Wacker Neuson Production Americas LLC

Jason Fu

David C Mencel

Todd J Lutz

Brandon Nickolas

John Lane

Joe Grinwald

Paul Krause

A heater and a method of its use are configured for use at cold operating temperatures. The heater has a supply line for transporting a volume of fuel between a fuel tank and burner. An inline heater is supplied in a supply line for the burner. The heater also has a return line that normally returns unused fuel from the burner to the heater, hence reducing the volume of fuel that needs to be heated by the heater and reducing system power requirements. The heater may be thermostatically controlled to maintain the temperature of the heated fuel to a value that is at or above a temperature required for good fuel atomization but below a flashpoint of the fuel. A valve is provided in the return line to permit diversion of the returned fuel to the fuel tank during a purge operation at initial startup.

Indirect fired heater with inline fuel heater

The present disclosure is directed to a mobile machine, such as hydronic surface heater designed to be transported to a potentially remote worksite and operated for an extended period of time. The machine has a fueled component, such as a burner, fueled by a fuel supply system having at least two fuel tanks that are operably connected to one another by a connection line having an electronically controlled valve therein. The valve is coupled to the machine's electrical system, such as being coupled to the output of the machine's main breaker, so as to be opened whenever the machine is operating but to be otherwise closed. The fuel supply system thus has, in effect, a single tank when the machine is running and multiple separated tanks when the machine is not running. Fuel spill risks therefore are mitigated without having to sacrifice operating time and without significantly complicating the machine's fuel supply systems or its controls.

Multiple fuel tank system

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Spring Lake, MI, United States of America

Jason Fu