Device for heating and/or vaporizing a fluid such as water

Abstract

A device for heating and / or vaporizing a fluid is provided. The device comprises a heat conductive inner conduit defining a fluid flow pathway. An electrically powered heating element is arranged to surround said inner conduit whereby heat energy from the heating element heats fluid passing through the fluid flow pathway. A casing is provided to sealedly surround the heating element. An exterior surface of the casing is in communication with a space into which heated fluid or vapour is emitted from the outlet of the inner conduit. The casing is heat conductive such that heat energy is received from the heating element heats fluid within said space. Fluid such as water can be efficiently heated by passing it through the fluid flow pathway and having it contact the exterior surface of the casing for double heating. Also, by restricting water flow through the fluid flow pathway can result in easy generation of steam. By having a fluid flow pathway through the heating element, this results in more efficient heating of water and saving in energy. Furthermore, it maintains the operating temperature of the heating element at a lower range thereby the life of the heating element is extended.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The invention relates to a device for heating and / or vaporizing a fluid and particularly, but not exclusively to heating and / or vaporizing a medium such as water.BACKGROUND ART[0002]Heating water is a daily requirement and there are varied methods of doing so. With an accelerated pace of life, the requirements for water heaters are greater, i.e. there is a requirement for water heaters to heat water to boiling point or above much quicker than current devices.[0003]An existing liquid heater, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, comprises a heat conductive tube 3 surrounding a coiled wire heating element 4. Electrical terminals 1 supply electric power to the heating element 4. The heating element terminals 1 are electrically insulated from the tube 3 by end caps 2 which also seal the ends of tube 3 from liquid ingress. A heat conducting, but electrically insulating powder 5 fills the space within the tube 3 surrounding the heating element 4. Heating a fluid such as water usi...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is an improved heating device that is easy to install and manufacture, and has high energy conversion efficiency. It can replace conventional heating devices.

Problems solved by technology

This does not provide rapid transfer of heat from the heating element 4 to the water.

Furthermore, when the user switches the heater off, an internal core temperature of the heater remains at a very high level for some time resulting in a shortening of the life of the heating element.

Thus, there are a number of disadvantages with the known heater.

One disadvantage is due to heating only being provided by the outer wall of the heater.

This leads to user complaints of slowness in heating water and also leads to energy wastage.

Another disadvantage is due to heating by only the outer heater wall is that this prevents heat being removed from close to the heating element when power is switched off which results in a shortening of the life of the heating element and thus of the heater.

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