A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FUEL/AIR CONTROL OF SURFACE COMBUSTION BURNERS

A fuel/air control system for use in controlling the operation of a surface combustion burner includes a photodetector that provides electrical signal equivalents of burner flame emission to a controller. The controller simultaneously receives signals indicative of the fuel/air mixture. The controller fits the emission and fuel air mixture data to a fourth order polynomial. Thereafter, the mathematical inflection point is computed and the corresponding fuel/air mixture is determined. The controller then generates command signals to adjust and maintain the burner at the inflection point fuel/air mixture. Multiple burner control can also be achieved with the present fuel/air control system without the need to sample exhaust gas.