Circulating oil heater
AssigneeAdvanced Fabrication Technology, LLC.
InventorsKent L. Anderson, Jeffrey D. Ensminger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fluid heater has concentrically disposed radiantly heated and convectionally heated sections. The radiantly heated section includes a helically coiled tube defining a cylindrical chamber in which a flame produced by a burner primarily radiantly heats the coiled tube. The helically coiled tube has an outer perimeter about which a plurality of finned tubes are concentrically disposed and are heated by convection transfer of thermal energy. The oil heater embodying the present invention provides a compact oil heater that has greatly increased heating efficiency, reduced heat loss through the shell of the heater, and reduced internal stresses.
Claims10
An oil heater, comprising:
- a helically coiled tube coaxially disposed about a central axis and having an inlet end and outlet end, said outlet end being in fluid communication with a conduit adapted to receive heated oil;
- a plurality of finned tubes concentrically disposed about said helically coiled tube, each of said finned tubes having an inlet end and outlet end, the inlet end of at least one of said plurality of finned tubes being in fluid communication with a source of fluid to be heated, and the outlet end with at least another one of said plurality of finned tubed being in fluid communication with said inlet end of the helically coiled tube;
- a burner aligned with said central axis of the helically coiled tube;
- and
- a vapor removal chamber interposed between said source of oil to be heated and said inlet end of said at least one of said plurality of finned tubes.
An oil heater, comprising:
- an insulated firebox having a longitudinal axis;
- a burner disposed at an end of said firebox and adapted to direct a flame into said firebox in a direction coaxially aligned with said longitudinal axis of the firebox;
- a helically coiled tube coaxially aligned with said longitudinal axis and positioned to be primarily radiantly heated by the flame directed by said burner, said helically coiled tube having an inlet end and outlet end;
- a plurality of finned tubes coaxially disposed about an outer perimeter of said heatedly coiled tube and arranged to be primarily heated by convection heat transfer provided by hot gases produced by the flame directed by said burner, each of said finned tubes having an inlet end and an outlet end;
- a pump in fluid communication with a source of fluid to be heated and the inlet end of at least one of said finned tubes;
- a vapor removal chamber interposed between said source of oil to be heated and the inlet end of said at least one of said finned tubes;
- an expansion tank in fluid communication with said vapor removal chamber;
- and
- a differential pressure switch adapted to sense the pressure differential between said source of oil to be heated and heated oil discharged from said outlet end of the helically coiled tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.