Patent Grant
9869516
The present invention relates to a continuous heating furnace configured to heat sequentially conveyed burning targets.
In the related art, a continuous heating furnace including a plurality of gas heaters used to heat a radiator with combustion heat generated by combusting a fuel gas and heating an industrial material, food, or the like, with radiant heat from a radiation surface of the radiator has been widely distributed.
The continuous heating furnace drives a conveyance body such as an endless belt or the like and burns a burning target while conveying the burning target in a heating space in a furnace main body. A portion of the conveyance body is cooled at the outside of the furnace main body (a heating space), and heat in the heating space is radiated to repeat a cycle of absorbing heat in the furnace main body. This causes a decrease in thermal efficiency of the continuous heating furnace. Here, a configuration of the heating furnace in which a conveyance portion of a conveyance body conveyed from a downstream side to an upstream side in a conveyance direction is surrounded by a thermal insulation wall, air in the heating space flows into a space surrounded by the thermal insulation wall, and a decrease in temperature of the conveyance body of the conveyance portion is suppressed to improve thermal efficiency is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-116463
The conveyance body is supported by a roller. Heat of a portion of the roller in the vicinity of the gas heater is transferred to a portion spaced apart from the gas heater. For this reason, a temperature of the roller in the vicinity of the burning target is decreased, and thermal efficiency is lowered. In addition, in particular, in a burning target in which bending should be suppressed (for example, a rice cracker or the like), since upper and lower sides of the burning target are surrounded by a net and the outside thereof is sandwiched and pressed by the rollers, the number of rollers is increased. For this reason, the thermal efficiency is further reduced.
In consideration of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to provide a continuous heating furnace capable of suppressing a decrease in temperature of a roller that supports a conveyance body and improving thermal efficiency.
A continuous heating furnace according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a conveyance body stretched in an endless shape and configured to convey a burning target; and a furnace main body partially or entirely surrounding the conveyance body to form a burning space. In addition, the continuous heating furnace includes a roller configured to support a portion of the conveyance body in the furnace main body; one or more closed gas heaters having an introduction hole configured to introduce a fuel gas into a heater main body, a combustion chamber in which the fuel gas introduced from the introduction hole is combusted, a discharge section to which an exhaust gas generated by combustion in the combustion chamber is guided, a radiation surface heated by the exhaust gas flowing through the discharge section or combustion in the combustion chamber and configured to transfer radiant heat to the burning target, and an exhaust hole configured to exhaust the exhaust gas that heats the radiation surface to the outside of the heater main body, and disposed in the furnace main body; and an exhaust pipe in communication with the exhaust hole of the closed gas heater and through which the exhaust gas is guided. Further, the exhaust pipe is configured to enable heat exchange between the exhaust gas flowing through the exhaust pipe and the roller.
In the continuous heating furnace according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the roller is hollow, and the exhaust gas flowing through the exhaust pipe is guided to the roller.
In the continuous heating furnace according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the exhaust pipe is configured to enable heat exchange with a portion of the roller protruding in a direction perpendicular to a conveyance direction of the burning target rather than with the conveyance body.
According to the present invention, a decrease in temperature of the roller that supports the conveyance body can be suppressed, and thermal efficiency can be improved.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dimensions, materials, other specific numerical values, or the like, specified in the embodiments are merely exemplary examples for the convenience of understanding of the present invention and not limiting to the present invention unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In addition, in the embodiments, elements having substantially the same functions and configurations are designated by the same reference numerals and overlapping descriptions will not be repeated.
A continuous heating furnace of a first embodiment includes a plurality of closed gas heater systems installed in the furnace. First, the closed gas heater system will be described, and then a configuration of the continuous heating furnace will be described.
As shown in
The disposition plate 120 is a thin plate-shaped member formed of a material having a thermal resistance and oxidation resistance, for example, stainless steel (SUS: stainless used steel) or the like.
