DEVICE FOR PURIFYING EXHAUST GASES FROM A FIREPLACE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for cleaning exhaust gases from a fireplace, comprising a housing which accommodates functional components of the device, an inlet portion provided to receive exhaust gases from the fireplace, an outlet portion provided to discharge exhaust gases from the device, a bypass portion which is configured to establish a direct connection between the inlet portion and the outlet portion and which can be closed by means of a first mechanical flap arrangement, and a cleaning portion which extends between the inlet portion and the outlet portion for guiding an exhaust gas flow and is provided with a plurality of functional components, wherein the functional components at least comprise an electrostatic filter unit for separating fine dust particles, a centrifugal separator unit for removing particles from the exhaust gas, and a fan unit for driving a flow of the exhaust gas through the cleaning portion.

Claims

1. Device for cleaning exhaust gases from a fireplace, comprising: a housing which accommodates functional components of the device; an inlet portion which is provided to receive exhaust gases from the fireplace; an outlet portion which is provided to discharge exhaust gases from the device; a bypass portion which is configured to establish a direct connection between the inlet portion and the outlet portion and which can be closed by means of a first mechanical flap arrangement; and a cleaning portion which extends between the inlet portion and the outlet portion for guiding an exhaust gas flow and which is provided with a plurality of functional components, wherein the functional components at least comprise: an electrostatic filter unit for separating fine dust particles; a centrifugal separator unit for removing particles from the exhaust gas; and a fan unit for driving a flow of the exhaust gas through the cleaning portion.

2. Device according to claim 1, wherein the first mechanical flap arrangement is configured in such a way that it is always open when the device is powered off.

3. Device according to claim 1, wherein the functional components further comprise: a catalytic converter unit for the catalytic treatment of the exhaust gases, with an upstream heating device for heating the exhaust gases.

4. Device according to claim 1, wherein the functional components for treating the exhaust gases in the exhaust gas flow further comprise: an injection unit for spraying a liquid agent and/or an irradiation unit in particular an ultraviolet irradiation unit.

5. Device according to claim 1, wherein the functional components further comprise: an exhaust gas heat exchanger, which is configured to extract heat from the exhaust gas flow, and/or a thermoelectric generator and/or a sound absorption element.

6. Device claim 1, wherein the functional components further comprise: a supply device for supplying combustion air to the fireplace.

7. Device according to claim 6, wherein the supply device for supplying combustion air comprises at least one of the following: a heating unit for the combustion air, in particular a heat exchanger, which is arranged and configured to transfer heat from the centrifugal separator unit and/or pipes through which exhaust gas flows to the combustion air; and a second mechanical flap unit for controlling the flow rate of combustion air.

8. Device according to claim 1, wherein a controllable draught regulator is assigned to the outlet portion.

9. Device according to claim 1, further comprising: a control unit which is configured to control at least one of the functional components and/or at least one of the flap arrangements and/or the controllable draught regulator.

10. Device according to claim 9, wherein the control unit is also accommodated within the housing.

11. Device according to claim 1, wherein the housing is assigned positioning means, in particular height-adjustable feet and/or a device for fastening the housing to an external component.

12. Device according to claim 1, wherein the housing is fireproof.

13. Device according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning connection for an ash extractor in the region of the centrifugal separator unit.

14. System for heating a room comprising a fireplace, a device according to claim 1 coupled to the fireplace through its inlet portion and a chimney coupled to the outlet portion.

Description

[0018] Further features and advantages of the present invention will become even clearer from the following description of an embodiment when said embodiment is considered together with the accompanying drawings. In detail, in the drawings:

[0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic isometric view of an embodiment of a device according to the invention, and

[0020] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the device from FIG. 1.

[0021] FIGS. 1 and 2 each show an embodiment of a device 10 according to the invention for cleaning exhaust gases from a fireplace (not shown in the drawings). In the schematic isometric view from FIG. 1, part of the housing 12 has been removed in order to highlight the components of the device provided in the interior thereof, while a cross-sectional side view of the same device 10 is shown in FIG. 2. It should also be pointed out that the inside of the housing 12 can be provided with suitable thermal insulation.

[0022] With the exception of an inlet portion 14 for receiving exhaust gases from the fireplace (not shown) and an outlet portion 16 for discharging exhaust gases from the device 10, the housing 12 is closed with regard to an exhaust gas flow. Between the inlet portion 14 and the outlet portion 16, a bypass portion 18 is further provided, which can be closed by a first mechanical flap arrangement 20 and forms a direct connection between the inlet portion 14 and the outlet portion 16. For safety reasons, the flap arrangement can in particular be configured in such a way that it is always open when the device 10 is powered off.

