# Patent

## Title
Mobile heating device operated with liquid fuel

## Abstract

A mobile heating device operated with liquid fuel is provided, having: a combustion chamber (2) comprising a combustion air inlet (3), wherein the combustion chamber adjacent to the combustion air inlet (3) comprises a widening portion (20) the cross-section of which widens with increasing distance from the combustion air inlet (3) and in which in operation combustion air and fuel are converted in a flaming combustion; a fuel supply which is arranged such that fuel is supplied into the widening portion (20); and an air guide device (6) being adapted to feed combustion air into the widening portion (20) with a flow component directed in the circumferential direction such that an axial recirculation region (RB) forms in the widening portion (20) in which gases flow in the direction towards the combustion air inlet (3) oppositely to a main flow direction (H). The combustion chamber (2) is fluidically sectioned into a primary combustion zone (PZ) and a secondary combustion zone (SZ). The primary combustion zone (PZ) comprises the widening portion (20) and the recirculation region (RB). The secondary combustion zone (SZ) is provided with a secondary combustion air inlet (23) in such a manner that a higher air-fuel ratio λ than in the primary combustion zone (PZ) forms in the secondary combustion zone (SZ).

## Background
This application represents the national stage entry of PCT International Application No. PCT/DE2013/100071 filed Feb. 23, 2013 which claims the benefit of German Patent Application 10 2012 101 580.5 filed Feb. 27, 2012, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
The present invention relates to a mobile heating device operated with liquid fuel.
In the present context, a “mobile heating device” is to be understood as a heating device which is adapted for use in mobile applications and designed accordingly. This means in particular that it is transportable (fixedly mounted in a vehicle or only arranged therein for transport, as the case may be) and not exclusively adapted for continuous, stationary use, as is the case in the heating of a building. The mobile heating device may also be fixedly installed in a vehicle (land vehicle, boat, etc.), in particular in a land vehicle. In particular, it can be adapted for heating a vehicle interior, such as for instance of a land vehicle, boat, or aircraft, and a partly open room, as can be found for example on boats, in particular on yachts. The mobile heating device can also temporarily be used stationary, such as for example in big tents, containers (e.g. containers for construction sites), etc. According to a preferred further development, the mobile heating device is adapted as a parking heater or auxiliary heater for a land vehicle, such as for example for a mobile home, a caravan, a bus, a car, etc.
Mobile heating devices often are used e.g. as vehicle heating devices for heating a vehicle. In applications in a vehicle, such mobile heating devices are e.g. employed as auxiliary heaters which can provide additional heat when the propulsion engine of the vehicle is running or as parking heaters which can provide heat for heating purposes both when the propulsion engine is running and when it is at rest. In such mobile heating devices it is required that these shall, on the one hand, be operable with low heating power down to below 1 kW and, on the other hand, shall comprise a band width of heating powers being as large as possible, such that very different heating powers can be provided depending on the demand, Further, the demand to achieve a combustion which is as low as possible in emissions increases more and more with regard to mobile heating devices.
Usually, in mobile heating devices burners are used which are provided in a combustion chamber with components for flame stabilization, such as in particular constrictions, neckings or other components reaching into the region of the flame and of the hot gases flowing away, in order to enable as much as possible stable operation at different heating powers. Such components are subjected to particularly high loads during operation of the mobile beating device and often form those components which restrict the lifetime of the mobile heating device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved mobile heating device operated with liquid fuel.
The object is solved by a mobile heating device operated with liquid fuel according to claim 1. Advantageous further developments are defined in the dependent claims.
The mobile heating device operated with liquid fuel comprises: a combustion chamber comprising a combustion air inlet, wherein the combustion chamber adjacent to the combustion air inlet comprises a widening portion the cross-section of which widens with increasing distance from the combustion air inlet and in which in operation combustion air and fuel are converted in a flaming combustion; a fuel supply which is arranged such that fuel is supplied into the widening portion; and an air guide device being adapted to feed combustion air into the widening portion with a flow component directed in the circumferential direction such that an axial recirculation region forms in the widening portion in which gases flow in the direction towards the combustion air inlet oppositely to a main flow direction. The combustion chamber is fluidically sectioned into a primary combustion zone and a secondary combustion zone. The primary combustion zone comprises the widening portion and the recirculation region. The secondary combustion zone is provided with a secondary combustion air inlet in such a manner that a higher air-fuel ratio λ in the primary combustion zone forms in the secondary combustion zone.
