A portable heater can include a housing including a base and an enclosure and a burner assembly disposed within the enclosure, the burner assembly including a heating surface, wherein the enclosure and the heating surface are rotatable, with respect to the base, between a first rotational position and a second rotational position. In some examples, the heating surface is a curved surface. In some examples, a tilt switch is provided that has a position that is independent of the rotational position of the enclosure. The portable heater can also include temperature control features for maintaining fuel tank temperature at an improved operating condition.

A thimble shaped burner is made of a porous foam metal material and is adapted to be mounted on the interior of a plenum chamber receiving a fuel/air mixture under pressure. The fuel/air mixture infuses into the interior of the thimble shaped burner body and exits from it through a burner port in a support structure where the fuel/air mixture that has been infused through the burner body is ignited. The burners are typically used in multiples and are mounted by means conventional fasteners passing through reinforced mounting flanges on the interior of an air fuel plenum chamber. Flame lift off is reduced or eliminated by particular configurations and dimensions of annular metal washers that are used in association with the burner bodies for mounting purposes.

A thermophotovoltaic generator incorporating a two-stage combustor for providing heat to a thermophotovoltaic cell. Combustor parts include a partial oxidation reactor, which functions catalytically to convert a hydrocarbon fuel and a first supply of an oxidant into a gaseous partial oxidation product; and further include downstream thereof, a deep oxidation reactor including a premixer plenum fluidly connected to a heat spreader comprising a porous matrix, such as a ceramic foam. Functionally, the deep oxidation reactor converts the gaseous partial oxidation product and a second supply of oxidant into complete combustion products. Heat produced by the two-stage combustor generates radiative energy from a photon emitter, which is directly converted to electricity in a photovoltaic diode cell.

An abatement method is disclosed. The method comprises: supplying a combustion chamber of an abatement apparatus with an effluent stream containing a perfluoro compound, together with combustion reagents and a diluent; heating a combustion zone of said combustion chamber by reacting said combustion reagents to perform abatement of said perfluoro compound to stable by-products, said diluent being selected to remain inert during said abatement. In this way, the perfluoro or other compound is abated in the combustion chamber during the combustion of the combustion reagents, but without creating undesirable compounds such as, for example, NOx or other compounds.

A plaque for a radiant heating system can include a main body defining an outer surface and a plurality of pores defined within the main body, wherein at least some of the plurality of pores are disposed in a non-parallel relationship with at least some others of the plurality of pores, or wherein at least some of the pores are parallel with each other. A burner assembly including a plurality of adjacently arranged plaques reduces the ignition time and delay for adjacent plaques after the central plaque has been ignited.

A plaque for a radiant heating system can include a main body defining an outer surface and a plurality of pores defined within the main body, wherein at least some of the plurality of pores are disposed in a non-parallel relationship with at least some others of the plurality of pores, or wherein at least some of the pores are parallel with each other. A burner assembly including a plurality of adjacently arranged plaques reduces the ignition time and delay for adjacent plaques after the central plaque has been ignited.

A two-stage combustor having as constituent parts: a partial oxidation reactor, which catalytically converts a hydrocarbon fuel and a first supply of oxidant into a gaseous partial oxidation product; and a deep oxidation reactor having a premixer plenum fluidly connected to a porous heat spreader, which converts the gaseous partial oxidation product to deep oxidation products. In one embodiment, the premixer plenum provides an empty space wherein combustion occurs in flame mode. In a second embodiment, the premixer plenum contains a high pore density foam matrix, absent catalyst, which facilitates holding a flameless combustion downstream within the porous heat spreader. In both embodiments heat produced during combustion is transmitted from the heat spreader to an associated heat acceptor, such as a heater head of a Stirling engine.

A furnace includes a perforated flame holder formed from an array of tiles. The perforated flame holder is stabilized by a support member extending between at least adjacent tiles. Elongated support members may be positioned to extend through each of the tiles in a respective column of the array of tiles.

A radiant burner for treating an effluent gas stream from a manufacturing processing tool includes a plurality of treatment chambers, each treatment chamber having an effluent stream inlet for supplying a respective portion of the effluent gas stream to that treatment chamber for treatment therewithin. In this way, multiple treatment chambers may be provided, each of which treats part of the effluent stream. Accordingly, the number of treatment chambers can be selected to match the flow rate of the effluent gas stream from any particular processing tool. This provides an architecture which is reliably scalable to suit the needs of any effluent gas stream flow rate.

A radiant burner for treating an effluent gas stream from a manufacturing processing tool includes a plurality of treatment chambers, each treatment chamber having an effluent stream inlet for supplying a respective portion of the effluent gas stream to that treatment chamber for treatment therewithin. In this way, multiple treatment chambers may be provided, each of which treats part of the effluent stream. Accordingly, the number of treatment chambers can be selected to match the flow rate of the effluent gas stream from any particular processing tool. This provides an architecture which is reliably scalable to suit the needs of any effluent gas stream flow rate.