Mounting Arrangement for Turbulators of a Furnace Heat Exchanger

A boiler apparatus comprising:

• a boiler housing;
• a combustion chamber in the boiler housing for generating heated gases including combustion products;
• a flue connected to the boiler housing for discharge of the combustion products;
• a container in the boiler housing for receiving a liquid material to be heated;
• a plurality of vertical tubes passing through the container and extending from the combustion chamber to the flue for receiving the heated gases and communicating heat from the heated gases to the liquid material, said tubes each having an inner surface over which the heated gases and combustion products pass and an outer surface in communication with the liquid material;
• each tube having therein a helical turbulator arranged to create turbulence in the flow of the heated gases, thereby increasing heat transfer from the heated gases to the inner surface of the tube;
• the turbulator comprising a strip with outer edges thereof defining outside turbulator edges and following a helical path about a central axis along the respective tube such that at least one of the outer edges is arranged in its helical path generally at the inner surface of the tube so as to be arranged for contact with the inner surface of the tube;
• the tubes being arranged each to one side of the next so as to generally form a row;
• the plurality of turbulators being mounted with a pivotal connection to a common shaft extending parallel to the row of the tubes;
• the shaft being pivotally movable about its axis so as to effect through the pivotal connection of each turbulator a longitudinal vertical sliding movement of each of the turbulators relative to the respective tube from an operating position to a raised position and back to the operating position, the contact of said at least one of the outside turbulator edges and the movement thereof effecting a cleaning of the inner surface to remove combustion products deposited on the inner surface by the heated gases;
• the pivotal connection of the respective turbulator including a bracket forming a channel with an open side receiving the shaft therethrough and an ear supported on the bracket opposite the open side wherefrom the turbulator pivotally depends downwardly;
• the bracket being attached to the shaft by a removable pin passing through apertures in the bracket and the shaft so as to hold the bracket of the respective turbulator in fixed relation to the shaft;
• whereby each turbulator is removably attached to the common shaft independently of the other turbulators.