Hot surface igniter assemblies used in cooktops are shown and described. The hot surface igniters include a silicon nitride ceramic body with an embedded, resistive, heat-generating circuit. The igniters are less than 0.04 inches thick, and when energized, they reach surface temperatures in excess of 2000° F. in under 4 seconds to ignite combustible gas such as propane, butane, or natural gas. Examples of cook top burner systems are also provided which allow the igniter to remain on after ignition at a power level that is lower than during ignition but high enough to ignite the cooking gas should a flame out occur. Examples are also provided of burners that ignite on a low flow setting (e.g., simmer) as opposed the high flow settings that are common in cook top industry.

Hot surface igniter assemblies used in cooktops are shown and described. The hot surface igniters include a silicon nitride ceramic body with an embedded, resistive, heat-generating circuit. The igniters are less than 0.04 inches thick, and when energized, they reach surface temperatures in excess of 2000° F. in under 4 seconds to ignite combustible gas such as propane, butane, or natural gas. Examples of cook top burner systems are also provided which allow the igniter to remain on after ignition at a power level that is lower than during ignition but high enough to ignite the cooking gas should a flame out occur. Examples are also provided of burners that ignite on a low flow setting (e.g., simmer) as opposed the high flow settings that are common in cook top industry.

A fuel control device includes a combustion temperature estimation value calculation unit that calculates a temperature estimation value when a mixture of fuel and inflow air is burned using an atmospheric condition, an opening degree command value of a valve that controls the amount of air that is mixed with the fuel and burned, and an output prediction value calculated on the basis of a fuel control signal command value used for calculation of a total fuel flow rate flowing through a plurality of fuel supply systems, a fuel distribution command value calculation unit that calculates a fuel distribution command value indicating a distribution of fuel output from the fuel supply systems based on the temperature estimation value, and outputs the fuel distribution command value, and a valve opening degree calculation unit that calculates each valve opening degree of a fuel flow rate control valve of the fuel supply systems.

Hot surface igniter assemblies used in cooktops are shown and described. The hot surface igniters include a silicon nitride ceramic body with an embedded, resistive, heat-generating circuit. The igniters are less than 0.04 inches thick, and when energized, they reach surface temperatures in excess of 2000° F. in under 4 seconds to ignite cooking gas such as propane, butane, or natural gas. Examples of cook top burner systems are also provided which allow the igniter to remain on after ignition at a power level that is lower than during ignition but high enough to ignite the cooking gas should a flame out occur. Examples are also provided of burners that ignite on a low flow setting (e.g., simmer) as opposed the high flow settings that are common in cook top industry.

Hot surface igniter assemblies used in cooktops are shown and described. The hot surface igniters include a silicon nitride ceramic body with an embedded, resistive, heat-generating circuit. The igniters are less than 0.04 inches thick, and when energized, they reach surface temperatures in excess of 2000° F. in under 4 seconds to ignite cooking gas such as propane, butane, or natural gas. Examples of cook top burner systems are also provided which allow the igniter to remain on after ignition at a power level that is lower than during ignition but high enough to ignite the cooking gas should a flame out occur. Examples are also provided of burners that ignite on a low flow setting (e.g., simmer) as opposed the high flow settings that are common in cook top industry.

The invention refers to a method for detecting anomalies associated with a gas appliance (1), the gas appliance (1) comprising at least a gas inlet (2), at least one gas burner (3) and gas distribution means (4) coupling the gas inlet (2) with said at least one gas burner (3), the method comprising the steps of: —gathering information regarding the gas flow or the operational state based on detection means (5.1, 5.2) (S20); —evaluating said gathered information in order to detect gas flow anomalies or operational anomalies, thereby obtaining evaluation information (S21); —providing alert information from a communication interface of the gas appliance (1) to a user device (6) depending on said evaluation information (S22).

A method of controlling water heater pilot flame ignition includes receiving, by a controller of a water heater, a user input and controlling a pilot gas valve to start a gas flow to a pilot burner in response to the user input. The method further includes, in response to the user input, controlling, by the controller, an igniter to generate an ignition spark for lighting a pilot flame. The method also includes controlling, by the controller, the pilot gas valve to maintain the gas flow to the pilot burner if the pilot flame is lit.

Combustion heater control systems and methods that include dynamic safety settings. Current operating parameters of the combustion heater are sensed at a plurality of time intervals and converted into a time-varying signal. The time-varying signal is compared to a burner stability envelope indicating when a burner is likely to enter an unstable state. The unstable state may include huffing, flashback, and/or liftoff. When the burner is likely to enter an unstable state, the combustion heater is controlled to prevent the unstable state.

Systems and methods for multi-variable flare control include receiving, at a flare controller, a plurality of flare characteristics from a flare monitor. The flare monitor may be an optical flare monitor. The plurality of flare characteristics may include, but are not limited to, Combustion Efficiency (CE), Smoke Index (SI), Flame Stability (FS), Flame Footprint (FF), and Heat Release (HR). The flare controller analyzes a plurality of the flare characteristics and outputs a control signal to control an operating condition of the flare, such as an amount of assist media being fed to the flare. Iterations of the control signal may be bounded by a step value defining a maximum increase or decrease in the control value as compared to the previous control value.

Flame monitoring device (23) for a gas burner appliance (10), the gas burner appliance (10) being configured to burn a combustible gas, the combustion of the combustible gas resulting into a flame (12), comprising a flame supervision device (24) providing as measurement signal an electrical voltage signal depending on the presence of the flame (12), and an electronic circuit (25) converting the electrical voltage signal provided by the flame supervision device (24) into an electrical current signal.