US1673203A - Hydrocarbon heating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

June 12, 1928. I 1,673,203

A. F. REIF ET AL HYDROCARBON HEATING APPARATUS Filfid Sept. 9, 1927 lNVENTORS ALLAN F. REIF CHARLES A. Raw- Patented .lune 12', 1928.

UNITED STATES ALLEN FRANK REIF AND CHARLES AUGUSTUSBEIF, OF- BUFFALO, IrTIIW YORK.

HYDROGARBON HEATING APPARATUS.

Application filed September 9, 1927. Serial No. 218,542.,

Our invention relates to improvements in hydrocarbon heating apparatus, and the object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for the vaporizingand burning of hydrocarbon fuels,.and more especially the heavier varieties thereof, and a further object of our invention is to constructan apparatus in which oil andair are agitated and mixed together under pressure before passing into the conduit leading into the combustion chamber.

A still further object of our invention is to provide means situated in the combustion chamber end of the aforesaid conduit for imparting a swirling motion to the oil and air mixture as it passes therefrom and also to provide means at the end of the air blast conduit, which surrounds the air and oil mixture conduit for imparting an opposed swirl to the blast so that the air from the blast and the air and oil mixture are thoroughly mixed together as they pass into the combustion chamber and become ignited. Another object of our invention is to provide valves for controlling the entrance of air into the chamber wherein the oil and air are mixed together in order to control the admittance of air in proportion to the quantity of oilbeing used.

Our invention consists of a hydrocarbon heating apparatus constructed and arranged as hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in 'which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of our hydrocarbon heating. apparatus, showing a fragmentary portion of a furnace combustion chamber. v Fig. 2 an end'elevational view thereof.

' conduits, being taken through the line 5-5 Fig. 3 1s a side elevational view of a rotary pump wherein the oil and air are mixed together, the cover plate of the pump being removed in order to disclose the interior thereof.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view through the pump assembly, showing the air chamber upon the side thereof, being taken through the line l4 Fig. 3'.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged,cross-sectional view of a fragmentary portion of the pump casing, showing the entrance of the oil and air Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the valves for controlling the entrance of air to the pump.

"and contains a circular the shaft 12, the outer- Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the combustion chamber end of the air conduit showing our constructionfor swirling the blast and oil and air mixture.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the member for imparting the swirling motion to the oil and air mixture, and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the member for swirling the air blast.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different views.

The air blast blower fan 1, electric motor 2 therefor, and air blast conduit 3 leading to the combustion chamber 4, follow stand ard practice in design, the fan and motor being mounted upon a frame 5, which is positioned exteriorly of the furnace. A

- should the motor stop through failure of the electrical power the magnetic valve closes and shuts off the duit 8.

Upon. the side of the casing of the fan 1, we position an oil and air pump, the rotor 11 of the pump being mounted upon a shaft 12,

which is a continuation of the shaft 13 passpart of the present inpassage of oil in the coning from the motor into the fan and upon which the fan is mounted. The rotary pump is of the sliding blade type,-the rotor 11 be ing furnished witha plurality of slots 14, which communicate with the peripheral face thereof and carry a plurality of blades 15. The pump casing 16 is of circular form and is positioned eccentricallyof the shaft 12 pump chamber 17, which is eccentric of ends of the blades 15 engaging the eccentric wall of the chamber as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. The pump casing 16 is open in its ends and provided with a pairof cover plates 18 and-19. The cover plate 18 having a central orifice 20 and 9. though which theshaft 12 asses, a packing ring 22 being furnished or preventionof oil leakage around the shaft. The two co'ver plates are secured upon the pump casing by bushing 21 means of a plurality of bolts 23, which pass through the three members and also through a cup shaped casing 24 of the same diame- 'ter which is positioned upon the outer face of the plate 12 and constitutes the air chamber 124 of the pulnp.

As the oil feed conduit 8 passes around the casing of the blower fan 1 it enters a manually actuated valve 25 which is in turn connected to the pump by conduit 26. This conduit 26 enters the chamber 17 through a radially extending orifice 27 in the casing '16. The outlet conduit 28 from the pump to the nozzle of the burner extends from a point in the casing 16 diametrically opposite the inlet conduit26 and passes into the outer end of the'air blast conduit 3 extending centrally thereof to its inner end 29 where we provide our structure for impart-- ing a swirling motion to the oil and air mixture as shall now be described.

