Condensate trap for heating-cooling systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing condensate traps in heating-cooling systems face challenges with increased furnace vent lengths, leading to large pressure changes and reduced installation flexibility due to their design features, which can result in malfunction or damage from condensation.
Innovation Solution
A condensation trap design featuring an inlet chamber, vent chamber, and outlet chamber with a larger vent volume than the inlet chamber, facilitating compact size and efficient condensate drainage, along with a manufacturing method using a mold and injection molding process for production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the trap is designed with multiple input connection points and large internal volume, then the trap can handle condensate drainage, but the minimum size of the trap increases which reduces installation flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The trap is divided into three distinct chambers (inlet chamber, vent chamber, outlet chamber) with specific functions. The vent chamber is segmented to include a vent port for pressure equalization and a drain port for condensate removal, allowing each segment to perform its specific function efficiently without requiring overall large volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The vent port and drain port are nested within the vent chamber structure. The vent chamber contains both the vent opening for atmospheric pressure equalization and the drain opening for condensate discharge, creating a compact nested arrangement that reduces overall trap size while maintaining multiple functions.
2Length of moving object
If the furnace vent lengths are increased, then the system can accommodate larger pressure changes, but the trap operates under conditions where atmospheric pressure undergoes large changes causing potential malfunction or damage
Solution Approach 1:
The vent chamber acts as an intermediary between the inlet chamber and outlet chamber, providing pressure equalization through the vent port. This intermediary chamber absorbs pressure fluctuations from long vent runs and prevents them from directly affecting the condensate trap operation, maintaining reliability despite varying vent lengths.
Solution Approach 2:
The trap design changes the pressure parameter management by incorporating a vent port that allows atmospheric pressure equalization. This enables the trap to operate reliably under varying pressure conditions caused by different vent lengths, as the vent chamber equalizes pressure differences between inlet and outlet sides.
3Reliability
If the vent volume portion is made larger than the inlet chamber volume, then the trap maintains prime under varying pressures, but the overall trap size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vent chamber is designed with localized quality features including a vent port for pressure equalization and a drain port for condensate removal. This localized functional differentiation allows the vent chamber to maintain prime under varying pressures without requiring the entire trap to be large, as only the vent chamber needs the specific volume ratio.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent specifies that the vent volume portion (internal space of vent chamber below drain port) should be greater than the total internal space of the inlet chamber, representing a dimensional volume relationship. This dimensional specification ensures prime maintenance capability while the compact chamber arrangement minimizes overall trap footprint.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design allows for effective condensate management without losing prime under varying pressures, enabling a compact and flexible installation in heating-cooling systems, while the manufacturing method provides cost and time savings.
Implementation Method 1
the atmospheric pressure on the trap undergoes large changes when a furnace transitions between a neutral or 'off' state to an operating or 'on' state
Data Source
AI summary
A condensation trap comprising an inlet chamber, a vent chamber and an outlet chamber. The inlet chamber is configured to receive condensate fluid through an external opening therein. The vent chamber is in fluid communication with the inlet chamber via a first passageway that includes an internal opening of the inlet chamber. The internal opening is located substantially at an opposite end of the vent chamber as the external opening. The outlet chamber is in fluid communication with the vent chamber via a second passageway that includes an internal opening in a sidewall of the vent chamber and an interior opening in an end of the outlet chamber. The outlet chamber is configured to transmit the condensate fluid through an exterior opening located at an opposite end of the outlet chamber. A vent volume portion is greater than a total volume of an internal space of the inlet chamber.