Workshop on Efficient Operation & Maintenance of Boilers

OIL FIRING BURNERS

The burner is the principal device for the firing of the fuel.   Burners are normally
located in the vertical walls of the furnace.  Burners, along with the furnaces in which
they are installed, are designed to burn the fuel properly by making the proper
combination of the "three T's." 

Burners for fuel oil can be classified on a basis of the technique to prepare the fuel
for burning i.e. automisation . The finer the fuel droplets are automised the more
readily will the particles come in contact with the oxygen in the air and burn.

Types of Burners

Automisers can be divided into three main types:

Pressure Jet

 Twinfluid automisers
 Rotary cup automisers

Pressure Jet where the fuel is automised by direct pressure forcing the oil through a
swirling chamber and orifice to produce a conical spray pattern.

Features of Pressure Jet burner

Advantages

 Very simple in construction and

cheap to replace
 Good efficiencies at lower loads
 Comes in many sizes to suit
most applications
 Can produce all flames, shapes
from long and thin to short and
fat, so can fit in all types of
Pressure Jet Burner
combustion chamber

Disadvantages

 Prone to clogging by dirty oil so needs fine filtration

 Limited turn down ration of only 2:1
 Easily damaged during cleaning
 Highest oil preheat temperature required for atomization

Twinfluid automisers where a second fluid is used to effect the pulverization of fuel
into fine particles. The second fluid is usually compressed air or steam. The type can
be further subdivided into

National Productivity Council, Gandhinagar

 Workshop on Efficient Operation & Maintenance of Boilers

Low pressure air automisation where, air at approximately 1000 mmWG is used

Medium pressure air with air at 1-2 kg/cm2

High pressure air with air at 8-10 kg/cm2

Steam automisation using steam at a pressure ranging from 5-20 kg/cm 2.

Features of Air or Steam Blast Burner

Advantages

 Very robust in construction

 Good turn down ratio of 4:1
 Good control of combustion
air/fuel over the whole firing
range
 Good combustion of heavier fuel
oil

Disadvantages
Air or steam Blast Burner
 Energy used as either
compressed air or steam for atomization

Rotary cup automisers where a hallow cup is rotated at high speed (5000 rpm).Oil is
fed to the inside of the horizontally mounted automiser cup and allowed to pass
down the inclined sides of the cup to the cup edge where it forms a sheet or film and
is struck by a high velocity air stream which atomizer the fuel.

Features of Rotary Cup burners

Advantages

 Good turn down ratio of better than 4:1

 Good atomisaiton of heavier fuel oil
 Lowest oil preheat temperature
required for atomization

Disadvantages

 Most complex and costly to maintain

 Electrical consumption for the cup Rotary Cup Burner
drive

National Productivity Council, Gandhinagar

 Workshop on Efficient Operation & Maintenance of Boilers

The operating parameters of various burners such as medium air pressure, high air
pressure, pressure jet and rotary cup burners are given in the Table 1.

Table 1 Operating parameters of various burners

Oil Viscosity at
Turn- % Air for
Type of Burner tip Capacity
Pressures Down Atomizati
Burner (Redwood- Litres/Hr
Ratio on
Secs.-I)
Medium
0.20 to 1 kg/cm2
Air 6:1 3-10% 90-180 Secs. 2.25-900
(g) (Air)
Pressure
22 to
Air Pressure
Small-5:1 2275
High Air 1 kg/cm2 (g)
Large- 2-3 % 120-200 Secs.
Pressure Oil Pressure
10:1
Higher
Simplex
2:1
Pressure Oil Pressure Wide Up to
NIL 70-100 Secs.
Jet 3-14 kg/cm2 (g) Range 13000
6.1 to
10.1
Oil Pressure
Rotary 3 to
0.02 to 2 kg/cm2 4:1 15-20 % 150-200 Secs.
Cup 1150
(g)

Film Burner

Low air pressure burner is the most widely used burner in our country. The types of
oil fired LAP burners available in our country are not efficient and are responsible for
substantial wastage of fuel oil. This is because of the inability of these burners to
maintain good atomization and combustion efficiency under normal operating
conditions.

The Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) with the active support of the Petroleum
Conservation Research Association (PCRA) developed a film burner for easy
adoption in industries, especially medium and small scale units.

Principle of Operation

In the film burner the steam of fuel oil has a shape of thin cylinder inside of which air
is passed. Fuel first gets reduced to a very thin film in the form of a hollow cylinder
inside the burner and then due to impingement of primary air on the film, oil is
atomized into fine spray. Thus, the oil is in between two layers of air. In this case,
combustion performance is better than the conventional LAP burners where
atomization of oil is brought about by impingement of primary air only.

National Productivity Council, Gandhinagar

 Workshop on Efficient Operation & Maintenance of Boilers

Advantages Of Film Burner

Film burner can operate with low air pressure of the order of 400 – 700 mm water
column hence a power saving of 60% as compared to conventional LAP burner.

It does not require much preheating of fuel oil and is less sensitive to variations in oil
preheating temperatures. It can handle heavier viscosity grades of fuel oils as
compared to conventional burners.

It operates with 5 – 10% excess air levels.

Turn down ratio is higher than the conventional burners. The turn down ratio is 7 : 1
at 5% excess air and 10 : 1 at 10% excess air

Sulphur corrosion is reduced due to lesser formation of sulphur tri-oxide.

Film burner can handle preheated air upto 250 deg C without associated problems of
oil cracking.

The flame stabilizes within seconds of start up due to improved atomization.

Requires less maintenance, it is easy to clean and can be refitted immediately.

Summarising, the film burner utilizes the energy contained in the atomizing air much
more effectively than the conventional LAP burners. It is estimated that 15% or more
reduction in fuel oil consumption is possible if the conventional burners are replaced
with the film burner.

National Productivity Council, Gandhinagar