2697results about "Working fluid for engines" patented technology

An impeller according to an example of the present invention comprises a hub, and at least one blade supported by the hub. The impeller has a deployed configuration in which the blade extends away from the hub, and a stored configuration in which the impeller is radially compressed, for example by folding the blade towards the hub. The impeller may comprise a plurality of blades, arranged in blade rows, to facilitate radial compression of the blades. The outer edge of a blade may have a winglet, and the base of the blade may have an associated indentation to facilitate folding of the blade.

A variable speed wind turbine employing a rotor connected to a multiplicity of synchronous generators with wound field or permanent magnet rotors. A passive rectifier and an inverter are used for power transfer back to the grid. A Turbine Control Unit (TCU) commands a required generator torque based on rotor speed and power output of the turbine inverters. Torque is controlled by regulating the DC current by control of the inverter. A main-shaft-damping filter is provided by measurement of the DC bus voltage. In high winds the turbine remains at a constant average output power through a constant torque command and a varying pitch command to a rotor pitch servo system. A set point is fixed at the inverter output such that output VAR load is minimized running the turbine at very nearly unity power factor. Dynamic VAR and power factor control is provided by a separate VAR apparatus.

A variable speed wind turbine employing a rotor connected to a multiplicity of synchronous generators with wound field or permanent magnet rotors. A passive rectifier and an inverter are used for power transfer back to the grid. A Turbine Control Unit (TCU) commands a required generator torque based on rotor speed and power output of the turbine inverters. Torque is controlled by regulating the DC current by control of the inverter. A main-shaft-damping filter is provided by measurement of the DC bus voltage. In high winds the turbine remains at a constant average output power through a constant torque command and a varying pitch command to a rotor pitch servo system. A set point is fixed at the inverter output such that output VAR load is minimized running the turbine at very nearly unity power factor. Dynamic VAR and power factor control is provided by a separate VAR apparatus.

The invention relates to an island network with at least one energy generator, using regenerative energy sources, whereby the energy generator is preferably a wind energy plant with a first synchronous generator, a DC link, at least one first power rectifier and a power inverter, a second synchronous generator and an internal combustion engine which may be coupled with the second synchronous generator. A fully controllable wind energy unit (10) and an electromagnetic coupling (34) between the second synchronous generator (32) and the internal combustion engine (30) are provided in order to establish an island network in which the internal combustion engine can be switched off completely, so long as the wind energy unit is generating enough power for all connected users with an efficiency which is as high as possible.

An impeller according to an example of the present invention comprises a hub, and at least one blade supported by the hub. The impeller has a deployed configuration in which the blade extends away from the hub, and a stored configuration in which the impeller is radially compressed, for example by folding the blade towards the hub. The impeller may comprise a plurality of blades, arranged in blade rows, to facilitate radial compression of the blades. The outer edge of a blade may have a winglet, and the base of the blade may have an associated indentation to facilitate folding of the blade.

A method, system and computer program product enhance the commercial value of electrical power produced from a wind turbine production facility. Features include the use of a premier power conversion device that provides an alternative source of power for supplementing an output power of the wind turbine generation facility when lull periods for wind speed appear. The invention includes a communications infrastructure and coordination mechanism for establishing a relationship with another power production facility such that when excess electrical power is produced by the wind turbine facility, the excess may be provided to the power grid while the other energy production facility cuts back on its output production by a corresponding amount. A tracking mechanism keeps track of the amount of potential energy that was not expended at the other facility and places this amount in a virtual energy storage account, for the benefit of the wind turbine facility. When, the wind turbine power production facility experiences a shortfall in its power production output it may make a request to the other source of electric power, and request that an increase its power output on behalf of the wind turbine facility. This substitution of one power production facility for another is referred to herein as a virtual energy storage mechanism. Furthermore, another feature of the present invention is the use of a renewal power exchange mechanism that creates a market for trading renewable units of power, which have been converted into “premier power” and / or “guaranteed” by secondary sources of power source to provide a reliable source of power to the power grid as required by contract.

An apparatus is disclosed for a turbine for generating electrical power from water or air flow comprising at least one rotor disk having a plurality of hydrofoil blades, a guide vanes, a cylindrical housing, and a generator means. A rim generator comprising a magnet race rotor rim and fixed stator coils in the housing is used. The apparatus is fitted with a screen to stop the ingress of debris and marine life, and a skirt augmenter device to reduce the Betz effect. The apparatus is preferably for sub-sea deployment and driven by tidal currents, but may be powered by river current or wave driven air or by wind. The apparatus may be deployed on at least one telescoping pole, tethered to the sea-bed and kept buoyant by buoyant concrete in the housing, inserted in a dam, under a barge or in a tidal power array.

