Claims
- 1. A method for heating a liquid, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a recuperative heat exchanger having a tube surrounded by fins;
- (b) circulating said liquid through said tube;
- (c) locating a water resevoir below said recuperative heat exchanger;
- (d) contacting hot combustion gases with said water in said resevoir for elevating the dew point and lowering the temperature of said hot combustion gases; and
- (e) directing said dew point elevated combustion gases upwardly across said recuperative heat exchanger, said dew point elevated combustion gases being provided at a given dew point and temperature where said liquid in said tube cools said combustion gases such that a substantial majority of the water vapor in said combustion gases condenses within said heat exchanger, wherein a steady-state cycle of condensation and evaporation is maintained where condensate flows back downward said fins into said resevoir at the same time said hot combustion gases reevaporate water in said resevoir for subsequent condensing in said heat exchanger.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a division of application Ser. No. 900,260, filed Aug. 25, 1986, (now U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,085) which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 761,636, filed Aug. 1, 1985 (now abandoned).
US Referenced Citations (14)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
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3222069 |
Dec 1983 |
DEX |
2031572 |
Apr 1980 |
GBX |
Divisions (1)
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900260 |
Aug 1986 |
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Continuations (1)
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761636 |
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