An automatic liquid fuel fireplace

Abstract

The invention relates to a field of heating, specifically, to a structure of naked flame devices, e.g. automatic fireplaces, which operate with a liquid vegetal fuel and provide its evaporation followed by combustion of vapors. The automatic liquid fuel fireplace comprises a fireplace housing having a device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors arranged therein, a liquid fuel supply system and an electronic control system which comprises a power supply unit, a control unit and sensors for controlling, managing and ensuring a safe operation of the automatic fireplace. An evaporator space comprises a liquid fuel distributor, an evaporator and a heating layer. The liquid fuel supply system comprises a pump, a fuel pipe and a liquid fuel container. A burner is provided with air supply openings to supplying air along a combustion zone perimeter, and a fan is arranged below, the fan is coupled to the air supply openings. The fireplace housing is provided with air supply openings to supplying the air to the fan. The invention ensures evaporation of the liquid fuel and further combustion of the produced fuel vapors is carried out within the single device, as well as increase of the fireplace operation reliability and safety, and increase of compactness.

Description

[0001] AN AUTOMATIC LIQUID FUEL FIREPLACE

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The invention relates to a field of heating, in particular, to a structure of naked flame devices, e.g., automatic fireplaces, which operate with a liquid vegetal fuel and provide its evaporation followed by combustion of vapors.

[0004] PRIOR ART

[0005] Fireplaces represent a rather popular piece of domestic interior, since they provide a warm and cozy atmosphere. Nowadays, there are numerous types of fireplaces, and the most traditional one is a wood-burning fireplace. The wood- burning fireplaces are characterized by their authenticity and ability to provide warmth and atmosphere in a house. However, their main issue is a continuous maintaining of burning, a regular cleaning to remove soot and ash. Also, wood- burning fireplaces have a limited usability due to a mandatory requirement in smoke extraction systems, and most frequently they are mounted in private houses.

[0006] On the other hand, automatic fireplaces which operate with a liquid vegetal fuel, e.g, bioethanol etc., became increasingly popular. This type of the fireplaces ensures warmth and comfort by creating an effective and safe burning without any soot and harmful emission.

[0007] However, a problem of this type of automatic fireplaces is that they are typically equipped with a device for combustion of the fuel vapors, where only combustion of the liquid fuel vapors is performed, while production of the fuel vapors (evaporation) is performed separately from said device. It causes a need in mounting an additional chamber to maintain a fuel level for evaporation wherefrom the produced fuel vapors must be supplied to the device for combustion of the fuel vapors (a burner). In view of the individual additional evaporation chamber and its communication with the burner for supplying the fuel vapors, operation reliability of the device and its safety are reduced, the device structure becomes more complicated in view of the requirement in additional elements and communications therebetween. While automatic fireplaces which operate with the liquid vegetal fuel, e.g., bioethanol (ethanol fuel), and their use for furnishing private houses become more widespread, a problem of improving the devices for evaporation of the liquid fuel followed by combustion of the vapors which are used in the fireplace structure, in particular, to increase their operational reliability and safety of these devices, becomes rather actual.

[0008] Such automatic liquid fuel fireplaces which operate by evaporating the liquid fuel followed by combustion of the produced fuel vapors are known, and the following fireplaces are known among them.

