🔍 Key Concepts

• Role of the diffuser in an oil burner versus the nozzle • How proper fuel–air mixing affects flame shape and stability in a furnace • Difference between atomizing fuel and shaping/directing the flame and air flow

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: which component in the burner actually atomizes (breaks up) the fuel, and which one controls how air meets the flame? • Think about what would happen to the flame if the full force of the air blast hit it directly with no protection or shaping device in front of it. • Consider which option best describes a device that both protects the flame and still allows controlled mixing of air and fuel.

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify which choice is really describing a fuel oil atomizer/nozzle, not a diffuser. • Check which option mentions shielding the flame from the air blast while still permitting some mixing — is that a function you’d expect from a flow‑shaping device? • Eliminate any choice that sounds like a vague benefit (e.g., ‘improving combustion everywhere’) rather than a specific mechanical function in the burner assembly.