In the present context, a combustion chamber has to be understood as a region of the heating device in which flaming conversion of fuel and combustion air takes place. In particular, in the context of the present description the term combustion chamber does not mean the wall surrounding this region which can e.g. be formed by a plurality of components. Flaming combustion takes place at least also in the widening portion and not only in a region of the combustion chamber situated further downstream. By the air guide device which provides the air entering at the combustion air inlet so strongly with a flow component directed in the circumferential direction (i.e. with a strong swirl) that an axial recirculation region forms in the widening portion in which gases flow in the direction towards the combustion air inlet oppositely to the main flow direction, combustion which is low in emissions and stable is achieved with which operation over a large bandwidth of heating powers is enabled without requiring additional flame-stabilizing components protruding into the combustion chamber. Due to the defined geometric design and to the formation of the recirculation region it is achieved that the flame always spreads out stably starting from the widening portion also at different heating powers, i.e. different flow rates of fuel and combustion air. In this manner, the flame stabilizes itself in the combustion chamber. Formation of the recirculation region can easily be achieved by the widening portion widening strong enough, e.g. with a half cone angle of at least 20°, and by the supplied combustion air being provided with a sufficiently large flow component directed in the circumferential direction, in particular with a swirl factor of at least 0.6. By provision of the primary combustion zone and the secondary combustion zone which comprises a higher air-fuel ratio λ than the primary combustion zone, combustion which is particularly low in emissions is provided and deposits of carbon black can be reduced. For instance, the mobile heating device can be adapted such that an air-fuel ratio of about 1 develops in the primary combustion zone and an air-fuel ratio of about 1.6 in the secondary combustion zone. In doing so, preferably a substantially higher temperature than in the secondary combustion zone develops in the primary combustion zone. The recirculation region is completely formed in the primary combustion zone and the hot gases mainly flow in the main flow direction in the secondary combustion zone. The secondary combustion air inlet can in particular be formed by a plurality of holes in a wall of the combustion chamber through which combustion air is supplied from outside. Preferably, the fuel is supplied to the widening portion at the combustion air inlet, since in this case a particularly advantageous pre-mixing of fuel and combustion air can take place.
According to a further development, the primary combustion zone comprises the widening portion and an adjacent intermediate portion of the combustion chamber. In this case, the flow characteristics and the air-fuel ratios in the combustion zones can be adjusted particularly stable. If a second combustion air inlet for supplying combustion air into the primary combustion zone is provided in the intermediate portion, the flow characteristics and the air-fuel ratio λ in the primary combustion zone can be adjusted in a particularly simple and reliable manner. The second combustion air inlet can e.g. be formed by a plurality of holes in a wall of the combustion chamber through which further combustion air is supplied into the primary combustion zone. The arrangement of the second combustion air inlet can in particular be chosen such that the combustion air which is supplied there flows up to a longitudinal axis of the burner and is supplied to the recirculation region.
According to a further development, the secondary combustion air inlet is formed such that the secondary combustion air passing through is supplied radially form outside with regard to a longitudinal axis of the heating device to gases streaming off from the primary combustion zone. In this case, a combustion which is particularly stable and low in emissions can be achieved in the combustion chamber. The secondary combustion air inlet can in particular be formed such that the secondary combustion air does not flow up to the longitudinal axis of the burner, but is jacket-like supplied from the outside to the gases streaming off from the primary combustion zone. The secondary combustion air inlet can preferably comprise a multitude of holes in the wall of the combustion chamber. The holes can preferably have a smaller diameter than holes forming the second combustion air inlet for the primary combustion zone.