[0009] Invention patent US8622053B2 dated January 7, 2014 teaches a liquid fuel- fired furnace installation comprising a fuel tank, a fuel evaporation plate, a fuel vapor distribution plate, a pipe connecting the fuel tank to the evaporation plate, a vapor outlet furnished on the evaporation plate, a vapor flow cut-off valve connected to the vapor outlet, an external heating plate furnished at the evaporation plate, a fuel inlet for ignition installed at the external heating plate, an inlet stub pipe connected to the fuel vapor distribution plate, wherein the fuel vapor distribution plate is connected with the inlet stub pipe, shaped holes disposed in an upper part of the fuel vapor distribution plate, wherein the fuel vapors are exhausted through the shaped holes, a second fuel tank disposed in parallel to the first fuel tank, a pipe conduit connecting the second fuel tank to the first fuel tank, wherein the evaporation plate and the distribution plate are placed between the first fuel tank and the second fuel tank, a metering pump furnished to the first tank near the fuel inlet, a trough-shaped heating plate installed under the fuel inlet, a wick is located at the trough-shaped heating plate, and all mentioned sub-assemblies are closed in the shield with ventilation slots. A drawback of this technical solution is making the fireplace with the liquid fuel, where the fuel is supplied by gravity flow via the pipeline to the evaporation plate which results in limitation of precise and dosed control of the liquid fuel supply. Also, this structure affects complexity of the structure and makes it bulky. Another drawback of this technical solution is division of the fuel evaporation and combustion process which results in reduced efficiency and reliability, as well as affects sizes of the structure which may be inconvenient and even may limit a place for mounting the fireplace.

[0010] Also, a patent EP2807424B1 dated November 9, 2016 teaches a fireplace that is equipped with an electronically controlled burner configured to combust bioethanol, the electronically controlled burner comprises at least one fuel tank being in fluid communication with an evaporation accelerator being in thermal contact with a heating element configured to heat and hereby evaporate fuel in the evaporation accelerator, a flame tray having an ignition member configured to ignite vapor delivered from the evaporation accelerator, wherein the electronically controlled burner comprises at least one fuel pump configured to pump the fluid fuel from the at least one fuel tank to the evaporation accelerator, where the burner comprises means for actively emptying the evaporation accelerator, wherein the means for actively emptying the evaporation accelerator is one or more pumps, and wherein a first fuel pump is configured to pump fuel from a first fuel tank into the evaporation accelerator, preferably in a first mode, and where the first fuel pump or a second fuel pump is configured to pump fuel from the evaporation accelerator into the first fuel tank or into a second fuel tank, preferably in another mode. A drawback of this technical solution is division of processes of evaporation and combustion of the fuel which results in reduced efficiency and more complex control of the system. Due to presence of the additional pumps for pumping the fuel between the tanks, as well as due to the necessity in the additional heating of the evaporator, it is possible that the fuel consumption and maintenance complexity will be increased. Also, a patent PL215376B1 dated November 29, 2013 is close to the present invention, and it teaches a device for combustion of a liquid fuel, particularly, in liquid fuel combustion fireplaces, the device consists of a fuel tank having an outlet that is connected, via a pipe, to a heating chamber that is connected to a distribution chamber provided with a plurality of openings, wherein the fuel tank is provided, in its top portion, with a fuel filling opening that is closed with a cover having a ventilation opening, a bottom portion of the fuel tank has an outlet nozzle mounted therein that is equipped with a pipe for supplying the fuel to the heating chamber that is provided with an electrical heater with a thermocouple, wherein the heating chamber is directly connected to the distribution chamber in a form of a pipe that is closed on both sides and is provided, in its top portion, with a plurality of openings, and the fuel tank is arranged relative to the heating chamber so that the heating of fuel in the heating chamber is carried out below a fuel level. A drawback of this technical solution is that the fuel in this device is firstly evaporated in the heating chamber and then it is supplied to the distribution chamber for combustion which results in inefficient use of the fuel. Separation of these two processes causes inefficient use of the fuel and increase of energy consumption for both processes which results in increase of the fuel consumption and reduction of the overall efficiency of the system. Also, this arrangement results in increase of a number of parts and complexity of the device, thereby affecting the sizes of the device. The patented structure restricts possibilities of creation of different embodiments of the fireplace. This may result in narrowing possible choices for users which search for more innovative and efficient liquid fuel combustion devices.

[0011] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The invention is based on a task to develop an automatic liquid fuel fireplace, where both evaporation and further combustion of produced fuel vapors is carried out in a single device. At the same time, the fireplace structure should ensure increase of its usage reliability and safety, as well as increase= of compactness.