An apparatus is disclosed for a turbine for generating electrical power from water or air flow comprising at least one rotor disk having a plurality of hydrofoil blades, a guide vanes, a cylindrical housing, and a generator means. A rim generator comprising a magnet race rotor rim and fixed stator coils in the housing is used. The apparatus is fitted with a screen to stop the ingress of debris and marine life, and a skirt augmenter device to reduce the Betz effect. The apparatus is preferably for sub-sea deployment and driven by tidal currents, but may be powered by river current or wave driven air or by wind. The apparatus may be deployed on at least one telescoping pole, tethered to the sea-bed and kept buoyant by buoyant concrete in the housing, inserted in a dam, under a barge or in a tidal power array.

An impeller includes a hub, and a plurality of blades supported by the hub, the blades being arranged in at least two blade rows. The impeller has a deployed configuration in which the blades extend away from the hub, and a stored configuration in which at least one of the blades is radially compressed, for example by folding the blade towards the hub. The impeller may also have an operational configuration in which at least some of the blades are deformed from the deployed configuration upon rotation of the impeller when in the deployed configuration. The outer edge of one or more blades may have a winglet, and the base of the blades may have an associated indentation to facilitate folding of the blades.

The present invention concerns systems for storing energy and using the stored energy to generate electrical energy or drive a propeller (505). In particular, the present invention provides a method of storing energy comprising: providing a gaseous input, producing a cryogen from the gaseous input; storing the cryogen; expanding the cryogen; using the expanded cryogen to drive a turbine (320) and recovering cold energy from the expansion of the cryogen. The present invention also provides a cryogenic energy storage system comprising: a source of cryogen; a cryogen storage facility (370); means for expanding the cryogen; a turbine (320) capable of being driven by the expanding cryogen; and means (340, 350) for recovering cold energy released during expansion of the cryogen.

A peristaltic pump 10 for use in ophthalmic surgery includes a housing 12, a pump head 14 having plurality of rollers 16, a backing plate 18 attached to the housing 12, and a length of surgical tubing 50. The rollers 16 and backing plate 18 cooperate to pinch the length of surgical tubing 50 to peristaltically pump fluids from a surgical site to a collection bag 64. At least one of the pump head 14 and the backing plate 18 is moveable, during operation of the pump 10, from a tubing pinched position to a tubing vent position. This movement allows the tubing 50 to be vented by removing the pinched closure of the tubing 50.

A method for generating power comprising the steps of feeding water into an electrolyzer, providing electricity to operate the electrolyzer to split at least some of the water into hydrogen and oxygen, and decompressing one or both of the hydrogen and oxygen to generate power. Water can be pressurized prior to being fed into the electrolyzer. The hydrogen and oxygen, which can be stored in insulated storage vessels, can be decompressed isentropically to yield energy, which can be used to power a generator. Heat can be extracted from the hydrogen and oxygen, such as through heat exchangers. Hydrogen and oxygen can combine in an internal combustion process to produce work and heat, which can be recycled into the thermodynamic process.

A piezoelectric micro-blower capable of efficiently conveying compressive fluid without use of a check valve and ensuring a sufficient flow rate. The micro-blower has a blower body with a first wall and a second wall. Openings are formed in the respective walls and face a center of a diaphragm. An inflow path allowing the openings to communicate with the outside is formed between the walls. By applying a voltage to a piezoelectric element to cause the diaphragm to vibrate, a part of the first wall close to the first opening vibrates. Thus, gas can be drawn from the inflow path and discharged from the opening in the second wall.

A gas turbine system is configured to inhibit release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in such a manner that methane is combusted with oxygen that has been separated from air by an oxygen generator to allow an oxygen combustion type gas turbine to be driven. Carbon dioxide emitted from the turbine is fed under pressure into an underground coal bed along with an air component after separating the oxygen from the air and fixed into the coal bed, and the coal bed methane is collected above the ground by a gas drive action of the gas and supplied to the gas turbine as fuel.