According to a further development, the primary combustion zone and the secondary combustion zone are contiguous to each other with a free flow cross-section. Thus, no components, such as flame baffles, constrictions or the like, hindering a flow in the axial direction of the combustion chamber are provided. In this case, no components are provided in the combustion chamber which in conventional heating devices often limit the lifetime due to the high load during operation, such that a mobile heating device having a long lifetime can be provided. It should be noted that components necessary for operation, such as in particular ignition elements and/or sensors having only negligible influence on the current, can protrude into the combustion chamber, as the case may be.
According to a further development, the heating device is formed such that the combustion gases flow into a heat exchanger downstream of the secondary combustion zone. In this case, in particular no tertiary combustion zone is provided in which a third air-fuel ratio develops, such that the hot combustion exhaust gases can efficiently be used for heating a medium to be heated by means of the heat exchanger.
According to a further development, the fuel supply comprises at least one evaporator element for evaporating the liquid fuel. In contrast to a fuel supply which only possesses an injector nozzle for injecting the fuel, use of the evaporator element enables stable operation of the mobile heating device also at low heating powers below 1 kW, i.e. low flow rates of fuel and combustion air. Further, in this manner stable operation is enabled even in the case of formation of air bubbles in a fuel supply line because the evaporator element acts as a buffer. Furthermore, the evaporator element permits use of different liquid fuels, since effects due to different boiling temperatures and evaporation enthalpies are attenuated by the evaporator element.
According to a further development, the at least one evaporator element is arranged such that it at least partially surrounds the combustion air inlet. In this case, symmetric supply of evaporated fuel is achieved such that particularly homogeneous mixing of combustion air and fuel is attained which enables combustion with low emissions. If the at least one evaporator element ring-shaped surrounds the combustion air inlet, particularly symmetric supply of evaporated fuel is enabled.
According to a further development, the evaporator element is partly covered by a cover such that a fuel discharge portion is formed in a region which is not covered. In this case it can be reliably achieved that liquid fuel is evenly distributed in the evaporator element such that the whole evaporator element is used for evaporation of fuel and formation of deposits in the evaporator element is suppressed. Preferably, supply of liquid fuel to the evaporator element is effected in a region of the evaporator element which is far away from the fuel discharge portion and in which the evaporator element is covered by the cover. If the cover forms a wall of the widening portion, the resulting heat input into the evaporator element can be adjusted in a simple way by appropriate construction of the cover, in particular with regard to material and wall thickness.
If the fuel discharge portion is arranged at the combustion air inlet, particularly reliable mixing of combustion air and evaporated fuel can take place.
According to a further development, the evaporator element is arranged such that evaporated fuel exits with a directional component which is directed opposite to the main flow direction. In this case, particularly effective mixing of combustion air and fuel is achieved immediately at the combustion air inlet. The fuel can also comprise other directional components during exit, in particular a radial directional component in a direction towards a longitudinal axis of the combustion chamber.
According to a further development, the widening portion comprises a continuously widening cross-section. The widening portion can in particular be formed as conically widening. By the design with a continuously widening cross-section, undesired corner eddies can be prevented which would form in the case of a step-like widening cross-section.
According to a further development, the widening portion widens with an opening angle of at least 20°. In this case, a construction of the widening portion is provided which acts as a discontinuous widening of the cross-section from the point of view of fluid dynamics. In combination with the supply of combustion air with the flow component directed in the circumferential direction, reliable flame anchoring in the widening portion is achieved also at different heating powers.
According to a further development, the air guide device is formed such that the combustion air is supplied into the widening portion with a swirl factor of at least 0.6. The swirl factor (SN) is an integral value which defines the relation of the tangential flow momentum to the axial flow momentum. With a swirl factor of at least 0.6, a fully formed recirculation zone is reliably attained.
Preferably, the mobile heating device can be adapted such that the combustion air is supplied into the combustion air inlet with flow velocities being higher than the turbulent flame velocities arising in the combustion chamber. In this case, it is reliably ensured that no flame can form immediately at the combustion air inlet, such that burning-back of the flame to the fuel supply is prevented.



