Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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INFRARED BURNER
This invention relates to a multi-fuel burner
and, more particularly, to a multi-liquid fuel burner
utilizing an igniter and a nozzle holder which emits
atomized fuel and which utilizes a heated burner tube to
an infrared condition under operation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is desirable in many applications to have a
burner which will operate using a plurality of fuels.
Such a burner is described and claimed in Reissue U.S.
Patent 28,679 naming the same inventor as named in the
present application. The use of a multi-fuel burner is
desirable because it may be operated with fuel as is
readily available in the operating environment where the
burner is utilized. For example, in the high north,
construction and mining equipment may operate with diesel
fuel. It is convenient to use such a fuel for operating
the burner.
The burner illustrated and disclosed in Reissue
Patent 28,679 and in U.S. Patent No. 5,102,328, however,
utilize in the first instance a round flame grid and, in
the second instance, a cylindrical flame grid which are
convenient for the particular applications under which
they may be used. In other applications, however, it is
convenient to utilize a flame grid having a different
configuration which may be designed and manufactured for
far less expense and which may be used, for example, for
water heating and for oven heating, which oven may be used
in a field kitchen by the military. A furnace may also
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utilize the burner which furnace distributes the hot air
by using appropriate ducting.
Heretofore, the multi-fuel burner according to
the aforementioned patents has used an ignition electrode
to provide for the initial combustion of the atomized
liquid fuel which is emitted from the nozzle by the
venturi action of the primary air in the nozzle. Ignition
electrodes, however, have a gap in which the distance is
critical. The tips of such electrodes can also burn off
until the electrode eventually becomes inoperable and a
relatively high amount of power is required to form the
spark on the electrode. Thus, relatively high maintenance
is required to keep the ignition electrode in optimum
condition and replacement is, of course, required from
time to time.
Although igniters have been used with gaseous
systems such as propane as described in U.S. Patent
3,875,477, it has not been contemplated that an igniter
may be used with atomized liquid fuels. Although propane
is stored in a liquid form, when the pressure is released
on the liquid, the propane is ejected by the nozzle in
gaseous form. The propane will be ignited when it passes
over the igniter.
The place of introduction of secondary air is
important. For example, if it is desired that combustion
occur on an external grid rather than internally of the
burner tube, the secondary air is added at a location
where it supports combustion on the grid and not within
the burner tube.
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SU1~1ARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention, there
is provided an infrared burner comprising a burner tube
to support combustion within said burner tube, a nozzle
holder operably connected to said burner tube, a nozzle
operably inserted in said nozzle holder to inject
atomized fuel from said nozzle into an inner tubular
member within said burner tube, an air inlet in said
nozzle holder, said inner tubular member extending
axially within and being surrounded by said burner tube,
said inner tubular member extending longitudinally from
said nozzle holder and terminating in an open end within
said burner tube, first and second flame grids
surrounding said inner tubular member and being located a
distance apart, said burner tube being divided into a
first solid portion and a second perforated portion, said
flame grids being operable to prevent a flame from
passing said first and second flame grids, an igniter
mounted in said nozzle holder such that said igniter is
in the path of said atomized fuel emitted from said
nozzle into said inner tubular member, a closure member
for said burner tube, said closure member closing said
burner tube at the end of said burner tube remote from
said nozzle, said second perforated portion including
radially directed holes extending through the
circumference of said burner tube.
