Outdoor Smoker Combustor With Staged Airflow and Surrounding Heat Paths
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing outdoor cooking and smoking systems lack energy efficiency and consistency, with prior art combustors being inefficient and requiring frequent reloading due to excess air flow and uncontrolled heat and smoke production.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus features a housing with specific flow gaps and a fuel burner assembly that directs combustion products through a series of flow paths to enhance convective heat transfer and control, while the combustor design limits excess air flow to maintain a steady burn, allowing extended operation without reloading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional charcoal combustors allow excess air to flow upwardly through the entire charcoal bed, then air flow is simplified, but the entire stack ignites and burns at once causing uncontrolled heat and smoke production
Solution Approach 1:
The combustor divides the charcoal bed into multiple zones with different air flow characteristics. The lower portion receives excess air to promote complete combustion, while the upper portion receives limited air to prevent premature ignition. This segmentation allows controlled heat and smoke production throughout the cooking process.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the charcoal bed are given different air supply qualities. The lower region has high air flow for efficient combustion, while the upper region has restricted air flow to maintain controlled burning. This local differentiation enables reliable heat and smoke control.
2Speed
If the entire charcoal stack is allowed to burn at once, then peak temperature is reached quickly, but the combustor cannot maintain steady heat for extended cooking procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The combustor design pre-establishes a controlled air flow pattern that prevents the entire charcoal stack from igniting simultaneously. By limiting air flow to the lower portion first, the system achieves gradual heating while maintaining steady burn for extended periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The combustor creates a periodic combustion pattern where fuel is consumed from the lower portion first, then progressively from upper portions. This staged consumption maintains steady heat output throughout the cooking procedure.
3Temperature
If fresh charcoal is frequently reloaded to maintain cooking temperature, then continuous heat supply is attempted, but cooking time is lost and operation becomes inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The combustor design enables continuous controlled combustion of the charcoal stack from bottom to top. The staged air flow pattern ensures that as lower charcoal burns down, upper charcoal progressively ignites and maintains heat output, eliminating the need for frequent reloading during cooking.
4Device complexity
If outdoor cooking systems use simple combustion designs, then device complexity is reduced, but energy efficiency and cooking consistency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The combustor uses simple segmented air flow paths with openings at different heights. This segmentation achieves efficient staged combustion without complex mechanical components, maintaining low device complexity while improving energy efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The combustor design uses natural convection and buoyancy to create the staged air flow pattern without external controls. Hot gases rising through the charcoal bed automatically draw in fresh air at the bottom and limit air at the top, achieving efficient combustion self-regulation.
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 solution significantly improves energy efficiency, consistency, and control over cooking and smoking processes, enabling extended operation without fuel reloading and maintaining performance across various food types and sizes.
Implementation Method 1
a fuel burner assembly positioned to deliver a combustion product gas into a lower end portion of the first upwardly extending flow gap
Implementation Method 2
provide a significantly higher convective heat transfer coefficient
Implementation Method 3
the outer wall of the cooking tube is heated by gas or electricity so that the food within the tube is cooked primarily by infrared radiant energy emitted from and reflected by the interior wall of the cooking tube
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for cooking or smoking and a fuel combustor therefor. In the cooking or smoking apparatus and method, combustion products produced by the combustor, by a gas burner, or by other means are preferably delivered upwardly through an upwardly extending inner flow gap which at least partially surrounds a cooking or smoking chamber. The combustion products are preferably then delivered downwardly through the cooking or smoking chamber and then upwardly through an upwardly extending outer flow gap which is outside of the inner flow gap and which also at least partially surrounds the cooking or smoking chamber.