Further advantages and further developments will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the enclosed drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional illustration of the burner of a mobile heating device according to a first embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective illustration of the burner from FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective illustration of an air guide device in the burner from FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a housing surrounding the air guide device depicted in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of an evaporator element in the first embodiment; and
FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional illustration of the burner of a mobile heating device according to a second embodiment.



FIRST EMBODIMENT
A first embodiment will be described in the following with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.
In the embodiment, the mobile heating device operated with liquid fuel is in particular formed as a parking heater or auxiliary heater for a vehicle, in particular for a land vehicle. In the figures, only the burner 1 of the mobile heating device is illustrated. Further to the illustrated burner 1, the mobile heating device comprises in particular in a per se known manner a heat exchanger for transferring heat to a medium to be heated, such as in particular a liquid in a liquid circuit of a vehicle or air to be heated. The heat exchanger can for example cup-like surround the burner 1 in a per se known manner. Further, the mobile heating device comprises at least one fuel supply device, which can in particular be formed by a fuel pump; a combustion air conveying device, which can e.g. comprise a combustion air blower; and at least one control unit for controlling the mobile heating device.
In the following, the burner 1 of the mobile heating device will be described more in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. The burner 1 comprises a combustion chamber 2 in which fuel and combustion air are converted in a flaming combustion during operation of the mobile heating device. In FIG. 1, the burner 1 is illustrated in a schematic sectional illustration, wherein the sectional plane is chosen such that a longitudinal axis Z of the burner 1 lies in the sectional plane. The burner 1 is formed substantially rotationally symmetric with regard to the longitudinal axis Z. The combustion chamber 2 comprises a combustion air inlet 3 at which combustion air is supplied into the combustion chamber 2 during operation.
Immediately adjacent to the combustion air inlet 3, the combustion chamber 2 comprises a widening portion 20 the cross-section of which widens with increasing distance from the combustion air inlet 3. In the depicted embodiment, the widening portion is confined by a conical wall which is formed by a cover 4 which will be described more in detail below. In a main flow direction H, a substantially cylinder-jacket-shaped wall 5 adjoins the conical wall of the widening portion 20, such that the combustion chamber 2 comprises a portion 21 having a cross-section remaining substantially constant adjacent to the widening portion 20. The size relations are chosen such that the diameter relation V between the outer diameter DL of the air guide device 6 and the diameter DK of the portion 21 of the combustion chamber 2 is smaller or equal to 0.5 (V=DL/DK and V≦0.5).
The widening portion 20 widens with an opening angle of at least 20°. The opening angle is the angle which is formed between the wall of the widening portion 20 and the longitudinal axis Z. In the depicted embodiment, the opening angle amounts to e.g. between 40° and 50°. The combustion chamber 2 comprises an overall free flow cross-section so that no components hindering a free flow of gases protrude laterally into the combustion chamber 2 such that the gas flows in the combustion chamber 2 can develop according to the geometry of the widening portion 20 and of the adjacent portion 21, as will be described more in detail below.
In front of the combustion air inlet 3, an air guide device 6 is provided which is adapted in order to introduce the combustion air into the widening portion 20 with a flow component directed in the circumferential direction. The air guide device 6 is formed such that a very large swirl is impressed onto the combustion air. The air guide device 6 is formed such that the air is introduced into the combustion air inlet 3 with a swirl factor of at least 0.6. The burner 1 is adapted such that a decrease in pressure in a range between 2 mbar and 20 mbar occurs over the air guide device 6. The air guide device 6 will be described more in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
In the embodiment, the air guide device 6 comprises an approximately ring-shaped shape and is provided on the outside with spirally extending guide blades 60 between which also spirally extending channels 61 are formed. In the mobile heating device according to the embodiment, the air guide device 6 is inserted in a substantially hollow-cylindrical easing 7, which is illustrated in FIG. 4. The air guide device 6 is inserted in the casing 7 such that the spirally extending channels 61 are circumferentially closed by the casing 7. Thus, the spirally extending channels 61 are only open at their two face sides such that combustion air can pass through. In FIG. 3 it is illustrated that the air guide device 6 is provided with a central cylindrical through-bore 62. This through-bore 62 can e.g. be used as lead through into the combustion chamber 2 for an ignition element. In the illustrated embodiment, the through-bore 62 is however closed by a plug 63 in the assembled state of the burner 1, as illustrated in FIG. 1.