[0013] Said task is resolved by providing an automatic liquid fuel fireplace comprising a fireplace housing having a device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors arranged therein, a system for supplying the liquid fuel to the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors and an electronic control system which comprises a power supply unit, a control unit, sensors for controlling, managing and ensuring a safe operation of the automatic fireplace, according to the invention, the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors comprises a housing having a side surface and a bottom surface, a fuel vapors ignition tool, a burner in a form of a plate with openings, an evaporator and an evaporator heating tool, while a liquid fuel distributor and a heat-resistant porous material layer are mounted within an inner volume of the evaporator, the inner volume of the evaporator is formed by the plate of the burner, the side surface and the bottom surface of the housing of the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors, the liquid fuel distributor is made in a form of an elongated hollow body with openings provided primarily in a top portion of the body along its length, the heat-resistant porous material layer is arranged under the liquid fuel distributor on the bottom surface of the housing of the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors, and the liquid fuel supply system comprises a pump that is coupled to the liquid fuel distributor via a fuel pipe and to a liquid fuel container, as well as configured to provide a dosed supply of the liquid fuel from the liquid fuel container to the fuel distributor via the fuel pipe, and air supply openings are provided along an exterior perimeter of and outside the burner as well as along a combustion zone perimeter, a fan that is spatially coupled to the air supply openings is arranged below the air supply openings outside an enclosed inner volume of the evaporator, and the fireplace housing is provided with air supply openings for supplying an air to the fan. A technical effect achieved by using the invention is a combination, in the fireplace, of a location of evaporation of the liquid fuel and further combustion of the produced fuel vapors within a single structural element, being the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors, thereby allowing to increase the operation reliability of the fireplace and its compactness owing to reduction of additional elements and communications for their interconnection. An additional effect is increase of a number of possible variants of fireplace structures and, thus, variants of visual appearance, where the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors could be used, i.e., increase of structural flexibility of the fireplace for embedding the claimed device that is also achieved due to compactness of the device and combination of the fuel vapors production and combustion processes within a single volume. Another additional effect is increase of cost effectiveness of the liquid fuel combustion due to the heating of the evaporator and the enclosed volume therein for producing the fuel vapors occur in the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors, i.e., the fuel evaporation temperature is maintained by the vapors combustion process itself that is started directly after evaporation, thereby avoiding a mandatory use of a tool for heating the evaporator for maintaining the evaporation process, thereby allowing to reduce the fuel and electricity consumption. Another additional technical effect has been achieved by inventors already in the process of testing the claimed fireplace, and it lies in providing a flame having a more red color spectrum that is close to the spectrum of colors which occur during burning of the wood, rather than orange one as provided in the known analogues which also operate with the liquid vegetal fuel. This effect may be caused by the fact that the vapors in the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors have higher temperature which affects the flame color.

[0014] Additional advantage provided by the combination of the liquid fuel evaporation and further combustion of the produced vapors within the single device, according to the invention, is ability to supply the liquid fuel both from the fuel container embedded into the fireplace and from a replaceable container, e.g., a canister, which may be disposed outside the fireplace as well. If the embedded container is meant, the advantage will lie in that this container may have any size and it may be disposed in various locations relative to the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors. The known analogues, where the evaporator and the fuel container form interconnected volumes, does not provide this ability. If the replaceable external container is meant, the advantage will lie in that the refueling for this fireplace is not required at all. When the fuel in the removable container is run out, it will be replaced with a full container.

[0015] Provision of the liquid fuel supply system with the pump that is coupled to the fuel distributor via the fuel pipe and to the liquid fuel container that is configured to provide the dosed supply of the liquid fuel from the liquid fuel container to the fuel distributor via the fuel pipe has allowed to achieve an additional increase of saving of the liquid fuel combustion. According to one of preferable embodiments of the fireplace, the pump of the liquid fuel supply system is a peristaltic pump, thereby increasing convenience of adjustment of the liquid fuel dose via the fuel pipe.

