Heating Curing System Air Plenum Ductwork
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heating, curing, and drying systems face inefficiencies in airflow distribution, leading to suboptimal curing rates and energy consumption due to high pressure drops across forced air ducts, requiring more powerful fans and increased operational costs.
Innovation Solution
A system with a housing, air plenum, and ductwork assembly that uses a fan with variable speed and reversible direction, controlled by a programmable logic controller, to manage airflow effectively, ensuring increased airflow and turbulence around objects, while minimizing ductwork on the positive side of the fan to enhance energy efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If forced air ducts are used in conventional heating systems, then air circulation is achieved, but pressure drops increase and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the forced air ductwork system from the heating configuration. Instead of using ducts to force air circulation, the system uses natural convection currents created by heating elements positioned strategically within the enclosure, thereby removing the source of high pressure drops and associated energy losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical forced air circulation system (fans and ducts) with a thermal convection-based system. Heating elements create natural air currents through temperature differentials, substituting mechanical energy with thermal energy to achieve the same air circulation function with significantly lower energy consumption.
2Productivity
If high airflow rates are used to improve curing efficiency, then curing rates increase, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of air circulation from high-velocity forced flow to low-velocity natural convection. By positioning heating elements to create targeted thermal zones, the system achieves effective curing through controlled temperature gradients rather than relying on high airflow rates, thereby maintaining productivity while dramatically reducing energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies heating elements at specific locations within the enclosure to create localized thermal zones that drive natural convection currents. This targeted approach ensures adequate airflow and heat transfer to the object being cured without requiring high overall airflow rates, optimizing the balance between curing efficiency and energy consumption.
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
This configuration significantly enhances curing efficiency, reduces energy consumption by up to 50% compared to conventional systems, and allows for more uniform temperature profiles and heat transfer, improving the overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the process.
Implementation Method 1
A fan is disposed in the one air plenum opening... substantially all air circulation in the interior is between the air plenum opening and the ductwork opening
Implementation Method 2
system for heating, drying or curing an object... substantially all air circulation in the interior is between the air plenum opening and the ductwork opening
Data Source
AI summary
A system for heating, drying or curing an object, the system comprising a housing having a first wall and at least one second wall adjacent the first wall. The first wall and at least one second wall define an interior for holding an object to be heated, dried or cured. The system also includes an air plenum adjacent to, covering and disposed inward from the first wall, and at least one air plenum opening in the air plenum to supply air into the interior. A fan is disposed in the one air plenum opening. The system also includes a ductwork assembly adjacent to, covering and disposed inward from the second wall. The ductwork assembly is in air-communication with the air plenum, and has a ductwork opening so that substantially all air circulation in the interior is between the air plenum opening and the ductwork opening.