In the embodiment, the air guide device 6 is arranged such that combustion air at one face side enters into the channels 61 closed by the casing 7, flows through the spirally extending channels 61, and at their other face side is introduced into the widening portion 20 of the combustion chamber 2 at the combustion air inlet 3. The combustion air is impressed with a swirl by the spirally-shaped design of the channels 61. The channels 61 are formed such that the combustion air is impressed with the required swirl factor of at least 0.6 when passing through. As schematically illustrated in by arrows B in FIG. 1, the combustion air is supplied to the air guide device 6 by a combustion air conveying device (not shown) which can e.g. comprise a blower.
Due to the described design of the air guide device 6, the combustion air is introduced at the combustion air inlet 3 into the widening portion 20 with a flow component directed in the circumferential direction.
In the first embodiment, further a fuel supply is provided such that fuel is also supplied into the widening portion 20 at the combustion air inlet 3, as schematically illustrated by arrows in FIG. 1. The mobile heating device is designed for operation with liquid fuel and can e.g. be operable with fuel which is also used for a combustion engine of a vehicle, in particular diesel, benzine and/or ethanol. In the first embodiment, the fuel supply comprises at least one evaporator element 9 for evaporating supplied liquid fuel.
In the first embodiment, the evaporator element 9 has the shape of a truncated hollow cone, as can be seen in FIG. 5. The evaporator element 9 comprises an opening angle α which corresponds to the opening angle of the widening portion 20. The evaporator element 9 is formed from a porous and heat-resistant material and can in particular comprise metal non-woven fabric, metal network and/or metal woven fabric. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of fuel lines 10 for supplying liquid fuel to the evaporator element 9 is provided. Although exemplarily two fuel lines 10 are illustrated in FIG. 1, also e.g. only one fuel line 10 can be provided or more fuel lines 10 can be provided.
At a side facing away from the combustion chamber 2, the evaporator element 9 is covered by a rear wall 11 through which the fuel lines 10 are passed through. At the side facing the combustion chamber 2, the evaporator element 9 is covered by the cover 4 already described before which can in particular be formed from a metal sheet. The evaporator element 9 is arranged such that it ring-shaped surrounds the combustion air inlet 3. At the combustion air inlet 3, the evaporator element 9 comprises an uncovered fuel discharge portion 12 at which evaporated fuel can exit from the evaporator element 9. The other sides of the evaporator element 9—are except for the fuel lines 10—each covered such that fuel can only exit from the evaporator element 9 at the fuel discharge portion 12. The fuel discharge portion 12 ring-shaped surrounds the combustion air inlet 3 so that fuel can be evenly supplied from all sides. It has to be noted that the evaporator element 9 does not necessarily need to have a closed ring shape and that also several separate evaporator elements 9 can be arranged distributed over the circumference, as the case may be. The evaporator element 9 is thermally coupled to the widening portion 20 via the cover 4 such that, in operation of the mobile heating device, heat is transferred into the evaporator element 9 from the flame anchored in the widening portion 20 in order to provide the evaporation heat necessary for fuel evaporation there. An ignition element for starting the burner which at least partially protrudes into the combustion chamber and which is not depicted in FIG. 1 for reasons of simplicity can further be provided.
By arrangement of the evaporator element 9 in the described manner in which the fuel lines 10 are spatially spaced from the fuel discharge portion 12, even dispersion of the supplied liquid fuel in the evaporator element 9 is achieved such that the whole evaporator element 9 is utilized for fuel evaporation. By the described arrangement in which the outlets of the fuel lines are arranged more downstream in the main flow direction H than the fuel discharge portion 12, it is further achieved that the fuel exits from the evaporator element 9 with a directional component which is directed opposite to the main flow direction H. In this manner, a particularly homogeneous mixing of the exiting fuel with the combustion air exiting from the air guide device 6 is attained such that good mixing of combustion air and evaporated fuel is attained immediately at the combustion air inlet 3.
The components of the burner 1 described above are surrounded at the outside by a substantially hollow cylindrical burner flange 13 which forms a flow space for supplied combustion air. The burner flange 13 further serves for fixation of the burner to further components of the mobile heating device situated at the rear side which are not illustrated. The burner flange 13 is formed such that a ring-shaped slit is formed between the inner side of the burner flange 13 and the outer side of the portion 21 of the combustion chamber wall which is adjacent to the widening portion 20, through which slit a part of the supplied combustion air can flow. At a downstream end with respect to the main flow direction H, the burner flange 13 is connected to the portion 21 such that the slit is closed there.
As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the portion 21 of the combustion chamber wall adjacent to the widening portion 20 comprises a plurality of holes 22 and 23 through which combustion air can also enter into the combustion chamber 2. In an intermediary portion of the combustion chamber 2, which intermediary portion is immediately adjacent to the widening portion 20, the portion 21 of the combustion chamber wall is provided with a plurality of relatively large holes 22 which form a second combustion air inlet for supplying combustion air into a primary combustion zone PZ formed in the combustion chamber 2, as will be explained more in detail in the following. In a region of the portion 21 of the combustion chamber wall which is further downstream with regard to the main flow direction H, a multitude of substantially smaller holes 23 is provided through which secondary combustion air can stream into a region of the combustion chamber 2 formed as a secondary combustion zone SZ and which holes 23 form a secondary combustion air inlet. In the embodiment, the holes 23 forming the secondary combustion air inlet extend in the axial direction over a substantially larger portion than the holes 22 forming the second combustion air inlet for the primary combustion zone PZ. The burner 1 of the mobile heating device is adapted such that the combustion air supplied by the combustion air conveying device is divided in a predetermined relation such that a part of the combustion air is supplied into the widening portion 20 via the air guide device 6 at the combustion air inlet 3, another part of the combustion air is supplied via the slit and the large holes 22 forming the second combustion air inlet, and the remaining combustion air is supplied into the secondary combustion zone SZ of the combustion chamber via the holes 23 forming the secondary combustion air inlet.