[0016] Air supply openings along the perimeter of the combustion zone which are necessary for cooling the burner, while their arrangement at least along the exterior perimeter of and outside the burner facilitates correct circulation of the air around the burner plate in the fireplace. Air supply to these openings by means of the fan that is disposed below the air supply openings outside the enclosed volume of the evaporator and spatially coupled to saidopenings, and the air supply openings to supply the air to the fan in the fireplace housing, enables additional cooling of the air before its output along the perimeter of the combustion zone, as well as cools the inner cavity of the housing with the equipment installed therein. According to one of preferable embodiments of the fireplace, the air supply openings are arranged in the same plane with the burner, thereby providing additional facilitation of the air circulation around the burner plate in the fireplace.

[0017] According to one of preferable embodiments of the fireplace, the openings of the fuel distributor are made with identical diameter and arranged along a length of the hollow body with a pitch that is decreased from a coupling location between the fuel distributor and the fuel pipe towards an end of the hollow body. According to another preferable embodiment of the fireplace, the openings of the fuel distributor are spaced apart with identical pitch and their diameters are increased from a coupling location between the fuel distributor and the fuel pipe towards an end of the hollow body. The above-mentioned embodiments of the fuel distributor in the fireplace resolve the following problem. During testing the above-described fireplace, a problem of supplying the liquid fuel for evaporation via the hollow body of the liquid fuel distributor has been defined. The problem was in that the fuel came to a layer of the heat-resistant porous material in a non-uniform fashion. Most of the liquid fuel came to those portion of the layer of the heat-resistant porous material that was closer to the coupling location between the liquid fuel distributor and the fuel pipe, i.e., predominantly all the fuel came out of the openings at the beginning of the hollow body that is closer to the fuel pipe, while the fuel almost did not come to the openings at the end of the hollow body. This resulted in a non-uniformity of the fuel saturation of the layer of the heat-resistant porous material along its area and, thus, in instable evaporation process. Increase of the supplied volume of the liquid fuel or its head flow through the hollow body resulted in excessive saturation of this layer and falling of the liquid fuel outside this layer, as well as in increase of the fuel consumption. In order to resolve this problem, numerous tests have been conducted and it has been proposed either to make the openings of the liquid fuel distributor having the identical diameter, but located along the length of the hollow body non-uniformly, namely, with the pitch that is decreased from the coupling location between the liquid fuel distributor and the fuel pipe towards the end of the hollow body, or to arrange the openings spaced apart with the identical pitch, while their diameters are increased from the coupling location between the liquid fuel distributor and the fuel pipe towards the end of the hollow body.

[0018] It has been found that both described embodiments of the liquid fuel distributor has enabled to saturate the layer of the heat-resistant porous material with the liquid fuel uniformly and in the required volume which has increased the stability of the evaporation process and uniformity of the vapors output across the entire area of the burner which has increased the reliability and safety of the fireplace operation.

[0019] According to another preferable embodiment of the fireplace, the latter comprises a temperature sensor that is configured to transmit a data about a temperature of the evaporator to the control unit, the control unit is configured, based on the temperature sensor data, to maintain a temperature within the inner volume of the evaporator that is not lower than a fuel boiling temperature, thereby facilitating maintaining the temperature for the fuel evaporation in the evaporator by the vapors combustion process itself and thereby further increasing the energy efficiency of the fireplace operation by controlling the evaporator temperature and by periodically using the evaporator heating tool for maintaining the stability of the liquid fuel evaporation process.

[0020] According to another preferable embodiment of the fireplace, fuel vapors ignition tool is arranged outside the enclosed volume of the evaporator in a close proximity to the openings of the burner (the fuel vapors output openings), thereby simplifying the initiation of the combustion process and increases the operation safety of the device.