The outer circumferential wall 122 is constituted by thin plate-shaped members having an outer circumferential surface, which is flush with an outer circumferential surface of the disposition plate 120, and stacked on the disposition plate 120. The outer circumferential wall 122 includes an inner circumference having a track shape (a shape constituted by two substantially parallel lines and two arcs (semi circles) connecting the two lines), and two through-holes 122a passing therethrough in a thickness direction (a stacking direction of the outer circumferential wall 122 and the disposition plate 120).
Like the disposition plate 120, the partition plate 124 is formed of a material having high thermal resistance and oxidation resistance (for example, stainless steel), a material having high thermal conductivity (for example, brass), or the like. The partition plate 124 is constituted by a thin plate member, an exterior of which follows an inner circumferential surface of the through-hole 122a of the outer circumferential wall 122, that is disposed inside the outer circumferential wall 122 and parallel to the disposition plate 120. In addition, the outer circumferential surface of the partition plate 124 is spaced a certain interval from the inner circumferential surface of the through-hole 122a in a state in which the partition plate 124 is accommodated in the through-hole 122a of the outer circumferential wall 122.
Like the disposition plate 120, the heating plate 126 is constituted by a thin plate-shaped member formed of a material having high thermal resistance and oxidation resistance (for example, stainless steel), a material having high thermal conductivity (for example, brass), or the like. A concavo-convex section 126a in which concave and convex portions are formed is formed in the heating plate 126. According to the above-mentioned configuration, a difference in variation amount of thermal expansion is absorbed at the concavo-convex section 126a by a temperature difference between the heating plate 126 and the disposition plate 120 and a difference in materials of the heating plate 126 and the disposition plate 120, and stress generated from a coupling portion or the like to the outer circumferential wall 122 is reduced. For this reason, as heating and cooling are repeated, thermal fatigue and high temperature creep can be suppressed. In addition, an area of a radiation surface (to be described below) of the heating plate 126 is increased. For this reason, radiant intensity can also be increased.
In addition, the disposition plate 120, the partition plate 124 and the heating plate 126 may be inclined to be opposite to each other when a void is formed therebetween. Further, thicknesses of the disposition plate 120, the partition plate 124 and the heating plate 126 are not limited, and the disposition plate 120 and the partition plate 124 may also have shapes with varying thicknesses.
The heating plate 126 has an appearance such that the outer circumferential surface is flush with outer circumferential surfaces of the disposition plate 120 and the outer circumferential wall 122, and is stacked on the outer circumferential wall 122 and the partition plate 124. Here, the heating plate 126 and the disposition plate 120 are disposed substantially in parallel (substantially in parallel to cause excessive enthalpy combustion in the embodiment).
A main body container of the closed gas heater system 100 is configured by closing upper and lower sides of the outer circumferential wall 122 with the heating plate 126 and the disposition plate 120. In addition, an area of upper and lower wall surfaces (outer surfaces of the heating plate 126 and the disposition plate 120) is larger than that of an outer circumferential surface (an outer surface of the outer circumferential wall 122). That is, the upper and lower wall surfaces occupy most of the outer surface of the main body container.
In addition, the closed gas heater system 100 is configured by connecting the two closed gas heaters 110 in parallel. A fire shift section 128 in communication with a closed space in the connected closed gas heaters 110 is formed at the connecting portion between the closed gas heaters 110. However, even when the closed space is used in a gas, the closed space may not be perfectly closed. In the closed gas heater system 100 of the embodiment, for example, a flame is spread to the closed gas heaters 110 connected through the fire shift section 128 to perform ignition by one ignition by an ignition apparatus such as an ignitor (not shown) or the like. As described above, while the two closed gas heaters 110 are installed at the closed gas heater system 100, the two closed gas heaters 110 also have the same configuration. For this reason, hereinafter, one of the closed gas heaters 110 will be described.
An introduction section 134 and a discharge section 138 are formed to overlap in the main body container in the thickness direction (a direction perpendicular to an opposite surface of the disposition plate 120 and the heating plate 126).
