Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24H—FLUID HEATERS, e.g. WATER OR AIR HEATERS, HAVING HEAT-GENERATING MEANS, e.g. HEAT PUMPS, IN GENERAL
  • F24H1/00—Water heaters, e.g. boilers, continuous-flow heaters or water-storage heaters
  • F24H1/10—Continuous-flow heaters, i.e. heaters in which heat is generated only while the water is flowing, e.g. with direct contact of the water with the heating medium
  • F24H1/107—Continuous-flow heaters, i.e. heaters in which heat is generated only while the water is flowing, e.g. with direct contact of the water with the heating medium using fluid fuel

Definitions

• This invention relates generally to hot water heating column furnaces, and in particular to a new and novel, improved combination hot water heat exchanger and stripper furnace for use as a non-corrosive, drinking-water-quality heating system, and to a corresponding method for providing such a source of drinking-water-quality hot water for ' use, for example, in copper pipe systems.
• This patent discloses a device similar in operation to that of the United States Patent No. 3,190,283 and additionally teaches a device that has a water jacket containing some water trickling down which has been deflected by the tapered inner
• the present invention not only serves as a hot water heater but as an oxygen stripper, too, achieving results never heretofore achieved in the hot water heater field producing non-corrosive, drinking-water-quality, heated water.
• the Bougard device relates to the provision of a heater of the type comprising, in a column, a combustion chamber situated below a space equipped withucid-distributing means, in which space the fluids meet in counter current, the heated liquid descend ⁇ ing from one end and the combustion gases rising from the other.” (Col. 1, lines 3-8).
• a new and improved direct contact or reclaimed heat, water heater column which comprises a body and a grid dividing the interior of the body into an upper- and lower compartment.
• the upper compartment contains a plurality of heat absorbing bodies which act in combination as a heat exchanger and also as an oxygen stripping chamber.
• the lower " compartment forms a com ⁇ bination heat source chamber and complete reservoir for .storage of the hot water heated in the furnace.
• a heat source is provided below the grid which allows the combustion products to-- rise through the heat absorbing bodies at a rate which heats the water and strips most of -the dissolved oxygen from it.
• Cold water is introduced into the furnace through a spray in the upper compartment and the combustion products are vented through a flue having a general U-shape so as to prevent' back flow of air when the furnace burner is shut off, thus maintaining an oxygen free atmosphere in the unit.
• inverted conical frustum shell is fixedly attached to the underside of the grating and terminates with an open end within the lower compartment with the heating means being formed to direct the heat to the area inside the inverted conical shell.
• the inverted conical shell or directing means serves to direct the cold water from the upper compartment to the inside of the conical shell and into the lower corr.parr ent in one embodiment of the invention.
• a directing means in the form of a conical frustum, open-ended' baffle positioned uprightly and attached to the upperside of the grating to direct the water down the sides of the lower compartment and into the lower compartment storage area.
• the flame from the burner is contained within an area in the furnace such that the flame is not exposed to the shell of the furnace but is in contact with a layer of water running down the inverted cone or running down the sides of the lower compartment in the modified embodiment.
• the combust.ion system also is designed to avoid the presence of relatively high temperatures or concentrated heat zones or intense hot spots . This is achieved by not using a large number of burners, preferrably only one operating at a relatively low temperature, and by having the flair.e directly contacted by the water from its initial introducion into the chamber with no flame shields or other means to prevent the water from contacting the flames. This avoids the formation of NO .
• a further aspect of the invention is to produce a flue gas having an outlet temperature leaving the furnace approximately equal to the temperature of the incoming cold water to be heated .
• a separate reclaimed heat source such as for example the exhaust gas from an engine or generator or boiler, etc., is used in place of the direct contact, combustion flames.
• Another object and advantage of the invention is to provide a new and improved direct contact, hot water furnace which utilizes a plurality of elements to obtain a much more improved and efficient furnace wherein the outlet temperature of the flue gas leaving the furnace is at a temperature approximately equal to the temperature of the cold -water coming into the furnace through the spray nozzle.
• Another object and advantage of the invention is to . provide a new and novel method of providing a source of drinking-water-quality, hot water for use with copper or steel pipes which utilizes the new and improved furnace described herein the new and novel manner described. _
• Figure 1 is a side, sectional view of a first embodiment of the new and improved furnace showing the upper and lower chambers separated by the grating and also showing the new and novel U-shape vent stack;
• Figure 2 is a sectional view, taken along line 2 - 2 of Figure 1 and showing the grating in place which supports the heat absorbing bodies and separates the two chambers or compartments;
• FIG 3 is a perspective view of " Che heat absorbing bodies known' as "Paul rings ; "
• Figure 4 is an end view, taken along line 4 - 4, showing details of the interior of the "Paul rings;"
