How does an integrated oil and gas burner optimize flame shape and length to meet diverse industrial needs?
Publish Time: 2026-01-27
In industries such as metallurgy, chemicals, glass manufacturing, heat treatment, and marine propulsion, burners are not only heat supply units but also key factors influencing process quality. Different processes have drastically different requirements for flame shape, length, temperature distribution, and stability: glass melting furnaces require long, gentle flames for uniform heating and to avoid localized overheating; steel rolling furnaces prefer short, concentrated, high-radiation flames for rapid temperature rise; and some heat treatment processes even require flat, fan-shaped flames to cover wide workpieces. An integrated oil and gas burner, through advanced fluid dynamics design, a multi-stage air distribution system, and intelligent control technology, achieves flexible flame shaping within a single unit, precisely matching diverse industrial thermal requirements.
1. Fuel Injection and Atomization: The Starting Point of Flame Shape
The initial shape of the flame is determined by the way fuel is injected into the furnace. For fuel oil mode, the burner uses high-pressure swirling atomizing nozzles or steam/air-assisted atomization to break down heavy oil or residual oil into micron-sized droplets, forming a cone-shaped oil mist. For gas mode, uniform diffusion of natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is achieved through multi-hole annular nozzles or Venturi ejector structures. The key to integrated design lies in sharing the burner head and air distribution channel. By switching the fuel inlet and adjusting the atomizing medium pressure, the same burner can form a stable flame root in both fuel oil and gas modes, laying the foundation for subsequent flame control.
2. Staged Air Distribution System: Precise Control of Flame Extension and Rigidity
Flame length and shape are mainly controlled by the ratio of primary and secondary air and the intensity of the swirling flow. Integrated burners generally employ a multi-stage swirling air distribution structure:
The inner layer of swirling air wraps around the fuel flow, controlling the stability of the flame root and the initial mixing rate. Increasing the air volume can shorten the flame and improve rigidity.
The outer layer of direct current or weak swirling air dominates the later combustion and extension of the flame. Increasing its proportion can lengthen the flame and reduce the peak temperature, suitable for scenarios requiring uniform heating.
By adjusting the damper opening or the variable frequency fan speed, operators can flexibly switch between short flame high heat flux and long flame low NOx, adapting to different furnace types and process rhythms.
High-end integrated burners integrate adjustable flame stabilizers, flame expansion plates, or guide vanes at the outlet. For example, when wide-area heating is required, installing fan-shaped guide vanes can flatten a circular flame into an ellipse or rectangle; to prevent the flame from scouring the furnace wall, a narrowing flame stabilizer enhances the recirculation zone, allowing the flame to "float" in the center of the furnace. Some models are also equipped with water-cooled or heat-resistant alloy flame shaping hoods, maintaining geometric accuracy over long periods in high-temperature environments to ensure consistent flame morphology.
4. Intelligent Feedback and Adaptive Adjustment
Modern burners integrate flame monitoring cameras, flue gas O₂/CO sensors, and PLC control systems to achieve closed-loop optimization. The system analyzes the brightness, length, and color of the flame image in real time, and dynamically adjusts the air-fuel ratio, atomization pressure, and air distribution angle based on flue gas composition. For example, when an excessively long flame is detected that is likely to lick the furnace tube, the swirl intensity is automatically increased; when the load decreases, fuel and air volume are reduced simultaneously to maintain a short and stable flame, preventing flameout or black smoke.
5. Consistent Flame Shape under Multi-Fuel Compatibility
The challenge of integrated design lies in the significant differences in flame characteristics after switching between oil and gas. To address this, advanced burners employ modular nozzle groups—using a central atomizing core and annular air distribution when using oil, switching to a peripheral multi-hole nozzle ring when using gas, but sharing the same swirl generator. This ensures that the flame axial position and basic shape are close in both modes, reducing readjustment time during process switching.
The optimization of flame shape and length in an integrated oil and gas burner is essentially a deep coupling of fluid mechanics, combustion chemistry, and intelligent control. It is no longer a simple "ignition device," but a programmable "thermal sculpting tool." Through refined fuel-air interaction design and real-time adaptive capabilities, it allows the same device to ignite the heat of steel and gently melt the crystal of glass, truly realizing a new paradigm of industrial thermal engineering: "one machine, multiple functions, on-demand flame shaping." In the future of green and intelligent manufacturing, this flexibility and precision will become the core support for efficient, low-carbon, and flexible production.