Interiorly of the inner end 29 of the air blast conduit 3 we provide an air blast swirling member of the form illustrated in Fig. 9 and comprising a central sleeve 30 having a plurality of radially positioned arms 31 projecting therefrom, which extend to the inside face of the air blast conduit 3.

Upon these arms 31 we form curved blades 32 against which the. air blast impinges and in so doing acquires a swirling motion as it leaves the open end 29 and passes into the furnace. Upon the end of the conduit 28 which extends to the end 29 of the air blast conduit 3, we provide a structure for imparting a swirl to the oil and air mixture, as it enters the furnace. Such structure is illustrated in Fig. 7 and consists of a cylindrical nozzlecasing 33 provided in its outer end 34 with a central jet orifice 35. The inner end of the casing 33 is interiorly threaded and adapted to receive a threading bushing36 into which the end of the-conduit 28 is tightly secured. Interiorly of the casing 33 we position our means for imparting a swirl to the oil and air mixture passing therethrough. Such means is illustrated in perspective in Fig; 8 and comprises a solid cylindrical member 37 adapted to closely fit within the interior of the casing 33 in the vicinity of its outer end and through which the oil and air mixture asses.

The face 38 of this member 37 is angularly out at a plurality of points to produce a plurality of inclined faces 39 which extend downwardly from radial lines 40to points 41 in the peripheral face of the member 37. The formation of these faces 39 forms triangular faces 42 which extend inwardly at right angles from radial edges 43 in the face 38 to the inclined radial edges 44 of the faces 39. 45 .are a plurality of passages extending through the member 38 and through which the oil and air mixture passes from the conduit 28. These passages 45 terminate in cross passages 46 which each open into a triangular face 42 in the vicinity of the peripheral face of the member 37. The member 37 is held in position within the inner end of the cylindrical casing 33 by spiral spring 47 which extends between the inner face of the bushing 36 and the member 37. It will be seen upon reference to Fig. 7 that the end of the casing 33 is of concave form upon its inner side so that the face 38 of the member 37 does not come into contact with the inner end of the orifice 35, but that a space 48 is constituted into which the oil and air mixture enters as it leaves the mouths of the cross passages 46 before passing throughthe orifice 35. For directing a proportion of the swirled air blast passing through the outer end 29 of the conduit 3 directly upon the jet of oil and air mixture leaving the orifice 35 we provide a ring 49 positioned around the outer end of the casing 33 and spaced apart therefrom so that a certain proportion of the air blast passes between the ring and the casing and is directed .directly upon the jet of oil and air mixture.

In the casing 24 which constitutes the air chamber 124 of the oil and air pump, we provide a check valve in the air inlet entrance and also asecond check valve in a passage 50 extendingthrough the cover outlet orifice 56 therein. 57 is a passage extending from the other end of the casing to the inner end of the chamber .53, and 58 1s a ball valve which controls the passage of fluid from the passage 57 to the chamber 53 under' the influence of a spiral spring 59 which extends between the ball and the inner face of the plug 55. The. air inlet to-the air chamber of the pump and the orifice 50 in the cover plate 19 are suitably threaded to receive the casings 51 of the valves which are threaded thereinto and 60 are look nuts threaded upon the casings for securing them in the respective orifices into which they are threaded. i

The operation of on; hydrocarbon ing apparatus is as follows;

Assuming that the burner is inoperation and that oil is flowing from the storage tank heatthrough the open magnetic valve 7, float valve 6, and manually actuated valve 25 to the conduit 26, from where it passes into the pump chamber 17 and that the blower fan 1 is creating an air blast in the conduit 3 and also rotating the rotor' 11 in the chamber 17, the oil and air will be vapor-.

blades 15- will, of course, be projected outwardly against the wall of the chamber due to centrifical force, and the oil fed into the chamber through the conduit 26 will be carried around between adjacent blades to the outlet conduit 28.

