CA2869690A1

CA2869690A1 - Simulated fireplace using biomass fuel

Info

Publication number: CA2869690A1
Application number: CA2869690A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Hongfeng Zhu; Qianxi CHEN
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-04-05
Filing date: 2012-04-05
Publication date: 2013-10-10
Also published as: CN104067055A; US20150184861A1; WO2013149391A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a simulated fireplace using biomass fuel (80). The simulated fireplace comprises a body (1) able to be placed on the ground, the body (1) comprising a simulated electrical fireplace (2) at the front and a heating stove (3) at the rear. The heating stove (3) comprises a combustion box (10) and an auxiliary device box (20). The combustion box (10) houses a burner (30) and a heat exchange box (40) is provided above the burner (30), wherein more than two rows of heat dissipating barrels (47) are provided in the heat exchange box (40) with more than two in each row penetrating a front face (41) and a rear face (42). A vertical insulating plate (48) is provided between every two rows of heat dissipating barrels (47) and at least two transverse insulating plates (49) are provided between every two vertical insulating plates (48). The auxiliary device box (20) houses a fuel conveyance mechanism (60) and an electrical device (70). The fuel conveyance mechanism (60) comprises a hopper (61), a fuel conveyance barrel (62) and a spiral fuel push rod (63). The electrical device (70) comprises a fuel conveyance motor (72), a blower (73), an air extractor (74), a power supply (75) and a power supply switch (76). The fireplace increases the heat-exchange efficiency of the stove and reduces wasted energy.

Description

A BIOMASS FUEL SIMULATION FIREPLACE
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED
RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A
COMPACT DISC
Not Applicable BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention I

The invention relates to a simulation fireplace using biomass fuel, and more particularly, to a simulation fireplace having high heat exchange ratio and using fuel as granule made by smashed and then briquetted straw, bits of wood, or crop stalks.

