Fuel-fired burner with skewed electrode arrangement

1. A fuel-fired burner for use with an emission abatement device, the fuel-fired burner comprising:

first and second electrodes, each electrode comprising an arc-contact rod, the arc-contact rods being spaced apart to generate an electrical arc therebetween and cooperating to define an X-shaped arrangement when viewed in side elevation.

2. The fuel-fired burner of claim 1 , wherein the X-shaped arrangement has a crossover point at which the arc-contact rods cross over one another, and the crossover point is off center from the center points of the arc-contact rods.

3. The fuel-fired burner of claim 2 , comprising an electrode casing surrounding a portion of each electrode, wherein the crossover point is located farther from the electrode casings than the center points of the arc-contact rods.

4. The fuel-fired burner of claim 1 , wherein the X-shaped arrangement has a crossover point at which the arc-contact rods cross over one another, and the crossover point is located at the center points of the arc-contact rods.

5. The fuel-fired burner of claim 1 , comprising a fuel nozzle positioned between the arc-contact rods and a mount plate to which the fuel nozzle and the electrodes are secured, wherein the X-shaped arrangement has a crossover point at which the arc-contact rods cross over one another, and, when viewed in side elevation, the fuel nozzle is positioned between the crossover point and the mount plate.

6. The fuel-fired burner of claim 1 , wherein the arc-contact rods define an acute angle therebetween when viewed in side elevation.

7. The fuel-fired burner of claim 6 , comprising an electrode casing surrounding a portion of each electrode, wherein the X-shaped arrangement has a crossover point at which the arc-contact rods cross over one another, each arc-contact rod comprises a proximal portion extending from a respective one of the electrode casings to the crossover point and a distal portion extending from the crossover point to a free end of the arc-contact rod, and the acute angle is defined between the distal portions.

8. The fuel-fired burner of claim 1 , wherein the arc-contact rods define a right angle therebetween when viewed in side elevation.

9. A soot abatement device comprising:

a soot trap, and

a fuel-fired burner fluidly coupled to an inlet face of the soot trap, the fuel-fired burner comprising first and second electrodes, each electrode comprising an arc-contact rod, the arc-contact rods being spaced apart to generate an electrical arc therebetween and cooperating to define an X-shaped arrangement when viewed in side elevation.

10. The soot abatement device of claim 9 , comprising an electrode casing surrounding a portion of each electrode, wherein each arc-contact rod comprises a free end and extends from a respective one of the electrode casings to its free end, the X-shaped arrangement has a crossover point at which the arc-contact rods cross over one another, and the crossover point is either located at the center points of the arc-contact rods or located between the center points of the arc-contact rods and the free ends of the arc-contact rods in spaced-apart relation to the center points of the arc-contact rods.

11. The soot abatement device of claim 9 , wherein the arc-contact rods define one of an acute angle and a right angle therebetween when viewed in side elevation.

12. A fuel-fired burner for use with an emission abatement device, the fuel-fired burner comprising:

first and second electrodes, each electrode comprising a straight arc-contact rod having a longitudinal axis, the arc-contact rods being spaced apart to generate an electrical arc therebetween and being non-parallel, the longitudinal axes of the arc-contact rods being non-intersecting.

13. The fuel-fired burner of claim 12 , wherein the arc-contact rods cooperate to define an electrode gap therebetween, and the size of the electrode gap decreases and increases as the arc-contact rods extend along their longitudinal axes.

14. The fuel-fired burner of claim 13 , comprising an electrode casing surrounding a portion of each electrode, wherein each arc-contact rod comprises a free end, and the size of the electrode gap first decreases and then increases as the arc-contact rods extend from the electrode casings to the free ends.

15. The fuel-fired burner of claim 12 , wherein the arc-contact rods cooperate to define an X-shaped arrangement when viewed in side elevation.

16. The fuel-fired burner of claim 15 , wherein the arc-contact rods define an acute angle therebetween when viewed in side elevation.

17. The fuel-fired burner of claim 15 , wherein the arc-contact rods define a right angle therebetween when viewed in side elevation.

18. The fuel-fired burner of claim 12 , wherein the longitudinal axes do not lie on a common plane.

19. The fuel-fired burner of claim 12 , wherein each arc-contact rod is cylindrical.

20. The fuel-fired burner of claim 12 , wherein each arc-contact rod is shaped as a circular cylinder.