Catalytic combustor and method of operating same

A catalytic combustor burns a fuel-air mixture which is not preheated. The combustor includes a strip or strips of metal which define a plurality of alternating wide and narrow channels. The channels contain corrugated strips which maintain the spacing of the channels. A catalyst coating is deposited only in the wider channels, the narrower channels remaining un-catalyzed. The strip or strips can be heated resistively to start the combustion. Once the combustion is started, the electric current is stopped, and the combustion continues. The combustor is useful in a home heating appliance such as a gas furnace. In another embodiment, in which the combustor is used in a high-temperature environment such as in a gas turbine, the catalyst can be deposited in the small channels only, so as to limit the amount of catalytic combustion.

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What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a catalytic combustor having a plurality of catalyzed channels and a plurality of uncatalyzed channels, the method comprising the steps of:

a) selecting a cross-sectional area of the catalyzed channels and a cross-sectional area of the uncatalyzed channels, such that a ratio of the cross-sectional area of the catalyzed channels to the cross-sectional area of the uncatalyzed channelsis large enough to support continuous catalytic combustion without preheat and small enough to prevent deactivation of catalyst by excessive heat of combustion, and

b) passing a combustion gas through the entire combustor having said ratio, without continuous preheating of the combustion gas.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) is performed simultaneously with the step of igniting the combustion gas non-catalytically.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the igniting step comprises the step of passing an electric current through the combustor.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the igniting step is halted after combustion begins, and wherein the combustor continues to operate by catalytic combustion alone.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature of the combustion gas is not greater than about 65.degree. C.

6. A catalytic combustor comprising first and second continuous strips which are wound together to form a spiral, the first strip having alternating wide and narrow corrugations which define alternating wide and narrow channels, the second stripbeing uncorrugated, the first strip being coated with a combustion catalyst only on a side which faces the wide channels,

wherein the wide channels have a cross-sectional area, and wherein the narrow channels have a cross-sectional area, and wherein the cross-sectional areas of the wide and narrow channels are chosen such that a ratio of the cross-sectional area ofthe wide channels to the cross-sectional area of the narrow channels is large enough to support continuous catalytic combustion without continuous preheat and small enough to prevent deactivation of the catalyst by excessive heat of combustion.

7. The catalytic combustor of claim 6, wherein the second strip is coated with a combustion catalyst on a side which faces the wide channels.

8. The catalytic combustor of claim 6, wherein at least one of the strips is connected to a source of electric current.

9. The catalytic combustor of claim 6, wherein at least one of the strips has an electrically insulating coating.