The introduction section 134, which is a space sandwiched between the disposition plate 120 and the partition plate 124, is disposed to continue from a combustion chamber 136, and radially guides the fuel gas introduced from the introduction hole 132 into the combustion chamber 136.
The combustion chamber 136 is disposed in a space surrounded by the outer circumferential wall 122, the heating plate 126 and the disposition plate 120. In addition, the combustion chamber 136 faces an outer circumferential end section of the partition plate 124 and is formed along the outer circumferential wall 122. In the combustion chamber 136, the fuel gas introduced from the introduction hole 132 via the introduction section 134 is combusted. According to the configuration in which the combustion chamber 136 is formed along the outer circumferential wall 122, a volume of the combustion chamber 136 can be sufficiently secured and a combustion rate can be reduced in comparison with a Swiss roll type. A firing apparatus (not shown) is installed at an arbitrary position of the combustion chamber 136.
The discharge section 138, which is a space sandwiched between the heating plate 126 and the partition plate 124, is disposed to continue from the combustion chamber 136, and collects the exhaust gas generated by combustion in the combustion chamber 136 to a central section of the closed gas heater 110.
In addition, the introduction section 134 and the discharge section 138 are formed in the main body container to overlap in the thickness direction. Accordingly, heat of the exhaust gas can be transferred to the fuel gas through the partition plate 124 and the fuel gas can be preheated.
A radiation surface 140, which is an outer surface of the heating plate 126, is heated by the exhaust gas passing through the discharge section 138 or combustion in the combustion chamber 136 and transfers the radiant heat to the burning target.
An exhaust hole 142 passing through the central section of the closed gas heater 110 in the thickness direction is formed in the partition plate 124. A second piping section 144 is fitted into an inner circumferential portion of the exhaust hole 142. The exhaust gas that has heated the radiation surface 140 is exhausted to the outside of the closed gas heater 110 via the exhaust hole 142.
The second piping section 144 is disposed in the first piping section 130. That is, a dual pipe is constituted by the first piping section 130 and the second piping section 144. In addition, the second piping section 144 has a function of transferring heat of the exhaust gas to the fuel gas flowing through the first piping section 130.
The disposition plate 120 is fixed to a distal end of the first piping section 130, and the partition plate 124 is fixed to a distal end of the second piping section 144 protruding farther than the first piping section 130. The disposition plate 120 and the partition plate 124 are spaced apart from each other by a difference between the distal end of the first piping section 130 and the distal end of the second piping section 144.
In addition, in the embodiment, the second piping section 144 is disposed in the first piping section 130. The embodiment is not limited to the above-mentioned case, but the first piping section 130 and the second piping section 144 may be inserted into the introduction section 134 and the discharge section 138 from the heating plate 126 side, and the first piping section 130 may be disposed in the second piping section 144.
Next, flows of the fuel gas and the exhaust gas will be described in detail. In
The partition plate 124 is formed of a material that enables relatively easy thermal conduction. The heat of the exhaust gas passing through the discharge section 138 is transferred to the fuel gas passing through the introduction section 134 via the partition plate 124. The exhaust gas flowing through the discharge section 138 and the fuel gas flowing through the introduction section 134 are opposite flows (counter flows) that sandwich the partition plate 124. For this reason, the fuel gas can be efficiently preheated by the heat of the exhaust gas, and high thermal efficiency can be obtained. As the fuel gas is preheated and then combusted (excessive enthalpy combustion), combustion of the fuel gas is stabilized, and a concentration of CO (carbon monoxide) generated due to imperfect combustion can be suppressed to an extremely low concentration.
Further, in order to prevent backfire, a protrusion 150 is formed at a boundary between the introduction section 134 and the combustion chamber 136. A flame (propagation of a combustion reaction) from the combustion chamber 136 to the introduction section 134 is prevented by the protrusion 150. The protrusion 150 will be described with reference to
As described above, according to the closed gas heater system 100 of the embodiment, since the fuel gas is preheated by the heat of the exhaust gas, high thermal efficiency can be obtained and the exhaust gas is not diffused. Accordingly, the heat of the exhaust gas can be effectively used in a continuous heating furnace 200 (to be described below).
