Cooking system with burner assembly and heat exchanger
View Patent ↗Systems and methods are disclosed that include providing a cooking system that comprises a burner assembly and a heat exchanger submerged in a vessel. The burner assembly includes a high velocity burner and a low velocity burner, the high velocity burner configured to provide the necessary high velocity, volumetric flowrate through a fluid duct of the heat exchanger that includes a plurality of compactly-arranged, alternatingly-disposed vertical and horizontal tubes passing through the fluid duct, and the low velocity burner configured to significantly reduce and/or substantially eliminate “lift off” that could result from operation of only the high velocity burner. The heat exchanger is submerged in the vessel with the tubes of the heat exchanger open to the vessel to allow ingress and egress of a fluid contained within the vessel.
1 . A cooking system, comprising:
a burner assembly;
a cooking vessel; and
a heat exchanger comprising:
a top wall, a bottom wall, a right side wall, and a left side wall, the top, bottom, right side, and left side walls defining a duct, the duct configured to receive combusted fuel and/or combusted air/fuel mixture from the burner assembly,
a first fluid circuit fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, the first fluid circuit including:
top headers positioned on a top side of the duct,
bottom headers positioned on a bottom side of the duct,
upward tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the top and bottom walls to the bottom headers and the top headers, wherein the upward tubes are downstream from the bottom headers, wherein the upward tubes are positioned within the duct, and
downward tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the top and bottom walls to the top headers and the bottom headers, wherein the downward tubes are downstream from the top headers, wherein the downward tubes are positioned within the duct, and
a second fluid circuit fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, the second fluid circuit including:
left headers positioned on a left side of the duct,
right headers positioned on a right side of the duct,
rightward tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the right side and left side walls to the left headers and the right headers, wherein the rightward tubes are downstream from the left headers, and
leftward tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the right side and left side walls to the right headers and the left headers, wherein the leftward tubes are downstream from the right headers, and
wherein a first top header of the top headers includes a first end and a second end, wherein the first top header is attached at the first end to the top wall directly above a first position of a first plurality of leftward or rightward tubes in the duct, wherein the first top header is further attached at the second end to the top wall directly above a second position of a second plurality of leftward or rightward tubes in the duct, wherein a first and a second plurality of upward or downward tubes are positioned in the duct between the first plurality and second plurality of leftward or rightward tubes, and wherein a third plurality of leftward or rightward tubes is located between the first and the second plurality of upward or downward tubes.
2 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the first fluid circuit further comprises a first inlet fluidly coupled to a top header, wherein the first inlet is fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, wherein the cooking vessel contains a cooking fluid.
3 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the first fluid circuit further comprises a first inlet fluidly coupled to a bottom header, wherein the first inlet is fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, wherein the cooking vessel contains a cooking fluid.
4 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the first fluid circuit further comprises a first outlet fluidly coupled to a top header, wherein the first outlet is fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, wherein the cooking vessel contains a cooking fluid.
5 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the first fluid circuit further comprises a first outlet fluidly coupled to a bottom header, wherein the first outlet is fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, wherein the cooking vessel contains a cooking fluid.
6 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the second fluid circuit further comprises a second inlet fluidly coupled to a left header, wherein the second inlet is fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, wherein the cooking vessel contains a cooking fluid.
7 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the second fluid circuit further comprises a second inlet fluidly coupled to a right header, wherein the second inlet is fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, wherein the cooking vessel contains a cooking fluid.
8 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the second fluid circuit further comprises a second outlet fluidly coupled to a left header, wherein the second outlet is fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, wherein the cooking vessel contains a cooking fluid.
9 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the second fluid circuit further comprises a second outlet fluidly coupled to a right header, wherein the second outlet is fluidly coupled to the cooking vessel, wherein the cooking vessel contains a cooking fluid.
10 . A heat exchanger, comprising:
a top wall, a bottom wall, a right side wall, and a left side wall, the top, bottom, right side, and left side walls defining a duct, the duct configured to receive combusted fuel and/or combusted air/fuel mixture;
a first fluid circuit fluidly coupled to a vessel, the first fluid circuit including:
top headers positioned on a top side of the duct,
bottom headers positioned on a bottom side of the duct, first tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the top and bottom walls to the bottom headers and the top headers; and
a second fluid circuit fluidly coupled to the vessel, the second fluid circuit including:
left headers positioned on a left side of the duct,
right headers positioned on a right side of the duct, and
second tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the right side and left side walls to the left headers and the right headers,
wherein the first and second tubes are positioned within the duct,
wherein at least some of the second tubes are located between a first plurality of the first tubes and a second plurality of the first tubes,
wherein the second plurality of first tubes is located between a first plurality of the second tubes and a second plurality of the second tubes, and
wherein a first top header of the top headers includes a first end and a second end, wherein the first top header is attached at the first end to the top wall directly above a first position of the first plurality of second tubes in the duct, wherein the first top header is further attached at the second end to the top wall directly above a second position of the second plurality of second tubes in the duct, wherein the first and the second plurality of first tubes are positioned in the duct between the first plurality and the second plurality of second tubes, and wherein a third plurality of second tubes is located between the first and the second plurality of first tubes.