According to a further aspect of the invention,
there is provided a method of producing heat from an
infrared burner comprising introducing air into a nozzle
holder operably connected to a burner tube having a solid
portion and a perforated portion, introducing fuel to a
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nozzle held by said nozzle holder, injecting atomized
fuel from said nozzle into an inner tubular member which
extends axially from said nozzle holder within said
burner tube and which terminates within said burner tube,
igniting said atomized fuel with an igniter mounted in
said nozzle holder and being within the path of said
atomized fuel injected from said nozzle, said atomized
fuel and air being combusted within said inner tubular
member, prohibiting said combusted fuel and air from
travelling beyond the end of said burner tube by closing
the end of said burner tube remote from said nozzle,
preventing a flame from passing first and second flame
grids spaced a distance apart on said inner tubular
member and allowing combustion products to escape from
said burner tube through said perforated portion of said
burner tube.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Specific embodiments of the invention will now
be described by example only, with the use of drawings in
which:
Figure 1 illustrates a burner according to the
invention having a burner tube in which combustion takes
place with a nozzle holder connected to the end of the
burner tube in accordance with the present invention;
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Figures 2A and 2B are sectional and end views of
the nozzle holder according to the invention taken along
IIA and IIB of Figure 1, respectively;
Figure 3 is an exploded view of several of the
operating components of a hot water heater into one end of
which is inserted a burner according to Figure l; and
Figure 4A is a view of the burner according to
the invention utilizing a rectangular flame grid and
baffle in a furnace or oven heating application;
Figure 4B is a view of the baffle within the
burner tube taken along IVB-IVB of Figure 4A;
Figure 4C is a plan view of the rectangular
flame grid of the burner according to Figure 4A;
Figure 5A is a side, partially sectioned
diagrammatic view of an infrared burner according to a
further aspect of the invention;
Figure 5B is an end view taken along VB-VB of
Figure 5A;
Figure 6A is a side view of an inner tube which
is used within the burner tube of Figure 5;
Figure 6B is an end view taken along VIB-VIB of
Figure 6A;
Figure 7 is a diagrammatic side view of a heater
body with a chimney and chimney collar according to a
further aspect of the invention;
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Figure 8A is a side view of a heat exchanger
used with the burner of Figure l;
Figure SB is an cad view of the heat exchanger
of Figure 8A taken along VIIIH-VITIB of Figure 8A; and
Figure 8C, is a diagrammatic view of the heat
exchanger of Figures 8A and 8B showing the water
circulation therein.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, a burner
according to the invention is geae~ally illustrated at 10
in Figure 1. It comprises a-burger tube 11 with one end
having a secondary air injection plate 12. The opposite
end 13 of the burner tube 11 is open.
The secondary air injection plate 12 is operably
connected to a nozzle holder 14. Nozzle holder 14 is
adapted to allow the mounting of a nozzle 20 is one cad 15
of the nozzle holder 14 gad also to allow an igniter 21 to
be mounted oa as inclined radial to the nozzle holder l4
as is illustrated. A typical igniter that may be utilized
in this application is a NORTON hot surface igaiter gad,
in particular, the NORTON Model 305. igaiter which is more
completely described, for example, in U:S. Patent
3,875,477 entitled SILICON CARBIDE RESISTANCE IGNITER.~
:30 The igniter 21 has a tip 22 which is located a distance
from the apex 23 of the nozzle 20 such that when atomized
liquid is emitted from the nozzle 20, the tip 22, when
heated, allows the atomized fuel to be ignited as will be
described.
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A plurality of circumferential holes 24,
conveniently eight(8) in number, are located about the
periphery of the nozzle holder 14 and allow primary air to
enter the nozzle holder 14 and to proceed directly,
without diversion, to the burner tube 11 as is indicated
by the arrows.
A plurality of circumferential secondary air
holes 30 are located about the inside circumference of the
burner tube 11 and are drilled through the secondary air
injection plate 12 in the positions illustrated. A
central circumferential aperture 31 allows ingress of the
atomized fuel from the nozzle 20 into the burner tube 11
where combustion occurs.
A flame rod 32 is located in the burner tube 11
and is operable to pass current between the flame rod 32
and ground 33 operably mounted across the burner tube 11
so as to indicate the presence or absence of a flame. A
voltage source 34 supplies the necessary power to the
flame rod 32.
Nozzle 20 has a source of liquid fuel 60 which
is provided to the nozzle 20. Compressed air is also
provided to the nozzle 20 through a compressed air line
61.
OPERATION
In operation, the igniter 21 is switched on and
tip 22 immediately heats to a temperature which will
ignite the atomized liquid being emitted from the apex 23
of nozzle 20 under the suction or venturi effect of the
compressed air entering line 61 and leaving nozzle 20.
The atomized liquid fuel which may be gasoline, jet fuel,
waste oil, diesel fuel, heating oil or the like is ignited
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by the tip 22 of the guide 21 and pass through the
centrally located circumferential aperture 31 where
combustion takes place within the burner tube 11.
