducer modulating a secondary air flow steam which interacts in an internal flow cavity with the unmodulated waste flow stream to affect indirect modulation of said waste flow stream which exits into said combustion chamber at a shallow angle with respect to the primary air flow. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus for actively controlling a compact incinerator of claim  4  wherein said waste flow stream exits into said combustion chamber at about a 15° angle with respect to the primary air flow.