Heat reclaimer device
The instant invention is a heat reclaimer that is positioned within the chimney of an existing outdoor wood stove. The reclaimer is heated by the waste heat leaving the combustion chamber of the outdoor wood stove. This waste heat is captured in the reclaimer by heating water inside the reclaimer then recirculating that water to the existing outdoor wood stove raising the temperature of the return water in that outdoor wood stove and thereby increasing the efficiency of the outdoor wood stove. The device maximizes the efficiency for specific heating outdoor wood stoves by extracting BTUs from waste or lost flue gases through a safe and environmentally sound practice. The device saves substantial amounts of resources as well as time gathering and preparing the fuels.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/016,448 filed Dec. 22, 2007.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONHeat reclaimers are not new to the art, however, the instant invention allows the outdoor wood stoves to increase their overall efficiency by capturing heat from waste gas and returning that heat to the outdoor wood stove allowing it to retain a higher base temperature. Outdoor wood stoves are typically jacketed to heat water through heat transfer. The water or fluid that circulates around the outdoor wood stove is pumped into the house or building requiring heat. This water is recirculated to the outdoor wood stove to be reheated then recirculated into the building. The purpose of the heat reclaiming device is to reduce the time it takes to bring the water in the jacket to the appropriate temperature to circulate. The use of the waste heat decreases the reheat time and increases the overall efficiency of the outdoor wood stove. Most heat alternative fuel outdoor wood stoves heat fluids within the outdoor wood stove or around the outdoor wood stove, however none use waste heat to increase their efficiency. For example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,411 issued to Dearborn on Aug. 17, 1982 water is heated inside the outdoor wood stove using direct heat. The instant invention has, in addition to this type of direct heating, a means to capture heat released by waste flue gases to increase efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,292 issued to Mitchell on Aug. 9, 1983 uses a reclaimer that uses forced air to increase the direct heat coming from the stove. It does not use the reclaimer to increase efficiency by heating water in a heat transfer process as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,113 issued to McIntire on May 9, 1978 uses direct heating of copper tubing to heat a swimming pool. The unit once again uses direct heat to heat the copper while waste gases are unused and pass through the chimney wasted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,051 issued to Auerbach on Apr. 6, 1982 is another example of heating by direct heat and not utilizing the waste gases to generate more efficiency.
THE INVENTIONA heat reclaimer that is comprises in combination, a housing, at least one water jacket, at least one inlet, at least one outlet, at least one heat transfer element and at least one support member.
The housing consists of an exterior surface and houses a fluid or a water jacket and heat transfer elements. The unit itself can house fluid as the water jacket. The water jacket is positioned within the housing and has at least one inlet and one outlet. The unit also has at least one heat transfer element. One embodiment has multiple heat transfer elements to increase its efficiency through increased surface.
The housing has at least one support member extending from the housing to engage the edge of a chimney. The support members are arranged like tabs to rest the unit on the edge on the chimney just inside the chimney to capture the waste gases as they pass the unit.
The first embodiment 14, in tests, has increased the burning time of one load of wood from 8-10 hours to 12-18 hours. It also increased the temperature of the returning water from 95°-100° to 140°-145°.
The second embodiment 24, in tests, has increased the burning time of one load of wood from 8-10 hours to 12-15 hours. It also increased the temperature of the returning water from 95°-100° to 125°-130°.
The third embodiment 28, in tests, increased the burning time of one load of wood from 8-10 hours to 12-16 hours. It also increased the temperature of the returning water from 95°-100° to 130°-135°. Overall testing of the device has shown that it increases efficiency up to 30% depending on the model of stove used.
The heat reclaiming device 2 will maximize the efficiency for specific heating outdoor wood stoves by extracting BTUs from waste or lost flue gases through a safe and environmentally sound practice. This device saves substantial amounts of resources as well as time gathering and preparing the fuels. The use of the waste gases also reduces the emissions by utilization of those emissions before they are released to the atmosphere. Another benefit of the device is the ease in installation. Installation requires an in line and an out line connected to the device, then it simply sits within the confines of a chimney.
Claims
1. A heat reclaimer that comprises in combination, a housing, at least one water jacket, at least one inlet, at least one outlet, at least one heat transfer element and at least one support member;
- said housing having an exterior surface and contains a water jacket;
- said water jacket having at least one inlet and one outlet and at least one heat transfer element associated therewith;
- said housing having at least one support member extending from the exterior surface of said housing to engage the edge of a chimney.
2. A heat reclaimer device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said reclaimer is manufactured from metal.
3. A heat reclaimer device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said reclaimer has more than one heat transfer element.
4. A heat reclaimer device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said reclaimer is capable of holding any suitable fluid heating medium.
5. A heat reclaimer device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said reclaimer is manufactured from ceramic.
6. A heat reclaimer device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said reclaimer is used in a wood burning outdoor wood stove.
7. A method of reclaiming waste heat from a outdoor wood stove, the method comprising:
- Providing a reclaimer as claimed in claim 1 and placing said reclaimer in the chimney of an outdoor wood stove.
8. A method of reclaiming waste heat from an outdoor wood stove, the method comprising: providing a reclaimer as claimed in claim 1 and placing the reclaimer over a chimney of a outdoor wood stove wherein flue gases are diverted through reclaimer to capture waste heat.
9. A heat reclaiming device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said heat reclaimer is not jacketed.
10. In combination, a heat reclaiming device as claimed in claim 1 and a corn burning furnace.
11. In combination, a heat reclaiming device as claimed in claim 1 and a coal burning furnace.
12. In combination, a heat reclaiming device as claimed in claim 1 and a biomass burning furnace.
13. In combination, two or more heat reclaiming devices as claimed in claim 1, in series.
14. A heat reclaimer device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said reclaimer has an internal drop leg.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 15, 2008
Publication Date: Jun 25, 2009
Inventors: Santiago Adame (Oceana, MI), John Richard Bender (Oceana, MI)
Application Number: 12/316,654
International Classification: F24C 1/00 (20060101); F28F 7/00 (20060101);