Interference No. 104,180
testing and for lab testing at American and Alzeta, installation of field test units, DOE and ANSI
testing of lab units, conducting tests in its own lab, and management support of the entire effort.
During Phase 3 and prior to March 1993, Alzeta developed a series of flat plate ceramic
burners in an effort to achieve the performance objectives set forth in the Phase 3 Proposal. This
burner design was called the “E” burner, and it met the performance specifications of the Phase 3
Proposal. The E burner was a circular ceramic flat plate burner of about 14 or 15 inches in
diameter, which made it substantially equal to the inside diameter of a standard sized water
heater skirt. The burner was designed to include perforations over its entire face except for a
narrow rim portion. This was done to provide enough holes to maximize airflow and minimize
pressure drop while still maintaining structural stability.
Prior to May 1, 1993, Alzeta was developing a low emissions burner for use in a water
heater having an upright cylindrical water tank with a flue pipe extending therethrough, a
cylindrical metal skirt extending downward from the cylindrical wall of the tank for the support
thereof, the skirt having a closed bottom end, and a gas burner positioned within the skirt.
Development focused on a radiant gas burner in the form of a circular perforated ceramic flat
plate (E burner). The burner had a diameter of 14 or 15 inches, which was substantially equal to
the 16 inch inside diameter of the skirt. The E burner had perforations over its entire face, except
for a narrow rim portion, and it was to be used in a water heater with a venturi tube extending
through the skirt and into the plenum below the burner for the injection of fuel gas and air. The
co-inventor, Martin Carswell, had also incorporated refractory-type insulation around the
ceramic flat plate burners which he tested.
A meeting was scheduled for May 1, 1993 in which representatives from Alzeta, Richard
Kendall and Richard Pam, and representatives from American, Henry Moore and Michael Watt,
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