Next, the continuous heating furnace 200 in which the plurality of closed gas heater systems 100 are disposed will be described.
A conveyance body 210 is constituted by a conveyor, for example, a belt or the like, stretched and supported by a roller 214, and rotated by a gear 210a receiving power of a motor (not shown) to convey the burning target. The burning target is disposed on the conveyance body 210. The burning target is hung and supported by, for example, a hoist mechanism (not shown) installed at the conveyance body 210. In addition, in the embodiment, in a furnace main body 212, the space in which the burning target is disposed and through which the burning target passes upon conveyance is referred to as a target space 212a.
The furnace main body 212 forms a burning space partially or entirely surrounding the conveyance body 210. That is, the furnace main body 212 also surrounds the target space 212a.
The roller 214 supports a portion of the conveyance body 210 in the furnace main body 212 from a lower side in a vertical direction. In addition, in order to suppress deflection of the burning target, when the conveyance body is constituted by a pair of nets that sandwich upper and lower sides of the burning target, the roller 214 may be installed at the outside of the pair of nets.
The plurality of closed gas heater systems 100 are disposed in the furnace main body 212. In the embodiment, the plurality of closed gas heater systems 100 are disposed in the furnace main body 212 at upper and lower sides in the vertical direction of the conveyance body 210.
As shown in
An exhaust pipe 216 comes in communication with the second piping section 144 of the closed gas heater system 100 to guide the exhaust gas. A portion of a pipe extending from the closed gas heater system 100 at which the pipe is bent is referred to as the second piping section 144, and a pipe to which the plurality of second piping sections 144 are connected to a downstream side by the portion at which the pipe is bent is referred to as the exhaust pipe 216
The exhaust pipe 216 has a configuration that enables heat exchange between the exhaust gas flowing through the exhaust pipe 216 and the roller 214. Specifically, as shown in
The entire roller 214 can be warmed by the configuration in which the exhaust gas flows through the roller 214. In addition, absorption of the heat into the furnace main body 212 can be suppressed at any position of the roller 214, radiation to the outside of the furnace main body 212 through the roller 214 can be suppressed, and a decrease in temperature in the furnace main body 212 can be suppressed.
In addition, the roller 214 may be constituted by, for example, a shaft core and a tubular rotating body through which the shaft core passes, and the rotating body may be rotatably supported with respect to the shaft core fixed to the furnace main body 212. In this case, when the shaft core is hollow and the exhaust gas passing through the exhaust pipe 216 is guided into the shaft core, the structure can be simplified.
In addition, the exhaust pipe 216 may have a configuration that enables heat exchange with a portion of the roller 214 protruding in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the burning target more than the conveyance body 210 in the furnace main body 212. In an example shown in
According to a configuration in which the portion of the roller 214 protruding from the conveyance body 210 to be spaced apart from the closed gas heater system 100 is warmed with the heat of the exhaust gas, a mechanism configured to suppress a decrease in temperature of the roller 214 in the vicinity of the target space 212a can be realized as a simple configuration. As a result, manufacturing cost can be controlled.
As described above, in the continuous heating furnace 200 of the embodiment, the closed gas heater system 100 is a closed structure. Accordingly, the exhaust gas is guided to the exhaust pipe 216 at a high temperature without diffusion thereof. For this reason, the temperature of the exhaust pipe 216 is higher than that of the roller 214, and the roller 214 can be securely warmed. Accordingly, a decrease in temperature of the roller 214 in the vicinity of the burning target can be suppressed. Further, since the continuous heating furnace 200 uses the exhaust heat of the exhaust gas in the heat exchange with the roller 214, a new heat source is unnecessary. Accordingly, a decrease in thermal efficiency of the entire heating processing can be prevented.
