Fuel for wick type candle   

Abstract: A heat source including a novel fuel blend disposed within a fuel canister and a wick for transporting the fuel from the interior of the canister to the exterior. The fuel may be a blend of monoethylene glycol and at least one additional glycol or glycol ether, or a blend of monoethylene glycol and at least one alcohol.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional. Application No. 61/443,811, filed on Feb. 17, 2011, the entirety of which is expressly incorporated by reference.

Not Applicable

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a fuel to be used as a heat source. More particularly, this invention relates to a wick chafing fuel comprising a blend of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and at least one other fuel component.

2. Description of the Related Art

Portable heat sources have been used for many years to cook and warm foodstuffs, for example with cookstoves or chafing dishes. In the case of a chafing dish, the heat source usually consists of a fuel situated within a container located underneath a chafing dish and ignited to warm the food present within the chafing dish. There are two types of chafing fuels currently on the market. One chafing fuel is made from alcohol and the other uses a combustible liquid (commonly diethylene glycol) with a wick. The wick-type fuels are typically prepared with 100% of the fuel source being diethylene glycol (DEG).

There are two main factors at play when considering a proper chafing dish fuel Source: flash point and heat of combustion. Alcohol fuels have a relatively low flash point, typically in the range of 52° F. to 56° F. While this low flash point allows these types of fuel to be easily lit by a match or other source of flame, they can provide a substantial safety risk of unintentionally spreading fire due to their high volatility and low flash point. Fuels having flash points above 150° F. are generally believed to provide an adequate level of accidental fire prevention. Regarding the heat of combustion, in order to meet adequate food service standards, the fuel must provide a heat of combustion greater than 8,000 Btu/lb.

While the DEG utilized in previous wick-type chafing fuels meets both requirements, in that it has a relatively high flash point of 310° F. and produces 8,730 BTU/lb of heat, DEG has some disadvantages, namely, a relatively expensive cost and potentially toxic byproducts produced from the burning of DEG. Thus, there is a need for a chafing fuel that minimizes the use of DEG, while maintaining a sufficiently high flash point for safety purposes and a sufficiently high heat of combustion for food safety purposes.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed toward an improved heat source that may be utilized in food preparation, for example, for use in warming a chafing dish. The heat source includes a novel fuel blend disposed within a fuel canister and a wick for transporting the fuel from the interior of the canister to the exterior.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the fuel is a blend of monoethylene glycol and at least one additional glycol or glycol ether. Suitable glycol or glycol ethers that may be utilized in the present invention include, but are not limited to, triethylene glycol (TEG), ethylene glycol butyl ether (EGBE), triethylene glycol mono butyl ether (TEGMBE), dipropylene glycol n-butyl ether (DPnB glycol ether), hexaline glycol (HG), polyethylene glycol 200, and dipropylene glycol (DPG). Notably, this embodiment includes both blends of monoethylene glycol with a single additional glycol or glycol ether and blends of monoethylene glycol with several additional glycols and/or glycol ethers.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the fuel is a blend of monoethylene glycol and an alcohol, for example methanol or ethanol. This embodiment may further include one or more additional glycols or glycol ethers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a heat source having a fuel disposed within a canister and a wick protruding from the canister.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present invention may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions and sequences of steps for constructing and operating the invention. It is to be understood, however, that the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different embodiments and that they are also intended to be encompassed within the scope of the invention.

The present invention relates to a heat source 10 formed from a fuel 12 disposed within a fuel canister 14 and a standard wick 16 delivery system of cotton or a thin, tightly braided fiberglass wick material for transporting the fuel from within the interior of the canister 14 to the exterior. In one embodiment of the present invention, the fuel 12 is a blend of monoethylene glycol and at least one additional glycol or glycol ether. In another embodiment of the present invention the fuel 12 is a blend of monoethylene glycol and at least one alcohol.

Monoethylene glycol (MEG) is a preferred base fuel for this invention. MEG has a sufficiently high flash point at 241° F.; however, by itself it only produces a heat of combustion of 7,297 BTU/lb, below the requirement for food services. Accordingly, at least one additive fuel is combined with the monoethylene glycol to raise the heat of combustion above the 8,000 BTU/lb threshold. The following Table 1 highlights exemplary fuel additives that may be, individually or in combinations, combined with monoethylene glycol to produce a fuel blend with a sufficiently high heat of combustion and flash point.

TABLE 1 Preferred Range Amount “HEAT” Flash (by (by Molecule Name BTU/lb Point-F weight) weight) Diethylene Glycol (DEG) 8,730 310° 15%-25% 20% Triethylene Glycol (TEG) 10,181 350°  5%-10% 10% Ethylene Glycol Butyl 13,890 150° 2%-5% 5% Ether (EGBE) Triethylene Glycol Mono 12,340 312° 3%-6% 6% Butyl Ether (TEGMBE) DPnB Glycol Ether 13,100 212° 2%-5% 5% Hexaline Glycol (HG) 12,846 200° 2%-5% 5% Poly Ethylene Glycol 200 12,341 365° 3%-6% 6% (Carbowax) Di-Propylene Glycol (DPG) 13,072 250° 2%-5% 5% Methanol* 9,800  52° 12%-15% 15% Ethanol** 12,800  55° 3%-6% 6%

Heat sources as envisioned by the present invention optimally provide an adequate amount of heat for food preparation situations and being fire-safe due to a higher flash point, while utilizing relatively inexpensive fuel sources, as opposed to the heat sources previously used within the art The combination of MEG along with a higher heat producing fuel, allow for a synergistic result of a sufficiently food-safe heat of combustion, fuel, produced with an economical base fuel.

The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including the use of various glycol and glycol ethers in the fuel formula. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.