US4553988A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
High-temperature furnace having selectively permeable membranes for oxygen enrichment
Assignee: Osaka Gas Co Ltd
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Filing: 1982-11-22
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Granted: 1985-11-19
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Expires: 2002-11-22
Abstract
Abstract A high-temperature furnace comprising a gas burner (2) for burning a mixture of air and fuel in a combustion chamber (1), and an oxygen enricher (4). The enricher comprises a plurality of cells (13a) each comprising a pair of spaced apart oxygen permeable membranes (14), and a suction fan (12) for drawing air through the spaces between the cells (13a). The cells (13a) are coupled by a manifold (13b) to a vacuum pump (18) which causes the oxygen molecules of the air to pass through the membranes to increase the oxygen content of the air in the cells (13a), the oxygen-enriched air being drawn by the suction pump (18) to the burner (2). Preferably, a heat exchanger (31) is provided for transferring thermal energy of the emissions from the combustion chamber (1) to the air drawn by the suction fan (12) to maintain the oxygen concentration constant for a given operating condition of the combustion chamber.
Inventors
- 👤 Shoji Shimizu
- 👤 Shirow Asakawa
- 👤 Yukihiro Saito
- 👤 Yoshimasa Ito
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 10:48
CPC Classifications
F; F27; F27D; F27D99/00; F27D99/0001; B; B01; B01D; B01D53/00; B01D53/22; F23; F23D; F23D14/00; F23D14/32; F23L; F23L15/00; F23L15/04; F23L7/00; F23L7/007; F27B; F27B17/00; F27B17/0016; F27B17/0083; F27D2099/0061; Y; Y02; Y02E; Y02E20/00; Y02E20/34
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
181 words
A high-temperature furnace comprising: a combustion chamber having a burner for burning a mixture of air and fuel therein and an exhaust outlet for exhausting emissions therefrom to the outside; a plurality of longitudinally extending, transversely spaced cells to form air passageways therebetween, each of said cells comprising a pair of transversely spaced-apart oxygen permeable membranes for selectively passing oxygen molecules from air in said air passageways to said cells so that the gaseous mixture in said cells is oxygen-enriched air, said air passageways having upstream ends and downstream ends; conduit means connected from downstream ends of said cells to said burner; first means for forcibly generating airstreams in said air passageways in a direction from said upstream ends to said downstream ends; second means in said conduit means for generating a negative pressure in said cells with respect to said air passageways to cause said oxygen-enriched air to flow forcibly to said burner; and pressure increasing means connected in said conduit means between said second means and said burner for increasing the pressure of oxygen-enriched air delivered to said burner.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
181 words
A high-temperature furnace comprising: a combustion chamber having a burner for burning a mixture of air and fuel therein and an exhaust outlet for exhausting emissions therefrom to the outside; a plurality of longitudinally extending, transversely spaced cells to form air passageways therebetween, each of said cells comprising a pair of transversely spaced-apart oxygen permeable membranes for selectively passing oxygen molecules from air in said air passageways to said cells so that the gaseous mixture in said cells is oxygen-enriched air, said air passageways having upstream ends and downstream ends; conduit means connected from downstream ends of said cells to said burner; first means for forcibly generating airstreams in said air passageways in a direction from said upstream ends to said downstream ends; second means in said conduit means for generating a negative pressure in said cells with respect to said air passageways to cause said oxygen-enriched air to flow forcibly to said burner; and pressure increasing means connected in said conduit means between said second means and said burner for increasing the pressure of oxygen-enriched air delivered to said burner.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
48 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a fuel source connected to said conduit means at a point between said pressure increasing means and said burner and pressure regulating means connected between said fuel source and said point for supplying pressure-regulated fuel to said burner.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
A high temperature furnace as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: heat exchanging means located at a point upstream of said air passageways for transferring thermal energy from said emissions to the air in said air passageways.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 3, wherein the air in said air passageways is heated by said heat exchanging means to a temperature equal to or higher than 30° C.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a pump for forcing said emissions to said heat exchanging means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
115 words
A high temperature furnace as claimed in claim 3, wherein said heat exchanging means comprises a first heat exchanger located at a point upstream of said air passageways, a second heat exchanger connected between said first heat exchanger and the exhaust outlet of the combustion chamber by conduit means, and liquid thermal transferring medium circulating through said first and second heat exchangers, said second heat exchanger transferring thermal energy from said emissions to said liquid medium to increase the temperature of said medium flowing in a direction from said second heat exchanger to said first heat exchanger, said first heat exchanger transferring thermal energy from said liquid medium to the air in said air passageways.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
75 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: first heat exchanging means located at a point upstream of said air passageways for transferring thermal energy from said emissions to said air in said air passageways; and second heat exchanging means connected in said conduit means between said pressure increasing means and said burner for transferring thermal energy from the emissions to said oxygenenriched air at a point downstream of said pressure increasing means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
