Self-Cleaning Burner Ignition Cycle Resolves Residue Buildup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Burners in heating appliances suffer from residue buildup on surfaces due to unfiltered air passing through, leading to reduced efficiency and increased energy costs, as they often require manual cleaning, disrupting operations.
Innovation Solution
A self-cleaning burner system that uses a small amount of fuel ignited near the proximal end to burn and clean the inside of the burner, with a controlled flame that extinguishes and allows the burner to cool, incorporating a controller and temperature sensing elements for automated operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If unfiltered air is used for combustion, then the burner operates continuously without filtration, but residue and contaminants accumulate on burner surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful effect of hot combustion gases into a beneficial cleaning mechanism. The hot gases generated during normal combustion are directed back through the burner body, using the existing heat to incinerate and remove accumulated residue and contaminants from the burner surfaces, thus converting a waste product into a useful cleaning function.
Solution Approach 2:
The burner system performs self-cleaning automatically during normal operation without external intervention. The combustion process itself generates the hot gases that clean the burner, creating a self-sustaining system where the burner cleans itself continuously while operating, eliminating the need for manual cleaning or additional energy input.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If manual cleaning is performed, then residue buildup is removed, but heating operations must be stopped
Solution Approach 1:
The patent ensures continuous operation by making the cleaning action occur simultaneously with the heating operation. The hot combustion gases continuously flow through the burner during normal heating, maintaining clean surfaces without interruption. This eliminates downtime associated with manual cleaning while sustaining both heating and cleaning functions concurrently.
3Ease of operation
If burner surfaces are dirty, then cleaning is needed, but heat transfer efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful residue accumulation into a beneficial self-cleaning process. The hot combustion gases, which would normally just waste energy, are utilized to incinerate and remove contaminants from the burner surfaces, maintaining high heat transfer efficiency while eliminating the need for external cleaning interventions.
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 system maintains high efficiency by regularly cleaning the burners, reducing energy costs and eliminating the need for manual cleaning, ensuring continuous operation with improved heat transfer and reduced residue buildup.
Implementation Method 1
igniting the fuel using an ignition source, controlling burning of the fuel to clean an inside of the at least one burner
Data Source
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AI summary
A self-cleaning burner system incorporates an automatic clean cycle when the burner is started up. Cycles may be programmed for once-a-day cleaning cycle or for other desired interval. On start-up, the cycle routes a small amount of fuel to the burner for ignition inside the burner to clean the burner surfaces. The system incorporates an igniter for fast, routine, and safe ignition of the fuel. Thus, small amounts of debris that accumulate on a surface burner are automatically ignited when the burner is started, keeping the burner clean and operating at a high state of efficiency at all times. The self-cleaning burner system may be incorporated into a fryer or other heating appliance for reliable, efficient operation.