2. Description of Related Art Biomass fuel is granule made by smashed and then briquetted straw, bits of wood, or crop stalks. As a new energy solution, biomass fuel has wider and wider been used because it is hygienic, environmental, high efficient, and economic.
Simulation fireplaces are a common home appliance which is used for a room decoration or warming as well. The simulation fireplaces being used for warming generally use electricity as power supply. However, electricity usually has a higher cost and a longer warm-up time. If biomass fuel is chosen to be the power supply, main technical problems will be how to fully complete heat exchange within a limit space of a conventional simulation fireplace and how to reduce a temperature of an exhausting gas to cut energy wastage. In conventional technology, heat exchange is mainly completed by a smoke vent.
The only way to make a fully heat exchange and to reduce the temperature of the exhausted gas is to increase a length of the smoke vent, which inevitably increases a volume of the fireplace.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the invention is to provide a biomass fuel simulation fireplace having a small volume and a high heat use ratio as well.
In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a biomass fuel simulation fireplace having a body which is able to be placed on the ground.
The body has a front simulation fireplace for decoration and an oven for heat exchange.
The oven has a combustion cabinet and an auxiliary equipment cabinet. The combustion cabinet has a burner received therein on a bottom thereof close to the ground. The burner has a fire grate, a side wall extending upward from the fire grate, and an air supply zone below the fire grate. A burning zone is defined above the fire grate by the side wall. A plurality of vent-holes is defined in the fire grate and the side wall. A heat exchange cabinet is above the burner, the heat exchange cabinet having a front side facing the simulation fireplace, a back side opposite to the front side, a bottom facing the ground, a top opposite to the bottom, a first side, and a second side opposite to the first side. A smoke entrance is defined in the bottom right above the burner. A smoke exit is defined in the first side. At least two rows of heat dissipation tubes are in the heat exchange cabinet running from the front side to the back side. Each row of heat dissipation tubes has at least two heat dissipation tubes. An upright cross wall is between each two neighboring rows of heat dissipation tubes. Each upright cross wall has an upright aperture, two upright apertures of two neighboring upright cross walls being of different side. A rear air supply cabinet in communication with the heat dissipation tubes is on the back side of the heat exchange cabinet, and a front air supply cabinet in communication with the heat dissipation tubes being on the front side of the heat exchange cabinet. A heat dissipation air blower is for blowing into the rear air supply cabinet. The auxiliary equipment cabinet has a fuel supply mechanism and an electrical equipment received therein. The fuel supply mechanism has a hopper, a fuel tube having one end in communication with the hopper and a free end extending into the burning zone, and a rotary vane feeder rotatably received in the fuel tube. The electrical equipment has a heat dissipation air blower, a feeding motor for driving the rotary vane feeder, an air blower for supplying air to the air supply zone of the burner, a draft fan in communication with the smoke exit in the first side of the heat exchange cabinet, a light source and a motor for the simulation fireplace, a power supply, and a switch.
The advantageous effects of the invention are that since the exist of the rows of heat dissipation tubes and level and upright cross walls with level and upright apertures, a length of channel for smoke, i.e. channel for heat exchange, has been significantly increased in a limited space. Therefore, without increase of volume, or even with decrease of volume, heat exchange ratio of the oven is able to be increased and waste of energy has been lowered.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the preferred embodiment of a biomass fuel simulation fireplace of the invention.
Fig. 2 is another schematic perspective view of the fireplace shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional plane view of the simulation fireplace shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional plane view of an oven shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is another cross-sectional plane view of the oven shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a heat exchange cabinet of the oven shown in Fig. 5. And, Fig. 7 is a circuit diagram of an electrical equipment of the oven shown in Fig. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is the preferred embodiment of the invention, a biomass fuel simulation fireplace. The biomass fuel simulation fireplace has a body 1 which is able to be levelly placed on the ground. The body 1 has a front simulation fireplace 2 for decoration and an oven 3 for heat exchange. Together with reference to Fig. 3, the simulation fireplace 2 has a housing 201, a light source 202 received in the housing 201, a container-like fire curtain 203 fixed to the housing 201, a flame swaying mechanism 204, and a carbon bed 205. The flame swaying mechanism 204 is one or two shaft being covered by light reflecting strips and driven by a motor 208. The fire curtain 203 has front wall 206 and a rear wall 207 all of which are transparent. An inner surface of the front wall 206 is frosted. The carbon bed 205 has unglazed carbon blocks and simulation carbon blocks being mixed according to a certain ratio. The unglazed carbon blocks are polyhedrons having lots of light reflecting surfaces and simulation carbon blocks are translucent bodies having a look of natural carbon blocks. Simulation fireplace is a conventional skill which is disclosed in, for example, Chinese patent 200910300478.1 "An Electrical Fireplace Having Flame Curtain" and U.S. patent application 12/388,026 and will not be discussed in detail herein.
With reference to Figs. 4, 5 and 6 together, the oven 3 has a combustion cabinet 10 and an auxiliary equipment cabinet 20. The combustion cabinet 10 has a burner 30 received therein on a bottom thereof close to the ground. The burner 30 has a fire grate 31, a side wall 32 extending upward from along a peripheral of the fire grate 31, and an air supply zone 33 below the fire grate 31. A burning zone 34 is defined above the fire grate 31 by the side wall 32. A plurality of vent-holes 311 are defined in the fire grate 31 and the side wall 32. A heat exchange cabinet 40 is provided above the burner 30 in the combustion cabinet 10. The heat exchange cabinet 40 has a front side 41 facing the simulation fireplace 2, a back side 42 opposite to the front side 41, a bottom 43 facing the ground, a top 44 opposite to the bottom 43, a first side 45, and a second side 46 opposite to the first side 45. A smoke entrance 431 is defined in the bottom 43 close to the second side 42 and right above the burner 30. A smoke exit 451 is defined in the first side 45.
At least two rows of heat dissipation tubes 47 are provided in the heat exchange cabinet 40 running from the front side 41 to the back side 42. Each row of heat dissipation tubes 47 has at least two heat dissipation tubes 47. In the embodiment shown in the Figs., there are three rows of heat dissipation tubes 47 and each row has three heat dissipation tubes 47. There are totally nine dissipation tubes 47. The row of heat dissipation tubes 47 close to the second side 46 is the first row 471, a row of heat dissipation tubes 47 next to the first row is the second row 472, and the row of heat dissipation tubes 47 close to the first side 45 is the third row 473. An upright cross wall 48 is provided between each two neighboring rows of heat dissipation tubes 47. The upright cross wall 48 between the first and the second rows 471, 472 is the first upright cross wall 481. The upright cross wall 48 next to the first upright cross wall 481 is the second upright cross wall 482. Each upright cross wall 48 has an upright aperture 483 to either the top 44 or the bottom 43. Two upright apertures 483 of two neighboring upright cross walls 48 are of different side, i.e., one upright aperture 483 is of the top 44 side and a neighboring upright aperture 483 is of the bottom 43 side. At least two level cross walls 49 are provide between two neighboring upright cross walls 48. Each level cross wall 4 has a level aperture 491 to the upright cross wall 48 beside. Two level apertures 491 of two neighboring level cross walls 49 are of different side, i.e., one level aperture 491 is of one upright cross wall 48 side and a neighboring level aperture 491 is of another neighboring upright cross wall 48 side. As specifically shown in Fig. 4, a rear air supply cabinet 51 in communication with the heat dissipation tubes 47 is provided on the back side 42 of the heat exchange cabinet 40, and a front air supply cabinet 52 in communication with the heat dissipation tubes 47 is provided on the front side 41 of the heat exchange cabinet 40. A heat dissipation air blower 71 is provided for blowing into the rear air supply cabinet 51. As the arrows shown in Fig. 4, air flows from the heat dissipation air blower 71 and enters the front air supply cabinet 52 through the rear air supply cabinet 52 and each heat dissipation tubes 47. The air takes the heat of the heat dissipation tubes 47 away out of the combustion cabinet 10 through a heat dissipation opening 301 defined in the oven 3.
As shown in Fig. 5, the auxiliary equipment cabinet 20 has a fuel supplier 60 and an electrical equipment 70 received therein. The fuel supplier 60 has a hopper 61, a fuel tube 62 having one end in communication with a lower outlet of the hopper 61 and a free end extending into the burning zone 34, and a rotary vane feeder 63 rotatably received in the fuel tube 62. The electrical equipment 70, a circuit diagram thereof being shown in Fig. 7, has a heat dissipation air blower 71, a feeding motor 72 for driving the rotary vane feeder 63, an air blower 73 which is able to supply air to the air supply zone 33 of the burner 30, a draft fan 74 in communication with the smoke exit 451 in the first side 45 of the heat exchange cabinet 40, the light source 202, the motor 208, the power supply 75, a switch 76, and a power light 77. The power supply 75 may be an independent alternating current/direct current power supply 751, having or having not a storage battery 752 in parallel as auxiliary. Either the alternating current/direct current power supply 751 or the storage battery 752 is able to supply power independently. The switch 76 is installed on the auxiliary equipment cabinet 20 and able to control the power supply of whole circuit.
As specifically shown in Fig. 1, the power light 77 is also installed on the body 1 near the switch 76 and used to indict status of power supply 76.
Fuel 80 is biomass fuel granule made by smashed and then briquetted straw, bits of wood, or crop stalks.

