Background Art Brown gas is a gas obtained by electrolyzing water and is a mixed gas of hydrogen and oxygen having the content ratio of 2: 1. In general, when the water is electrolyzed, hydrogen is obtained at a cathode and oxygen is obtained at an anode. The Brown gas is the mixed gas that is collected not separately but at a time.

Unlike general gases, Brown gas has a peculiar property that causes an implosion phenomenon during its combustion.

In other words, an explosion phenomenon does not occur during the combustion of Brown gas. Instead, flames are inwardly gathered to thereby form a focus and make surroundings vacuous.

As a result, burning of Brown gas enables to obtain an ultrahigh temperature at which even tungsten having the highest melting point can be sublimated.

Additionally, since thermic rays are not radiated outwardly, there is no loss of energy, which is caused by a radiant heat, thus obtaining the excellent energy efficiency.

Additional oxygen supply is unnecessary during the combustion of Brown gas since Brown gas itself contains oxygen.

Further, there is no pollution problem since only water is generated as combustion products.

Such Brown gas is used as heat source for welding, an incinerator or a melting system. In general, since a melting

system using the Brown gas can make high temperature higher than 6000 °C locally by means of implosion, it melts all the burnt material (floor material and arsenate material) generated after burning the kinds of wastes.

To use the Brown gas as a heat source of the melting system, there are required means for generating Brown gas, means for collecting the Brown gas and means for firing the Brown gas.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a melting system using the conventional Brown gas.

Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional melting system using the Brown gas consists of an electrolyzer 10 for generating the Brown gas, a demister 12 for removing moisture from the Brown gas and collecting pure Brown gas, a flow regulator 14 for regulating Brown gas flow, and a combustion chamber 18 including a burner 16 for receiving and firing the Brown gas.

The electrolyzer 10 has a plurality of anode electrolytic plates and a plurality of cathode electrolytic plates alternatively. Water is electrolyzed due to the electric energy applied to the corresponding electrolytic plates and the generated oxygen and the generated hydrogen are mixed to form the Brown gas.

In addition, the Brown gas generated by a plurality of the electrolyzers 10 is collected by the demister 12 connected to each of upper portions of the electrolyzers.

Demisters 12 are installed at the upper portions of a plurality of the electrolyzers for generating the Brown gas separately, or a demister 12 is installed to collect the Brown gas generated from a plurality of the electrolyzers.

The demister or the demisters 12 removes or remove moisture generated when the electrolyzers 10 produce the Brown gas so that pure Brown gas is collected.

Such a collected pure Brown gas is injected to the combustion burner 16 through a flow regulator 14, fired by a torch installed in the burner 16 and projected. So, various burnt materials flowing into the combustion chamber 18, that is, the burnt materials (floor material and arsenate material) generated after burning wastes are melted.

The burnt material is melted to become slag and if the burnt material is melted and slag-processed, metal components in the burnt material is removed. Since outer surface is coated with a glass film, the possibility of the environment pollution caused by the burnt material is removed. Since the Brown gas has vary rapid combustion speed, if the supply amount of the Brown gas is less than the combustion amount of the Brown gas, flame can flow backwardly while the Brown gas is being supplied and a nozzle or torch is fired.

The conventional Brown gas flow regulator 14 has a flow meter and a manual valve installed on each line connected to the burner 16 from the demister 12. The operator ascertain the flow amount of each line with his or her eyes by using the flow meter and directly controls the flow amount by using the manual valve so as to supply a proper amount of the Brown gas to fire the Brown gas.

Generally, when the Brown gas is fired with a predetermined pressure through the line, since the high temperature higher than 6000 °C can be made locally owing to implosion, the Brown gas should be supplied to the burner 16 with maintaining a predetermined pressure. As a result, the gas flow regulator 14 is very important in melting the burnt material.

However, since the gas flow regulator has only a flow meter and a manual valve, a user should always check the pressure of the Brown gas flowing through each line and continually open and close the manual valve to maintain a

predetermined pressure, so that the Brown gas flow can be controlled imprecisely.

When the Brown gas is fired and the flame flows backwardly while the Brown gas is supplied, each line to which the Brown gas is supplied can be damaged or the gas flow regulator can be damaged.

Disclosure Of The Invention Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a Brown gas flow regulator that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a Brown gas flow regulator in which a valve is automatically opened and closed by a controller and a flame backward flow stopper is installed therein such that Brown gas is introduced into a burner with a proper pressure at a constant flow and a damage due to a backward flow of the gas is prevented.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a Brown gas flow regulator comprises an automatic valve installed on each of lines to which Brown gas is supplied, for controlling Brown gas flow; a flow meter installed on a rear line of the automatic valve, for measuring flow of the Brown gas flowing in each of the lines;

a pressure meter installed on a rear line of the flow meter, for measuring pressure of the Brown gas flowing in each of the lines; a controller for receiving a measured pressure from the pressure meter and controlling the Brown gas flowing through the automatic valve so as to maintain a predetermined Brown gas flow; and a flame backward flow stopper installed on a rear line of the pressure meter, for preventing a damage due to a backward flow of flame.

The controller comprises an input unit for monitoring the pressure of the Brown gas in each of the lines by using a result value provided from the pressure meter and indicating and inputting a reference pressure value of the Brown gas flowing in the line; and a calculator for comparing a measured result with the reference pressure value, calculating an error by proportion, differentiation and integration, and controlling opening and closing the automatic valve installed each of the lines by using the calculation. The reference pressure values correspond to pressure between 0.5 and 3 bars for each line. The Brown gas is generated from a plurality of electrolyzers and supplied to each of the line. The Brown gas supplied to each of the line flows through the gas flow regulator placed on each of the lines and flows into combustion burners. The automatic valve is opened and closed by air supplied from an air compressor.

According to the present invention, since the Brown gas always flows into the combustion burner with maintaining proper pressure, the number of human operators for manual manipulation can be reduced. The values of pressure can be controlled more precisely. Flame backward flow caused when the amount of the burnt Brown gas is more than the amount of the supplied Brown gas is prevented from occurring so as to avoid damage. Hereafter, embodiments to which the idea of the present invention is applied will be described in detail.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Brief Description Of The Drawings The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a melting system using conventional Brown gas; FIGs. 2A through 2C are a plain view, a side view and a front view illustrating the configuration of a Brown gas flow regulator according to the present invention; and FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a controller of the Brown gas flow regulator according to the present invention.

Best Mode For Carrying Out The Invention Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

FIGs. 2A through 2C are a plain view, a side view and a front view illustrating the configuration of a Brown gas flow regulator according to the present invention.

FIGs. 2A through 2C illustrate the configuration of the Brown gas flow regulator in a combustion system including an electrolyte for generating Brown gas if the Brown gas is used as a heat source, a demister for removing moisture from the Brown gas and collecting pure Brown gas, a flow regulator for

regulating the Brown gas flow, and a burner for receiving and firing the Brown gas.

The Brown gas flow regulator 20 according to the present invention is installed on each line separately as illustrated in FIGs. 2A through 2C in order to supply the combustion burner (not shown) with pure Brown gas collected by the demister (not shown) through a plurality of lines.

According to FIGs. 2A through 2C, there are nine lines for projecting the Brown gas from the demister, or nine intakes 21 but the present invention does not limited by the embodiment shown in FIGs. 2A through 2C.

Referring to FIGs. 2A through 2C, the Brown gas flow regulator 20 includes an automatic valve 22 installed on each of lines to which Brown gas is supplied through the gas intake 21, for controlling Brown gas flow, a flow meter 23 installed on a rear line of the automatic valve 22, for measuring flow of the Brown gas flowing in each of the lines, a pressure meter 24 installed on a rear line of the flow meter 23, for measuring pressure of the Brown gas flowing in each of the lines, a controller (not shown) for receiving a measured pressure from the pressure meter 26 and controlling the Brown gas flowing through the automatic valve 22 so as to maintain a predetermined Brown gas flow, and flame backward flow stoppers 27 and 27'installed on a rear line of the pressure meter 26, for preventing a damage due to a backward flow of flame.

Here, the terms"front"and"rear"is used with respect to flowing of the Brown gas. To the skilled in this field, it is obvious that the disposal of components can be modified so long as the operation of the present invention is not changed.

The flow meter 23 measures the Brown gas flow in each line when the Brown gas flow into a plurality of lines connected to the demisters (not shown). Here, the flow meter

23 has a digital flow meter and an analog flow meter and measures flow in each line precisely.

The automatic valve 22 is installed on the front line of the flow meter 23. Here, the automatic valve 22 is not opened and closed by a user manually but is opened and closed by air supplied from an air compressor 28. The Brown gas flow in each line is controlled according to opening and closing of the automatic valve 22.

The air supplied from the air compressor 27 is controlled by the controller (not shown). The controller 27 receives the pressure value of the Brown gas flowing in each line measured by the pressure meter 26 installed on the rear line of the flow meter 23, and controls the automatic valve to open and close by means of the air compressor 28 according to the received pressure value so as to maintain a predetermined flow of the Brown gas flowing in the automatic valve 22.

