A supercritical steam generator includes a downdraft furnace enclosure, a hopper tunnel, and a convection pass enclosure, with the hopper tunnel joining the downdraft furnace enclosure and convection pass enclosure together. Flue gas passes down through the downdraft furnace enclosure through the hopper tunnel and up through the convection pass enclosure. This structure permits the outlet steam terminals, which provide access to the resultant supercritical steam and/or reheat steam, to be located at a base of the steam generator rather than at the top of the steam generator as with conventional boilers. This reduces the length of the steam leads from the steam generator to a steam turbine that produces electricity using the supercritical steam.

A process of making a fuel product from spent grain from a beer brewing process. In the brewing process, the grain is pulverized to a particle size whose mean particle size is approximately 0.25 mm to 0.6 mm with less than 1% greater than 2 mm. After the brewing sugars are extracted from the grain, the spent grain is pressed against a filter to reduce moisture below sixty-five percent (65%), and then the grain is dried to further reduce its moisture to less than ten percent (10%). The dried spent grain, after the aforementioned processing, is fed into a combustion chamber for a steam boiler that is used for beer brewing, and the spent grain is separated during combustion by agitation such as spraying of the grain in the combustion chamber.

A method for controlling an NOx concentration in an exhaust gas in a combustion facility by: measuring a reaction velocity k.sub.i of each of a plurality of chars, each corresponding to a plurality of types of pulverized coals; determining a relationship between the NOx concentration in the exhaust gas and the reaction velocity k.sub.i for each of the chars; (iii) blending the plurality of the types of the pulverized coal, wherein a blending ratio of the plurality of the types of the pulverized coal is determined by using, as an index, a reaction velocity k.sub.blend of the char of the blended pulverized coal, which corresponds to a target NOx concentration or below, on the basis of the relationship; and supplying the blended pulverized coal to the combustion facility as the fuel of the combustion facility.

Techniques for controlling a solid fuel combustion appliance, e.g., a wood burning stove, are disclosed. A control system measures an exhaust gas temperature of airflow through an outlet of the solid fuel combustion appliance. The control system determines a derivative of the exhaust gas temperature with respect to time. The derivative of the exhaust gas temperature with respect to time is compared to a predetermined threshold. The control system modulates the inlet damper in response to determining that the derivative of the exhaust gas temperature with respect to time reaches the predetermined threshold.

A process of making a fuel product from spent grain from a beer brewing process. In the brewing process, the grain is pulverized to a particle size whose mean particle size is approximately 0.25 mm to 0.6 mm with less than 1% greater than 2 mm. After the brewing sugars are extracted from the grain, the spent grain is pressed against a filter to reduce moisture below sixty-five percent (65%), and then the grain is dried to further reduce its moisture to less than ten percent (10%). The dried spent grain, after the aforementioned processing, is fed into a combustion chamber for a steam boiler that is used for beer brewing, and the spent grain is separated during combustion by agitation such as spraying of the grain in the combustion chamber.

A burn box includes a font, a rear, a first and a second side, a lower, and an upper interior surface, as well as a first push member, a first coupler, and a first torque member. The first push member includes a first end, a second end, and a first coupler portion. The first coupler pivotally couples the first coupler portion to the first interior surface. The second end is vertically intermediate the first end and the lower interior surface. The first torque member provides a first torque to the first push member. When the first torque is provided to the first push member, the first push member rotates about a first rotational axis. The first rotational axis is through the first coupler portion of the first push member. The first rotational axis is parallel to the longitudinal axis. The second end rotates toward the second side interior surface.

A burn box includes a font, a rear, a first and a second side, a lower, and an upper interior surface, as well as a first push member, a first coupler, and a first torque member. The first push member includes a first end, a second end, and a first coupler portion. The first coupler pivotally couples the first coupler portion to the first interior surface. The second end is vertically intermediate the first end and the lower interior surface. The first torque member provides a first torque to the first push member. When the first torque is provided to the first push member, the first push member rotates about a first rotational axis. The first rotational axis is through the first coupler portion of the first push member. The first rotational axis is parallel to the longitudinal axis. The second end rotates toward the second side interior surface.

A system is configured to apply a voltage, charge, and/or an electric field to a combustion reaction responsive to acoustic feedback from the combustion reaction.

A method for controlling an NOx concentration in an exhaust gas in a combustion facility by: measuring a reaction velocity k.sub.i of each of a plurality of chars, each corresponding to a plurality of types of pulverized coals; determining a relationship between the NOx concentration in the exhaust gas and the reaction velocity k.sub.i for each of the chars; (iii) blending the plurality of the types of the pulverized coal, wherein a blending ratio of the plurality of the types of the pulverized coal is determined by using, as an index, a reaction velocity k.sub.blend of the char of the blended pulverized coal, which corresponds to a target NOx concentration or below, on the basis of the relationship; and supplying the blended pulverized coal to the combustion facility as the fuel of the combustion facility.

The disclosure provides a metal ferrite oxygen carrier for the chemical looping combustion of solid carbonaceous fuels, such as coal, coke, coal and biomass char, and the like. The metal ferrite oxygen carrier comprises MFe.sub.xO.sub.y on an inert support, where MFe.sub.xO.sub.y is a chemical composition and M is one of Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Co, Mn, and combinations thereof. For example, MFe.sub.xO.sub.y may be one of MgFe.sub.2O.sub.4, CaFe.sub.2O.sub.4, SrFe.sub.2O.sub.4, BaFe.sub.2O.sub.4, CoFe.sub.2O.sub.4, MnFeO.sub.3, and combinations thereof. The MFe.sub.xO.sub.y is supported on an inert support. The inert support disperses the MFe.sub.xO.sub.y oxides to avoid agglomeration and improve performance stability. In an embodiment, the inert support comprises from about 5 wt. % to about 60 wt. % of the metal ferrite oxygen carrier and the MFe.sub.xO.sub.y comprises at least 30 wt. % of the metal ferrite oxygen carrier. The metal ferrite oxygen carriers disclosed display improved reduction rates over Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, and improved oxidation rates over CuO.