11 . The heat exchanger of claim 10 , wherein the top headers are positioned longitudinally along the top side of the duct and the bottom headers are positioned longitudinally along the bottom side of the duct such that the position of the top headers along the top side of the duct is staggered relative to the position of the bottom headers along the bottom side of the duct, and wherein the staggered relationship of the top and bottom headers is such that at least one of the top headers overlaps positionally on the top side of the duct relative to the position of at least one of the bottom headers on the bottom side of the duct.
12 . The heat exchanger of claim 10 , further comprising one or more burners in fluid communication with the duct.
13 . The heat exchanger of claim 12 , wherein at least one top header defines a housing enclosing a fluid passageway extending between the first end and second end of the at least one top header to promote fluid communication between the first plurality of first tubes and the second plurality of first tubes.
14 . The heat exchanger of claim 10 , wherein a first bottom header is oppositely disposed on the bottom side relative to a top header disposed on the top side.
15 . A heat exchanger comprising:
a top wall, a bottom wall, a right side wall, and a left side wall, the top, bottom, right side, and left side walls defining a duct,
a first fluid circuit fluidly coupled to a vessel, the first fluid circuit including:
top headers positioned on a top side of the duct,
bottom headers positioned on a bottom side of the duct,
upward tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the top and bottom walls to the bottom headers and the top headers, wherein the upward tubes are downstream from the bottom headers, and wherein the upward tubes are positioned within the duct, and
downward tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the top and bottom walls to the top headers and the bottom headers, wherein the downward tubes are downstream from the top headers, and wherein the downward tubes are positioned within the duct; and
a second fluid circuit fluidly coupled to the vessel, the second fluid circuit including:
left headers positioned on a left side of the duct,
right headers positioned on a right side of the duct,
rightward tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the right side and left side walls to the left headers and the right headers, wherein the rightward tubes are downstream from the left headers, and
leftward tubes fluidly coupled to and extending through the right side and left side walls to the right headers and the left headers, wherein the leftward tubes are downstream from the right headers, and
wherein a first top header of the top headers includes a first end and a second end, wherein the first top header is attached at the first end to the top wall directly above a first position of a first plurality of leftward or rightward tubes in the duct, wherein the first top header is further attached at the second end to the top wall directly above a second position of a second plurality of leftward or rightward tubes in the duct, wherein a first and a second plurality of upward or downward tubes are positioned in the duct between the first plurality and second plurality of leftward or rightward tubes, and wherein a third plurality of leftward or rightward tubes is located between the first and the second plurality of upward or downward tubes.
16 . The heat exchanger of claim 15 , wherein the first fluid circuit and the second fluid circuit are fluidly coupled to the vessel via one or more headers.
17 . The heat exchanger of claim 16 , wherein the first and second fluid circuits comprise a first fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet, the first fluid inlet and outlet in fluid communication with the one or more headers.
18 . The heat exchanger of claim 15 , wherein the top headers are positioned longitudinally along the top side of the duct and the bottom headers are positioned longitudinally along the bottom side of the duct such that the position of the top headers along the top side of the duct is staggered relative to the position of the bottom headers along the bottom side of the duct, and wherein the staggered relationship of the top and bottom headers is such that at least one of the top headers overlaps positionally on the top side of the duct relative to the position of at least one of the bottom headers on the bottom side of the duct.
19 . The heat exchanger of claim 15 , wherein the top headers are positioned longitudinally along the top side of the duct and the bottom headers are positioned longitudinally along the bottom side of the duct such that the position of the top headers along the top side of the duct is staggered relative to the position of the bottom headers along the bottom side of the duct, and wherein the left headers are positioned longitudinally along the left side of the duct and the right headers are positioned longitudinally along the right side of the duct such that the position of the left headers along the left side of the duct is staggered relative to the position of the right headers along the right side of the duct.