The pressure meter 26 includes a pressure sensor 25 and a pressure measurer 24. The controller 27 is connected to the pressure sensor 25.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a controller of the Brown gas flow regulator according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the controller 30 includes an input unit 32 for monitoring the pressure of the Brown gas in each of the lines by using a result value provided from the pressure meter 26 and indicating and inputting a reference pressure value of the Brown gas flowing in the line, and a calculator 34 for comparing a measured result with the reference pressure value, calculating an error by proportion, differentiation and integration, and controlling opening and closing of the automatic valve installed on each of the lines by using the calculation.

Described more detailed, the input unit 32 uses a personal computer (PC), and monitors, in real time, the pressure of the Brown gas that flows in each line and is supplied from the pressure meter 26, so that the pressure of the Brown gas can be controlled when problems occur.

In general, the Brown gas can make high temperature higher 6, 000 °C locally owing to implosion when the Brown gas is fired with maintaining 0. 5-3 bars through the lines.

So, the Brown gas should flow into the burner with always maintaining a predetermined pressure. Accordingly, the input unit 32 indicates and inputs a predetermined reference pressure value corresponding to the pressure between 0.5-3 bars for each line.

The reference pressure value inputted from the input unit 32 and the measured pressure value of the Brown gas in each line inputted from the pressure meter 26 is transferred to the calculator 34. The calculator 34 compares the measured pressure value with the reference pressure value and calculates the error of them by proportion, differentiation and integration.

A programmable logic controller (PLC) is installed in the calculator 34. The calculator 34 calculates the error between the reference pressure value with the measured values supplied for each line through the proportion, differentiation and integration by means of a plurality of PID control cards embedded in the PLC. The calculator 34 controls opening and closing of the automatic valve so as to reduce the error, in other words, so as to set the Brown gas pressure in each of the lines to the reference pressure.

The controller 30 will be described more detail referring to FIGs. 2A through 2C and 3.

First, the pressure of the brown gas flowing into the line is measured when the brown gas flows through the pressure meter 26. The measure pressure value is converted

into a predetermined current signal (DC 4-20 mA) and inputted to the controller 30. The inputted measured value of each of the lines is displayed on the input unit 32. The input unit 32 generates a reference voltage (current signal into which a predetermined pressure between 0.5 and 3 bars is converted) and transfers the reference voltage to the calculator along with the predetermined current signal.

The calculator 34 compares a current signal into which the reference voltage value is converted with a current signal into which the measured pressure value is converted, calculates the error of them by means of a PID control card that performs a proportion, differentiation and integration, and controls opening and closing of the automatic valve so as to reduce the error, in other words, so as to set the Brown gas pressure in each of the lines to the reference pressure.

Here, the automatic valve opens and closes by means of air supplied from the air compressor 28.

In other words, the air compressor 28 receives a predetermined signal from the controller 30, more particularly, the calculator 34, and controls the automatic valve to open and close.

As described above, when a predetermined pressure is maintained by the controller and a predetermined flow of the Brown gas is supplied to the burner through each line, the Brown gas is fired by the nozzle or the torch installed at the burner.

However, since the Brown gas has a rapid combustion speed of a flame, if the supply amount of the Brown gas is less than the combustion amount of the Brown gas, the flame can flow backwardly while the Brown gas is being supplied and is fired.

Accordingly, in the present invention, flame backward flow stoppers 27 and 27'are installed on a rear line of the

pressure meter 26 so as to prevent a damage of a backward flow of flame.

The flame backward flow stoppers 27 and 27'remove the backward flowing flame of the Brown gas. The flame backward flow stoppers 27 and 27'are installed not only at a rear line of the pressure meter but also at a torch and a nozzle of the burner.

Since the Brown gas flow regulators'according to the present invention are separately installed on each of the lines through which the Brown gas flows, normal operation is possible thanks to other Brown gas flow regulators even though any one Brown gas flow regulator is out of order.

Additionally, the fault Brown gas flow regulators can be separated and repaired.

Industrial Applicability As described above, according to the Brown gas flow regulator of the present invention, since the Brown gas is introduced into a combustion burner with always maintaining a proper pressure, the number of human operators for manual manipulation can be reduced. More particularly, the number of the human operators can be controlled and the flame backward flow caused when the amount of the burnt Brown gas is more than the amount of the supplied Brown gas can be prevented from occurring so as to avoid damage.

While the present invention has been described and illustrated herein with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.