Abstract:
A heat convection system which utilizes land waste materials such as old tires, plastic bottles, newspaper and the like as a fuel source for generating and supplying heat to barns or similar structures, industrial areas and/or plantations. The heat supply of the system avoids the transfer of toxic fumes by fluid treatment in combination with pure conductive heat transfer to steam plants and Heating Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates generally to incinerators. More specifically, the invention is an incinerator unit which supplies heat to various systems via heat convection and conductive heat transfer.  
           [0003]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0004]    Alternative heating sources and methods have long been desired particularly in rural areas, on plantations, and the like for supplying heat and reducing toxic waste via specially designed incinerators. As recited hereinbelow, numerous conventional incinerators have been devised to produce heat and/or reduce waste, but have done so at enormous cost and with a level of complexity requiring routine maintenance by a skilled technician or computer automated features to identify and/monitor critical operative features.  
           [0005]    For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,127 issued to Spronz discloses an incinerator having a domed shaped furnace containing a brick retaining wall. The wall has an upper edge spaced just beneath the curved ceiling of the furnace, and divides the furnace into a large primary combustion chamber, and a smaller secondary chamber. A plurality of perforated air-supply tubes are mounted in the primary chamber above a pathological hearth, which is mounted adjacent to the bottom of the primary chamber to extend horizontally between the retaining wall and one side of the furnace.  
           [0006]    Combustion by-products created in the primary chamber pass over the top of the retaining wall, and then downward through the secondary combustion chamber, finally exiting through a discharge duct. The duct extends beneath the hearth to a smoke stack which is mounted at the back of the furnace. The rear and the sides of the furnace are enclosed in a water jacket which opens to the atmosphere. A gas port extends through the opposite side of the furnace to open on the secondary combustion chamber, so the flame introduced through this port can pass through to the primary chamber for combustion.  
           [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,258 issued to John et al. discloses an incinerator steam generation system for municipal waste. The furnace has an inlet having a guillotine-type door. A push type cylinder ram advances housed debris or garbage disposed on an inclined heated conveyor system through a dry zone, primary combustion zone and a residual zone. An opening in a top portion of the housing or primary chamber is a constricted area having a pilot tube disposed therein. This passageway creates a Venturi effect which functions to squeeze together the rising vapors and gases thereby producing a draft of heated air in a secondary channel. Particulate ashes and the like are prevented from entering the secondary chamber via grates in combination with a dragline.  
           [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,904 issued to Foster discloses a waste-burning furnace adapted for heating tobacco curing and drying barns. The furnace includes an upstanding hopper-like member having an increasing cross-sectional area from a fuel inlet at its upper end to a hollow box-like grate. The grate has elongate slot-like openings extending horizontally of and vertically through its medial portion. An electrically powered blower is connected to the grate and during operation conducts air to the interior of the hollow sections of the grate.  
           [0009]    Air jets emanate from the upper edges of the grate openings and are directed toward the centers of such openings in the direction of the gas passageway. This particular arrangement has a tendency to hinder the combustion process due to an over supply of airflow via the jets. Instead improving the fuel to air ratio, the multiple arranged jets serve to reduce the accumulation and formation of combustion products in and around the jets.  
           [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,744 issued to Fontaine discloses an incinerator comprising a combustion chamber having a lower grate and an outer wall. A conveyor supplies materials to be incinerated and a primary air blower casing is situated in the center of the grate. A secondary air circuit having injection nozzles are distributed on the periphery of the combustion chamber, some of which form nozzle pairs oriented at angles in a similar fashion to those taught by the U.S. patent issued to Foster as recited above.  
           [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,504 issued to Barresi et al. discloses a complex waste fuel incineration which operates at very high temperatures for high efficiency combustion of waste products. A control circuit is programmed for maintaining a primary combustion temperature at a target temperature selected at a range of approximately 1600°-1800° F., for turning on and increasing under fire air the primary combustion chamber flue gases and maintaining a volume flow rate under fire at 150% to 250% of the stoichiometric requirement for complete combustion.  
           [0012]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,675 issued to Fowler discloses an apparatus and method for destroying organic waste. The steps of the process include passing an organic waste into a chamber, pumping an inert gas into the chamber until the pressure within the chamber is at least 10,000 psi, heating the chamber to a temperature in excess of 300° F., dissociating the organic waste into gaseous constituents, and passing the gaseous constituents from the chamber. The chamber is filled with an inert gas so as to displace oxygen from the chamber. The pressurized gaseous constituents are delivered to a turbine so as to actuate the turbine and thereby generate electricity.  
           [0013]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,884 issued to Malick discloses a similarly complex automatic incinerator apparatus which utilizes a movable ram to force waste down a vertical waste combustion chamber in concert with a rotatably driven bar disposed at the top of the combustion chamber. Combustion temperature control is provided by feeding air into the combustion chamber and by rotating the bar to abrade char from the waste supported by the bar. A bed of ash is maintained within certain levels as a thermal protection layer of the bottom of the combustion chamber.  
           [0014]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,156 issued to Wang discloses an ultra-pyrolysis reactor for hazardous waste destruction. The reactor contains a hollow core which is surrounded by several ceramic walls. Uniform, high temperatures, up to at least 1900° C., are obtained in the reactor core not only from direct radiant heat from the energy sources, but also from energy reflected and emitted from the surrounding zones.  
           [0015]    None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0016]    The heat convection system according to the invention is directed to a heating system which utilizes used tires, plastic bottles, newspaper and the like as a fuel source for generating and supplying heat to barns or the like, industrial areas and/or plantations. The heat supply of the system avoids the transfer of toxic fumes by fluid treatment in combination with pure conductive heat transfer to steam plants and Heating Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.  
           [0017]    Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a heat convection system which is environmentally friendly.  
           [0018]    It is another object of the invention to provide a heat convection system which reduces land waste materials.  
           [0019]    It is a further object of the invention to provide a heat convection system which is simple to operate and use.  
           [0020]    Still another object of the invention is to provide a heat convection system adaptable for supplying heat to steam plants and HVAC systems.  
           [0021]    It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.  
           [0022]    These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0023]    [0023]FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of a heat convection system according to the present invention.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the heat convection system according to a second embodiment.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the heat convection incinerator device according to the invention.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4 is a perspective sectional view of a fluid treatment unit of the heat convection system according to the invention. 
     
    
       [0027]    Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0028]    The present invention is directed to a heat convection system which reduces land fill waste and is adapted to provide nontoxic heat transfer to HVAC and steam plant systems. The preferred embodiments of the present invention are depicted in FIGS. 1-4, and are generally referenced by numerals  5  and  6 , respectively. Features of the invention are separately numbered and depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4.  
         [0029]    As diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1, the heat convection system  5  comprises a heat source unit  10  having at least one inlet  12 , one outlet  14  and a top  16 . The inlet  12  of the unit  10  includes a plurality of inlet pipes integrally formed therewith and extending through a medial portion of the unit  10  for supplying airflow therethrough. The plurality of inlet pipes are made to converge within the unit  10  to form a single outlet pipe or manifold  14  which maintains a predetermined heat convection flow rate in fluid communication with the outlet  14  and outside therewith. The unit  10  is preferably rectangular in shape and is configured to retain at least one fuel source  18  in the form of old tires  18   a , plastic containers, newspaper  18   b  and the like. At least one catalyst (ie. fire in combination with butane or propane)  19  is also used in measured amounts to ignite and dissipate smoke generated by the fuel.  
         [0030]    The heat source unit  10  includes a first interior portion  10   a  of predetermined volume for housing each respective fuel source  18 . A second interior portion  10   b  is also provided within the unit  10  having a predetermined volume for fluidly supplying at least one of the catalyst  19  to the first interior portion  10   a  which contains at least one fuel source  18 . A balanced air-to-fuel ratio is established by an airflow source  20  which supplies air flow to the ignited fuel source  18  via the respective inlets and outlets  12 , 14 . The air supply source  20  is preferably an air pump. The pump  20  can be driven by an auxiliary power generator  22  or can be electrically connected to a conventional hardwired 120 V AC source.  
