FR2847660A1 - GAS BURNER HEATING DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

The three gas burners (1) are connected to a common gas supply conduit (2) via an electric valve (5). Different burners have different heating power, and so the burners may be switched on in different combinations in order to provide different power levels. The heating system uses at least three gas burners (1) each connected to a common gas supply conduit (2). Each burner may be independently controlled by selective operation of an open/closed the electric valve (5). The assembly comprises at least two different types of burners with differentiated heating power, whilst the system for controlling the flames of the burners is common to all burners. The burners may be switched on in different combinations in order to provide different power levels. The burners are placed sufficiently close together to ensure auto-ignition of a burner from an adjoining burner within a tenth of a second. The burner control may include and ionization detecting device, or an infrared detecting device, to cut off the gas supply in the event of the flame being extinguished.

Description

The present invention relates to a gas burner heater.

heater

gas burners.

  It relates more particularly to a heating device of the type consisting of at least three burners respectively connected to a common gas supply pipe, itself connected to a gas supply source, said burners comprising at least one burner, said master, equipped with an air / gas mixture ignition device and at least two burners, called slaves, free of such a device, each burner being able to be independently supplied with gas via a sealable connection to controlled opening / closing between source

  gas supply and burner.

  Gas burners are widely used today, especially for air heating, in particular in livestock buildings. The major drawback of these burners lies in their reduced power range. Indeed, their operation, based on the ignition of an air / gas mixture, requires respect for the proportions of the components in the mixture. It is therefore impossible to vary the quantity of gas in the mixture significantly without risking extinguishing the flame. Therefore, the trend today is to use powerful burners which are frequently switched between the on and off positions to obtain temperature regulation. This results in user comfort issues due

of the inertia of its burners.

  To be able to cover a large power range without having to have powerful burners, a heating device has been devised comprising several gas burners of identical power. In such an installation, the burners are divided into a so-called master burner, equipped with an air / gas mixture ignition device and into burners, called slaves, free of such a device. The passage from one power stage to another takes place by lighting the burner immediately adjacent to the burner previously lit. This results in the obligation to carry out the lighting of said burners in a predetermined order depending on the relative positioning of the

  burners on the common gas supply line.

  Although this solution can cover a large power range, the number of power stages is reduced and the steps between power stages are of constant value. This is due to the fact that the gas burners used are all of the same power and that only the ignition of a burner, immediately adjacent to a burner previously lit, can be envisaged. The

  combinations of burners are therefore limited.

  An object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks by proposing a heating device whose design allows a variation of the power over a wide range, the value of the stages between power stages being able to be freely chosen by the user so to offer a large number of possibilities to the latter. Another object of the present invention is to provide a heating device of simple design and the number of parts of which can be reduced without harming the safety of

all.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a heating device having a large number of power stages for a given number of burners, each power stage corresponding to a predetermined combination of burners arranged in any manner

in the device.

  To this end, the subject of the invention is a heating device of the type consisting of at least three burners respectively connected to a common gas supply pipe, itself connected to a gas supply source, said burners comprising at least one burner, said master, equipped with an air / gas mixture ignition device and at least two burners, called slaves, free of such a device, each burner being able to be independently supplied with gas via a closable opening / closing connection controlled between the gas supply source and the burner, characterized in that the device comprises at least two types of burners which differ in terms of their heating power, these burners being associated in different combinations selectable, each corresponding to a power stage, the means for controlling the opening / closing of the link of each controlling burner, when passing a power stage ance N at a selected P power stage, the opening of the link of the burner (s) to be ignited at the selected P power stage and at least the links of all the burners separating a burner lit at l power stage N of a burner to be ignited at power stage P to allow automatic ignition of the flame of each burner by contact of the air / gas mixture expelled from said burner with the flame of an adjacent burner up to lighting of the burner to light on the selected stage, then selective closing of the burner connections not included in the combination

  corresponding to the power stage P selected.

  Having at least three burners with differentiated heating powers makes it possible to have a maximum of 2x power stages, x corresponding to the number of burners of the heating device. This large number of possibilities of combinations of burners to obtain variable heating powers makes such a heating device suitable for many applications. The progressiveness of the power can be carried out regularly or not at the discretion of the user, depending on the power stage selected, this selection being carried out freely by the user. Furthermore, due to the operating mode of the means for controlling the opening / closing of the connection of each burner, the passage from one power stage to another power stage can be carried out without having to multiply the number of air / gas mixture ignition devices on burners. This results in an installation of

extremely simple design.

  At the same time, such a design makes it possible to obtain a large modularity of the heating device which covers

  then a large power range.

  The invention will be clearly understood on reading the

  following description of exemplary embodiments, in

  reference to the single figure which represents a schematic view of a heating device according to the invention, this device being incorporated in a

  temperature controlled air generator.

  As mentioned above, the heating device, object of the invention, consists of burners 1, called master and slaves, connected to a rigid gas supply pipe 2, generally metallic, itself connected to a source 3 gas supply which can be any. The whole forms what one might call a gas burner ramp 1. The burners 1 act conventionally by combustion of an air / gas mixture. These

  burners 1 can be atmospheric or dynamic.

  In such a device, these burners 1 will be at least three in number. Each burner 1 comprises, in a manner known per se, a duct comprising at least one primary combustion air inlet and containing at least the gas injector and an air / gas mixing chamber, this duct opening into a combustion chamber air / gas mixture. In the case of atmospheric burners, the conduit contains, between the injector and the air / gas mixing chamber, a venturi element. The details of such burners will not be provided since many examples of embodiment of

  burners can be found in the literature.

  In the heating device, object of the invention, there are two types of burners, namely a so-called master burner, equipped with a device 4 for igniting the air / gas mixture and possibly with a control device there. of the flame, and of the burners 1, called slaves, which differ from the master burner in that they are free from an ignition device for the air / gas mixture and generally from a flame control device. The device 4 for igniting the air / gas mixture will not be described in detail since it can be constituted in a known manner of an electrical device of the resistance, sparks or other type, of a pilot light or the like. In the same way, the flame control device il can consist of an optical device, an ionization device, an infrared device or any other means which ensures, during an extinction of the flame, shutting off the supply of the common gas supply line from the gas supply source by means of a suitable shut-off valve. Preferably, the flame control device 11 is common to all the burners and

  activated by any of the burners 1.

  Each burner 1, master or slave, is connected to the gas supply source 3 via the common gas supply line 2 and a tap on said line 2. Each connection portion 5, produced between the gas supply source 3 and a burner 1, is provided with a member 6 such as a solenoid valve ensuring the opening or closing of the connection 5 between the burner 1 and the gas supply source 3 . This opening / closing of the link 5 is controlled by means of an appropriate control device according to the power stage selected. Indeed, the heating device comprises a plurality of burners 1. Among these burners, there are at least two types of

  burners 1 differentiated by their heating power.

  These burners are associated in operation according to any predetermined combinations selectable at will and randomly for example by means of a programmer, each combination corresponding to a power stage. Thus, it is possible to imagine a heating device comprising four burners with differentiated heating power. The first stage corresponds to the operation of the lower power master burner, the second power stage to the combination of the lower power burner with the power burner: immediately above ..., the last stage corresponding to a combination o all the burners work,

that is to say are on.

  The heating device therefore further comprises means for selecting a power stage corresponding to a predetermined combination of burner (s) in operation among a plurality of stages. These means of

  selection can be made by a programmer.

  Thus, it can be chosen, for a heating device comprising four burners, respectively called BI, B2, B3, B4, to define a first power stage corresponding to a supply of air / gas mixture of Bl, the connections of the other burners remaining closed. A second power stage can be defined in which only the burner B3 of power different from the burner Bi is lit. Other combinations can thus be defined, the total number of combinations being at most equal to 2 ′, x

  corresponding to the number of burners in the installation.

  Thus, with three burners, it may be possible to define 8 power stages or 8 heating rates (including the zero state where all the burners are off), with four burners, 16 power stages, etc. To reduce the number of parts of such a heating device and in particular limit the number of devices 4 for ignition of the air / gas mixture required, the means 7 for controlling the opening / closing of the connection of each burner control, when passing from a power stage N to any selected power stage P, at least the opening of the link 5 of the burners 1 extending from a lit burner to the power stage N until burner to light on the power stage P. This opening of the burner links 5 separating the burner lit on the power stage N and the burner to light on the power stage P allows an automatic ignition of the flame of each burner 1 by contact of the air / gas mixture expelled from said burner with the flame of an adjacent burner until ignition of the burner to be ignited on the power stage P. Once this ignition stage has been carried out, it is then carried out, in a second time ps, to the selective closure of the links 5 of the burners 1 not included in the combination corresponding to the stage of

power P selected.

  On the basis of this principle, two operations can be envisaged. Thus, in a first embodiment of the invention, the heating device comprises means for memorizing combinations of burners each corresponding to a power stage so as to allow, when switching from one power stage to another , the selective control of the opening of the burner links extending from a burner lit on stage N to a burner to be lit at the new selected power stage. Thus, the operation can be summarized as follows Power stage B1 B2 B3 B4

N 0 F F F

Transition stage B1 B2 B3 B4

0 0 0 F

Power stage Bi B2 B3 B4

P F F 0 F

  In the example above, the device comprises 4 burners Bi to B4, of different power arranged side by side, 0 corresponds to a link 5 open of the burner, F to a link 5 closed. Thus, the power stage N corresponds to a stage o only the burner B1 operates while the power stage P corresponds to a stage o only the burner B3 operates. During the passage from power stage N to power stage P, it is necessary to open the link 5 of burners B2 and B3 to allow the ignition of B3 and then to selectively close the links 5 of burners B1 and B2 to obtain the combination of burner (s) retained on the power stage P. Thus, in this case, B2 constitutes the burner which separates the burner B1 lit on the power stage N and the burner B3 to be lit at the power stage P. In another embodiment of the invention, the means 7 for controlling the opening / closing of the connection of each burner control, when switching from a power stage to a new selected power stage, the opening of all the connections 5 of the burners 1 to allow, by automatic ignition of the flame of a burner by contact of the air / gas mixture expelled from the burner with the flame of an adjacent burner, the ignition of all the burners then the selective closing of the burner connections urs not included in the combination corresponding to the new power stage selected. Thus, the operation can be summarized as follows. If we take the previous example Power stage Bl B2 B3 B4

