GAS DELIVERY SYSTEM WITH PRE-MIX BLOWER

摘要

A gas delivery system (38) for an appliance, such as a water heater (20), including a gas control valve (40) and a blower housing assembly (50) which are mounted to the water heater proximate one another. The blower housing assembly includes a motor (54) for driving an impeller (56) within the blower housing (52), and an outlet (66) of the blower housing is connected to the gas burner assembly (24) of the water heater. A gas supply conduit (72) extends from the control valve into the blower housing, and the outlet (76) of the gas supply conduit is disposed within the blower housing interior near the blower housing inlet (62) and the central portion of the impeller. In operation, rotation of the impeller draws a flow of air through the blower housing. Concurrently, gas is supplied through the gas supply conduit to the interior of the blower housing near the impeller, and the gas is mixed with the flow of air to form an air/gas mixture which is supplied through the outlet (66) of the blower housing to the gas burner assembly (24) for combustion. In this manner, the gas is pre-mixed with air within the blower housing before being supplied to the gas burner assembly, wherein combustion of the air/gas mixture results in a cleaner combustion with reduced nitrous oxide emissions.