In use, a user is able to first stably place the body 1 of the oven on the ground where there is desirable and then load fuel 80 into the hopper 61. When the user turns on the switch 76, the power light 77 turns up, indicating that the electrical circuit is closed and the oven 3 starts to work. The feeding motor 72 starts to rotate, driving the rotary vane feeder 63 to send the fuel 80 into the burner 30. Biomass fuel 80 granule falls onto the fire grate 31 under the gravity. The user is able to ignite the biomass fuel 80 in the burning zone 34 on the fire grate 31 with a burning paper or alcohol cotton ball. At this time, the air blower 73 starts to supply air to the air supply zone 33. Air enters the burning zone 34 through the vent-holes 311 in the fire grate 31 and the side wall 32 and provides oxygen for combustion of the fuel 80. Methane gas is generated in a process of burning of the fuel 80.
With air flow produced by the air blower 73, the methane gas burns into flowing high temperature smoke. The high temperature smoke goes upward from the burner 30 and enters the heat exchange cabinet 40 via the smoke entrance 431 at the bottom of the heat exchange cabinet 40. The high temperature smoke finally goes out of the heat exchange cabinet 40 via the smoke exit 451 in the first side 45 under a suction force from the draft fan 71. As indicated by the arrows shown in Fig. 5, the smoke is only able to flow unidirectionally through the staggered displaced upright apertures 483 and level apertures 491. In the process of the flow of the smoke, heat in the smoke will be absorbed completely by the rows of heat dissipation tubes 47 and dissipates into an ambient air in communication with an inner portion of the heat dissipation tubes 47. Heat exchange is thus being completed.