In addition, in the embodiment, while the configuration in which the end section of the roller 214 is exposed to the outside of the furnace main body 212 has been exemplified, the entire roller 214 may be accommodated in the furnace main body 212. Even in this case, the roller 214 is warmed by heat exchange between the exhaust gas passing through the exhaust pipe 216 and the roller 214. For this reason, in the roller 214, a decrease in temperature generated due to heat transfer from the vicinity of the target space 212a to the portion spaced apart from the closed gas heater system 100 (a decrease in temperature in the vicinity of the target space 212a) can be suppressed.
In addition, in the inside of the furnace main body 212 or the outside of the furnace main body 212, when the exhaust gas may be diffused, the exhaust gas passing through the exhaust pipe 216 may be directly blasted to the roller 214. Eventually, when the heat exchange between the exhaust gas guided to the exhaust pipe 216 and the roller 214 becomes possible, a new heat source is unnecessary. Accordingly, a decrease in thermal efficiency of the entire heating processing can be suppressed.
Next, the insulated wall, the insulated pipe, the heat insulating board and the heat insulating layer that can be used to keep the inside of the furnace main body 212 warm will be described with reference to
As shown in
An insulating section 230 shown in
According to the configuration including the insulating section 230, the continuous heating furnace 200 can suppress radiation from the wall surface of the furnace main body 212 and improve thermal efficiency.
As described above, in the continuous heating furnace 200, the plurality of closed gas heater systems 100 are disposed to be opposite to each other to sandwich the target space 212a. The insulated pipe 222a is disposed to be opposite to a direction perpendicular to the opposite direction of the closed gas heater system 100. In addition, the radiation space 212b is surrounded by the closed gas heater system 100 and the insulated pipe 222a.
According to the above-mentioned configuration, the continuous heating furnace 200 keeps the portion at which the closed gas heater system 100 is not disposed warm with the insulated pipe 222a while performing radiation heating using the closed gas heater system 100 to sandwich the burning target. For this reason, a decrease in the temperature of the target space 212a can be suppressed.
In the continuous heating furnace 200 of the first embodiment, the closed gas heater system 100 is a closed structure. Accordingly, the exhaust gas is guided to the insulated wall 218 or the insulated pipe 222a at a high temperature without spreading in the furnace or the like. The insulated pipe 222a is disposed between the target space 212a and the wall surface of the furnace main body 212 or the portion in the furnace main body 212 at which the temperature is relatively lower. Accordingly, the continuous heating furnace 200 uniformizes the temperature distribution in the furnace main body 212. In addition, since the exhaust heat of the exhaust gas is used, a new heat source is unnecessary. Accordingly, a decrease in thermal efficiency of the entire heating processing can be prevented.
Next, insulated pipes 222b and 222c according to a second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, only the insulated pipes 222b and 222c are different from the first embodiment. For this reason, description of the same configuration as of the first embodiment will be omitted and only the insulated pipes 222b and 222c will be described.
The insulated wall 218 configured to guide the exhaust gas thereinto is disposed at the end section in the conveyance direction of the continuous heating furnace 200 according to the first embodiment (see
The exhaust gas discharged from the second piping section 144 of the closed gas heater system 100 close to the end section of the continuous heating furnace 200 (closest to the wall surface 212c) is guided to the insulated pipe 222b via a communication pipe 220c.
In addition, the insulated pipe 222a according to the first embodiment extends and repeatedly turns in the conveyance direction along side surfaces of the target space 212a parallel to the conveyance direction and parallel to the vertical direction (see
In the second embodiment, the same effect as of the first embodiment can be obtained. That is, in the continuous heating furnace 200, temperature distribution in the furnace main body 212 is uniformized. In addition, since the exhaust heat of the exhaust gas is used, a new heat source is unnecessary. Accordingly, a decrease in thermal efficiency of the entire heating processing can be prevented.