Following the ignition of the atomized fuel in the burner
tube 11 and the increase in temperature of the burner tube
11 to allow the combustion to be self sustaining, the
igniter 21 will terminate operation. The flame rod 32
senses the presence of a flame in the burner tube 11 as is
known. In the event no flame is present, the flame rod 32
will immediately act to shut down the burner 10.
The primary air passes radially through the
circumferential primary air holes 24 from the atmosphere.
It then passes directly to the burner tube 11 as is
illustrated by the arrows in Figure 1. The secondary air
passes axially through the secondary air holes 30 on the
secondary air injection plate 12 and act to support
combustion within the burner tube 11.
The nozzle holder 14 is shown in more detail in
Figures 2A and 2B. A hole 62 is machined in the nozzle
holder 14 to allow the nozzle 20 (Figure 1) to be held by
the nozzle holder 14. The primary air holes 24 are
located about the circumference of the nozzle holder 14
and are used to allow primary air to radially enter into
the nozzle holder 14 and, thence, to pass directly to the
burner tube 11.
A further embodiment of an apparatus with which
the burner according to the invention is used is
illustrated in Figures 4A, 4B and 4C. This embodiment is
used, for example, where it is desired to heat an oven
such as a stove in a field kitchen as might be used by the
military and the like. In this case, the air injection
plate 71 will have no secondary holes surrounding the
nozzle holder 70 and the burner tube 64 will be located a
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distance away from the air injection plate 71 as is
illustrated. A rectangular or square flame grid 63 faces
upwardly and is connected to one end of the burner tube
64. A U-shaped baffle 65 is positioned within the burner
tube 64 so that the fuel passes through the baffle 65 on
the way to the rectangular grid 63. The baffle 65 has a
centrally located pilot hole 66 and a plurality of holes
67 to allow passage of the fuel to the grid 63. The
nozzle holder 70 is mounted directly to the injection
plate 71 and, upon the tip of the igniter 72 igniting the
atomized fuel being ejected from the nozzle 73 under the
influence of air being provided through the compressed air
line 74 and the liquid fuel being provided through fuel
line 80, primary air enters the primary air holes 81 and
passes directly to the burner tube 64 to support
combustion on flame grid 63. It will be particularly
noted that no secondary air holes are provided in the
injection plate 71 because the combustion is not taking
place within the burner tube 64 but, rather, on the
rectangular flame grid 63. However, secondary air intake
holes 68, 69 are located in the jacket 76 surrounding the
burner tube 64 about the outside circumference of the
jacket 76 and the circumference of the end 75 of the
jacket 76, respectively.
A further embodiment of the invention is shown
in Figure 3 which illustrates several operating components
of a hot water heater. The burner according to the
invention as illustrated in Figure 1 is inserted directly
into the end 85 of the housing generally shown at 82. The
burner tube 11 (Figure 1) extends into cylinder 83 and
cylinder 83, in turn, extends into the water jacket
generally illustrated at 84.
In operation, and upon initial combustion of the
atomized fuel within burner tube 11, the cylinder 83 will
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be heated. Cylinder 83 will provide heat to the Water
jacket 90 and the water will be heated.
Instead of a flame rod 32, a photocell could be
used which senses the presence or absence of a flame in
the burner tube 11.
A further embodiment of the invention is
illustrated in Figure 5 which shows an infrared burner
generally illustrated at 100 and is useful to increase
heating efficiency in many applications. This is
accomplished by keeping the flame within the burner tube
111 so far as possible so that the flame heats the burner
tube 111 to a red or white hot condition. To that end,
the nozzle holder 101, nozzle 102, igniter 103 and the
fuel and air inlets 104, 110, respectively, remain
identical to those illustrated in the Figure 1 embodiment.
Likewise, primary air holes 111 are located in the nozzle
holder 101.
However, the configuration of the burner tube
111 departs markedly from that of the Figure 1 embodiment.
