Segmented Charcoal Briquette for Rapid Ignition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Charcoal briquettes are difficult to ignite and take a long time to reach a suitable temperature for grilling due to their uniform and dense nature, and existing solutions like layered briquettes or coatings with ignition agents increase costs or produce excessive smoke.
Innovation Solution
A combustible briquette comprising multiple lumps of combustible material, at least 4 mm in size, embedded in a mixture of charcoal and an ignition agent, ensuring easy ignition and reduced costs while maintaining a consistent grilling temperature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If charcoal briquettes are made uniform and dense to be energy dense and burn in a controlled manner, then they produce very little smoke and burn for a long time, but it becomes difficult to ignite them and they take a long time to reach suitable temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The briquette is segmented into multiple functional zones: an outer coating layer containing ignition agents and accelerants, and an inner core layer containing the dense charcoal material. This segmentation allows the outer layer to ignite easily and rapidly, while the inner core maintains controlled burning characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the briquette have different compositions and properties. The outer coating has high ignition ease with accelerants and binders, while the inner core has high energy density with charcoal. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction between easy ignition and controlled long-term burning.
2Loss of time
If ignition agents are added to charcoal briquettes to reduce ignition time and increase burning temperature, then the time to reach grilling temperature is severely reduced, but the cost of the briquette increases and smoke production increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of mixing ignition agents uniformly throughout the entire briquette, the invention applies ignition agents only partially - specifically in the outer coating layer. This partial application reduces the total amount of expensive ignition agents needed while still achieving rapid ignition and temperature buildup.
Solution Approach 2:
The outer coating layer acts as a consumable component that burns quickly and completely during the initial ignition phase. This disposable layer contains the ignition agents and accelerants, sacrificing a small portion of the briquette to achieve rapid heating, while the main charcoal core provides sustained burning.
3Speed
If ignition agents are added to charcoal briquettes to reduce ignition time, then quick ignition is achieved, but the briquette becomes more expensive and produces more smoke
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces accelerants as intermediary substances in the outer coating layer that facilitate rapid ignition with minimal smoke. These accelerants act as mediators between the ignition source and the charcoal core, enabling fast ignition while the charcoal itself burns cleanly with minimal smoke production.
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 solution allows for quick and uniform ignition, reducing the time to reach a suitable grilling temperature and maintaining it throughout, while keeping costs comparable to traditional charcoal briquettes and minimizing smoke production.
Implementation Method 1
The lower ignition layer comprises an oxidizing material that will enable easy and fast ignition of the ignition layer which in turn will ignite the combustible layer
Implementation Method 2
it will take a relatively long time before charcoal briquettes has reached a temperature suitable for grilling
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed is a combustible briquette (1) comprising one or more lumps (2) primarily made of a combustible material (7), wherein the one or more lumps (2) have an extent (E) of minimum 4 mm. The one or more lumps (2) are embedded in an embedding material (3) and the embedding material (3) comprises charcoal (4) and an ignition agent (5). A method for manufacturing a combustible briquette (1) and use of a combustible briquette (1) is also disclosed.