Heating furnace using gas pulse modulation temperature control mode

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10782033-B2
Application number	US-201615006543-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2016
Priority date	Jan 26, 2016
Publication date	Sep 22, 2020
Grant date	Sep 22, 2020

Abstract

A heating control system that includes a heating unit with a constant burner and a pulsed burner. The constant burner is configured to remain active during operation. The pulsed burner is configured to toggle between an active mode and an inactive mode. The heating control system further includes a memory operable to store a temperature map that maps temperatures to percentages of a period that the pulsed burner is active and a microprocessor operably coupled to the heating unit and the memory. The microprocessor is configured to transmit a first electrical signal to activate the constant burner, obtain a temperature set point, determine the percentage of the period that the pulsed burner is active using the temperature set point and the temperature map, and transmit a second electrical signal to toggle the pulsed burner based on the determination of the percentage of the period that the pulsed burner is active.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A heating control system comprising:
an air circulation fan configurable to operate at a plurality of speeds;
a heating unit comprising:
a constant burner configured to remain active during operation,
a pulsed burner configured to toggle between an active mode and an inactive mode;
a gas manifold comprising a first segment and a second segment within the gas manifold, wherein:
gas communication is disallowed between the first segment and the second segment of the gas manifold;
the constant burner is disposed within the first segment of the gas manifold; and
the pulsed burner is disposed within the second segment of the gas manifold;

a first gas valve configured to provide a first gas flow path from a gas supply to the first segment of the gas manifold; and
a second gas valve configured to provide a second gas flow path from the gas supply to the second segment of the gas manifold, wherein:
the second gas flow path is different from the first gas flow path; and
the second gas flow path bypasses the first gas valve;

a memory configured to store a temperature map that maps:
temperatures to percentages of a period that the pulsed burner is active; and
temperature rise values to speeds of the air circulation fan and heating unit configurations, wherein:
each heating unit configuration identifies a set of active burners and a fire rate for the set of active burners; and
a temperature rise value corresponds with a temperature difference between a supply air temperature and a return air temperature; and

a microprocessor operably coupled to the air circulation fan, the heating unit, and the memory, and configured to:
determine a temperature rise value;
determine a first heating unit configuration based on the temperature rise value using the temperature map, wherein:
the first heating unit configuration identifies a set of active burners and a fire rate for the active burners; and
the set of active burners comprises the constant burner and the pulsed burner;

transmit a first electrical signal to activate the constant burner;
obtain a temperature set point;
determine the percentage of the period that the pulsed burner is active using the temperature set point and the temperature map;
transmit a second electrical signal to toggle the pulsed burner based on the determination of the percentage of the period that the pulsed burner is active;
determine a first speed for the air circulation fan that corresponds with the temperature rise value; and
operate the air circulation fan at the first speed.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to adjust the speed of the air circulation fan based on the temperature set point.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the microprocessor transmits the first electrical signal to actuate the first gas valve operably coupled to the constant burner to activate the constant burner; and
the microprocessor transmits the second electrical signal to actuate the second gas valve operably coupled to the pulsed burner to modulate the pulsed burner.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the heating unit comprises a manifold plug that separates the first segment and the second segment of the gas manifold, wherein the manifold plug disallows gas communication between the first segment and the second segment;
activating the constant burner uses the first segment of the gas manifold; and
modulating the pulsed burner uses the second segment of the gas manifold.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein toggling the pulsed burner comprises adjusting a duty cycle for the pulsed burner using pulse width modulation.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein pulsed burner is not active when activating the constant burner.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein toggling the pulsed burner does not toggle the constant burner.

8. A heating control device comprising:
input/output (I/O) ports configured to transmit and receive electrical signals, wherein:
a first I/O port is in signal communication with a first gas valve configured to provide a first gas flow path from a gas supply to a first segment of a gas manifold;
a second I/O port is in signal communication with a second gas valve configured to provide a second gas flow path from the gas supply to a second segment in the gas manifold, wherein:
the second gas flow path is different from the first gas flow path; and
the second gas flow path bypasses the first gas valve; and

gas communication is disallowed between the first segment and the second segment of the gas manifold; and
a third I/O port is in signal communication with an air circulation fan configurable to operate at a plurality of speeds; and

a memory configured to store a temperature map that maps:
temperatures to percentages of a period that a pulsed burner from a plurality of burners within a heating unit is active; and
temperature rise values to speeds of the air circulation fan and heating unit configurations, wherein:
each heating unit configuration identifies a set of active burners and a fire rate for the set of active burners; and
a temperature rise value corresponds with a temperature difference between a supply air temperature and a return air temperature; and

a microprocessor operably coupled to the I/O ports and the memory, and configured to:
determine a temperature rise value;
determine a first heating unit configuration based on the temperature rise value using the temperature map, wherein:
the first heating unit configuration identifies a set of active burners and a fire rate for the active burners; and
the set of active burners comprises the constant burner and the pulsed burner;

transmit a first electrical signal to activate a constant burner from the plurality of burners, wherein the constant burner is configured to remain active during operation;
obtain a temperature set point;
determine the percentage of the period that the pulsed burner is active using the temperature set point and the temperature map;
transmit a second electrical signal to toggle the pulsed burner between an active mode and an inactive mode based on the determination of the percentage of the period that the pulsed burner is active;
determine a first speed for the air circulation fan that corresponds with the temperature rise value; and
operate the air circulation fan at the first fan speed.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to adjust the speed of the air circulation fan based on the temperature set point.

10. The device of claim 8 , wherein:
the microprocessor transmits the first electrical signal to actuate the first gas valve operably coupled to the constant burner; and
the microprocessor transmits the second electrical signal to actuate the second gas valve operably coupled to the pulsed burner.

11. The device of claim 8 , wherein modulating the pulsed burner comprises adjusting a duty cycle for the pulsed burner using pulse width modulation.

12. The device of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the plurality of burners is not active when activating the constant burner.

13. The device of claim 8 , wherein toggling the pulsed burner does not toggle the constant burner.

14. A heating control method comprising:
determining, by a microprocessor, a temperature rise value, wherein the temperature rise value corresponds with a temperature difference between a supply air temperature and a return air temperature;
determining, by the microprocessor, a first heating configuration based on the temperature rise value using a temperature map, wherein:
the temperature maps:
temperatu

Assignees

• Lennox Ind Inc

Inventors

• Perez Eric M
• Beste Mark G
• Schneider Steven

Classifications

• F23D99/004

  for use in particular heating operations · CPC title

• F23N2241/02

  Space-heating · CPC title

• F23N2223/08

  Microprocessor; Microcomputer · CPC title

• F24F11/84

  using valves · CPC title

• F23N2237/02

  two or more burners · CPC title