Next, a heat insulating board 226a according to a third embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, only the heat insulating board 226a is different from the first embodiment. For this reason, description of the same components as of the first embodiment will be omitted, and only the heat insulating board 226a will be described.
The insulated pipe 222a according to the first embodiment extends and repeatedly turns in the conveyance direction along side surfaces of the target space 212a parallel to the conveyance direction and parallel to the vertical direction. As shown in
In the embodiment, the target space 212a and the radiation space 212b are completely covered by the closed gas heater system 100 and the heat insulating board 226a.
In the third embodiment, the same effect as of the second embodiment can be realized.
Next, a heat insulating layer 228 according to a fourth embodiment will be described. In the fourth embodiment, only the heat insulating layer 228 is different from that of the first embodiment. Description of the same configuration as in the first embodiment will be omitted, and only the heat insulating layer 228 will be described.
In the fourth embodiment, the same effect as the second embodiment can be obtained. In particular, according to the continuous heating furnace 200 according to the fourth embodiment, the exhaust gas is evenly spread to the entire wall surface of the furnace main body 212. For this reason, a decrease in temperature throughout the entire inside of the furnace main body 212 can be suppressed.
Next, a heat insulating board 226b according to a fifth embodiment will be described. In the fifth embodiment, a configuration of the heat insulating board 226b and the number of closed gas heater systems 100 are different from those of the first embodiment. A description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment will be omitted here, and only the heat insulating board 226b and the number of closed gas heater systems 100 will be described.
In the above-mentioned first embodiment, the plurality of closed gas heater systems 100 are disposed to be opposite to each other to sandwich the target space 212a. In the fifth embodiment, the heat insulating board 226b is installed instead of the closed gas heater system 100 at a lower side in the vertical direction of the target space 212a. In addition, the number of closed gas heater systems 100 disposed in the furnace main body 212 is half that of the first embodiment. That is, as shown in
In the fifth embodiment, the same effect as of the second embodiment can be obtained. In particular, according to the continuous heating furnace 200 of the fifth embodiment, when the radiation heating is performed by only the closed gas heater system 100 from the upper surface side of the burning target, a decrease in temperature of the target space 212a of a lower surface side 232 (shown in
In addition, while the communication pipe 220f goes around from a left side of the drawing of the target space 212a toward a lower side in the cross-section shown in
The insulated wall, the insulated pipe, the heat insulating board and the heat insulating layer come in communication with the exhaust hole 142 of the closed gas heater 110 to form an exhaust heat transfer section into which the exhaust gas is guided. In addition, the exhaust heat transfer section such as the insulated wall, the insulated pipe, the heat insulating board, the heat insulating layer, and so on, is not limited to the above-mentioned position but may be installed at any portion in the furnace main body 212 except for the radiation space 212b.
In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, while the combustion chamber 136 is formed along the outer circumferential wall 122, the embodiment is not limited thereto. The combustion chamber 136 may be disposed in a space surrounded by the outer circumferential wall 122, the heating plate 126 and the disposition plate 120. However, since a preheating effect of the fuel gas by the exhaust gas is sufficiently secured, for example, the combustion chamber 136 may be installed at any position of one of the space between the heating plate 126 and the partition plate 124 and the space between the partition plate 124 and the disposition plate 120, closer to the outer circumferential wall 122 than an intermediate position from the introduction hole 132 formed in the disposition plate 120 to the outer circumferential wall 122.
Hereinabove, while exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. It will be appreciated to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the accompanying claims and these will fall into the technical spirit of the present invention.
According to the continuous heating furnace according to the present invention, it is possible to provide the continuous heating furnace capable of suppressing a decrease in temperature of the roller that supports the conveyance body and improving thermal efficiency.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-192304 | Sep 2011 | JP | national |
This application is a continuation application based on a PCT Patent Application No. PCT/JP2012/071789, filed Aug. 29, 2012, whose priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-192304, filed Sep. 5, 2011. The contents of both the PCT application and the Japanese Patent Application are incorporated herein by reference.
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