25 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 7, wherein said first means comprises a suction fan located at a point downstream of said air passageways.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
16 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 7, wherein said second means comprises a vacuum pump.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
13 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 7, wherein said membrane comprises polydimethylsiloxane.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
48 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a fuel source connected to said conduit means at a point between said pressure increasing means and said burner and pressure regulating means connected between said fuel source and said point for supplying pressure-regulated fuel to said burner.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
62 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 7, further comprising first air-pressure regulating means connected to said conduit means at a point downstream of said second means for discharging pressure-regulated air to the outside, and second air-pressure regulating means connected to said conduit means at a point downstream of said first air-pressure regulating means for introducing outside air to said conduit means.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
51 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a first regulator connected in said conduit means for discharging a part of air delivered from said second means, and a second regulator connected downstream of said first regulator for introducing outside air to said air delivered from said second means.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
207 words
A high-temperature furnace comprising: a combustion chamber having a burner for burning a mixture of air and fuel therein and an exhaust outlet for exhausting emissions therefrom to the outside; a plurality of longitudinally extending, transversely spaced cells to form air passageways therebetween, each of said cells comprising a pair of transversely spaced-apart oxygen permeable membranes for selectively passing oxygen molecules from air in said air passageways to said cells so that the gaseous mixture in said cells is oxygen-enriched air, said air passageways having upstream ends and downstream ends; conduit means connected from downstream ends of said cells to said burner; first means for forcibly generating airstreams in said air passageways in a direction from said upstream ends to said downstream ends; second means in said conduit means for generating a negative pressure in said cells with respect to said air passageways to cause said oxygen-enriched air to flow forcibly to said burner; and first air-pressure regulating means connected to said conduit means at a point downstream of said second means for discharging pressure-regulated air to the outside, and second air-pressure regulating means connected to said conduit means at a point downstream of said first air-pressure regulating means for introducing outside air to said conduit means.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
207 words
A high-temperature furnace comprising: a combustion chamber having a burner for burning a mixture of air and fuel therein and an exhaust outlet for exhausting emissions therefrom to the outside; a plurality of longitudinally extending, transversely spaced cells to form air passageways therebetween, each of said cells comprising a pair of transversely spaced-apart oxygen permeable membranes for selectively passing oxygen molecules from air in said air passageways to said cells so that the gaseous mixture in said cells is oxygen-enriched air, said air passageways having upstream ends and downstream ends; conduit means connected from downstream ends of said cells to said burner; first means for forcibly generating airstreams in said air passageways in a direction from said upstream ends to said downstream ends; second means in said conduit means for generating a negative pressure in said cells with respect to said air passageways to cause said oxygen-enriched air to flow forcibly to said burner; and first air-pressure regulating means connected to said conduit means at a point downstream of said second means for discharging pressure-regulated air to the outside, and second air-pressure regulating means connected to said conduit means at a point downstream of said first air-pressure regulating means for introducing outside air to said conduit means.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
48 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 14, further comprising a fuel source connected to said conduit means at a point between said pressure increasing means and said burner and pressure regulating means connected between said fuel source and said point for supplying pressure-regulated fuel to said burner.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
37 words
A high temperature furnace as claimed in claim 14, further comprising: heat exchanging means located at a point upstream of said air passageways for transferring thermal energy from said emissions to the air in said air passageways.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
75 words
A high-temperature furnace as claimed in claim 14, further comprising: first heat exchanging means located at a point upstream of said air passageways for transferring thermal energy from said emissions to said air in said air passageways; and second heat exchanging means connected in said conduit means between said pressure increasing means and said burner for transferring thermal energy from the emissions to said oxygen-enriched air at a point downstream of said pressure increasing means.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1988-11-18 | 1989-05-20 | 1989-11-19 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1992-11-18 | 1993-05-20 | 1993-11-19 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1996-11-18 | 1997-05-20 | 1997-11-19 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |