Patent Application
20130232975
The present invention is directed to an energy cycle construction, several rotating components of which are integrated within a compact container housing to share a common shaft along which working fluid transits as the construction operates.
The container housing is preferably of a generally cylindrical configuration with some combination of a scroll type expander, pump, and compressor disposed therein to form an integrated system, with the working fluid of the system circulating about a torus in the poloidal direction.
The assembled construction may operate generally as or in accordance with a Rankine Cycle, an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), a Heat Pump Cycle, a air conditioning or refrigeration cycle, or a Combined Organic Rankine and Heat Pump or refrigeration Cycle.
Rankine Cycles, Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC), and Refrigeration/Heat Pump Cycles are well known, and many systems of various designs have been developed over the years to operate in accordance with such cycles. For convenience of further reference, such cycles will often hereinafter be referred to generically as energy cycles. Principles of operation of such energy cycles have been addressed in detail in numerous prior publications, and operations of various systems in accordance with such energy cycles are also explained in numerous prior art publications. For convenience of further reference, such systems or constructions are often hereinafter referred to as energy cycle constructions.
Although such energy cycle constructions may take many forms, it has been found advantageous in many instances to employ multiple rotating components as components of such energy cycle constructions to effect the desired energy cycles while realizing advantages attendant to the use of such rotating components. Such rotating components may include not only rotary equipment such as generators and motors, but also other rotary devices such as expanders, pumps, and compressors, as well as scroll type devices that include both compressor and expander functions such as are disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/574,771, filed Aug. 9, 2011 (DN8108). For convenience of further reference, such other rotary devices and the like are often hereinafter referred to generically as working fluid treatment devices, and reference to energy cycle devices is intended to encompass motors and generators and like equipment in addition to working fluid treatment devices, especially as they may be utilized in energy cycle constructions.
Many energy cycle constructions are thus configured to operate as or in accordance with a Rankine Cycle, an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), and/or a Refrigeration/Heat Pump Cycle, and to employ one or more, and often two, rotary working fluid treatment devices, often of a scroll type design, as part of their systems. Generally, many such rotary based energy cycle constructions share a common set up in that they include two rotary working fluid treatment devices as well as an evaporator and condenser, and a motor or generator. Typically, such energy cycle constructions are constructed with the individual components thereof interconnected to form the completed system, but with each of such individual components existing as a separate independent component in a closed loop connected via piping. Due to the independence and separateness of such components, such completed or assembled energy cycle constructions have necessarily been of larger size.
For many reasons, it would generally be desirable if the sizes, and cost of such energy cycle constructions could be decreased or minimized, and the reliability improved. To this point in time, however, that desire has remained largely unsatisfied.
This invention has thus been developed to result in a more compact, lower cost, and more reliable energy cycle construction. The resulting construction integrates system components into a closed, preferably cylindrical, container housing, sometimes hereinafter referred to more simply as the container, within which container housing the working fluid flows about a torus in the poloidal direction. The rotary working fluid treatment devices utilize a scroll type design and rotate about a common shaft, with the evaporation and condensing processes being affected while the fluid is in transit between the rotary fluid treatment devices. This type of system design can be advantageously used for power generation through the use of a Rankine Cycle or ORC, or can be used for heat pumping through the use of a Refrigeration/Heat Pump Cycle, sometimes hereinafter referred to more simply as a Heat Pump Cycle or a Refrigeration Cycle.
In the following explanation of the invention, the word “Scroll” can refer to either the traditional orbiting scroll design, or to what is commonly referred to as a Spinning or Co-rotating scroll design.
For power generation, a preferred embodiment employs five (5) major components within the container housing, including an expander, generator, pump, condenser, and evaporator. A scroll expander is used to extract power from the working fluid and move it into the condenser, while a scroll liquid pump, or other rotating liquid pump, such as a gear or vane pump, is used to pump the working fluid through the evaporator. The pump, expander, and generator are aligned on the same shaft, with the evaporation process occurring inside the shaft and the condensation process occurring along the containment shell of the container housing. The end result of such preferred embodiment is the production of electrical energy by moving heat from a high temperature source to a low temperature source.
For an ORC, refrigerant can be used as the working fluid to extract heat from a variety of waste heat applications, such as solar power, geothermal, or waste heat from power production or manufacturing processes. For a Rankine Cycle, steam can be used as the working fluid to extract heat from burning fossil fuels or high temperature geothermal.
For heat pumping/refrigeration, a preferred embodiment also employs five (5) major components within the container housing, including a compressor, motor, expander, condenser, and evaporator, although the expander could be replaced with a capillary tube or expansion valve as used in a traditional heat pump/refrigeration cycle. A scroll compressor is used to compress the working fluid from the evaporator and to supply it to the condenser, while a scroll expander is used to expand the liquid from the condenser and to supply it as a two-phase gas to the evaporator. The expander, compressor, and motor are located on the same shaft, with the condensation process occurring inside the shaft and the evaporation process occurring along the containment shell of the container housing. The end result of such preferred embodiment is the use of electrical energy to move heat from a low temperature source to a high temperature source.
For a heat pump cycle, refrigerant can be used as the working fluid to move heat from ambient air to a heated area. For a refrigeration cycle, refrigerant can be used to remove heat from a cooled area to the ambient air.
Another system variation can be readily realized through the integration into a common construction of both an ORC and a refrigeration cycle, with the ORC being utilized to power the refrigeration cycle. Depending upon the net power difference, either a generator (excess power generated from ORC) or motor (deficiency in power generation from ORC) or combination motor and generator can be used. A preferred form of such system includes six (6) major components within the container housing, including a compressor-expander, a motor/generator, a pump-expander, high and low pressure evaporator portions, and a condenser, certain components of which may be designed to operate in accordance with U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/574,771, filed Aug. 9, 2011 (DN8108).
