Portable asphalt heater apparatus and method

• US 10,428,470 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2018
• Issued: 10/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: City of Calgary
• Original Assignee: City of Calgary
• Inventors: Smith, Adam Thornton, Groening, Lucas Brent, Asefi, Majid
• Primary Examiner(s): Hartmann, Gary S
• Application Number:
  US16/046,086
• Publication Number:
  US 20190032288A1
• Time in Patent Office: 432 Days
• Field of Search: 404 79, 404 95
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 88/744 heating or cooling through the walls or internal parts of the container, e.g. circulation of fluid inside the walls
• CPC Class Codes: E01C 19/08 Apparatus for transporting and heating or melting asphalt, bitumen, tar, or the like stationarily-arranged melting boilers for tar, asphalt, or the like, in general C10C3/12
• CPC Class Codes: E01C 19/463 Bituminous mixtures of which at least part of the solid ingredients has previously been deposited on the surface, e.g. with lifting of spread or windrowed aggregate
• CPC Class Codes: E01C 23/06 Devices or arrangements for working the finished surface working freshly laid paving E01C19/42 - E01C19/44, E01C23/02; mining picks E21C35/18; Devices for repairing or reconditioning the surface of damaged paving; Recycling in place or on the road
• CPC Class Codes: E01C 23/065 Recycling in place or on the road, i.e. hot or cold reprocessing of paving in situ or on the traffic surface, with or without adding virgin material or lifting of salvaged material; Repairs or resurfacing involving at least partial reprocessing of the existing paving in situ mixing of hydraulic cement concrete E01C19/025; apparatus for in-plant recycling E01C19/1004, E01C19/1036
• CPC Class Codes: E01H 5/102 Self-contained devices for melting dislodged snow or ice, e.g. built-in melting chambers, movable melting tanks combined with removing devices E01H5/104

Abstract

A portable asphalt heater and method for heating asphalt includes an asphalt hopper having a floor, first and second side walls and front and rear end walls. The side walls taper inwardly to define a substantially inverted-V geometry of the hopper. A heating manifold including a heating chamber is adjacent to and positioned beneath the floor, the heating manifold adapted to be in fluid communication with a heater assembly and to direct a heated gas emitted from the heater assembly through the heating chamber and heating manifold. A plurality of chimneys is in fluid communication with, and extends from, the heating chamber and along the first and second side walls, wherein the volume of asphalt, when in the asphalt hopper, is heated through contact with the asphalt hopper.

Claims

1. A portable asphalt heater apparatus for heating a volume of asphalt, the apparatus comprising:

an asphalt hopper having a floor, first and second side walls and front and rear end walls, the side walls and end walls extending upwardly from the floor and defining an upper opening into the hopper, the upper opening positioned above the floor and having an opening area which is less than a surface area of the floor, the first and second side walls including an inwardly extending portion tapering inwardly and extending between the floor and the upper opening, so as to define a substantially inverted V geometry when viewed in a vertical cross-section of the hopper taken generally parallel to and between the front and rear end walls of the hopper,

at least one door selectively closing the upper opening,

an asphalt heating manifold including an asphalt heating chamber adjacent to and positioned beneath the floor, the asphalt heating manifold in fluid communication with an asphalt heater assembly, the asphalt heating manifold adapted to direct a heated gas emitted from the asphalt heater assembly through the asphalt heating chamber and asphalt heating manifold,

wherein the volume of asphalt when in the asphalt hopper is heated through contact with the asphalt hopper, and

wherein the apparatus is adapted for mounting on a vehicle.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the asphalt heating manifold further comprises a plurality of chimneys, the plurality of chimneys in fluid communication with and extending from the asphalt heating chamber and along the first and second side walls.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the asphalt heating manifold further comprises an exhaust collector in fluid communication with the plurality of chimneys and located adjacent to the upper opening of the hopper.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one door includes two doors, each door of the two doors pivotally mounted to the first and second side walls, whereby each door of the two doors pivots towards and away from the other door.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the apparatus is adapted to be mounted in a truck box, each door of the two doors pivotable between a closed position and an open position, each door of the two doors having a distal end distal from the opening of the hopper, wherein when in the open position a distance between the distal ends of the two doors is greater than a width of the truck box.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a tar tank positioned adjacent to the rear end wall of the asphalt hopper, the tar tank including a tar heater assembly and a tar heating manifold.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the tar heating manifold includes one or more exhaust ducts selectively in fluid communication with the asphalt heating manifold.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the heater assembly and the tar heater assembly each include a burner and a burn tube.

9. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the asphalt heating chamber is divided into a central chamber and two peripheral chambers, wherein the central chamber and two peripheral chambers each extend substantially between the front and rear end walls, each chamber of the two peripheral chambers being adjacent the first or second side walls and the central chamber positioned between and adjacent to the two peripheral chambers, wherein the heated gas emitted from the asphalt heater assembly flows through the central chamber and then through the two peripheral chambers.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the floor includes a central portion adjacent to and above the central chamber and two peripheral portions adjacent to and above the two peripheral chambers, wherein the central portion has a thickness that is greater than a thickness of each peripheral portion of the two peripheral portions wherein coking of the portion of the volume of asphalt positioned directly above the asphalt heater assembly beneath the floor of the hopper is minimized.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein each chimney of the plurality of chimneys is in fluid communication with each peripheral chamber of the heating chamber and wherein each chimney of the plurality of chimneys extends from the peripheral chamber and along a surface of the first or second side wall towards the upper opening of the hopper.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus is configured to be a slide-in apparatus to releasably mount to the vehicle.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the vehicle is a truck including a truck box and the slide-in apparatus is configured to releasably mount to the truck box.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein when the apparatus is mounted to the truck box and the volume of asphalt is substantially equal to eight metric tonnes, an overall weight of the truck is less than 24,000 kg, a height of the truck is less than 4.15 meters, an overall width of the truck is less than 2.6 meters and an overall length of the truck is less than 12.5 meters.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the floor further includes a plurality of thermocouples for monitoring a temperature of the volume of asphalt.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the plurality of thermocouples includes six thermocouples, each thermocouple of the six thermocouples spaced apart from the other thermocouples.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the floor further includes at least six thermocouples, wherein two thermocouples of the at least six thermocouples are located spaced apart on the central portion of the floor and two thermocouples of the at least six thermocouples are located spaced apart on each peripheral portion of the two peripheral portions of the floor.

18. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the tar tank includes a plurality of thermocouples for monitoring a temperature of a volume of tar within the tar tank.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the plurality of thermocouples includes at least two elongate thermocouples extending into the tar tank.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first and second side walls include a first portion below the inwardly extending portion, the first portion selected from the group comprising:

vertical portion, outwardly extending portion.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the first portion extends from the floor to the inwardly extending portion, and wherein the inwardly extending portion extends inwardly from the first portion at an angle of substantially 30 degrees from the vertical,

the hopper having a height extending substantially from the floor to the upper opening of the hopper, wherein a junction between the first and inwardly extending portions of the first and second side walls is located at substantially 20% of the height of the hopper measured from the floor of the hopper.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the first portion is the outwardly extending portion, the outwardly extending portion extending from the floor to the junction at an angle of substantially 45 degrees from the vertical.

23. A method for heating and recycling a volume of used asphalt using a portable asphalt heater apparatus, the method comprising:

loading the volume of used asphalt into a hopper of the portable asphalt heater adapted for mounting on a vehicle, the hopper comprising a floor, first and second side walls and front and rear end walls, the side walls and end walls extending upwardly from the floor and defining an upper opening into the hopper, the upper opening positioned above the floor and having an opening area which is less than a surface area of the floor, the first and second side walls including an inwardly extending portion tapering inwardly and extending between the floor and the upper opening, so as to define a substantially inverted V geometry when viewed in a vertical cross-section of the hopper taken generally parallel to and between the front and rear end walls of the hopper, the hopper further including at least one door for selectively closing the upper opening, the portable asphalt heater further including an asphalt heating manifold including a heating chamber adjacent to and positioned beneath the floor, the asphalt heating manifold in fluid communication with a heater assembly, the asphalt heating manifold adapted to direct a heated gas emitted from the heater assembly through the heating chamber and the asphalt heating manifold,

loading one or more recycling additives into the hopper,

setting the heater assembly of the portable asphalt heater to maintain the volume of used asphalt at a recycling temperature.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising the steps of removing the volume of used asphalt from the hopper after a selected time interval has lapsed and applying the volume of used asphalt to a surface.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the method further comprises the steps of mounting the portable asphalt heater to the vehicle and transporting the portable asphalt heater to the surface.