Power plants – Motor operated by expansion and/or contraction of a unit of... – Mass is a solid
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-08
2001-02-27
Nguyen, Hoang (Department: 3748)
Power plants
Motor operated by expansion and/or contraction of a unit of...
Mass is a solid
C060S508000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192683
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a device for converting a thermal energy into an electrical energy, and including a working circuit with a working fluid for driving a turbo-engine and a plurality of heat exchangers through which, alternatively, cold and hot medium flows and in each of which is arranged an expansion element which expands or contracts dependent on the temperature of the medium and the expansion and contraction of which is transmitted to the working circuit by a buffer storage.
Up to present, the conversion of thermal energy into mechanical or electrical energy was effected with unecological means (internal combustion engines), uneconomical means (steam engines), or machines the functioning of which was associated with technical difficulties (hot gas or Stirling engines). Thus, the primary drawback of Stirling engines consists in that they should operate with high temperature differences in order to achieve a rapid cooling or heating of the expansion medium. The heat exchangers, which permit to achieve the desired aim are expensive, and the required seals, pistons and other components cannot yet be produced with an adequate quality with the contemporary technology. A comparatively satisfactory power up to the present could only be obtained from apparatuses which produce exclusively radiant heat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,914 discloses a hot water engine for converting the thermal energy of the type described above according to the preamble of claim
1
. The drawback of this device consists in that the working circuit is directly connected with the heat exchanges via a buffer storage. This means that numerous and long pressure and suction conduits need be heat-insulated to insure functioning of the device and, therefore, only liquid expansion medium can be used.
Proceeding from this known state of the art, it was proposed that for storing a force, a buffer storage, which is formed as a spring, be associated with each heat exchanger, with each spring being connected with a piston of a pressure cylinder the working chamber of which is connected by respective controllable valves and by suction and pressure conduits with the working circuit for driving a turbine with a generator.
The hot water engine according to the present invention permitted to avoid the problems of the prior art, while the number and the size of the heat exchanges and the driving pistons were increased to such a degree that the expansion medium has sufficient time for converting all of the delivered energy. The process is conducted rather slowly, however, separate cylinders can produce a much larger force, and the large number of expansion and pressure elements provide for a uniform oil circulation. A smaller speed permitted to eliminate the problems associated with Stirling processes to a most possible extent. These are dissipation due to pressure, gas and friction losses, dead space effect, small efficiency, heat and vibration losses, unfavorable piston control, and high gas velocity.
Advantageously, the expansion and contraction element is formed as a steel plate the temperature-dependent bulging and straightening of which acts on the spring.
In another advantageous embodiment, a liquid or gaseous medium is used as the expansion and contraction element, the changes of volume of which are transmitted to the spring via a pressure cylinder.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3152554 (1964-10-01), Kofink
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patent: 3339077 (1967-08-01), Shapiro
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patent: 4300350 (1981-11-01), Becker
patent: 4439987 (1984-04-01), Rideout
patent: 2906658 (1980-08-01), None
patent: 19719190 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 0175029 (1986-03-01), None
patent: 2385910 (1978-10-01), None
Brown & Wood LLP
Nguyen Hoang
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