Background Art As well known to those skilled in the art, methods of obtaining thermal energy are generally by burning fuels (fluid fuel such as petroleum, kerosene and gas, etc. and solid fuel such as coal and briquettes, etc.), using natural heat (solar heat) and using electricity.

At present, a variety of combustors employing the method of obtaining thermal energy from burning fuels have been widely used, mainly in boilers for heating rooms at houses.

However, such conventional combustors, using the conventional fuel burning method, generate a lot of noxious exhaust gases (e. g., nitrogen oxide (NOx), carbon monoxide) due to incomplete combustion of fuels, thereby causing air pollution. In addition, the conventional combustors are inferior in operational efficiency and economical efficiency since they fail to generate a desired level of thermal energy of high heat. This finally makes the combustors waste fuels.

Disclosure of the Invention Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a combustor of a new type which enables high heat combustion with a consumption of a small

amount of fuel, obtains thermal energy of high heat in an effective and economical manner, and further suppresses the generation of noxious exhaust gases due to almost perfect combustion.

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by a provision of a combustor for generating thermal energy by burning fuels, the combustor comprising a combustion tub having a cylindrical shape, said tub also having an exhaust opening on its upper wall, with an air inlet hole formed on a rear central portion of the tub and coupled to an air inlet pipe, and a modified water supply pipe and a fuel supply pipe having an annular shape, each of said supply pipes having a plurality of radial discharge ports on its inside surface.

In the combustor of this invention, the combustion tub may have a stepped sidewall, with a small diameter portion formed at its upper portion and a large diameter formed at its lower portion or with a small diameter portion formed at its lower portion and a large diameter formed at its upper portion.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a combustor according to the primary embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a section view taken along line A-A of Fig. 1; Figs. 3a and 3b are sectional views of combustors according to second and third embodiments of the present invention; and Figs. 4a and 4b are sectional views of combustors according to fourth and fifth embodiments of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrving Out the Invention

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, a combustor 1 according to the primary embodiment of the present invention comprises a combustion tub 10 having a cylindrical shape. This tub 10 has an exhaust opening 2 on its upper wall, with an air inlet pipe 7 coupled to an air inlet hole 3 formed on the rear central portion of the tub 10. A modified water supply pipe 4 and a fuel supply pipe 5, having the shape of a ring and a plurality of radial discharge ports 4a and 5a formed on the inside surfaces thereof.

The modified water supply pipe 4 is installed in the combustion tub 10 and passes through a coupling hole 8 formed below the air inlet pipe 7. The fuel supply pipe 5 is installed in the tub 10 and passes through a coupling hole 8'below the air inlet pipe 7. Within the interior of the tub 10, an insulation layer P having a thickness is formed on the bottom wall. On said bottom wall of the combustion tub 10 is installed a flame holding unit 6 in the form of a coil on its center portion, for holding the frame.

Figs. 3a and 3b are sectional views of combustors according to the second and third embodiments of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 3a, the combustor 1 has a combustion tub 10 having a stepped sidewall, with a small diameter portion formed at its upper portion and a large diameter formed at its lower portion. In the embodiment of Fig. 3b, the combustion tub 10 of the combustor 1 has a stepped sidewall, with a small diameter portion formed at its lower portion and a large diameter formed at its upper portion.

Figs. 4a and 4b are sectional views of combustors according to fourth and fifth embodiments of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 4a, the combustor 1 has a combustion tub 10 installed within an outer cylinder 11 while maintaining an annular space S between them. In this embodiment, the combustion tub 10 has a modified water supply pipe 4 and a fuel supply pipe 5. In the embodiment of Fig.

4b, the combustor 1 is a transverse combustor, with an air inlet hole 3 formed on the lower portion of the combustor, with a modified water supply pipe 4 and a fuel supply pipe 5 installed in the upper portion of the combustor. In this embodiment, the interior of the combustion tub 10 is partitioned into a modified water supply area W and a fuel supply area Y by ring-shaped flanges 12 and 13.

In the embodiments of Figs. 4a and 4b, the air inlet hole 3 is formed on the outer cylinder 11. On the horizontal upper wall of the outer cylinder 11 is installed an auxiliary combustion cylinder 14 toward the inner side of the combustion tub 10. On the insides of the modified water supply area W and the fuel supply area Y in the combustion tub 10 are respectively formed absorption layers (F, F') made of noncombustible materials with a predetermined thickness.

