| 摘要 |
<p>A method of combusting an endothermic fuel (16) with staged rich/lean combustion includes transferring thermal energy from a heat source, such as the wall of a rich combustor, to an endothermic fuel decomposition catalyst (2) to cool the heat source and heat the fuel (16) and catalyst (2) to a temperature sufficient to endothermically decompose an endothermic fuel (16). The catalyst (2) is contacted with the fuel (16) to cause the fuel (16) to decompose into a reaction product stream (18). The reaction product stream (18) is mixed with a first air stream (20) to form a first fuel/air mixture having an equivalence ratio greater than 1 and the first fuel/air mixture is combusted in a rich combustion stage to produce a combustion product stream (24). The combustion product stream (24) is mixed with a second air stream (22) to form a second fuel/air mixture having an equivalence ratio less than 1 and the second fuel/air mixture is combusted in a lean combustion stage to produce an exhaust gas stream (26) containing decreased amounts of NOx. The invention also includes a system for practicing the method.</p> |