In the configuration according to Figure 5, it is the
intention to keep the flame within the burner tube 111 and
a closure member 112 is located at the end of the second
portion 121 of the burner tube 111 distant or remote from
the nozzle 102. Burner tube 111 has a circumferential
configuration and extends axially or longitudinally from
an interface 113 between the nozzle 102 and the burner
tube 111 to the closure member 112. It has two areas, the
first area 114 having a solid circumference and the second
portion 121 having a plurality of holes 120 extending
therethrough to the inside of the burner tube 111. Holes
120 appear on the top one half of the second portion 121
of burner tube 111 or all the way around the second
portion 121 of the burner tube 111. To assist the burner
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100 to keep the flame within the burner tube 111 and the
outer axial area of the flame near the closure member 112,
an inner tube 116 is located within the burner tube 111
principally within the solid or first portion 114 of the
burner tube 111.
The inner tube 116 is illustrated in greater
detail in Figures 6A and 6B. It comprises first and
second flame grids 122, 123, respectively, each with a
plurality of holes 124 extending axially therethrough. A
central circumferential member 130 extends longitudinally.
Inwardly of each end of the circumferential member 130,
the flame grids 122, 123, are located.
An orifice 131 is positioned within the member
130. The orifice 131 is tapered as illustrated; that is,
it tapers from a first diameter 132 nearest the nozzle 102
to a second diameter 133 which is of a smaller value that
the first diameter 132. The orifice 131 is intended to
create a low pressure zone which exerts some influence on
the flame formation and keeps it nearer the closure member
112 than extending outwardly from it and the burner tube
111. If the flame is retained within the inner tube 116,
there is better heat transfer between it and the flame
with the result that the burner tube 111 and particularly
the second portion 121 of the burner tube 111 will be
heated to a higher temperature.
Yet a further embodiment of the invention is
illustrated in Figure 7. In this embodiment a burner is
generally illustrated at 200 with its flame 201
diagrammatically shown. The burner 200 can be of the
various configurations including the configuration of
Figures 1 - 6 but, regardless of the configuration, it is
mounted in a heater body or combustion chamber generally
shown at 202 which may be positioned and operated in a
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shelter such as a tent or cabin (not illustrated) to heat
the interior.
A chimney 203 is mounted at the outlet of the
heater body 202 and is inserted into a joined outer
straight collar 204 and a tapered inner collar 210 which
is joined to the outer straight collar 204 by weld 211.
Thus, the top 212 of the heater body 202 is flush with the
top of outer and inner collars 204, 210, respectively, and
facilitates cleaning and handling. Chimney 203 is secured
to a greater extent when it is inserted into the
circumferential "V" formed between the outer and inner
collars 204, 210 and there is little or no possibility of
air leakage between the chimney and the collars 204, 210
which would otherwise be the case when using chimney
collars of known configuration.
Yet a further embodiment of the invention is
illustrated in Figures 8A, 8B and 8C. In this embodiment,
the burner assembly of Figure 1 generally illustrated at
300 is mounted within a heat exchanger generally
illustrated at 301. A circulating pump 302 provides for
water to be introduced to the heat exchanger 301 through
inlet 303 and which water exits the heat exchanger through
outlet 304 after circulating through the heat exchanger
301 as seen diagrammatically in Figure 8C.
The heat exchanger has a plurality of flutes or
hat sections 310 (Figure 8B) located about the
circumference of the heat exchanger 301, the flutes 310
having an increased surface area which serves to more
efficiently pass heat from the burner 300 to the water and
which flutes 310 are made from cast aluminum. The lower
one half of the flutes 310 are connected to the
circumference of the heat exchanger 301 thereby to form a
lower passageway 309 confining the water to the
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passageways on the lower half of the heat exchanger 301
until the leftward end is reached as illustrated in Figure
8C. A channel or passageway 311 passes the water at the
leftward end of the heat exchanger 301 to the upper
passageway 312 which thereby confines the water to pass
through the upper half of flutes 310 and out through
outlet 304 as described.
The use of the heat exchanger 301 allows
applications which require hot water. Such applications
are well known and include maintaining water within water
jackets of an engine in a heated condition thereby keeping
an engine heated when otherwise shut down. The heated
water could be used for many other purposes as is well
known in the art.
While specific embodiments have been described,
such descriptions should be taken as illustrative of the
invention only and not as limiting its scope. Many
modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the
art to which the invention relates and, accordingly, the
scope of the invention should be construed in accordance
with the accompanying claims.
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