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Show AFRC 2014 Joint International Combustion Symposium September 7-10, 2014 Houston, Texas ________________________________________________________________________ Sixty Years of Fuel Dilution Technology by Jerry Lang AFRC 2014 © 2014 - JLCC, Inc. Sixty Years of Fuel Dilution Technology Jerry Lang - JLCC, Inc. Abstract: The evolution of emission control technology goes back before it was required by regulation. It has been found that innovations in the automotive industry that were applied back into the 1950's have been used in burners and process equipment as regulations have pushed emission requirements lower. New technology, computer innovation, and modeling brought us into the 21st century. This paper is one man's viewpoint of how it all ties together. Jerry Lang, who is retiring this year, tells a small bit of where he started in this industry and where it has gone in the last 60 years as he has experienced its development. A unique view of how all the technologies tie together. Background and Overview: It probably sounds, odd, strange, and unlikely that anyone today could talk about 60 years of fuel or flame dilution technology. Regulations of emissions just do not go back that far, but I do personally. In 1954, I bought a 1931 model Chevy car. During those days gasoline was 15 to 20 cents per gallon, and much of the time, I did not have 15 or 20 cents. I did, however, live in a small oil field town in East Texas. I learned that, if I went out to a producing oil well near our home and cracked open the gas valve to atmosphere, heavy ends would drop out. We called this drip gas although many of you would call it distillate. If I put the drip gas in my car, it would run but the engine would clatter real AFRC 2014 Joint International Combustion Symposium September 7-10, 2014 Houston, Texas ________________________________________________________________________ Sixty Years of Fuel Dilution Technology by Jerry Lang AFRC 2014 © 2014 - JLCC, Inc. badly when accelerating and the biggest problem was that it continued to run after the ignition was shut off. After many experiments, my uncle and I determined the fuel was burning too hot. We tried mixing it with oil, kerosene, and other things. Finally, I decided to put some of the exhaust into the carburetor. I ran a pipe from the exhaust manifold into the vacuum of the carburetor. I used a butterfly valve tied to the accelerator so it would adjust. This worked very well, and my uncle thought it was a great idea and helped me apply for my first patent in 1954. The patent was issued in late 1957 to me and purchased by a major auto manufacturer in 1967. They told me the process reduced emissions. This actually became the automobile EGR system and you'll find EGR on most automobiles today. Some of this early development was done to reduce smog in the Los Angeles, California area. I continued to work with automobile engine technology. I developed a fuel vaporizer system that blew vaporized gasoline into the intake manifold and dramatically increased the efficiency. I used the exhaust to heat the gasoline. I found that Harly Earl had used that idea on a 1927 engine and I now own one of his designs. Most of you here think of me, good or bad, as a burner designer when, actually, internal combustion engine technology is my first love. We at JLCC own a very sophisticated engine lab. With the latest computer technology, we can do an EKG on an engine. We are actively testing additives for companies and have developed some ourselves. One interesting story related to testing is, in 2009, BMW furnished me a car to do blind testing on a particular oil. They wanted it tested on a high performance engine so they built a special M-5 automatic with a V-10 turbo charged 816hp engine and sent the car for my testing. It had a Formula 1 seven speed transmission and Formula 1 brakes. Its top speed was 240 mph. This project certified me as a car nut since I live in a community with a 25 AFRC 2014 Joint International Combustion Symposium September 7-10, 2014 Houston, Texas ________________________________________________________________________ Sixty Years of Fuel Dilution Technology by Jerry Lang AFRC 2014 © 2014 - JLCC, Inc. mph speed limit. People who did not know my name referred to me as "the guy with the car". Much of my automobile engine experience has transferred into the burner business over the years. Since until lately, I needed income to support my car craze, and I had learned exhaust gas reduced emissions. I began to experiment with open flame, heaters, boilers, cookers, and furnaces. At first, my goal was efficiency. I worked with several engineering companies and became involved in the refinery process. Back in the 60's and 70's, we still burned a lot of oil. I worked on some atomizer principles to improve burning of heavy oils. In 1976, Dr. Edward Teller was doing a government grant funded alternate fuels project. He found my atomizer patent and called me for a demonstration. For those of you who do not know, Dr. Teller was the combustion expert on the hydrogen bomb. He was later named the Father of the Hydrogen bomb. The way my meeting with Dr. Teller happened and my association with him literally changed my life course. When he called to visit and see the demo, I did not know who he was or his reputation, so I treated him like one of my employees. We became friends, and I worked with him on a regular basis for the next 5 