A wind powered turbine with low voltage ride-through capability. An inverter is connected to the output of a turbine generator. The generator output is conditioned by the inverter resulting in an output voltage and current at a frequency and phase angle appropriate for transmission to a three-phase utility grid. A frequency and phase angle sensor is connected to the utility grid operative during a fault on the grid. A control system is connected to the sensor and to the inverter. The control system output is a current command signal enabling the inverter to put out a current waveform, which is of the same phase and frequency as detected by the sensor. The control system synthesizes current waveform templates for all three-phases based on a sensed voltage on one phase and transmits currents to all three-phases of the electrical system based on the synthesized current waveforms.

A plant, generator and rotating member for the production of power from currents in a body of water, comprising a fixedly mounted of floating structure, and a plurality of replaceable generator units (750) supported by the structure and which are driven by the water currents. The structure comprises arms (615, 720, 730). The rotating member (400) comprises a plurality of member sections (410) rotatably mounted on a shaft (405) between an end piece (407) and a tip (406). The generator comprises a contra-rotating rotor (550) and stator (800) connected to respective shafts (500, 820) and bearings, where the stator frame (800) is axially supported (810) on the first shaft (500) and the first shaft (500) at one end thereof is axially supported (810) on the stator frame. The generator according to the invention can be used for the production of electric power, and as an electromotor for the production of mechanical rotational energy.

A vehicle-mounted generator is powered by relative wind produced by the combination of ambient wind and motion of the vehicle, or by movement of water when mounted on the hull of a water-borne vehicle. A rigid cylindrical housing forms an enclosed interior chamber. Wind asymmetrically enters the chamber through an inlet located on one side of a central longitudinal drive shaft, and exits through an outlet located at the top of the housing. A spiraling parabolic deck forms a floor of the interior chamber, and spirals around the central longitudinal shaft from the bottom of the housing to the outlet at the top. A turbine mounted on the drive shaft within the outlet converts energy of the exiting wind to mechanical energy. An electrical generator converts the mechanical energy into electrical energy for recharging a battery or powering an electric motor.

Axial flow devices using rigid spiral band profiled blade catenaries attached variably along and around an axially elongated profiled hub, of axially oriented profile section sequences 75 mapped relative to truncated cones-of-generation. Upon rotation and lubricity-masked progression through axial planes-of-shear, this time-domain sequence travels in 2-dimensional axial-datum-plane-relative path-excursions and ejects frictional adhesions via anguillar reverse vortex street thrust due to an after-body accelerating wave shape-sequence 48. This guides bound vortex pressures at linear path-velocity substantially parallel to the collective plane-of-shear, conferring higher differential pressures through path-vector-addition, improved force-vector orientation, extended laminar flows, lower form drag and tip vorticity. As a wind turbine, path-vectors are added to inflow, ducting an increased mass flow inward for increased power extraction per diameter. As a propeller, path-vector-subtraction guides the wave front flight-path-transverse, allowing higher flight velocities and improving thrust-per-torque through enhanced force vectors and mass flow rates.

A turbine generator utilizing a passive high pressure fluid source such as a natural gas well head. The generator includes a core and lead wires encapsulated in a dielectric medium to isolate current-bearing components from the motivating fluid, thereby preventing carbon bridging and reducing the explosion hazard when the motivating fluid is a hydrocarbon. The turbine generator includes a rotor that utilizes the full length as an impingement surface for imparting momentum to the rotor, thereby maintaining a compact design that reduces the overall footprint of the turbine generator. Fluid exits the generator via horizontal passages that penetrate the lower extremities of the turbine generator, preventing the buildup of condensation in the unit.

A system for adjusting resonant frequencies in a linear compressor comprising, in the interior of a shell: a linear motor: a cylinder; a piston reciprocating inside the cylinder; and an actuating means operatively coupling the piston to the linear motor, said system comprising: a detecting means to detect a load imposed to the linear motor, in an operational condition of the latter related to the gas pressure in the discharge thereof; and a frequency adjusting means operatively associated with the detecting means and with the resonant assembly, in order to define, as a function of said operational condition, a frequency adjustment, by varying at least one of the values related to the mass of the resonant assembly and to the average stroke of the piston, to a value of the mechanical resonance frequency corresponding to the electrical supply frequency.

A wind power generation system having a group of wind turbine generators includes a superior controller having a generation power recording memory to record a sum of a generation power of the group of wind turbine generators and a charge and discharge power of a power storage system, a charge and discharge power command computing device for computing a charge and discharge power command for the power storage system in a second period by making use of information of the output power in a first period computed in the output power computing unit and information of a detection value at the present of the generation power recording memory, and a charge and discharge power control device.