[0021] According to another preferable embodiment of the fireplace, the latter comprises a fire sensor, thereby increasing the operation safety of the fireplace. The fire sensor may be made using prior art devices such as infrared LEDs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Exemplary embodiments of the inventive automatic fireplace are provided hereinafter and illustrated in the figures, where:

[0023] Fig. 1 illustrates a general axonometric view of the automatic liquid fuel fireplace,

[0024] Fig. 2 illustrates a general axonometric exploded view of the automatic liquid fuel fireplace,

[0025] Fig. 3 illustrates a general axonometric view of the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors,

[0026] Fig. 4 illustrates a top view of the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors,

[0027] Fig. 5 illustrates the section A-A of the Fig. 4,

[0028] Fig. 6 illustrates a side view of the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors,

[0029] Fig. 7 illustrates the section B-B of the Fig. 6,

[0030] Fig. 8 illustrates a general axonometric view of the automatic liquid fuel fireplace according to one of embodiments thereof,

[0031] Fig. 9 illustrates a side view of the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors according to one of embodiments of the fireplace illustrated in Fig. 8,

[0032] Fig. 10 illustrates the section C-C of the Fig. 9,

[0033] Fig. 11 illustrates a top view of the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors according to one of embodiments thereof illustrated in Fig. 8,

[0034] Fig. 12 illustrates the section D-D of the Fig. 11,

[0035] Fig. 13 illustrates a general axonometric view of the automatic liquid fuel fireplace according to another embodiment thereof,

[0036] Fig. 14 illustrates a top view of the fireplace according to one of embodiments thereof illustrated in Fig. 13. The provided examples and figures do not limit other possible embodiments of the invention, rather they merely explain its essence and confirm the possibility of implementation thereof.

[0037] Main designations:

[0038] 1. fireplace housing,

[0039] 2. device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors,

[0040] 3. system for supplying the liquid fuel to the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors,

[0041] 4. electronic control system,

[0042] 5. control unit,

[0043] 6. power supply unit,

[0044] 7. temperature sensor,

[0045] 8. fire sensor,

[0046] 9. device housing,

[0047] 10. burner,

[0048] 11. evaporator,

[0049] 12. fuel vapors ignition tool,

[0050] 13. fuel pipe,

[0051] 14. liquid fuel distributor,

[0052] 15. heat-resistant porous material layer,

[0053] 16. evaporator heating tool,

[0054] 17. side surface of the housing,

[0055] 18. bottom surface of the housing,

[0056] 19. openings of the burner,

[0057] 20. inner volume of the evaporator,

[0058] 21. openings of the liquid fuel distributor,

[0059] 22. pump,

[0060] 23. liquid fuel container, 24. air supply openings,

[0061] 25. fan,

[0062] 26. air supply openings for supplying an air to the fan.

[0063] IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVENTION

[0064] An automatic liquid fuel fireplace comprises a thermally insulated housing of the fireplace (1) having a device (2) for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors arranged therein, a system (3) for supplying the liquid fuel to the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors, hereinafter referred to as the system (3), and an electronic control system (4). The electronic control system (4) may be embodied as a control circuit board that is equipped with at least one processor device (a microcontroller etc.) that is electrically coupled to the control unit (5), a power supply unit (6), as well as sensors for controlling, managing and ensuring a safe operation of the automatic fireplace which comprise at least a temperature sensor (7) and a fire sensor (8).

[0065] The device (2) for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors, hereinafter referred to as the device (2), comprises a device housing (9), a burner (10), an evaporator (11), a fuel vapors ignition tool (12), a fuel pipe (13), a liquid fuel distributor (14), a heat-resistant porous material layer (15), an evaporator heating tool (16). In the embodiment of the device (2) illustrated in Fig. 1-7, the device housing (9) has a volumetric cylindrical shape that is exposed on the top having a side surface (17) and a bottom surface (18). In the embodiments of the device illustrated in Fig. 8-14, the device housing (9) has a volumetric parallelepiped shape having the side surface (17) and the bottom surface (18).