When the burning needs to be stopped, the user is able to turn off the switch 76, and the power light 77 goes out. The feeding motor 72 stops rotating, and the air blower 73 ceases. As there is no new supply of fuel 80, the fuel 80 in the burning zone 34 will burn up in a very short time period. The user then is able to collect ash dropped from the burning 30. Outer region of the fire grate 31 may be oblique upward in a certain degree in order to form a central depression. The central depression is useful to gather fuel 80 together to avoid black smoke caused by insufficient burning of the outer region fuel 80.
From above description, it is seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. Embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from the invention's principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A biomass fuel simulation fireplace comprising:
a body (1) which is able to be placed on the ground, said body (1) having a front simulation fireplace (2) for decoration and an oven (3) for heat exchange, said oven (3) having a combustion cabinet (10) and an auxiliary equipment cabinet (20), said combustion cabinet (10) having a burner (30) received therein on a bottom thereof close to said ground, said burner (30) having a fire grate (31), a side wall (32) extending upward from said fire grate (31), and an air supply zone (33) below said fire grate (31), a burning zone (34) being defined above said fire grate (31) by said side wall (32), a plurality of vent-holes (311) being defined in said fire grate (31) and said side wall (32), a heat exchange cabinet (40) being above said burner (30), said heat exchange cabinet (40) having a front side (41) facing said simulation fireplace (2), a back side (42) opposite to said front side (41), a bottom (43) facing said ground, a top (44) opposite to said bottom (43), a first side (45), and a second side (46) opposite to said first side (45), a smoke entrance (431) being defined in said bottom (43) right above said burner (30), a smoke exit (451) being defined in said first side (45), at least two rows of heat dissipation tubes (47) being in said heat exchange cabinet (40) running from said front side (41) to said back side (42), each row of heat dissipation tubes (47) having at least two heat dissipation tubes (47), an upright cross wall (48) being between each two said neighboring rows of heat dissipation tubes (47), each upright cross wall (48) having an upright aperture (483), two upright apertures (483) of two neighboring said upright cross walls (48) being of different side, a rear air supply cabinet (51) in communication with said heat dissipation tubes (47) being on said back side (42) of said heat exchange cabinet (40), and a front air supply cabinet (52) in communication with said heat dissipation tubes (47) being on said front side (41) of said heat exchange cabinet (40), said auxiliary equipment cabinet (20) having a fuel supply mechanism (60) and an electrical equipment (70) received therein, said fuel supply mechanism (60) having a hopper (61), a fuel tube (62) having one end in communication with said hopper (61) and a free end extending into said burning zone (34), and a rotary vane feeder (63) rotatably received in said fuel tube (62), and, said electrical equipment (70) having a heat dissipation air blower (71) being for blowing into said rear air supply cabinet (51), a feeding motor (72) for driving said rotary vane feeder (63), an air blower (73) for supplying air to said air supply zone (33) of said burner (30), a draft fan (74) in communication with said smoke exit (451) in said first side (45) of said heat exchange cabinet (40), a light source (202) and a motor (208) for said simulation fireplace (2), a power supply (75), and a switch (76).

2. The biomass fuel simulation fireplace as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least two level cross walls (49) are provide between two neighboring said upright cross walls (48), each level cross wall (49) having a level aperture (491), and two level apertures (491) of two neighboring said level cross walls (49) being of a different side.