A current power generator includes a vertical support member mounted to the seabed and horizontal support members mounted to the vertical support member. Generators are mounted between the horizontal support members. A rotatable shaft is operatively connected to each of the generators such that when the shaft rotates, the generator generates electricity. Blades mounted to the shaft are capable of rotation in response to water current. The generators are pivotal relative to the horizontal support members in response to changing current flow direction.

A power generating system comprises a bluff (non-streamlined) body placed in a fluid stream at ninety degrees to the flow direction for creating a von Karman vortex street behind the body. In the process, feedback forces are generated that excite the bluff body into oscillation. The bluff body oscillatory movements are coupled to and energize a power generator. An impedance matching system is employed for electrically varying the natural frequency characteristics of the bluff body such that, over a relatively wide range of fluid flow velocities, the bluff body oscillates at a resonant frequency of the body for maximum energy transfer from the fluid stream to the bluff body.

The author suggests a new method and a new inexpensive, large blade-rope type wind rotor, that will be suspended at high altitude and produce huge quantities of energy. The air installation embodiment includes (FIG. 25): propeller 220, wing 226, rope transmission 229, electric generator 12 located at ground. Water rotors can utilize energy of ocean and sea streams. The invention contains 11 projects: 6 for air, 1 for a river, 3 for the sea and ocean, and 1 for ships. They have a power capacity of up to 60 MgW (air), up to 200 MgW (water) for one unit. The suggested installations have the following advantages: 1. Huge power production capacity-up to 5000-10000 times more than conventional ground-based rotor designs. 2. The rotor operates at high altitude of 1-14 kilometers, where wind has high speed and high stability (permanent flows). 3. The installation is much less expensive compared to conventional currently-employed windmills, partly because no tower is necessary to fix the rotor in space. 4. Wind energy is free -environmentally friendly.

An integrated, wind-pumped hydro power generation system includes at least one wind turbine generator device configured to generate output power for a common bus, and at least one hydro generator device configured to generate output power for the common bus. The hydro generator device is powered by water flow. The wind turbine generator device and the hydro generator device include corresponding local controls associated therewith, and a set of supervisory controls is in communication with the common bus and each of the local controls.

A power generating system comprising a bluff (non-streamlined) body placed in a fluid stream at ninety degrees to the flow direction creates a von Karman vortex street behind the body. In the process, feedback forces are generated that excite the bluff body into oscillation. The bluff body oscillatory movements are coupled to and energize a power generator. Means are employed for electrically varying the natural frequency characteristics of the bluff body such that, over a relatively wide range of fluid flow velocities, the bluff body oscillates at a resonant frequency of the body for maximum energy transfer from the fluid stream to the bluff body.

A refrigeration apparatus (7200) includes a heat pump circuit (7201) and a power generation circuit (7100). The power generation circuit (7100) includes an evaporator (701) including a first and a second heat exchanger (710a, 710b), a turbine (702), a condenser (703) and a pump (704). The first heat exchanger (710a) absorbs heat rejected from the heat pump circuit (7201) into a power generation circuit (7100) while the second heat exchanger (710b) further heats the fluid. The power generation circuit (7100) includes a bypass (707) which allows a portion of working liquid to enter the turbine (702) without passing through the evaporator (701). A heat pump (704) with similar bypass is also disclosed. Also disclosed are dual stage turbine design and a nozzle (10300) for a turbine which includes two fluid paths (1011, 1014) that adapted to receive and mix the liquid and vapour streams of working fluid, so that the liquid working fluid is vaporized by the heat from the vapour working fluid.

A compound cycle engine having an output shaft; at least two rotary units each defining an internal combustion engine, a velocity turbine, and a turbocharger is discussed. The velocity turbine includes a rotor in driving engagement with the output shaft between two of the rotary units. The exhaust port of each rotary unit is in fluid communication with the flowpath of the velocity turbine upstream of its rotor. The outlet of the compressor of the turbocharger is in fluid communication with the inlet port of each rotary unit. The inlet of the pressure turbine of the turbocharger is in fluid communication with the flowpath of the velocity turbine downstream of its rotor. A method of compounding at least two rotary engines is also discussed.

A rotor blade tip arrangement is provided in which winglets extend from the end of rotor blade aerofoil walls. These winglets incorporate passages which extend to coolant apertures or holes in order to present a coolant flow about the tip of the turbine rotor blade. The winglets define at least an open ended gutter channel in order to inhibit leakage flow across the tip arrangement from a pressure side P to a suction side S. The coolant flow facilitates cooling of the arrangement despite any heating caused by leakage flow across the arrangement.