Apparatus for heating a restaurant kitchen, dining room, and hot water supply

A kitchen heat recovery apparatus for use with exhaust air received from a restaurant kitchen, with the exhaust air being substantially laden with grease, said apparatus comprising:

• a) a fan including a fan motor, a fan housing, and backwards-inclined fan blades;
• with said fan housing having internal housing walls that at least partially surround said fan blades;
• with said fan motor operatively rotating said fan blades to draw the exhaust air substantially laden with grease from the restaurant kitchen along an exhaust flow path, and to impel the exhaust air and grease against said internal housing walls, such that the grease substantially impinges and collects upon said internal housing walls, so as to remove substantially all of the grease from the exhaust air;
• and with said fan blades operatively rotating as aforesaid to push the exhaust air out of said fan housing in a downstream direction along said exhaust flow path;
• with said fan motor being positioned out of said exhaust flow path;
• b) a heat recovery coil formed from a material that is heat conductive and positioned in said exhaust flow path in substantially direct downstream relation from said fan housing;
• with said heat recovery coil defining within itself a recovery conduit through which a heat transfer fluid is operatively supplied at an incoming fluid temperature below the temperature of the exhaust air, such that said fluid in said recovery conduit is operatively heated by passage of the exhaust air along said exhaust flow path over said heat recovery coil;
• c) a fluid delivery means, in fluid communication with said recovery conduit, for operatively delivering said fluid therefrom;
• d) a heat transfer means, that operatively receives said fluid after being heated within said recovery conduit as aforesaid, for transferring heat energy from said fluid to at least one of makeup air for return to, and water for use in, the restaurant;
• e) a first exhaust sensor, positioned in an upstream direction from said recovery coil, to measure the temperature of the exhaust air;
• and,
• f) a fan motor controller, in electrical communication with said first exhaust sensor and with said fan motor, to electrically vary power supplied to said fan motor, and a rotation speed of said fan blades, in directly dependent relation upon the temperature of the exhaust air.