Advanced Furnace Concepts - Advanced Commercial Warm Air Furnace. Final Report September 1982-June 1987

摘要

The project's objective is to develop an advanced, condensing commercial warm air furnace. The furnace uses a gas-fired, low NOx radiant fiber burner manufactured by the performing organization. Four technical phases provided a systematic means of developing the advanced furnace technology. In phase one, the retrofit of the radiant burner into a conventional furnace achieved a significant reduction in NOx emissions and noise output. During the second phase, retrofiting a condensing heat exchanger onto the phase 1 furnace was not shown to be cost-effective when compared to the predicted costs of a newly constructed condensing furnace. After modifying this unit, field tests demonstrated significant fuel savings and identified design considerations for phase 3. The third phase developed an advanced furnace which featured a series flow condensing heat exchanger. The design achieved 94 percent efficiency. Four furnaces were then field tested to verify reliability. Phase four scaled the furnace technology from 312 MBtu/hr to 3.12 MMBtu/hr, and developed a modulating fuel system. A final technology transfer task assisted the participating manufacturer in furnace design, operation, and maintenance to achieve successful commercialization.