[0066] The burner (10) is a plate with openings (19). The openings (19) are provided at a distance of 5-70 mm between each other and are made with a diameter 1.2-2.5 mm. The openings may be arranged uniformly across an area of the plate of the burner (10) as in the embodiment of the cylindrical housing illustrated in Fig. 1-7 with the circular plate of the burner (10). The embodiment of the device illustrated in Fig. 8-12 is characterized by using the burner (10) having a rectangular plate and random arrangement of the openings (19) across its area. The embodiment of the device illustrated in Fig. 13, 14 is characterized by using the burner (10) having a narrow plate that is extended along a length of the device housing (9) and by arrangement of the openings (19) along the length of this plate in line. This burner (10) may have not only the shape of the linear straight line as illustrated in Fig. 13, 14, but also a linear shape in a form of an arc, a broken line, an enclosed figure etc. Owing to making the burner (10) planar and of a square or circular shape and owing to arrangement of the openings (19) along the entire length thereof, it is allowed to obtain not a linear flame as provided in the prior art fireplaces, but a volumetric flame as provided in a woodfired or gas fireplace that is an additional advantage of the claimed invention.

[0067] The evaporator (11) comprises an enclosed inner volume (20) that is formed by the plate of the burner (10), the side surface (17) and the bottom surface (18) of the device housing (9). The liquid fuel distributor (14) that is coupled to the fuel pipe (13) is arranged in the inner volume (20) of the evaporator (11). The liquid fuel distributor (14) is an elongated hollow body having openings (21) which are provided predominantly in a top portion of the body along its length. According to the embodiment of the device illustrated in Fig. 1-7, the liquid fuel distributor (14) is made as a tube that is bent in a horizontal plane. According to the embodiment of the device illustrated in Fig. 10, the liquid fuel distributor (14) is made as a straight tube. The same shape of the tube of the liquid fuel distributor (14) is also used for the embodiments of the device illustrated in Fig. 13, 14. The diameter of the tube of the liquid fuel distributor (14) is 4-8 mm, and the diameter of the openings (21) is 1-2 mm. The openings (21) may have identical diameter and arranged along the length of the tube of the liquid fuel distributor (14) with a pitch that is decreased from a coupling location between the liquid fuel distributor and the fuel pipe (13) towards an end of the tube of the liquid fuel distributor (14). This embodiment is illustrated in Fig. 7 or Fig. 10. As another embodiment, the openings (21) may be spaced apart with the same pitch. Therewith, the diameter of the openings (21) is increased from the coupling location between the liquid fuel distributor (14) and the fuel pipe (13) towards the end of the tube of the liquid fuel distributor

[0068] The heat-resistant porous material layer (15) is arranged below the liquid fuel distributor (14) on the bottom surface (18) of the device housing (9). The evaporator heating tool (16) is arranged on the outer or inner side of the bottom surface (18) of the device housing (9) in a location area of the tube of the fuel distributor (14) and within the area of the heat-resistant porous material layer (15). As another embodiment, the evaporator heating tool (16) may be arranged below the bottom surface (18) of the device housing (9). A tubular electric heater (TEH) may be used as the evaporator heating tool (16), and its shape is caused by the shape of the device housing (9) and of the heat-resistant porous material layer (15), i.e., if the device housing (9) has the cylindrical shape and the heat-resistant porous material layer (15) has the circular shape, the tubular electric heater may be made in a spiral shape, while if the device housing (9) has the parallelepiped shape and the heat-resistant porous material layer (15) has the rectangular shape, the tubular electric heater may be made in a shape that is elongated along the length of the housing (not illustrated in Fig.).

[0069] The fuel vapors ignition tool (12) is arranged outside the enclosed inner volume (20) of the evaporator (11) in the close proximity to the openings (19) of the burner, preferably, in the area of the plate of the burner (10) or closely above it. An ignition strand or another similar tool, e.g., a piezoelectric element etc., may be used as the fuel vapors ignition tool (12).

