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A fuel conditioner of the type having a housing defining an inner chamber for receiving a filter element, inlet and outlet ports in the housing for establishing a flow of fuel to and from the chamber, and a heater for raising the temperature of the fuel between the inlet and outlet ports. The improv

A fuel conditioner of the type having a housing defining an inner chamber for receiving a filter element, inlet and outlet ports in the housing for establishing a flow of fuel to and from the chamber, and a heater for raising the temperature of the fuel between the inlet and outlet ports. The improvement comprises a baffle plate situated within the housing between the inlet and outlet ports, for directing substantially all the flow of fuel as a thin layer against a selected interior portion of the housing. The heater is situated on the housing exterior adjacent the interior portion of the housing containing the baffle. The fuel passing through the thin passageway therein reaches its highest velocity in the conditioning unit. Particularly if the flow boundary area defined by the housing and the baffle plate is large compared with the volume of the passageway, very high heat transfer from the heating element to the fuel in the passageway is achieved. Preferably, the heater includes an electrical resistance heating element having a positive coefficient of resistance with increasing temperature of the element.

대표청구항 ▼

A fuel conditioner comprising: a housing having a fuel inlet port, a fuel outlet port, and an inner defining a location for containing at least one filter element; a baffle plate situated within the housing between the inlet port and said location, the baffle plate conforming in shape with and being

A fuel conditioner comprising: a housing having a fuel inlet port, a fuel outlet port, and an inner defining a location for containing at least one filter element; a baffle plate situated within the housing between the inlet port and said location, the baffle plate conforming in shape with and being in adjacent closely spaced relation to a selected portion of the housing thereby defining a flow passage between the plate and the housing portion through which fuel makes a single pass from the inlet port to said location; heater means situated on the exterior of said portion of the housing, and having a heating surface in contact with and conforming to said exterior of said selected housing portion for controlling the temperature of the fuel passing through the flow passage by the transfer of heat through the housing portion to the fuel in the flow passage.