Upon reference to Fig. 5, it will be seen that air from the air chamber is admitted to the pump chamber 17 in the same location as the entrance of the oil from the conduit 26, so that the oilandair will mix as they enter the pump chamber. As the rotor 11 is positioned eccentrically of the chamber 17' a partial vacuum will be created between adjacent pairs of blades 15 as they leave the entrance to the outlet conduit 28 and pass around to the inlet of the conduit 26 so that when they communicate with such inlet, both oil and air are rapidly sucked in. In this induction point, however, the maximum volume between blades is not attained but is reached upon further rotation of the rotor after communication with the oil and air supply is cut oil", which will produce more thorough mixingpf the oil and air. As the blades approach the entrance to the outlet conduit 28 the volume will decrease and so create a pressure upon the oil and air mixture causing it to be ejected into such conduit when communication is made therewith. For controlling the supply of air in proportion to the supply of oil to the pump, the check valve in the air entrance to the air chamber can bevadjusted by altering pressure of the spring 59 upon the ball 58, it being of course understood 'that the suction of air into the air chamber lifts the ball 58 off its seat against the pressure of the spring 59: The check valve provided in the orifice communicating with the chamber 17 also functions in a similar manner and is primarily provided forpreventing a back flowof oil through the passage 50 should for some unforseen reason the outlet end of the conduit 28 become obstructed.

When the oil and air mixture is ejected from the pump chamber 17 into the conduit 28, it passes through such conduit into the nozzle ,casing 33 at the end thereof. As the they impart a swirling motion to the mixture as it enters the space 48 and passes through the jet orifice.

The air blast swirling member positioned in the inner end 29 of the air blast conduit ,3 is provided to impart a swirling motion to the air blast as it merges into the combustion chamber of the furnace and the blades.

32 thereof are so inclined that the swirling of the blast is in an opposite direction to the swirl of the air and oil mixture leaving the jet 35, 'and therefore as these two swirls are opposed in direction and move about a common center they will become thoroughly mixed together and insure a complete combustion of fuel. By the provision of the ring; 49 around the casing we have pro-' vidcd a means for directing a portion of the air blast directly upon t-lleair and oil mixture as it leavcslthe jet orifice and by adjusting the. position of this ring upon the casing, alteration of the flame length can be obtained to meet various combustion chamber conditions.

From the foregoing description it will be readily apparent that we have constructed a hydrocarbon fuel burning apparatus of simple form which can be readily installed in any standard type of furnace, and in which we have provided, for the thorough mixing of air with the fuel oil before it is injected into the combustion chamber in conjunction with the air blast, and in so doing have provided for the thorough vaporization of the fuel with a;v consequent complete combustion and economy in fuel consumption. I By the provision of the check valves in the entrance to the air chamber and in the communicating orifice between the air chamber and the pump we have furnished a means by which the ratio of air to oil supplied can be readily adjusted and furthermore any possibility of oil overflow into the air chamber from any unforseen cause is obviated.

Although we haveshown and described a specific construction for primarily mixing air with the-oil fuel and swirlin such mixture as it enters the combustion c iamber and mixes with the air blast, it is to be 11nderstood that we could with equal facility employ other constructions for obtaining this end without departing from the spirit of our der' pressure through its conduit tothe com'- bustion chamber, an air chamber communicating with said oil pump and with the atmosphere, a check valve through which the air passes into. the air chamber, a second checkrvalve through which the air passes from the air chamber into the oil pump, the

opening of said check valves being actuated by the suction of the pump, a blade structure at the combustion chamber end of the combustion chamber end of the oil feed conduit and through which the oil and air mixture passes for imparting an opposed swirl to such air and oil mixture as it leaves the oil conduit and passes into the combustion chamber.

2. A hydrocarbon heating ap aratus comprising in combination with a i urnace combustion chamber and an air blast conduit extending thereto from a rotated fan, an oil conduit positioned interiorly of the air conduit, an oil pump for delivering the oil under pressure through its conduit to the combustion chamber, means for permitting a supply of air to enter the oil pump to mix with the oiltherein before. its delivery into the oil conduit, a cylindrical nozzle casing at the combustion chamber end of the oil conduit having a jet orifice therein and into which the oil and air mixture passes before entering the combustion chamber, a swirl imparting member of substantially cylindrical form positioned within the casing at the jet orifice end thereof, but spaced away from such orifice and having a passage therein through which the oil and air mixture passes before reaching the jet. orifice, the outlet end of said passage being substantially at right angles to the mouth of the orifice, and an inclined face formed upon the end of the swirl imparting member against which the mixture impinges after leaving the outlet end of the passage for imparting a swirl thereto as it leaves the nozzle casing through'the jetorifice.

ALLEN FRANK REIF. CHARLES AUGUSTUS REIF.

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