years. I have a $40,000 college education, but I tell people I have a $40 million dollar education through my work with Dr. Teller. One thing Dr. Teller told me was "look at the best of everyone's technology, and find a way to combine the best. Sometimes in cases you will find the sum of the parts will be greater than the whole." Every company represented here today has developed good technology. I often say that I have made more money and gained more experience working on other companies' burners than building my own. I found that in most cases I could add something to a AFRC 2014 Joint International Combustion Symposium September 7-10, 2014 Houston, Texas ________________________________________________________________________ Sixty Years of Fuel Dilution Technology by Jerry Lang AFRC 2014 © 2014 - JLCC, Inc. burner that I had experienced from another brand and get better performance. I do not mean this as a derogatory statement, but I have never been blinded by the "not invented here" problem. Since my experience with Dr. Teller, I have concentrated on study of any available technology. In most technologies used to lower NOx emission levels, I have looked at the diminishing return. A good example is flue gas recirculation. The first 5% gives you a 40% reduction from base line. With 15%, you see an additional 10% reduction. This same principal applies to flue gas into the fuel. Many other technologies, such as fuel staging, air staging, steam injection, and internal recirculation, all have some diminishing returns. Some History: My goal through the years has been to find the most effective use of various technologies and use them together and see if they are additive. I am sure this is not a novel approach because I have noted other designs doing the same. I do believe in some cases, with particular applications, I have discovered instances where the sum of the parts appeared to be greater than the whole. One example of this was the Alaskan Oil spill of 1989 when questions were raised about emissions from the water heaters burning diesel used to wash the oil from the shore. I asked what level was acceptable and I was told we needed less than 100 ppm NOx. We were able to design recirculation to get down below 80 ppm and we received the order for all of the heaters. This was all done on an emergency basis and the first barge with six heaters was flown to Alaska on a US military C5A aircraft from Ft. Worth Texas. After proving the first barge, we were given the order for 35 barges. AFRC 2014 Joint International Combustion Symposium September 7-10, 2014 Houston, Texas ________________________________________________________________________ Sixty Years of Fuel Dilution Technology by Jerry Lang AFRC 2014 © 2014 - JLCC, Inc. Another example was getting less than 9 ppm NOx on a rental boiler in 1993 at Chevron El Segundo, California. Jim Seebold came to visit the site and the bottom fell out of the boiler. This taught me not to ever invite him to a site. We repaired the boiler and operated at the required level for about six months while a co-gen plant with a SCR system was being installed. As a last example I refer to a paper presented at the 2001 AFRC Symposium in Hawaii where combined flue gas recirculation was used to operate boilers as low as 6 ppm NOx. This was a joint effort by both myself and John Zink. We have developed and now building flares and combustors to provide the needed Emission Control Devices for our ongoing nation-wide oil boom. We are building several configurations and designing them to meet the NSPS subpart oooo or "Quad O" requirements which are being emphasized at this conference. Closing Statements: During some recent AFRC presentations, I have seen companies working on flameless combustion getting very close to stoichiometric combustion. I have always contended that perfect combustion was impossible, but I have a quote from Walt Disney on my desk that says, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible." It's a fact that today we are doing what was thought to be impossible just a few years ago. Combustion, burners, and engines have been good to me for the past sixty years. I hope this paper has reminded some of the older guys here of the past and inspired some of the younger guys here with smarter tools to continue forward. AFRC 2014 Joint International Combustion Symposium September 7-10, 2014 Houston, Texas ________________________________________________________________________ Sixty Years of Fuel Dilution Technology by Jerry Lang AFRC 2014 © 2014 - JLCC, Inc. I have retired as of March of this year and sold my business to some younger employees that have been working with me for a few years. I will still be around on a consulting basis for at least another twenty years. You are not rid of me yet! I still have some good stories to tell, not too technical, but fun, and if we can't enjoy our work and have a bit of fun, I can quit and go play golf. Never forget, engineering is defined as the practical application of scientific principles. Education provides the scientific principles, but the practical application requires a great degree of art. Art comes from experience and the ability to visualize the problem. As a side note, I received two patents early this year (my 30th and 31st). They cover a very unique way to separate CO2 from combustion sources. I believe you will be hearing from them in the future along with some other technologies we are developing. Questions & Answers: |