• Figure 5 is a side, sectional view of a generally cylindrically shaped furnace showing a modification of the embodiment of the furnace shown in Figure 1 of the drawings;
• Figure 6 is a sectional view, taken along line 6 - 6, showing the conically shaped, open ended, frustum baffle fixedly attached to the upperside of the grating separating the upper .and lower compartments of the furnace.
• Figure 7 is a side, sectional view of a third embodiment of the new and improved furnace, very similar to the embodiment of Figure 5 but using a separate, reclaimed heat source in place of the direct contact, combustion flames; while
• Figure 8 is a sectional view, taken along line 8 - 8 of
• FIG. 10 a first embodiment of_ the invention's new and novel combination hot water heat exchanger and stripped furnace shown generally by the numeral 10 which comprises an "external shell 12 having formed within it at least an upper compartment 14 and a lower compartment 16.
• the external shell 12 is designed with a water-tight bottom 18 which allows the lower compartment 16 to form a hot water storage reservoir for the storage of the total hot water 20 needed in the heat exchanger system.
• a grating 22 is positioned between the upper comp-artment 14 and the lower compartment 16 and is designed to support a plurality of heat absorbing and transfer bodies 24 which are positioned within the upper compartment 14 and on top of the grating 22.
• the heat absorbing bodies 24 are shown in one form in Figures 3 and 4 and will be described more fully herein ⁇ after.
• a tapered, conical section 26 closing off the top of the heat exchanger and terminating in an exhaust pipe 28 which is utilized for removing the exhaust from the furnace to the atmosphere.
• the exhaust pipe 28 is connected to a ⁇ horizontal exhaust pipe 30 which passes through the exterior of the building wall 32 in proximity to the heat exchanger 10 of the subject invention.
• a downwardly turned exhaust pipe 34 which is open to the atmosphere outside of the external building wall
• Vapor pressure from the hot water 20 being stored in the lower compartment 16 is sufficient in its constant movement out of the furnace system so that it will keep the furnace purged and prevent unwanted oxygen from entering into the furnace through the U-shaped stack during a furnace shutdown.
• a means for spraying cold water over a plruality of heat absorbing bodies 24 Positioned in the tapered conical section 26 is a means for spraying cold water over a plruality of heat absorbing bodies 24 and is constructed in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 with a spray nozzle 36 fixedly attached to a cold water pipe 38.
• a main valve 40 indicated ith a "V" in the drawing, opens upon receiving a signal fro the furnace controller ' whenever there is a low water level in the lower compartment 16.
• the main valve 40 also is automatically opened prior to the furnace flame being ignited in order to insure a water flow prior to the heating of the furnace.
• a paddle switch 42 Positioned between the main valve 40 and the spray nozzle 36 is a paddle switch 42 which sends a signal to the furnace controller to indicate that flow has commenced in the cold water pipe " 38 which allows the main gas valve 44 to operate.
• the main gas valve 44 is connected to the gas inlet 46 and is positioned outside the lower compartment 16 -so- that it can be ignited by a spark ignition pilot 48 which is connected to the electrical wire 50.
• the means -for heating the lower compartment 16 and the upper compartment 14 comprises an externally mounted, forced draft gas burner 52, vVhich is mounted on the external shell 12 as shown in Figure 1 and is designed to direct a flame 54 into the lower compartment in a controlled manner.
• there is positioned within the lower compartment 16 means for directing the flow of cold water from the spray nozzle 36 to a predetermined area- in the lower compartment 16 in order to prevent hot spots resulting in burn-outs on the external shell 12 in the area of the lower ' compartment 16.
• Tb-e directing means comprises a conical, inverted frustum shell 56 which is fixedly attached to the underside of the grating 22 and terminates with an open end 58 within the lower compartment 16.
• the inverted conical shell 56 When formed thusly, the inverted conical shell 56 'serves to direct water from the spray nozzle 36, which water runs downwardly through the upper compartment 14 and also runs downwardly on the internal sides of the upper compartment 14.
• the conical shell 56 serves as a funnel to funnel this water into the lower compartment 16.
• the water running down the interior of the conical shell 56 is shown in Figure .1 of the drawing by the numeral 60 and serves to keep the flame 54 from being exposed to the inside of the external shell 12 in the
• the design- of- the blower 52 in combination with the spark ignition pilot 48 and the gas inlet- pipe 46 is such as to be able to direct the heat from the blower 52 into the area 62 inside the inverted concical shell 56.
• Figure 3 is a perspective view of the heat absorbing bodies known as "Paul rings.”
• the Paul rings are standard in the .process industry and applicant makes no claim to Paul rings as his invention but only when used in combination with applicants new and novel furnace structure.
• the Paul rings as shown in Figure 3 of the drawing and as illustrated with the numeral 64, are formed in an open cylindrical shape with a series of turned-in cuts 66, which can be seen more clearly in Figure 4 of the drawings, which is an end view taken along line 4 - 4 of Figure 3.
• the external shell 12 of the applicant's furnace as well as the bottom 18 and the tapered conical section 26 are preferably constructed of stainless steel, and, in a similar manner, the conical shell 56 positioned within the lower compartment 16 is constructed also of stainless steel as is the grating 22.
