IE86938B1 - Water heating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a water heating apparatus, and in particular to a self contained externally housed heating apparatus. This invention also relates to an improvement to the invention entitled "improvements to Wood Pellet Burners" disclosed in the priority UK Patent Application No. 1403879.8 filed on 5*“ March 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. A corresponding lrish patent application (No. 2015/0051) is being filed today 25*“ February 2015 at the Irish Patents Office.

Description

WATER HEATlNG APPARATUS The present invention relates to a water heating apparatus, and in particular to a self contained externally housed heating apparatus. This invention also relates to an improvement to the invention entitled "improvements to Wood Pellet Burners" disclosed in the priority UK Patent Application No. 1403879.8 filed on 5*“ March 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. A corresponding lrish patent application (No. 2015/0051) is being filed today 25*“ February 2015 at the Irish Patents Office.

The provision of an adequate supply of hot water is a necessity in many industries, particularly in the dairy farming industry, where a farmer requires a large volume of hot water in order to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene of a milking plant. Many farmers use electric water heaters to supply their hot water, but these heaters have a heavy consumption of electricity. Also, their capacity may be limited and may not be able to produce the large quantities of hot water required in a short time. Also, milking plants are often in remote locations and the provision of an adequate supply of electric power may be a problem. Also, such water heaters are not very mobile and cannot be readily moved from one site to another. it is also known to use oil fired boilers and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) boilers but these type of boilers need to be situated next to an oiltank or LPG supply.

The object of the invention is to alleviate the disadvantages associated with the prior art.

The present invention provides a water heater apparatus comprising a biomass boiler, a biomass fuel hopper for storing fuel for supply to the boiler, a cold water input pipe connection for attachment to a cold water feed to provide cold water to the boiler, a hot water storage tank and a hot water output connection for attachment to a hot water feed to supply hot water from the tank, with the entire apparatus being housed within an enclosed self~contained container, wherein the biomass fuel hopper includes a primary auger means, thereby maximising useful fuel storage space which would othenivise be lost due to the sloping nature of the fuel hopper.

Advantageously, the enclosed self-contained container is weather proof and can be located outdoors thereby freeing up space in the milking installation or parlour.

Preferably, the hot water storage tank is an indirect hot water storage cylinder.

Conveniently, the water heater apparatus includes a water pump, control valves and fittings. ideally, the apparatus includes a heat meter to monitor the energy generated by the biomass boiler.

Advantageously, the apparatus includes means to disconnect the hot and cold water feeds and means to transport the container to a different location.

The invention will hereinafter be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view from underneath view of a self-contained boiler and hot water storage apparatus according to the invention; Figure 2 is a front view of the apparatus; Figure 3 is a side view of the apparatus; Figure 4 is a side view of the apparatus with the service access panels removed; Figure 5 is a front view of the apparatus similar to Figure 2 with the service access panel removed; Figure 6 is a side view of the apparatus similar to Figure 4 with all the outer panels and the flue pipes removed, taken aiong the line 00 of Figure 7; Figure 7 is a front view of the apparatus with one outer panel removed; Figure 8 is a side view of the apparatus with the outer panels only removed; and Figure 9 is a front view of the apparatus as shown in Figure 7 with all the outer panels removed; and Figure 10 is a side view of the apparatus as shown in Figure 3 with all the outer panels removed.

Referring to the drawings, the self—contained boiler and hot water apparatus 100 comprises four sides, a side wall 101, a rear wall 102, a second side wall 103 and a front wall 104, a base 105 and a roof 106. Extending from the rear wall 103 is a flue pipe 107 for exhausting flue gases from the boiler contained within the apparatus. Provided in the base are two retaining plates 110 for the tines of a forklift truck (not shown) by means of which the apparatus 100 can be transported to a desired location. The forklift tines enter the plates through orifices 111.

The apparatus 100 includes a wood pellet boiler 120 (the full details of which are disclosed in GB 1403879.8 and the co-pending Irish patent application (No. 2015/0051) filed 25"‘ February 2015 referred to above). Biomass fuel for the boiler is stored in fuel hopper 130 which feeds fuel to the boiler 120 by means of an auger 135. Water heated by the boiler 120 is retained in indirect hot water storage cylinder 140. The entire system is connected by a plumbing network 150 including an expansion vessel 152, standard valves, water pumps and heat meters as is well known by a skilled person in the plumbing trade. provides cold water to the boiler 120 and a hot water feed which supplies hot water from The only external connections to the apparatus are a cold water feed which the tank 140. When these external connections are disconnected, as well as the electricity supply cable to power the boiler, fuel auger, pumps and other equipment, then the apparatus can easily be transported by being lifted by a fork lift truck and placed on a trailer or truck to be moved to another site.

The apparatus of the invention is a self-contained weatherproof module which has been designed to be sited outdoors and comprises the fully automatic wood pellet boiler 120, large integrated fuel store 130 (approx. 907.185kg (1 ton) of wood pellets), pneumatically cleaned burner pot and mechanically cleaned secondary pass of the heat exchanger. It is also fitted with an integrated circulation pump, water pressure sensor, air vent, pressure relief valve, expansion vessel and a 1000 litre stainless steel hot water storage tank 140.