[0070] The liquid fuel supply system (3) comprises a pump (22) that is coupled to the liquid fuel distributor (14) by means of the fuel pipe (13) and to the liquid fuel container (23). A peristaltic pump that is configured to provide a dosed supply of the liquid fuel from the liquid fuel container (23) to the fuel distributor (14) via the fuel pipe (13) is used as the pump (22). Air supply openings (24) are provided along the exterior perimeter of and outside the burner (10) as well as along a combustion zone perimeter. The air supply openings (24) are arranged in the same plane with the plate of the burner (10). According to the example that is illustrated in Fig. 1-7, the plate of the burner (10) is made as a ring. In this case, the air supply openings (24) are arranged in an inner circle, thereby restricting said ring of the plate of the burner (10). According to the embodiment of the fireplace illustrated in Fig. 8-12, the plate of the burner (10) is made as rectangular, and in this case, the air supply openings (24) are arranged along the exterior perimeter of the rectangular of the plate of the burner (10) outside it, i.e., along the perimeter of the combustion zone. According to the embodiment of the fireplace illustrated in Fig. 13, 14, the plate of the burner (10) has a linear elongated shape, and in this case, the air supply openings (24) are arranged along this plate outside it, i.e., along the perimeter of the combustion zone. According to the provided exemplary embodiments of the fireplace, the air supply openings (24) may be circular or have another shape, e.g., made as slits, as illustrated in Fig. 14 for the embodiment of the fireplace with the plate of the burner (10) having the linear elongated shape.

[0071] A fan (25) that is spatially coupled to the air supply openings (24) is arranged below the air supply openings (24) outside the enclosed inner volume (20) of the evaporator. The expression “spatially coupled” means that the air from the fan (25) freely comes to the air supply openings (24). In turn, the fireplace housing (1) is provided with air supply openings (26) for supplying the air to the fan.

[0072] The temperature sensor (7) is configured to control the temperature of the evaporator (11) and to transmit a data to the electronic control system (4), in particular, to transmit the data about the temperature of the evaporator (11). The electronic control system (4) is configured to receive the data, in particular, from the fire sensor (8) and the temperature sensor (7), as well as to control, based on the received data, the operation of the pump (16) to supply the liquid fuel to the fuel pipe (5), to turn on and off the fuel vapors ignition tool (4) and the evaporator heating tool (8). In particular, the electronic control system (4) is configured to maintain, based on the data from the temperature sensor (7), the temperature in the inner volume (20) of the evaporator that is not lower than a fuel boiling temperature.

[0073] The device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors operates in the following way.

[0074] The thermally insulated housing (18) of the fireplace may be arranged separately or embedded into a furniture, e.g., a table board or a thermobox. The liquid vegetal fuel, e.g. bioethanol, is supplied by means of the pump (22) from the liquid fuel container (23). A stationary container that is embedded into the fireplace, e.g. a fuel tank, or an external replaceable container, e.g. a canister, may be used as the liquid fuel container (23) in the liquid fuel supply system (3). The fuel is supplied by means of the pipe (22) from the liquid fuel container (23) via the fuel pipe (13) to the liquid fuel distributor (14). Amount and time of supplying a fuel portion are adjusted automatically by means of the electronic control system (4) as well as its control unit (5) and power supply unit (6).

[0075] The fuel from the liquid fuel distributor (14), via the openings (21), comes to the heat-resistant porous material layer (15) and fills it along the entire area. At the same time, the evaporator (11) with the enclosed inner volume (20) and the heat- resistant porous material layer (15) inside the same is heated by means of the evaporator heating tool (16) until the fuel boiling temperature is achieved. After the fuel got on the hot surface, it is converted to a gaseous state. The formed fuel vapors come out from the enclosed inner volume (20) upwards via the openings (19) of the burner outside and are ignited by means of the vapors ignition tool (12) followed by combustion of the fuel vapors and providing the stable burning process above the surface of the burner (10). Then, the evaporator (11) with the enclosed inner volume (14) and the heat-resistant porous material layer (15) inside the same is heated due to the burning process, and evaporator heating tool (16) may be turned off. The fuel supply to the heat-resistant porous material layer (15), the heating of the evaporator (11) and the ignition of the fuel vapors are controlled by the electronic control system (4) based on the data from the fire sensor (8), the temperature sensor (7), as well as a fuel presence or level sensor which may be provided in the liquid fuel supply system (3).

