Abstract

A combustion device for producing predetermined radiation spectral output and heat for a variety of applications including lighting, cooking, heating water, electric power generation, and providing inexpensive photons to enhance chemical and physical reactions.A process for the preparation of a porous ceramic burner is described which comprises drawing a solution which contains metal oxide fibers onto a burner skeleton by use of a vacuum to form a base fiber layer. The base fiber layer is dried, after which an additional metal oxide fiber layer, the outer fiber layer, is added over the base fiber layer. In another embodiment of the invention, an intermediate fiber layer is placed over the base layer, prior to the addition of the outer fiber layer.The porous ceramic burners prepared in accordance with the present invention comprise a base fiber layer having a low emissivity in the range of the aluminum oxide, gallium oxide, thorium oxide, yttrium oxide, erbium oxide and zirconium oxide, and an outer fiber layer which is thermally stimulated to emit radiation of a specific wavelength above a threshold temperature wherein the burner produces from about 30,000 to about 3,000,000 watts/m2 and less than 20 ppm of NOx. An intermediate fiber layer is used to bond the outer fiber layer to the base fiber layer where desired.