Hereinbelow, states on which the combustor according to the present invention runs are described in more detail.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 to Fig. 4, in order to generate thermal energy by burning fuels, a ventilator (not shown) is primarily operated so that a certain amount of air is supplied into the combustion tub 10 through an air inlet pipe 7.

Then, a certain amount of modified water and fuel are supplied into the combustion tub 10 through the modified water supply pipe 4 and the fuel supply pipe 5.

The combustor 1 is, thereafter, initially ignited by hand and the ignited flame is held within the flame holding unit 6. The air, supplied into the combustion tub 10, is biased into the upper portion and the lower portion of the combustion tub 10 from the air inlet hole 3. Air flows to the upper portion within the tub 10 while revolving along the inner surface of the combustion tub 10. The air also flows downward to reach the lower portion within the tub 10 while revolving along the inner surface of the combustion tub 10. The air, supplied into the lower portion, is burnt while flowing upwardly from the bottom wall of the combustion tub 10.

The air, revolving and descending along the inner surface of the combustion tub 10, is mixed with the modified water supplied by the modified water supply pipe 4 and the fuel supplied by the fuel supply pipe 5. The modified water and the fuel supplied are evaporated by burning and are mixed with air into gaseous states.

In this manner, the modified water and the fuel are burnt under the states of being mixed with the air. The modified water and the fuel chemically react with the flame and are completely burnt by high heat decomposition at 1800°C,

thereby obtaining desired thermal energy of high heat.

Referring to Fig. 4a, the combustor 1 has an outer cylinder 11 receiving the tub 10 while maintaining a space S between them, with the modified water supply pipe 4 and the fuel supply part 5 provided in the tub 10. Accordingly, the air, supplied from the air inlet hole 3, is not burnt during revolution. After primarily revolving vertically within the outer cylinder 11, the air is burnt while secondarily revolving up to the combustion tub 10. The ability of revolution is thus increased, and so the air, fuel and modified water are allowed to be mixed at the optimal state, and further to accelerate the combustion. As shown in Fig. 4b, in the transverse combustor, ring-shaped flanges 12 and 13 are formed transversely on the inside surfaces of the combustion tub 10, which can prevent an excessive supply of modified water from the modified water supply pipe 4, an undesirable overflow of modified water and fuel in a liquid state due to insufficient vaporization into the outer cylinder 11, or an undesirable mixing of the fuel and modified water.

With this configuration, the fuel and the modified water are vaporized by radiated heat generated in the course of combustion and revolving flow is formed.

The combustible gases are thus burnt while being surrounded by air so that the smoke cannot be emitted to the outside. Also, they are almost perfectly burnt so that exhaust gases are smoke-free, odorless and colorless.

The chemical reactions generated in the combustor are as follows: H20 + H < H2 + OH (endothermic reaction) HZO + O- OH + OH (endothermic reaction) H2 + O H + OH (endothermic reaction) CO+OH-- CO2 +H (exothermic reaction)

# O#CO+O(exothermicreaction)+ In the above chemical reactions, (ß) is a principle of generating carbon monoxide (CO) in the case of hydrocarbon-based fuels, while the generation of NOx and non-burnt carbonic materials is suppressed by the reaction of (@. By endothermic reaction, the temperature is increased locally at the initial stage of combustion, suppressing the generation of NOx, and at the same time the generation of NOx by the reaction with non-burnt carbonic materials is suppressed.

(is a reaction relative to the effect of water, (0) and @ show a conversion process of CO into C02. OH generated by the reaction of (g) accelerates the reaction of , thereby suppressing the generation of CO and at the same time suppressing polymerization and the generation of a carbonic nucleus by pre-suppressing the generation factors of smoke particles, which results in reducing the amount of smoke particles generated.

Industrial Applicabilitv As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a combustor wherein emission of noxious gases (such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, smoke, etc.) can be almost completely eliminated because the fuel is almost perfectly burnt by the combustor. This combustor also accomplishes smoke-free and odorless combustion, when burning fuels for heating rooms, thereby preventing environmental pollution. Further, this combustor is improved in operational efficiency and economical efficiency since it generates a desired level of thermal energy of high heat while conserving fuels.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.