Systems and methods for thermal management of a deployable kitchen

Abstract

A deployable kitchen includes an enclosure, an appliance within the enclosure, and a recapture plenum. The appliance includes a housing and a burner unit that is within the housing. The appliance defines cooling passage between the housing and the burner unit. The cooling passage is in thermal communication with the burner unit such that an airflow through the cooling passage establishes an air buffer between the burner unit and the housing. The housing includes a face that defines an outlet of the cooling passage. The recapture plenum encloses the face of the housing such that the recapture plenum receives an exhaust portion of the airflow after the airflow is conveyed through the cooling passage. The recapture plenum is configured to be in fluid communication with a heating vent within the deployable kitchen.

1 . A deployable kitchen, comprising:
 an enclosure;   an appliance positioned within the enclosure, the appliance including a housing and a burner unit, wherein:
 the burner unit is within the housing, 
 the appliance defines a cooling passage between the housing and the burner unit, the cooling passage is in thermal communication with the burner unit such that an airflow through the cooling passage establishes an air buffer between the burner unit and the housing, and 
 the housing includes a face that defines an outlet of the cooling passage; and 
   a recapture plenum enclosing the face of the housing such that the recapture plenum receives an exhaust portion of the airflow after being conveyed through the cooling passage, the recapture plenum configured to be in fluid communication with a heating vent within the deployable kitchen.   
     
     
         2 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a diverter in fluid communication with the recapture plenum, wherein:
 the diverter has a first position configured to selectively place the recapture plenum in fluid communication with an exhaust vent of the deployable kitchen upon a first ambient condition, and 
 the diverter has a second position configured to selectively place the recapture plenum in fluid communication with the heating vent upon a second ambient condition. 
   
     
     
         3 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the appliance includes an exhaust hood and an exhaust plenum;   the exhaust hood is coupled to the housing via the exhaust plenum; and   the recapture plenum is in fluid communication with the exhaust vent via the exhaust plenum on a condition that the diverter is in the first position.   
     
     
         4 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a heating duct in fluid communication with the heating vent; and   the recapture plenum is in fluid communication with the heating vent via the heating duct on a condition that the diverter is in the second position.   
     
     
         5 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the housing includes a front face;   the face of the housing enclosed by the recapture plenum is a rear face positioned between the front face and a wall of the enclosure;   the front face defines an inlet of the cooling passage; and   the burner unit is an atomizing burner is configured to combust a distillate fuel.   
     
     
         6 .- 8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . A deployable kitchen, comprising:
 an enclosure including a movable wing, the movable wing has a first wing face separated from a second wing face by a plurality of internal dividers to define a heating passage within the movable wing;   an appliance positioned within the enclosure, the appliance including a burner unit and an exhaust plenum; and   a nested duct structure including an inner duct in fluid communication with the burner unit, an outer duct in fluid communication with the exhaust plenum, and a recapture duct positioned between the inner duct and the outer duct, wherein:
 the inner duct and the outer duct define an exhaust flow path from within the deployable kitchen toward an exterior volume outside the enclosure, 
 the recapture duct defines an intake opening, a heat-recapture flow path, and an outlet opening, the heat-recapture flow path being in thermal communication with both the inner duct and the outer duct, 
 the intake opening of the recapture duct is configured to receive an intake air, 
 the outlet opening of the recapture duct is in fluid communication with the heating passage within the movable wing, and 
 a heated portion of air introduced to the heating passage has a temperature that is greater than the intake air received by the intake opening on a condition that the burner unit is operating. 
   
     
     
         10 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the enclosure further includes a fixed floor and a hinge;   the movable wing is movably coupled to the fixed floor via the hinge;   the movable wing is movable between a wall position and a floor position;   the first wing face is configured as an exterior wall of the enclosure on a condition that the movable wing is in the wall position,   the second wing face configured as a floor portion on a condition that the movable wing is in the floor position and as an interior wall on a condition that the movable wing is in the wall position, and   the heating passage is configured to heat the second wing face via the heated portion of air on the condition that the movable wing is in the floor position.   
     
     
         11 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the movable wing includes a seal portion positioned to fluidically couple the heat passage to the recapture duct on the condition that the movable wing is in the floor position; and   the heat passage is fluidically decoupled from the recapture duct on the condition that the movable wing is in the wall position.   
     
     
         12 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a flexible conduit positioned between the heat passage in the recapture duct and configured to fluidically couple the heat passage to the recapture duct.   
     
     
         13 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the movable wing defines an exhaust outlet positioned between the heat passage and the exterior volume.   
     
     
         14 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a blower in fluid communication with the recapture duct, the blower being positioned to selectively convey the portion of air through the heat-recapture flow path.   
     
     
         15 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a damper in fluid communication with the recapture duct, wherein:
 the damper has a first position in which the damper is configured to selectively place the recapture duct in fluid communication with the exterior volume surrounding the enclosure upon a first ambient condition, and 
 the damper has a second position in which the damper is configured to selectively place the recapture duct in fluid communication with ambient air within the kitchen upon a second ambient condition. 
   
     
     
         16 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the recapture duct includes a plurality of flow modifiers, the flow modifiers being configured to reduce a velocity of the portion of air within the heat-recapture flow path and increase a dwell time of the portion of air within the heat-recapture flow path.   
     
     
         17 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the appliance includes an exhaust hood and an exhaust plenum;   the exhaust hood is coupled to the housing via the exhaust plenum; and   the recapture duct includes a serpentine portion positioned within the exhaust plenum.   
     
     
         18 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the heating passage is a torturous flow path.   
     
     
         19 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 18 , wherein
 the internal dividers of the plurality of internal dividers define a plurality of openings, the plurality of openings being sized and positioned to tune a flow of the heated portion of air introduced to the heating passage.   
     
     
         20 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the appliance is a first appliance;   the deployable kitchen includes a coupling tap; and   the coupling tap is configured to establish a heated air supply to a second appliance.   
     
     
         21 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the recapture duct is in axial alignment with the inner duct and the outer duct.   
     
     
         22 . A deployable kitchen comprising:
 an enclosure including a fixed floor;   a serpentine heating conduit coupled to the fixed floor;   an appliance positioned within the enclosure, the appliance including a burner unit and an exhaust plenum; and   a nested duct structure including an inner duct in fluid communication with the burner unit, an outer duct in fluid communication with the exhaust plenum, and a recapture conduit positioned between the inner duct and the outer duct, wherein the recapture conduit is in thermal communication with both the inner duct and the outer duct, contains a heat transfer media, and is in fluid communication with the serpentine heating conduit, the heat transfer media being configured to receive a portion of heat from at least one of the inner duct or the outer duct and transfer a portion of heat to the fixed floor.   
     
     
         23 . The deployable kitchen of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 a circulation pump fluidly coupled to one of the serpentine heating conduit or the recapture conduit to establish a circulatory flow of the heat transfer media within the serpentine heating conduit and the recapture conduit.   
     
     
         24 - 25 . (canceled)