Power generation methods and systems

Abstract

Thermodynamic energy methods and systems that provides all electrical energy and heat needs of a single residential house, commercial business or office building. The system is small enough to be stored inside the house or building. The system can generate excess electrical energy which can be sold over a power grid and allow for the house owner, building owner or energy provider (utility company) to provide income. The method and system can have combined energy conversion efficiency up to approximately 97%. Components can include amorphous materials, and the mono-tube steam generator boiler which is explosion proof when punctured, and only emits a puff of steam when punctured. The tubes can be built to pressure vessel code. The invention can use steam generators to power A / C units, domestic hot water, hot water air space heaters, other loads such as pools and spas and underground piping to eliminate ice and snow. Additionally, the invention can be used to power vehicles such as cars, and the like. Other embodiments can use thermodynamic energy methods and systems that provides electrical energy and heat needs of a residence, commercial business, or office building, that include supertropically expanding ammonia vapor against a vacuum, as generated by chemosorption, in order to convert moderate amounts of heat into mechanical energy at high efficiencies. A supertropic package system can include a source of ammonia / water, a thermal generator for heating the source of ammonia / water and generating ammonia gas, a positive displacement device for expanding the gas, and generating electricity from a power source driven by the expander.

Description

[0001] This is a continuation of pending application Ser. No. 10 / 826,652, filed Apr. 16, 2004 which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application 60 / 544,466, and this invention is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 414,672 filed Apr. 16, 2003, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 372,869 filed Apr. 16, 2002, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.FIELD OF INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to energy generation and power supply systems, and in particular to methods and systems that can meet all energy demands of a home or business or industrial use, and allows for excess electrical energy to be available to be sold over transmission grids, and in particular to expansive fluid systems and methods such as steam generation for generating electrical energy, and using co-generated heat byproducts for domestic hot water, room heating and swimming pool / spa heating, and for pow...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0021] A primary objective of the invention is to provide a more efficient method and system to generate electrical power and heat to supply individual homeowners and businesses to make them independent of the traditional electrical company at a much lower cost / efficiency.

Problems solved by technology

Many problems currently exist for traditional power generation methods and systems.

Alternative fuels are not practical sources for taking care of all the world's electrical energy needs.

For example, solar energy power is too low, not reliable and very expensive.

Wind energy is inconsistent, not dependable, expensive, and high maintenance.

Hydrogen energy has no existing infrastructure to support, distribution.

Still, there are more than two billion people in the world who do not have access to electricity.

Therefore, the cost of electricity will keep going up.

Current electric utility companies are limited by production capacity to increase their electricity generation.

To increase generation, these companies must build additional plants which require substantial capital investments, political issues of where to locate to the plants, lengthy permit procedures lasting several years, cost overruns, which make the traditional method of building additional plants undesirable.

Using nuclear power, oil burning plants, and coal burning plants, adds further environmental problems for those seeking to build electricity generating power plants.

Thus, building more and more plants is not a practical solution.

Next, the electricity being transmitted loses efficiency while it is being transmitted loses energy (efficiency) over transmission lines (i.e. wires, substations, transformers) so that by the time the electricity reaches the end user, an additional 28% (twenty eight percent) energy (efficiency) is lost.

Co-generation heat is the amount of heat that is wasted in the development of the electric power at the plant because heat cannot be transmitted over long distances.

But there still are transmission losses of some 28% (twenty eight percent) so that by the time electricity reaches the end user only some 22% (twenty two percent) of the actual energy source is converted to electrical power.

However, none of these patents solves all the problems of the wasteful energy conversion methods and systems currently being used.

Currently, it is not possible to convert moderate amounts of heat from external sources into mechanical energy.

Steam turbines work on high rotational speeds that increase to impractical values when the machine is scaled down in size.

Smaller displacement steam expanders would have a too low efficiency.

The only alternative external combustion engine in the range of up to a few hundred kilowatts would be the Sterling engine, but it cannot be produced at a compatible cost in relation to internal combustion engines.

Besides, as it only works on the specific heat of an inert gas over varying temperatures, the size of a Sterling engine potentially is much larger than for an according steam, or internal combustion engine and so it must work on very high pressure levels to increase the mass of gas contained in the cycle and thus to keep the machine size down.

Again, leakage sets the technological limits, though likely economic ones do sooner.

This would do a little more than double the effect, but it would too much enlarge the cylinder and vessels to use it all.

As previously mentioned, the inventors are not aware of patents that solve all the problems of the wasteful energy conversion methods and systems currently being used.

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