Airflow control housing

An apparatus having a heat producing device constructed and arranged to perform an exothermic chemical reaction through the oxidation of a liquid or gaseous fuel, comprising:

• a housing having an exterior, and an interior open space, the housing having a front end, a rear end, and length between the front end and the rear end, a front interior space at the front end, and a rear interior space at the rear end;
• an air inlet at the rear end in fluid communication with the rear interior space, whereby ambient air can enter the rear interior space through the air inlet;
• the exterior of the housing comprising a multi-wall conduit having at least two walls extending along the housing length, an outside surface of the conduit at the exterior of the housing and an inside surface of the conduit defining the interior space of the housing, the multi-wall conduit downstream from and in fluid communication with the rear interior space and upstream from and in fluid communication with the front interior space;
• a section wall at an upstream rear end of the front interior space and an air blower on the section wall constructed, arranged, and adapted to draw air into the air inlet, through the multi-wall conduit, into the front interior space and out an outlet of the air blower;
• electronic components mounted in interior open space of the housing;
• the heat producing device mounted within a hot zone of the housing interior space, thermally sealed from the front interior space by the section wall and blower, downstream from the blower, and adapted to receive air directly or indirectly from the blower;
• the electronic components positioned upstream from the heat producing device, wherein they can be kept cooler than the heat producing device by the airflow upstream the heat producing device;
• an exhaust outlet positioned and adapted to emit an exhaust from the heat producing device to the exterior of the housing;
• and
• whereby when the blower is operated, it draws air from the air inlet, into the front interior space, downstream into the multi-wall conduit, downstream into the front interior space, and into the blower, then upstream from the blower to the heat producing device.

A method of operating an exothermic device mounted within an interior of a housing having a multi-wall construction with an outer wall spaced apart from an inner wall and an air conduit in the space between the outer and inner walls, comprising:

• operating a blower within the housing and drawing ambient air into a rear end of the housing, then downstream and forward through the air conduit between the outer and inner walls of the housing, then downstream to a front interior space of the housing, and then downstream to the blower, the blower mounted at a downstream rear end of the front interior space;
• blowing directly or indirectly, the air from the front interior space into a hot zone of the interior of the housing, the hot zone thermally insulated from the front interior space, and downstream into the exothermic device;
• and
• emitting an exhaust from the exothermic device through an outlet of the housing.