ABSTRACT
All thermal oxidizers consist of several minimum basic components. These are a burner, combustion/residence chamber, refractory insulation, and stack. The purpose of the burner is to mix fuel and oxidant to produce a flame. This flame provides some or all of the energy required to raise the waste gases to the specified operating temperature of the thermal oxidizer. The flame produced has a characteristic length and diameter for a given fuel firing rate and excess air. Combustion air preheat can also affect the flame dimensions, as can the dimensions of the chamber into which the burner is firing. The heat content of some waste gases obviates the need for auxiliary fuel. However, the auxiliary fuel burner is rarely turned off. A process upset can temporarily change the waste gas heating value or interrupt flow. Refractory brick is a mixture of clays, silica, tabular alumina, or zirconia that have been carefully selected with respect to particle size and composition.