N 0 F F F

Transition stage Bl B2 B3 B4

O O O O

Power stage B1 B2 B3 B4

P F F 0 F

  This solution, simpler than the previous one, makes it possible to dispense with means of memorizing the combinations of burners coupled to the means 7 for controlling the opening / closing of the links. Thus, between each passage from one power stage to another, all the burners are put into operation by opening

automatic connections 5.

  In all cases, regardless of the embodiment chosen, the shutter member 6 for controlled opening / closing of the connection 5 between a burner 1 and the source 3

  gas supply is a solenoid valve.

  The opening / closing of the solenoid valves can be controlled by means of electrical signals emitted from information emanating from a control center, such as a microprocessor. This central unit manages the information relating to the selected power stage to determine the links to be opened when

  the opening is selective or respectively closed.

  To allow optimized operation of such a device, the interval between two adjacent burner heads is chosen so as to allow self-ignition of two adjacent burners in less than one

tenth of a second.

  In the examples shown in Figure 1, the burners 1 are arranged at least partially inside a combustion chamber 8, itself housed inside a box 9 of a temperature-controlled air generator , this box 9 further containing at least one fan 10 for propelling in a room, at desired temperature, the air circulating in the box 9. This air can thus be brought to temperature by conduction in contact with the walls of the chamber 8 combustion. The expelled air can consist exclusively of this air heated in contact with the walls of the combustion chamber 8 or also consist of the fumes from the combustion chamber 8. When the first hypothesis is adopted, the fumes contained in the combustion chamber 8 are channeled and rejected

in the air.

  Obviously, other applications of this device

  heating may, in an equivalent manner, be envisaged.

Claims (8)

  1. Heating device of the type consisting of at least three burners (1), respectively connected to a common gas supply pipe (2), itself connected to a gas supply source (3), said burners (1) comprising at least one burner, said master, equipped with a device (4) for igniting air / gas mixture and at least two burners, called slaves, free of such a device (4), each burner (1) being able to be independently supplied with gas by means of a closable link (5) with controlled opening / closing between the source (3) of gas supply and the burner (1), characterized in that the device comprises at least two types of burners which differ in terms of their heating power, these burners (1) being associated in different selectable combinations each corresponding to a power stage, the means (7) for opening / closing the link ( 5) of each burner (1) commander, during the passage from a power stage N to a selected power stage P, the opening of the link (5) of the burner (s) (1) to be lit at the selected power stage P and at least the opening connections (5) of all the burners (1) separating a burner (1) lit on the power stage N from a burner to be lit on the power stage P to allow automatic ignition of the flame of each burner (1) by contact of the air / gas mixture expelled from said burner (1) with the flame of an adjacent burner (1) until lighting the burner (1) to be lit on the selected stage P then selective closing connections (5) of the burners (1) not included in the combination corresponding to the stage of power P selected.   2. Heating device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means (7) for opening / closing control of the link (5) of each burner (1) control, when passing from a power stage to a new power stage selected, the opening of the connections (5) of all the burners (1) of the device to allow, by automatic ignition of the flame of a burner (1) by contact with the air / gas mixture expelled from the burner with the flame of an adjacent burner, the lighting of all the burners and then the selective closing of the burner connections10 (1) not included in the combination   corresponding to the new power stage selected.   3. Heating device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means for memorizing combinations of burners (1) each corresponding to a power stage so as to allow, when passing from a power stage to another, the selective control of the opening of burner links extending from a burner lit on stage N to a burner to be lit   to the new power stage selected.   4. Heating device according to one of claims 1   to 3, characterized in that the shutter (6) for controlled opening / closing of the connection (5) between a burner (1) and the gas supply source (3) is a solenoid valve.   5. Heating device according to one of claims 1   4, characterized in that the burners (1) act by combustion of an air / gas mixture and are of the type atmospheric or dynamic.   6. Heating device according to one of claims 1   to 5, characterized in that it comprises at least one flame control device common to all the burners and activated   by any of the burners (1).   7. Heating device according to one of claims 1   à 6, characterized in that the interval between two adjacent burner heads (1) is chosen so as to allow the self-ignition of the two adjacent burners in less than a tenth of a second.   8. Heating device according to one of claims 1   7, characterized in that the burners (1) are arranged at least partially inside a combustion chamber (8) which is itself housed inside a box (9) of a generator temperature-controlled air, this box (9) also containing at least one fan (10) for propelling the room, at desired temperature, the air circulating in the box (9).