The boiler efficiency is >90%. The invention is particularly applicable on dairy farms where there is a requirement for a large amount of hot water being used in the wash down and sanitising of pipework in milking parlours after milking. Currently, the hot water is produced using electric immersions to heat water in a stainless steel tank or an oil/gas boiler is used to indirectly heat the water via a heat exchange coil. As virtually all farms are off the mains gas network these sources of energy for heating are expensive. Also, the equipment used for heating and storage of hot water is generally housed indoors usually in the milking parlour itself, therefore taking up valuable working space. In the UK, dairy farms are commercial enterprises and so the farmer can claim Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) payments on qualifying plant and equipment. The boiler 120 in the apparatus qualifies for RHI payments and a heat meter is included in the module so the generated heat can be recorded for the basis of payments.

A requirement of hot water production used in the sanitising of milking machine pipework is that it must be greater than 85°C so that the detergents used in the cleaning process activate leading to optimum cleaning. The wood pellet boiler 120 has been configured to heat the water in the storage tank 140 to a maximum temperature of 95°C. The heat exchange takes place via a corrugated coil within the tank which has a large surface area for maximum heat exchange to the surrounding sanitary water. Cold water is introduced into the lower portion of the tank and hot water is taken from the crown of the tank. Natural stratification takes place between the cold inlet feed and hot water within the tank. The boiler operation is controlled via a digital control system and touch screen display. The boiler can modulate from 100% of power down to 30% depending on the temperature of the water in the tank. Once the water reaches its desired temperature, the boiler will operate in a low fire state until the water drops in temperature and then the boiler will increase in power. it can be programmed to allow a water temperature rise of a fixed amount before it eventually shuts down.

The primary feed auger 135 which delivers fuel into the burner collects the pellets from the lowest point of the hopper 130. Due to the shape of the hopper 130 and also the requirements for the floor of the hopper to slope towards the primary auger 135 much of the available space would not be usable. The fuel hopper 130 has been designed so that once the fuel over the primary auger falls to a low level as indicated by a low level sensor, a secondary auger motor 137 activates a secondary auger 138 and moves fuel from the other area until the sensor detects fuel again. This results in the hopper achieving a much higher storage volume of fuel and therefore requires less filling by the user.

The base 105 of the module is designed so it can be lifted with a regular fork truck.

Stabilising plates 110 are located on the bottom of the channels so as to prevent any imbalance when travelling over rough terrain. The external casing is powder—coated galvanised steel and has been profiled and overlapped to prevent the ingress of water. A cavity exists between the hopper 130 and external casing which maintains an ambient temperature to prevent condensation within the fuel storage hopper. The sloping roof 106 over the hopper may pivot upwards to allow the filling of the fuel store with fuel.

The main features of the boiler are disclosed in GB 14038798 and the features also apply to this apparatus. An additional feature on the boiler 120 has been the addition of a combustion control via a lambda sensor which controls and maintains the quantity of oxygen in the flue gases to achieve optimum combustion of the fuel.

The use of this invention is not limited to the dairy industry and may be considered for other uses where clean sanitary water is a requirement. Additional features which will be added as a further development of this apparatus will be to include larger boilers, larger storage tanks, storage tanks for heating water as well as sanitary water and an micro- CHP module which will enable the module to produce electricity as well. All these improvements will be incorporated into the same self-contained external module which is the essential component of this invention. in summary, the benefits offered by the invention are as follows: Fully integrated hot water production module fuelled with wood pellets.

- Self—contained weatherproof external casing for locating outdoors. - 18kw self-cleaning fully automatic wood pellet boiler.

- Pneumatically cleaned burner grate. o >90% efficient. o RHl emissions compliant (NOX <150 g/GJ Particulates < 30 g/GJ.

- RHl compliant heat meter. o 1000 litre stainless steel hot water storage tank. o Maximum hot water design production temperature 95°C. - 1 .7m3 fuel store (approximately 907.185kg (1 ton)).

Secondary fuel feed auger to accommodate extra storage. o Factory fitted pump, heat meter, expansion vessel, air vents pressure relief valve.

- Easy access for maintenance.

- Automatic low fuel and error alerts via e-mail (subject to availability of internet connection or WiFi).

- Remote control via smartphone. Online web portal for remote monitoring and generation of performance reports.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details described above which are given by way of example only and that various modifications and alteration are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (6)

CLAlMS:

1. A water heater apparatus comprising a biomass boiler, a biomass fuel hopper, for storing fuel for supply to the boiier, a cold water input pipe connection for attachment to a cold water feed to provide cold water to the boiler, a hot water storage tank and a hot water output connection for attachment to a hot water feed to supply hot water from the tank, with the entire apparatus being housed within an enclosed self—contained container, wherein the biomass fuel hopper includes a primary auger means to feed fuel to the boiler and a secondary auger means to feed fuel to the primary auger means, thereby maximising useful fuel storage space which would otherwise be lost due to the sloping nature of the fuel hopper.

2. A water heater apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, in which the enclosed self- contained container is weather proof and can be located outdoors.

3. A water heater apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, in which the hot water storage tank is an indirect hot water storage cylinder.

4. A water heater apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including a water pump, control valves and fittings.

5. A water heater apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including a heat meter to monitor the energy generated by the biomass boiler.

6. A water heater apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including means to disconnect the hot and cold water feeds and means to transport the container to a different location.