Boilers
AssigneeStelrad Group Limited
InventorStanley G. Finch
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gas fired boiler for a domestic hot water and/or central heating system has a burner (25) (FIG. 1), a static heat exchanger (22) through which water is circulated, and a rotary heat exchanger (12) of which the body is a disc of ceramic material such as is currently used for catalytic conversion in automobile exhaust systems. The rotary heat exchanger recovers heat from the gases passing from the static heat exchanger (22) to the outlet flue 4, and uses this recovered heat for heating the fresh air entering through the air intake (3). A conduit (90) having a controllable valve (91) enables heated fresh air to be supplied for space heating purposes if required, while improving the thermal efficiency of the boiler by promoting condensation of water vapor from the combustion gases as they pass through the rotary heat exchanger.
Claims25
A boiler, having a housing providing a gas flow path including a first gas plenum and a second gas plenum connected in series relation between an air intake and an air outlet flue for the boiler, the first and second plenums having portions in juxtaposition, the boiler having, within the housing, a rotary heat exchanger, a burner and a static heat exchanger, the rotary heat exchanger having a multiplicity of gas passages and being disposed and rotatable so that parts thereof may be moved alternately through the first and second plenums to transfer heat therebetween, whereby at least part of the gas in said flow path is constrained to pass in each of the first and second plenums in opposite directions through said gas passages of the rotary heat exchanger, the burner being disposed in the gas flow path between the said parts of the rotary heat exchanger, and the static heat exchanger being disposed in the gas flow path between the burner and the part of the rotary heat exchanger received in the second plenum and adapted for circulation therethrough of a fluid to be heated.
A condensing boiler, having a housing providing a gas flow path including a first gas plenum and a second gas plenum connected in series relation between an air intake and an outlet flue for the boiler, the first and second plenums having portions in juxtaposition, the boiler having, within the housing, a rotary heat exchanger, a burner and a static heat exchanger, the rotary heat exchanger having a multiplicity of gas passages and being disposed and rotatable so that parts thereof may be moved alternately through the first and second plenums to transfer heat therebetween, whereby at least part of the gas in said flow is constrained to pass in each of the first and second plenums in opposite directions through said gas passages of the rotary heat exchanger, the burner being disposed in the gas flow path between the said parts of the rotary heat exchanger, and the static heat exchanger being disposed in the gas flow path between the burner and the part of the rotary heat exchanger received in the second plenum and adapted for circulation therethrough of a fluid to be heated, the boiler including conduit means connected to the gas flow path between the burner and the part of the rotary heat exchanger received in the first plenum, for removing from the gas flow path some of the air heated by the rotary heat exchanger, in operation of the boiler water vapour condensing in the gas passages of the rotary heat exchanger, the second plenum but the static heat exchanger being non-condensing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.