The desired appointment of the combustion air is achieved by the geometric design of the burner 1. In particular, in the embodiment the respective amounts of combustion air are adjusted such that an air-fuel ratio λ of about 1 develops in the primary combustion zone PZ of the combustion chamber 2, and a substantially larger air-fuel ratio λ, e.g. about 1.6, in the secondary combustion zone SZ.
The primary combustion zone PZ is formed in the widening portion 20 and an adjacent intermediate portion of the combustion chamber 2 having a cross-section remaining substantially constant. With regard to the main flow direction H, the secondary combustion zone SZ down-stream immediately follows the primary combustion zone PZ. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the primary combustion zone PZ and the secondary combustion zone SZ are contiguous to each other with a free flow cross-section such that in particular no constructional separation is provided. The holes 23 forming the secondary combustion air inlet are formed such that the secondary combustion air enters into the combustion chamber 2 in such a manner that it is supplied to the gases streaming off from the primary combustion zone PZ radially from outside.
The flow characteristics developing in the combustion chamber 2 are described more in detail in the following. In particular, stable anchoring of the flame in the widening portion 20 is achieved over a large bandwidth of different heating powers.
The combustion air exiting from the air guide device 6 is mixed at the combustion air inlet 3 with the fuel exiting there from the evaporator element 9. Due to the strong swirl of the combustion air in combination with the strong widening of the widening portion 20, the current of the combustion air-fuel-mixture remains resting against the wall of the widening portion 20 due to acting centrifugal forces. Formation of thus-called dead water zones on the outer side at the wall can reliably be prevented even in the case of a strong widening. The current flows along the wall of the widening portion 20 with relatively high velocities such that during operation of the burner good convective heat transfer to the cover 4 and via thermal conduction to the evaporator element 9 placed behind it takes place. Due to the high flow velocities in proximity to the combustion air inlet 3, in a first region of the widening portion 20, in which no flame can form, pre-mixing of fuel and combustion air takes place which contributes to a conversion being particularly low in emissions.
From the point of view of fluid dynamics, the design of the widening portion 20 acts like a discontinuous widening of the cross-section such that with the swirling current a strong widening of the core swirl occurs. Due to the resulting local static pressures, subsequent to the widening of the core swirl a break-down of the core swirl occurs such that a strong back current opposite to the main flow direction H forms in a radially inner region close to the longitudinal axis Z, as schematically depicted by arrows in FIG. 1. Thus, a recirculation region RB forms close to the longitudinal axis Z. With the described geometric design of the burner 1, the recirculation vortices forming in this manner have a position which is substantially independent from the mass flow of the combustion air-fuel-mixture such that self-stabilization or anchoring of the flame in the widening portion 20 takes place. Formation of these flow characteristics can be explained by the fact that the swirling current radially widens in the widening portion 20 wherein deceleration in the axial direction occurs. The tangential component of the velocity effects a radial pressure gradient whereby the static pressure decreases in the direction towards the longitudinal axis Z. Due to these pressure conditions, the recirculation region RB forms. In the recirculation region RB situated close to the longitudinal axis the gases thus flow oppositely to the main flow direction H, i.e. in the direction towards the combustion air inlet 3. The combustion air supplied through the holes 22 in the intermediate portion (i.e. through the second combustion air inlet) streams from the outside up to the region close to the axis such that it partly arrives in the recirculation region RB and contributes to the formation of the fuel-air-mixture in the primary combustion zone PZ. Another part of the combustion air supplied through the holes 22 does not arrive in the recirculation region, but flows into the secondary combustion zone SZ instead. In this manner, a first air-fuel ratio λ develops in the primary combustion zone PZ, which air-fuel ratio is about 1 in the embodiment. Due to the strong swirling, very good mixing of fuel and combustion air takes place in the primary combustion zone PZ in which the recirculation region RB is formed.
The secondary combustion air which streams in through the holes 23 forming the secondary combustion air inlet and arranged further downstream (with regard to the main flow direction H) does not arrive in the recirculation region RB, but instead is jacket-shaped supplied to gases streaming off from the primary combustion zone PZ. This secondary combustion air does not reach the longitudinal axis Z of the burner 1. A substantially larger air-fuel ratio λ develops in the secondary combustion zone SZ immediately following the primary combustion zone PZ due to the supplied secondary combustion air.