[0023] On the other hand, a cleaning portion 22 is located inside the housing 12, through which the exhaust gases pass for cleaning purposes when the bypass portion 18 is closed. The functional components provided in this cleaning portion 22, which are described below, can also be arranged in other sequences, and not all of the components have to be installed in every device according to the invention; however, the embodiment shown here represents a particularly advantageous configuration.

[0024] The exhaust gas entering through the inlet portion 14 is initially optionally heated by a controllable heating device 24, for example if it is determined by a sensor unit (not shown) that the exhaust gas is still too cool for the subsequent treatment steps or on the basis of a time recording device coupled to the fireplace, by means of which during a warm-up operation of the controlled fireplace, a time can be determined during which the exhaust gases and the subsequent components are not yet in an optimal thermal range to be cleaned.

[0025] The exhaust gases then pass through a catalytic converter unit 26 having an active coating for the catalytic treatment of the exhaust gases, which is followed by a thermoelectric generator 28 for generating or recovering energy. Then, an irradiation unit 30, in particular an ultraviolet irradiation unit, can again be provided in order to trigger further chemical reactions in constituents of the exhaust gases.

[0026] Within the subsequent riser portion of the cleaning portion 22, an exhaust gas heat exchanger 32 is provided, which is also used to recover thermal energy from the exhaust gases which have now been partially treated. At the upper end of the above-mentioned riser portion, there is also an injection unit 34 for injecting a liquid exhaust gas treatment agent, which can contribute on the one hand to a chemical conversion of undesired gaseous components of the exhaust gases and on the other hand to an agglomeration of fine dust components of the exhaust gases.

[0027] The exhaust gases then reach the region of an electrostatic filter unit 36 for separating fine dust particles in which the particles agglomerate with one another as a result of electrostatic charging, and larger particles that are easier to separate are formed. These are in turn collected by means of a centrifugal separator unit 38 and can be removed and disposed of via an opening 40 at a given time. In particular, a cleaning connection for an ash extractor can be provided at this point. The separator unit 38 can comprise, for example, a direct-current or cross-flow cyclone.

[0028] Lastly, the exhaust gases, which have meanwhile been cleaned, pass through a fan unit 42 by means of which a suction effect is generated to drive the exhaust gases through the components described above. Then, the exhaust gases can finally be fed to the outlet portion 16 and discharged through said outlet portion, for example to a downstream chimney (not shown), wherein for adjustment thereof an optionally controllable draught regulator 44 is arranged in the region of the outlet portion 16.

[0029] In addition to the cleaning portion 22 for exhaust gases described above, the device 10 further comprises a supply device 46 for supplying combustion air from the surroundings of the device 10 to the fireplace (not shown). This supply device 46 comprises, in particular, an inlet opening 48 for fresh air from the surroundings of the device 10 and a combustion air supply 50 to the combustion chamber of the fireplace that can be controlled by means of a second mechanical flap unit. Since the air extracted at the inlet opening 48 comes from outside the room in which the fireplace is located, it can be completely independent of the ambient air. This can be achieved, for example, by connecting a nozzle of a pipe which exits from the corresponding room to the inlet opening 48 or by arranging the device 10 itself outside the relevant room. In such a case, only one pipe would then have to be provided between the fireplace and the inlet portion 14 as well as the combustion air supply 50.

[0030] When the device 10 is being operated, the heat extracted from the exhaust gas in the heat exchanger 32 can, for example, be transferred to the combustion air to be supplied to the combustion chamber such that the second mechanical flap and the heat exchanger 32 can be used to adjust the combustion air in terms of its quantity and temperature for optimally efficient operation of the fireplace.

[0031] Furthermore, reference should be made to the control unit 52, located on the bottom of the housing 12 of the device 10, which is in data connection with all the controllable components described above for controlling said device 10 and is coupled to sensor units for detecting parameters of the exhaust gas and/or the combustion air in order to be able to perform control processes by using the components described above for optimal operation of the device 10. Purely by way of example for a sensor unit of this type, the reference numeral 54 indicates a connection for a measuring probe for recording the properties of the cleaned exhaust gases in the region of the outlet portion 16.

[0032] Furthermore, the control unit can be used via a communication module (not shown) to read out various data, such as the operating hours of the device and other parameters. For this purpose, a coupling to a mobile device having dedicated software running thereon or a direct connection of a display device via a wired or wireless connection is conceivable.

[0033] Lastly, the drawings show a sound absorption element 56 for structure-borne noise and airborne noise directly in front of the outlet portion 16, which sound absorption element is used for noise minimisation and housing insulation purposes.