Catalytic combustion process and apparatus

摘要

Combustion process and apparatus which includes a monolith bed through which a mixture of fuel and oxidizer reactants is directed. The initial segment of the bed is formed with cells of an optimum size for causing the reactants to undergo heterogeneous combustion without blowout. One or more downstream segments of the bed are formed with cells of a size smaller than the upstream cells to achieve substantially complete combustion in a bed of relatively compact dimensions. High mass flow rates are obtained under stable combustion conditions with high combustion efficiency and low emissions.