Industrial combustion burners are used to facilitate controlled combustion. By combining and then igniting fuel and air/gas, they provide heat that helps achieve and maintain specific temperatures within the combustion chamber, depending on the levels required for the particular process.
While all combustion burners operate under the same basic principles—i.e., creating heat energy by burning a mix of fuel and oxygen—they are available in several designs to meet the requirements and restrictions of different industrial applications. These variations may differ in regard to fuel capacities, mixing methods, dissemination methods, and more. The four main types available are:
Cold air burners:These burners mix fuel with the surrounding air at ambient temperatures. They are commonly used in range of applications from residential equipment, such as home heating furnaces and water heaters, to large industrial furnaces and boilers.
Hot air burners:These burners employ a central heat-exchanging mechanism to pre-heat air for combustion. They are often used in high-temperature industrial applications.
Regenerative burners:These burners work in alternating pairs using exhaust heat temporarily stored in ceramic heat regenerators, resulting in greater efficiency and lower emissions in combustion applications.
Oxy-fuel burners:These burners mix gas fuel with pure oxygen instead of air, which results in primarily carbon dioxide and water vapor emissions. They are often utilized in industrial welding and metalworking applications.
All four types use fuel mixed with some form of air or oxygen to produce heat energy. The mixing process can be performed inside of a pre-mix chamber or at the burner nozzle, depending on the needs of the application and the conditions in the surrounding environment.