In such system, the compressor-expander has two functions: on the outer portion of such compressor-expander refrigerant from the low pressure evaporator is compressed to be provided to the intermediate pressure condenser; on the inner portion of such compressor-expander refrigerant from the high pressure evaporator is expanded to be provided to the intermediate pressure condenser. The pump-expander also has two functions: on the outer portion of such pump-expander liquid refrigerant from the intermediate pressure condenser is expanded to be provided to the low pressure evaporator; on the inner portion of the pump-expander the liquid refrigerant from the intermediate pressure condenser is pumped to the high pressure evaporator. The compressor-expander, motor/generator, and pump-expander are all located on the same shaft. The high pressure evaporation process occurs inside the hollow shaft while the intermediate pressure condensation process occurs along the inside of the containment shell. The low pressure evaporation process occurs in an evaporator external to the containment shell inside a cooled space.
The present invention may thus be encompassed within and practiced by various constructions that incorporate all the rotary components within a single container housing, including systems such as the three (3) unique, preferred constructions noted hereinabove. Such design decreases the risk of refrigerant leakage, reduces overall system cost, due to the integration of components, and simplifies the energy cycle, which increases reliability, by eliminating all piping between components.
In addition, the unique design of such systems increases system efficiency and decreases system complexity, including by placing all the rotating equipment on a single shaft. For a refrigeration/heat pump cycle the design increases efficiency by replacing an expansion valve with an expander to recover power in the expansion process.
Although the preferred construction is described here, it may be necessary in some cases to place some of the components discretely in some ORC, heat pump and refrigeration cycle applications. Such alternate configurations are obvious and included herein.
In referring to the drawings:
With reference now to the drawings, where like identification symbols in any given figure refer to like items, but where such identification symbols may vary from figure to figure,
From the foregoing, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the scroll expander of
The scroll expander operates to extract power from the working fluid provided thereto at numbered-square-3 and to move the working fluid into the condenser, as at numbered-square-4, while the scroll liquid pump operates to pump the working fluid provided from the condenser at numbered-square-1 to the evaporator at numbered-square-2 and through the evaporator to numbered-suare-3. The pump, expander, and generator are aligned on the same shaft, with the evaporation process occurring inside the shaft and the condensation process occurring along the containment shell of the container housing. The end result of such preferred embodiment is the production of electrical energy by moving heat from a high temperature source to a low temperature source.
From the foregoing, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the scroll compressor of
The scroll compressor operates to compress the working fluid provided thereto from the evaporator at numbered-square-1 and to move the working fluid into the condenser, as at numbered-square-2, while the scroll expander operates to expand the working fluid provided as a liquid from the condenser at numbered-square-3 and to provide it to the evaporator at numbered-square-4 as a two-phase gas. The expander, compressor, and motor are aligned on the same shaft, with the condensation process occurring inside the shaft and the evaporation process occurring along the containment shell of the container housing. The end result of such preferred embodiment is the use of electrical energy to move heat from a low temperature source to a high temperature source. For a heat pump cycle, refrigerant can be used as the working fluid to move heat from ambient air to a heated area. For a refrigeration cycle, refrigerant can be used to remove heat from a cooled area to the ambient air.
From the foregoing, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the scroll compressor-expander of
It should be further apparent that the intermediate pressure to high pressure pumping process, marked or designated in
The design and operation of individual components of such construction are known from the prior art and/or from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/574,771, filed Aug. 9, 2011 (DN8108), incorporated herein by reference thereto, and those skilled in the art will appreciate and understood from
Somewhat similarly, the outer portion of the pump-expander of
As can be observed from
If desired by a user, an optional fin array construction circled-A can be readily added to the outside of the containment shell of
A large spiral fin circled-B could also be added to the inside wall of the containment shell circled-C of
A spiral fin system or channel can also optionally be added inside the hollow shaft in order to increase heat transfer surface area. Such fin systems can take various forms, including the two preferred, alternative configurations depicted in
Various other and additional changes and modifications are also possible. Among the changes and modifications contemplated is the use with the low pressure evaporator of a set of both external and internal fins, depicted as components circled-T and circled-U in
It is also envisioned that, in order to minimize overall cost, the expander of
In light of all the foregoing, it should thus be apparent to those skilled in the art that there has been shown and described a compact energy cycle construction of a unique design that integrates within a compact container rotating components that share a common shaft along which working fluid transits between rotary working fluid treatment devices to flow toroidally within the container as the construction operates as or in accordance with an energy cycle. However, it should also be apparent that, within the principles and scope of the invention, many changes are possible and contemplated, including in the details, materials, and arrangements of parts which have been described and illustrated to explain the nature of the invention. Thus, while the foregoing description and discussion addresses certain preferred embodiments or elements of the invention, it should further be understood that concepts of the invention, as based upon the foregoing description and discussion, may be readily incorporated into or employed in other embodiments and constructions without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following claims are intended to protect the invention broadly as well as in the specific form shown, and all changes, modifications, variations, and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention, which is limited only by the claims which follow.
This patent application claims priority to the provisional patent application having Ser. No. 61/687,464, filed on Apr. 25, 2012, which claims priority as a continuation-in-part patent application to the patent application having Ser. No. 13/507,779, filed on Jul. 30, 2012, now Publication No. US 2013-0036762 A1, which claims priority to the provisional patent application having Ser. No. 61/574,771, filed Aug. 9, 2011, now expired.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61574771 | Aug 2011 | US | |
| 61687464 | Apr 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13507779 | Jul 2012 | US |
| Child | 13986349 | US |
