Liquid Fuel Burner Feed Assembly for Safe Live Refueling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current liquid fuel burners for indoor and outdoor fire displays pose safety hazards due to the need to extinguish the flame and wait for cooling before refueling, risk of fuel spills, and incomplete combustion leading to hazardous vapor release and aesthetic issues with invisible flames.
Innovation Solution
A fuel tray and feed arrangement with a non-flammable structure, such as artificial logs, allows continuous fuel replenishment without spills or vapor release, ensuring complete combustion and maintaining an aesthetically optimal fuel level by using a sealed bottle system with a piercing mechanism for controlled fuel delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the flame is extinguished and the burner is allowed to cool down before refueling, then safety is improved by preventing vapor ignition, but productivity deteriorates due to waiting time and interruption of continuous operation
Solution Approach 1:
The burner system is divided into separate functional zones: a fuel storage reservoir isolated from the combustion chamber, with fuel delivery through controlled pathways. This segmentation allows fuel replenishment in one zone without affecting the combustion process in another zone, enabling continuous operation while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
A non-flammable intermediary structure (such as an artificial log or heat-resistant barrier) is introduced between the fuel source and the combustion zone. This intermediary allows fuel to be delivered and stored near the burner without creating direct ignition hazards, enabling safe continuous refueling operations.
2Ease of operation
If manual pouring of fuel is used to refill the burner, then ease of operation is improved by simplicity, but object-affected harmful factors worsen due to risk of fuel spills and unintended combustion
Solution Approach 1:
The manual pouring operation is replaced with an automated fuel delivery system using pumps, hoses, or capillary wicking mechanisms. This substitution eliminates the manual handling step that causes spills, while maintaining ease of operation through automated or passive fuel transfer from the reservoir to the burner.
Solution Approach 2:
The fuel delivery system is designed to automatically replenish the burner from the reservoir without user intervention. The system self-regulates fuel flow through pressure differentials, capillary action, or automated pumping, eliminating the need for manual pouring and associated spill hazards.
3Ease of operation
If the fuel level in the burner is allowed to vary freely, then ease of operation is improved by no level control requirements, but object-generated harmful factors worsen due to incomplete combustion and vapor release
Solution Approach 1:
A fuel level sensing mechanism provides feedback to the control system, which automatically regulates fuel delivery from the reservoir to maintain the optimal level in the burner. This feedback loop ensures complete combustion by preventing both fuel deficiency and overfilling, while requiring no manual level checking or adjustment from the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The fuel delivery system automatically self-regulates to maintain optimal fuel levels in the burner through pressure-balanced designs, float mechanisms, or capillary wicking that naturally limit fuel flow when the burner reaches its optimal level. This self-regulating system eliminates the need for user intervention while preventing incomplete combustion.
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
Enables safe and continuous operation of liquid fuel burners without hazards, ensuring complete combustion and maintaining a visually appealing flame, reducing the risk of accidents and improving user safety and aesthetics.
Implementation Method 1
a wick or other fuel feed arrangement in communication with the burner and designed to deliver liquid fuel from the bottle to the burner
Implementation Method 2
it is the vapors off the fuel and not the liquid fuel itself that is burning
Implementation Method 3
the vapors off the fuel and not the liquid fuel itself that is burning
Data Source
AI summary
A fire display assembly has a burner tray optionally located within a hollow space in the interior of a non-flammable structure. A porous element on or in the non-flammable structure has extensions from a lower surface thereof extending into fuel in the burner tray. The assembly can include a fuel tray connected to the burner tray by conduits which provide flow channels for liquid fuel between the trays. When a container of liquid fuel is placed in the fuel tray the fuel is dispensed and flows into the burner tray. Fuel in the tray is transmitted to the outer surface of the porous element. Flammable vapors from the liquid fuel at the outer surface are then ignited. The arrangement provides a continuous feed of fuel to the surface of the non-flammable structure and allows safe replenishment of the fuel in the burner while the flame is present.