In this manner, substantially complete, rapid conversion of fuel and combustion air at high temperatures with only low CO emissions is achieved in the primary combustion zone PZ. The primary combustion zone PZ comprises a relatively short constructional length in the axial direction such that low NOx emissions can be achieved.
In the secondary combustion zone SZ following the primary combustion zone PZ, after-treatment of exhaust gases takes place at a higher air-fuel ratio λ and at lower temperatures in which all combustible contents that did not react in the primary combustion zone PZ are converted. The secondary combustion zone SZ comprises a larger constructional length in the axial direction than the primary combustion zone PZ. Due to the lower temperature which is adjusted in the secondary combustion zone SZ, also the conversion there is particularly low in emissions. Immediately downstream of the secondary combustion zone SZ, the off-streaming exhaust gases are led into a heat exchanger for transferring heat to a medium to be heated such that the heat which is set free is efficiently used for heating the medium to be heated.
Due to the described design, the burner 1 can be operated particularly low in emissions over a large bandwidth of different heating powers, in particular in a power range from 0.8 kW to approximately 20 kW.
The combination of the combustion chamber design and the evaporator element 9 enables stable operation even at relatively low heating powers. By the evaporator element 9, stable supply of fuel into the combustion chamber 2 takes place even if air bubbles should form in the fuel line 10. Due to the resulting self-stabilization or anchoring of the flame in the widening portion 20, high heat input into the evaporator element 9 takes place at high heating powers such that the required large amount of fuel per time can reliably be evaporated there. At a lower heating power, correspondingly smaller heat input takes place such that the process of fuel evaporation can also reliably be maintained to the desired extent over a large bandwidth of heating powers. By the achieved flowing-through of substantially the whole volume of the evaporator element 9, it is reliably acted against formation of residues in the evaporator element 9. A particularly cost-efficient design of the burner 1 is further enabled by the fuel supply via the evaporator element 9.
Since a well-defined, good mixing of fuel and combustion air is attained with the described design and since two-step conversion takes place via the primary combustion zone PZ and the secondary combustion zone SZ, a combustion which is very low in emissions is achieved. In the described mobile heating device, the combustion air is introduced into the widening portion 20 via the air guide device 6 with a high flow velocity. In this manner, undesired back-burning can reliably be prevented.
SECOND EMBODIMENT
A second embodiment will be described in the following with reference to FIG. 6, wherein only the differences to the first embodiment will be described more in detail in order to avoid repeating and the same reference signs as in the first embodiment are used for the same elements or components.
The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the fuel supply comprises an atomizing nozzle 90 for atomizing the liquid fuel instead of the evaporator element 9 for evaporating the liquid fuel provided in the first embodiment, as will be described more in detail. Also in the second embodiment, the widening portion 20 comprises a cross-section which widens with increasing distance from the combustion air inlet 3. Also in the second embodiment, the widening portion 20 is confined by a conical wall which however, in contrast to the first embodiment, is not formed by a separate cover 4 but by a rear wall 40 of the combustion chamber 2.
Further, in the second embodiment the through-bore 62 in the air guide device 6 is not covered by a plug 63 but the atomizing nozzle 90 is arranged in the through-bore 62 instead. The liquid fuel is supplied to the atomizing nozzle 90 via a fuel line 100, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 6. In the second embodiment, the air guide device 6 is arranged such that the air exiting from the air guide device 6 enters into a tapering portion 19 which is situated in front of the combustion air inlet 3. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the tapering portion 19 is formed by a tapering truncated cone. The tapering portion 19 surrounds the atomizing nozzle 90 and effects that the combustion air is forced to flow around the discharge region of the atomizing nozzle 90 after exiting the air guide device 6 and to thereby cool the latter. Thus, cooling of the atomizing nozzle 90 is effected by the supplied combustion air. In this manner it is further achieved that the reverse flow of hot gases from the combustion process in the combustion chamber 2 cannot reach to the atomizing nozzle 90. Furthermore, the reduction in cross-section effects an increase in the tangential velocity component of the through-passing combustion air and brings the axial velocity portion closer to the longitudinal axis Z.
The atomizing nozzle 90 is formed such that the fuel is discharged from the atomizing nozzle 90 into the widening portion 20 substantially hollow-cone-shaped, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 6 by dashed lines. The opening angle of the hollow cone with which the atomized fuel exits from the atomizing nozzle 90 is preferably selected such that the fuel enters the shear flow region which forms between the gases flowing off at the wall of the widening portion 20 and the gases flowing back in the axial recirculation zone. In the illustrated embodiment, the opening angle of the hollow cone with which the atomized fuel is supplied amounts to between 20° and 40°, preferably between 25° and 35°. Again the angle between the exiting atomized fuel and the longitudinal axis Z is designated as opening angle.

