Fuel-fired appliance with exhaust dilution
AssigneeRheem Manufacturing Company
InventorsShawn A. Reed, Mickey E. Batson, Michael D. Williams, Christopher R. Taylor, Tyson J. Cogburn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fuel-fired heating appliance comprises a fuel source, an air source, a chamber in which fuel and air mix, a burner downstream from the mixing chamber, an igniter proximate the burner, a heat exchanger, a blower and a flue pipe. An ambient air inlet may be defined by at least one of the outlet end of the blower and the flue pipe extending between the interior of the flue pipe and an area ambient to the flue pipe. A flow rate of combustion gas may be controlled to a level below a steady-state flow rate during appliance warm-up.
Claims20
A fuel-fired heating appliance comprising:
- a fuel source;
- an air source;
- a chamber in which fuel from the fuel source and air from the air source mix, thereby forming a fuel-air mixture;
- a burner downstream from the chamber in a flow of the fuel-air mixture;
- a heat exchanger in fluid communication at an input end thereof with an area proximate the burner;
- a blower in fluid communication with an output of the heat exchanger so that actuation of the blower draws combustion gas through the heat exchanger to the blower;
- a flue pipe in fluid communication with an outlet end of the blower so that combustion gas drawn from the heat exchanger and expelled from the outlet end of the blower flows into and through an interior of the flue pipe;
- and
- an ambient air inlet defined by at least one of the outlet end of the blower and the flue pipe, the ambient air inlet extending between the interior of the flue pipe and an area ambient to the flue pipe,
- wherein the ambient air inlet is of sufficient size to allow flow of ambient air through the ambient air inlet and into a flow of the combustion gas in the interior of the flue pipe.
A fuel-fired heating appliance comprising:
- a fuel source;
- an air source;
- a chamber in which fuel from the fuel source and air from the air source mix, thereby forming a fuel-air mixture;
- a burner downstream from the chamber in a flow of the fuel-air mixture;
- a heat exchanger in fluid communication at an input thereof with an area proximate the burner;
- a blower in fluid communication with an output of the heat exchanger so that actuation of the blower draws combustion gas through the heat exchanger to the blower;
- a flue pipe in fluid communication with an outlet end of the blower so that combustion gas drawn from the heat exchanger and expelled from the outlet end of the blower flows into and through an interior of the flue pipe;
- and
- a conduit affixed to at least one of the outlet end of the blower and the flue pipe, the conduit extending between the interior of the flue pipe and an area ambient to the flue pipe,
- wherein an opening extending through the conduit is of sufficient size to allow flow of ambient air through the opening and into a flow of combustion gas in the interior of the flue pipe.
A fuel-fired heating appliance, comprising:
- a fuel source;
- an air source;
- a chamber in which fuel from the fuel source and air from the air source mix, thereby forming a fuel-air mixture;
- a burner downstream from the chamber in a flow of the fuel-air mixture;
- a heat exchanger in fluid communication at an input end thereof with an area proximate the burner;
- a blower in fluid communication with an output of the heat exchanger so that actuation of the blower draws combustion gas from the burner, through the heat exchanger, and to the blower;
- a controller in operative communication with the blower;
- and
- a computer readable medium containing program instructions executable by the controller to cause the controller to provide a control signal to the blower that is configured to control the blower to a target speed, wherein the program instructions are configured to cause the controller to provide the control signal to the blower to operate at a first said target speed between a second target speed of the blower at start up of the appliance and a third said target speed of the blower during steady state operation of the appliance, wherein the first target speed is greater than the second target speed and less than the third target speed.
20-25. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.