• the first experimental model of the applicant's furnace utilized a 3-1/2 foot diameter external shell 12 which was approximately ' nine feet tall from the bottom area to the tapered, conical section 26.
• the Paul rings contained in the upper compartment 14 were packed to a height of three feet about the grating 22 which provided the best results to remove approximately 90% of t e oxygen from the water being introduced
• This experimental furnace utilized a 2,000,000 . BTU per hour gas burner 52 of the forced draft type.
• the experimental unit was sized for 30% demand of the total number of people using the system with a 15 minute retention time. This long retention time aids in preventing the burner 52 from having to cycle on and off which would be the standard in prior art types of furnances.
• the forced draft blower burner 52 is set up in the control system to be off-on and will come on as a purge to empty the interior of the furnace 10 of accumulated gas prior to the introduction of gas
• the upper portion of the level control reservoir 74 is connected by means of he pipe 76 to the interior of the upper compartment 14, while the lower portion of the level control reservoir 74 is connected by means of the pipe 78 to the interior of the lower compartment 16.
• a main hot water outlet pipe 80 is positioned in the lower compartment 16 and the flow of hot water to the hot water system is controlled by a valve 82.
• FIG. 2 of the drawings there is shown a section view, taken along line 2 - 2 of Figure 1, showing the grating 22 in place in the furnace 10 with the inverted conical shell 56 being shown in position beneath the grating 22.
• the grating 22 terminates in a ring-like solid area 84 which would be welded to the interior of the upper compartment 14.
• droplets of water from the spray nozzle 36 that would cascade down the interior of the upper compartment 14 would be directed by the ringlike area 84 through the grating 22 and into the inverted conical shel 56.
• the furnace modification shown in Figure 5 utilizes an upwardly positioned, conical frustum, open-ended baffle 86 which is fixedly attached to the upper side of the grating 22 to direct some of the downwardly flowing water down the sides of the upper compartment 14 into the lower compart ⁇ ment 16.
• an inverted, downwardly positioned, conical shell 56 there was formed an inverted, downwardly positioned, conical shell 56, and it will be noted by referring to Figure 5 that the conical shell 56 has been deleted in favor of the cpen-ended baffle 86.
• FIG. 6 of the drawings there is -shown a- section view, taken along line 6 - 6 of Figure 5, showing the conically shaped, open-ended frustum baffle fixedly attached to the upper side of the grating 22 which separates the upper compartment 14 from the lower compartment 16.
• the grating 22 will be extended to the external shell 12 and will be welded thereto by means well kown in the art.
• the baffle 86 would be sized and positioned on the grating 22 in such a manner so as to allow a ring-like open area 88 to be exposed between the baffle 86 and the external shell 12.
• FIG. 7 and 8 there is- shown a , further embodiment which constitutes a heat reclaimer system as opposed to the direct-fired, exposed, direct contact combustion flames of the gas water heating system embodiments of Figures 1 - 4 and 5 - 6.
• the hot gases from a separate but associated hot gas source 16 such as for example the exhaust gases from an. ⁇ engine or boiler stack or the like, is fed be gas line 163 in to ' the lower compartment interior 116 of the furnance 110 by blower 162 controlled by moveable dampers 165.
• the thus discharged hot gases 154 then flow up through the upper compartment 114 containing the heat absorbing bodies 124 and heat and oxygen strip the incoming flowing water from the ___ water source 136.
• An exemplary temperature of the incoming hot exhaust gases 154 is 400 F. as received from, for example,. a boiler stack as a hot gas source.
• the final exhaust gas out of the furnace 110 at the exhaust pipe 134 is approximately within 10 F. of the temperature of the incoming water up to a maximum 140 F. for greatest efficiency. It is believed that the heating and stripping actions and parameters are the same for both the heat reclaimer system embodiment ( Figures 7 8- 8) and the direct-fired embodiments ( Figures 1+ and Figure 5+) .
• a new and novel method for providing a source of drinking-water-quality hot water for use with copper or steel pipes which comprises the steps of providing an upper and lower compartmented combination hot water heater/stripper furnace and providing the upper compartment with a plurality of heat absorbing bodies.
• a new and novel furnace and " method which allows the heated gas and air to be removed from the upper compartment through the exhaust stack at a temperature approximately the same as the cold water inlet into the furnace.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Air Supply (AREA)
• Instantaneous Water Boilers, Portable Hot-Water Supply Apparatuses, And Control Of Portable Hot-Water Supply Apparatuses (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

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ID=22161301

Family Applications (1)

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• 1981
  • 1981-06-26 JP JP50246981A patent/JPS58501088A/ja active Pending
  • 1981-06-26 EP EP19810901990 patent/EP0082139B1/de not_active Expired
  • 1981-06-26 DE DE8181901990T patent/DE3175908D1/de not_active Expired
  • 1981-06-26 WO PCT/US1981/000876 patent/WO1983000210A1/en not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (2)

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