## Claims

1. A mobile heating device operated with liquid fuel, said mobile heating device comprising:
a combustion chamber having a widening portion and in which in operation combustion air and fuel are converted in a flaming combustion;
a primary combustion air inlet adjacent the combustion chamber, the widening portion having a cross-section which widens with increasing distance from the primary combustion air inlet;
a fuel supply supplying fuel into the widening portion; and
an air guide guiding combustion air into the widening portion with a flow component directing the combustion air in a circumferential direction such that an axial recirculation region forms in the widening portion in which gases flow in a direction towards the primary combustion air inlet oppositely to a main flow direction, wherein the combustion chamber is fluidically sectioned into a primary combustion zone and a secondary combustion zone, the primary combustion zone includes the widening portion—and the recirculation region, and the secondary combustion zone is provided with a secondary combustion air inlet in such a manner that a higher air-fuel ratio than in the primary combustion zone forms in the secondary combustion zone.

2. The mobile heating device according to claim 1, in which the primary combustion zone includes the widening portion and an adjacent intermediate portion of the combustion chamber.

3. The mobile heating device according to claim 2, in which a second combustion air inlet supplies combustion air into the primary combustion zone in an intermediate portion.

4. The mobile heating device according to claim 1, in which the secondary combustion air inlet is formed such that combustion air passing through the secondary combustion air inlet is supplied radially from outside with regard to a longitudinal axis of the heating device to gases streaming off from the primary combustion zone.

5. The mobile heating devices according to claim 1, in which the primary combustion zone and the secondary combustion zone are contiguous to each other with a free flow cross-section.

6. The mobile heating device according to claim 1, in which the combustion gases flow into a heat exchanger downstream of the secondary combustion zone.

7. The mobile heating device according to claim 1, in which the fuel supply includes at least one evaporator element for evaporating the liquid fuel.

8. The mobile heating device according to claim 7, in which the at least one evaporator element at least partially surrounds the combustion air inlet.

9. The mobile heating device according to claim 7, in which the evaporator element is partly covered by a cover such that a fuel discharge portion is formed in a region of the evaporator element that is not covered by the cover.

10. The mobile heating device according to claim 9, in which the fuel discharge portion is arranged at the primary combustion air inlet.

11. The mobile heating device according to claim 9, in which the cover forms an inner wall of the widening portion.

12. The mobile heating device according to claim 7, in which the evaporator element is arranged such that evaporated fuel exits with a directional component which is directed opposite to the main flow direction.

13. The mobile heating device according to claim 1, in which the widening portion includes a continuously widening cross-section.

14. The mobile heating device according to claim 1, in which the widening portion widens with an opening angle of at least 20°.

15. The mobile heating device according to claim 1, in which the air guide is formed such that the combustion air is supplied into the widening portion—with a swirl factor of at least 0.6.