In this article, I will share with you the conditions that a piece of burning equipment should fulfil for it to burn fuel completely.
These conditions that a piece of burning equipment should fulfil are what will make it effective.
Don’t get confused between the conditions that a fuel should fulfil for it to burn completely and the conditions of the furnace.
These are two different things.
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Without wasting time, let me share what you should know about the conditions that a furnace should fulfil.
These are the conditions that a furnace should fulfil to burn the fuel completely;
1. The flame temperature in the furnace should be higher.
This is the first condition that a piece of burning equipment should fulfil for it to burn fuel completely.
The flame temperature inside the furnace should be higher enough to keep on igniting the incoming fuel.
For the burning to go on progressively the incoming fuel has to be continuously ignited.
That will only happen if the flame in the furnace has a higher temperature.
For the flame in the furnace to have a higher temperature the furnace should be designed to minimize heat losses and preheated air should be used.
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Instead of most of the heat being radiated outside the furnace, the heat should be contained in the furnace.
If the heat is contained inside the furnace, it will make the burning equipment hotter which will also help in increasing the temperature of the flame.
This is one condition that will make the burning equipment efficient for use.
If the flame in the furnace won’t be higher enough, the burning process will not be complete and the amount of heat energy produced by the burning equipment will be less.
This will leave the burning equipment useless. The ignition of the fuel should be continuous and that is what will make the furnace effective.
2. The furnace should mix up the fuel with air.
The furnace should ensure that it mixes the fuel with the air effectively without any issues for the fuel to burn completely.
For the furnace to be able to mix up the air and fuel it has to have several openings that will take air inside.
Primary and secondary air hole inlets should be available on the furnace.
The air should come from the top facilitating combustion on the top of the fuel bed and also come from the bottom to ensure that the fuel below the bed is also burning effectively.
We have different types of furnaces; we have those with stationary and movable fuel beds.
The pieces of burning equipment with the movable bed are going to encourage proper mixing of the fuel and air which will facilitate burning completely.
For those with no movable fuel beds, the furnace should be designed so that the air flows freely within the fuel to help in proper combustion.
It doesn’t matter the design that will be used to ensure the furnace mixes the fuel with air, as long as the fuel is mixed with the air in the correct ratio that is what should be fulfilled.
The furnaces that are hand fired allow the operators to keep on tuning the furnace to allow proper mixing of the air and fuel.
All these are to ensure that the furnaces mix the air with the fuel appropriately.
2. The furnace should regulate the amount of fuel fed into it.
This is another condition that burning equipment should fulfil to ensure fuels are burned completely.
The burning equipment should be able to regulate the amount of fuel fed in it to avoid wasting fuel and allow a proper balance of air and fuel mixture.
This is what will ensure that burning is complete.
If the furnace won’t regulate the amount of fuel fed in it; the fuel will be excess in the furnace while the air will be limited.
This will lead to incomplete combustion which will bring the problem of carbon monoxide formation, low-quality flame will be produced and lots of soot.
The furnace should be able to regulate the volume of fuel being fed in if the combustion of the fuel is to be complete.
You have to know that the furnace is usually dimensioned (sized) to hold a certain load of fuel.
The size that the furnace was designed on also kept into account the amount of air that will be fed in.
So, if the amount of fuel fed into the furnace will be more than the original measures, this will interfere with the burning.
And that is why the furnace should ensure that this condition is fulfilled for the burning to be complete.
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3. The furnace should keep the fuel for longer for it to completely burn.
For the furnace to burn the fuel completely, it has to ensure that the fuel stays for a sufficient amount of time.
This is another condition that will allow the furnace to be highly effective because it will produce a great amount of heat energy.
If the fuel is burnt completely, the amount of heat energy will be higher compared to when the fuel is partially burnt.
This is mostly a problem with the stokers; the stoker furnaces with travelling grates usually tend to move at a speed that doesn’t allow the flame to be burnt completely.
If the travelling grates move faster than how fast the fuel burns, in the end, the grates will dispose of the fuel in the ash pit.
You will find that the furnace doesn’t operate effectively simply because the fuel on the grates doesn’t have enough time to burn.
The speed of the travelling grates should be reduced to ensure that it gives time for the fuel to burn completely.
Sometimes this can be a problem with the design or the controls of the furnace.
The longer the fuel stays in the furnace, the more sufficient the combustion will be and vice versa is true.
So, the furnace should fulfil this condition if the burning of the fuel is to be complete.
4. For the coal furnace, should be able to discharge the ash.
This is another condition that burning equipment should fulfil. The furnace should be able to discharge the ash to allow a new volume of ash to accumulate.
A furnace that discharges ash after the fuel is burnt completely it’s considered effective because it keeps the burning processes going without any disruptions.
The action of the furnace discharging the ash also reduces the work to be done on the furnace to keep the fire burning.
If the furnace won’t be able to discharge the ash this will lead to other problems like clinker formation.
Also, when the ash accumulates in the furnace it prevents air from entering it.
The accumulation of ash in the furnace will also prevent fresh fuel to be fed into the furnace.
This will end up slowing down the combustion of the fuel and so many processes will drag because of this single problem.
For the furnace to function effectively it has to fulfill this condition of discharging ash after the fuel is burnt completely.
5. The furnace should regulate the amount of air entering it.
The furnace having enough air holes and openings is not enough to make the furnace efficient.
The furnace should ensure that it can regulate the amount of air entering it.
The balance of air entering in and the excess air retaining is important to ensure that the burning is happening progressively.
You have to know that too much or less amount of air in the furnace will affect the burning efficiency of the fuel.
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The furnace should know when the air in it is enough and should not allow any more amount of air to enter.
This is what will make the furnace highly effective.
Lastly…
The furnace should fulfil these conditions I have shared with you in this article for it to be efficient.
These are the condition that will make the furnace reliable in the power plants.
Another thing that I haven’t shared here is that the furnace should ensure that it holds enough amount of fuel.
It should be able to accommodate the amount of fuel needed for the processes in the power plant.
This all starts from the design aspect of the burning equipment.
If you have any questions don’t be afraid to leave your comment. Thanks for reading. See you in my next article.
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