         [0031]    The top  16  is a substantially planar structure having a plurality of fasteners  24  disposed on first and second ends  16   a  and  16   b  for secure and releasable attachment with the body portion of the unit  10  via fastener portions  25 . This fastening feature provides a seal around a peripheral portion of the top portion of the unit  10 . It is noted that the removal and placement of the top  16  can be made as an automated feature. The outlet  14  is shown therein as being substantially rectangular in shape for supplying heat  15  as a combustion product of the fuel elements  18   a  and  
         [0032]    The heat  15  flows through a conduit network such as a HVAC  26  or a steam plant  28  as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2. As diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 3, the unit  10  is shown in exploded view illustrating the line of attachment of the top  16  to an extended first and second flange portion  10   c  and  10   d . Prior to securing the top  16 , a catalyst  19  is added to a pre-ignited flame to initiate heat supply. Once secure, the airflow inlet  12  generates air flow at measured amounts (i.e. selected flow speeds, low, medium and high) to enhance the air-to-fuel ratio for a maximum air flow of heat  15 .  
         [0033]    An optional aperture  11  can be added to the unit  10  to supply a catalyst  19  in measured amounts manually or automatically after visual detection of smoke or via a conventional smoke detector system in order to maintain super heated air flow as determined by one having ordinary skill in the art for the intended purpose. Any number of igniters can be used from manual hand-held igniters to automatically controlled igniters.  
         [0034]    Other devices can be adapted to the respective conduit networks  26 , 28  to enhance the supply of heat  15  downstream a predetermined distance D. One of the key flow enhancement features of the invention is the use of a fluid supply system  30  for reducing particulate  32  within the heat flow stream  15 . This particular feature is discussed in more detail below. One other enhanced feature includes wherein the fire heat stream  15  is provided in closed loop L feedback system via an air channel  17  adapted to a central top portion of the top  16  as diagrammatically illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.  
         [0035]    As diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 4, the fluid supply system  30  is shown having a plurality of pipes  32  arranged in parallel and adapted to a single fluid feed pipe  31 . Each pipe  32  have disposed therein along its length a plurality of nozzles  33  for providing a stream  35  of fluid spray therefrom. This particular fluid can include various chemicals for reducing toxic levels and/or reducing particulate within the fire feat stream  15 . The spray weights the particulate  32  down and causes the weighted particles to fall by the force of gravity to particulate bin or reservoir  34 .  
         [0036]    The plurality of pipes  32  are directly fastened to an external wall portion of the conduit network adjacent to the outlet channel  14  via mechanical fasteners (such as brackets and bolts, rivets or removable snap fasteners.) The fluid  35  can be supplied from a chemically treated fluid reservoir or water source with direct adaptation made to the feed pipe  31  as releasable couple fastener or attachment. The streams of fluid  35  are directed in an orthogonal relationship with respect to the convective heat flow to redirect particulate in a direction substantially opposite that of the fire heat stream  15  and in the direction of the particulate storage reservoir  34 . The particulate can be supplied to various manufacturing facilities for use in the manufacturing of composite materials. In a direction downstream from the fluid supply system  30 , the heat convection system according to both embodiments  5  and  6  utilizes a single conductive plate  40  per heating unit for transferring heat from the network to a local enclosure or area in either the form of non-toxic steam and/or heated air.  
         [0037]    Other advantages of the invention as herein described includes the use of single feedback loop L which provides reinforced heat to maintain the heat stream  15  with material decomposition of the respective fuel sources. The supply of heated air from the top channel  17  also forces sediment from the fuel sources to fall to base of the unit  10  for further decomposition in fire and in the form of particulate matter downstream. Grates have been used and are still used today to provide layered fire heat flow down stream and for prevented particulate flow up stream, however such use of grates have been known to cause sediment build up at the outlet which increases the need for routine maintenance. While the use of such grates can be used, it has been found that this system works with a degree of efficiency without need for these conventional features thereby minimizing mechanical components and cost associated therewith for manufacturing and maintenance.  
         [0038]    It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.