Heat and cold-generating machine

Details Heat and cold-generating machine Heat and cold-generating machine

1997-07-24

2000-02-29

Nguyen, Hoang

Power plants

Motor operated by expansion and/or contraction of a unit of...

Unit of mass is a gas which is heated or cooled in one of a...

60526, F01B 2910

Patent

active

060294493

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns a hot and cold engine, operating based on a regenerative gas cyclical process, and having at least two pistons that separate at least three processing chambers with respectively at least one in-line arranged heat exchanger and at least one regenerator arranged in series with the heat exchanger.
Hot and cold engines that operate based on a regenerative gas cyclical process, for example based on the Stirling or Vuilleumier cyclical process, have been known for a long time, e.g. from the GP-PS 136 195. Such engines have two pistons that move linearly inside a pressure-sealed housing and jointly delimit a warm working volume. One of these pistons delimits a hot working volume admitted with heat inside the housing and the other piston delimits a cold working volume, wherein the three working volumes are connected to each other, with an in-line arrangement of regenerators and heat exchangers, and wherein a drive and/or a control for the pistons is provided.
Despite the undisputable advantages of the hot and cold engines operating based on a regenerative gas cyclical process, these engines have not been used in practical operations so far, primarily because of design problems, which have so far prevented the realization of the theoretical advantages of such engines in practical operations.
With hot and cold engines operating based on a regenerative gas cyclical process, which are used for the heating and cooling of buildings and vehicles and are provided with a heat exchanger functioning as heat source that is admitted by environmental air, there is the danger that the air heat exchanger freezes at air temperatures around the freezing point and high humidity levels. In that case, the cold heat exchanger of the engine also freezes because of the continued engine operation. This danger of freezing exists even if interruptions occur in the cold cycle of the engine, e.g. if the circulating pump fails.
In order to eliminate this danger, it is known to thaw out the air heat exchanger or to heat it before it freezes. This requires expensive heating devices, which are not only very undesirable, but also require extensive controls that normally also result in a shutting down of the complete engine.
It is the object of the invention to create a hot and cold engine operating based on a regenerative gas cyclical process, for which the freezing danger for the cold heat exchanger is removed in an energy-efficient way with simple design means and simple regulation technology.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The solution for the above object is achieved in that at least one of the regenerators assigned to the cold processing chamber is provided with at least one bypass with a control valve, in order to change the amount of heat transferred via the cold heat exchanger cycle between process gas and surrounding area.
As a result of the inventive design having a bypass leading to at least one of the regenerators assigned to the cold heat exchanger, the bypass valve is opened for limited time periods if icing occurs at the air heat exchanger, so that no heat is drawn from the process gas in the regenerator circumvented by the bypass and the cold heat exchanger arranged in the engine is in this way raised to a temperature above the freezing point by the heat coming from the warm processing chamber, which simultaneously de-ices the air heat exchanger. In this way, a freezing of the cold heat exchanger is avoided with continued engine operation, even if the circulating pump in the cycle belonging to the cold heat exchanger fails.
For one preferred embodiment of the invention, the bypass line is designed in the shape of a through opening in the regenerator, which is closed off on both ends during the normal engine operation. This results in a regenerator design without dead space.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the bypass line is closed off by a plunger, which can be moved by an electromagnet counter to the force of a pull-back spring. This modification according to th

REFERENCES:
patent: 3688512 (1972-09-01), Prast et al.
patent: 5400599 (1995-03-01), Sekiya et al.

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