[0076] During operation of the fireplace, the air is sucked by the fan (25) to the cavity of the housing of the fireplace (1) via the air supply openings (26) for supplying the air to the fan. Then, the air is cooled down by the fan (25) and comes out via the air supply openings (24) to the space above the plate of the burner (10), thereby providing a correct circulation of the air in the fuel vapors combustion zone.

[0077] Use of the inventive automatic liquid fuel fireplace ensures evaporation of the liquid fuel, and further combustion of the produced fuel vapors is carried out within the single device, as well as increase of the fireplace operation reliability and safety, and increase of compactness.

Claims

CLAIMS1. An automatic liquid fuel fireplace comprising a fireplace housing (1) having a device (2) for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors arranged therein, a system (3) for supplying the liquid fuel to the device for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors and an electronic control system (4) which comprises a power supply unit (6), a control unit (5), sensors for controlling, managing and ensuring a safe operation of the automatic fireplace, wherein the device (2) for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors comprises a housing (9) having a side surface (17) and a bottom surface (18), a fuel vapors ignition tool (12), a burner (10) in a form of a plate with openings (19), an evaporator (11) and an evaporator heating tool (16), while a liquid fuel distributor (14) and a heat-resistant porous material layer (15) are mounted within an inner volume (20) of the evaporator (11), the inner volume of the evaporator is formed by the plate of the burner (10), the side surface (17) and the bottom surface (18) of the housing (9) of the device (2) for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors, the liquid fuel distributor is made in a form of an elongated hollow body with openings (21) provided primarily in a top portion of the body along its length, the heat-resistant porous material layer is arranged under the liquid fuel distributor (14) on the bottom surface (18) of the housing (9) of the device (2) for liquid fuel evaporation and subsequent combustion of vapors, and the liquid fuel supply system (3) comprises a pump (22) that is coupled to the liquid fuel distributor (14) via a fuel pipe (13) and to a liquid fuel container (23), as well as configured to provide a dosed supply of the liquid fuel from the liquid fuel container (23) to the fuel distributor (14) via the fuel pipe (13), and air supply openings (24) are provided along an exterior perimeter of and outside the burner (10) as well as along a combustion zone perimeter, a fan (25) that is spatially coupled to the air supply openings (24) is arrangedbelow the air supply openings (24) outside an enclosed inner volume (20) of the evaporator (11), and the fireplace housing (1) is provided with air supply openings (26) to supplying an air to the fan (25).

2. The automatic fireplace according to claim 1, wherein the openings (21) of the fuel distributor are made with identical diameter and arranged along a length of the hollow body with a pitch that is decreased from a coupling location between the fuel distributor (14) and the fuel pipe (13) towards an end of the hollow body.

3. The automatic fireplace according to claim 1, wherein the openings (21) of the fuel distributor are spaced apart with identical pitch and their diameters are increased from a coupling location between the fuel distributor (14) and the fuel pipe (13) towards an end of the hollow body.

4. The automatic fireplace according to claim 1, wherein the air supply openings (24) are arranged in the same plane with the burner (10).

5. The automatic fireplace according to claim 1, wherein it comprises a temperature sensor (7) that is configured to transmit a data about a temperature of the evaporator (11) to the control unit (5), the control unit is configured, based on the temperature sensor (7) data, to maintain a temperature within the inner volume (20) of the evaporator (11) that is not lower than a fuel boiling temperature.

6. The automatic fireplace according to claim 1, wherein a peristatic pump is used as the pump (22) of the liquid fuel supply system (3).

7. The automatic fireplace according to claim 1, wherein the fuel vapors ignition tool (12) is arranged outside the enclosed volume (20) of the evaporator (11) in a close proximity to the openings (19) of the burner.

8. The automatic fireplace according to claim 1, wherein it comprises a fire sensor (8).

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