Renewable electricity and / or water generation equipment

Abstract

The present invention relates to a power and / or water generating apparatus having an absorption heat transformer (AHT), a heat pump, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) for generating power, and a coupling between the AHT and the ORT for recovering the ORC waste heat. The AHT consists of a low pressure evaporator and a vapor absorption binary (VAB) reactor forming a coupling between the AHT and the ORT. The VAB reactor includes an absorption section with an absorber heat exchanger and a distillation section provided by a rotary centrifugal unit containing a submerged rotating packed bed.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a renewable power and atmospheric water generator using a regenerative heat of solution (REHOS) thermodynamic cycle. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventional Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) machines employ a dehumidification concept that involves cooling atmospheric air below the dew point temperature and condensing water from the air in a low-temperature evaporator heat exchanger coil. The cooled air is used as a refrigerant for cycle heat removal in a high-temperature condensing heat exchanger coil. A Vapor Compression (VC) refrigeration unit is coupled between the two coils to complete the cycle of the classical AWG machine. This AWG process is primarily powered by electricity, which is used to drive the VC chiller plant. Due to the high cost of electricity, other options for chiller plants were investigated and a simple form of Absorption Heat Transformer (AHT) was developed as an alternative to VC chiller plants.

[0003] In the AWG described in International Application No. PCT / IB2021 / 04031, a novel and simplified AHT is employed. The AHT represents a chiller plant solution that is powered by thermal energy (heat) and uses very little electricity, reducing the operating costs of the AWG system and therefore the cost of the water produced. Replacing the conventional VC chiller in the AWG with this simplified AHT represents a key step towards producing / extracting water at low cost from ambient air. The great potential and benefits to be gained from machines that use ambient thermal energy to produce water and / or electricity are well known. Summary of the Invention

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide an energy optimized generator that draws thermal energy in the form of sensible heat of water and / or air from the local surrounding environment and produces electricity and chilled water using the REHOS thermodynamic cycle.

[0005] According to the present invention, Contains a binary liquid-vapor mixture, A low pressure (LP) evaporator; Vapor Absorption Binary (VAB) Reactor and The absorption heat transformer (AHT) is The AHT is configured to extract thermal energy from an external heat source and create a temperature gradient that is used to act as a heat pump and drive an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) employing a high-pressure (HP) vapor expansion driven mechanism for the generation of electricity; The VAB reactor is An absorbing portion; Distillation section and Including, The absorber has an absorber heat exchanger (H / E) that is located inside the absorption section and takes in heat from the absorption section. The distillation section is (a) LP evaporator; (b) a working steam supply assembly for the steam expansion drive mechanism; a rotating centrifugal unit for increasing the volatile component concentration of the binary liquid-vapor mixture in the distillation outlet liquid used in both the The LP evaporator is arranged to extract heat from an external heat source; configured to receive the distillation outlet liquid from the distillation section for conversion to an LP evaporator vapor; A first return line is provided to supply LP evaporator vapor from the LP evaporator to the absorption section; The absorption section generates heat in a vapor absorption process within the absorption section; a working steam supply assembly incorporating an absorber H / E and configured to use heat from the absorber H / E within the absorption section to convert distillation outlet liquid from the absorption section into heated high pressure (HP) working steam; The HP working steam is supplied to a steam expansion drive mechanism connected to the generator; The LP exhaust steam from the steam expansion drive mechanism is connected to the absorption section of the VAB reactor through a second return line. Power and / or water generating equipment is provided. [The VAB reactor provides a regenerative coupling component between the AHT and ORC combined with low temperature heat upgrade for heat at a higher temperature than the high pressure operating temperature of the ORC vapor expansion drive. A second exhaust vapor return line from the expansion drive is used to reduce the mass flow requirement of the LP evaporator vapor through the absorption section of the distillation reactor.]

[0006] A further feature of the present invention provides for an external heat source, preferably waste heat or [very low grade] ambient temperature heat, taken directly from the environmental air or water.

[0007] Further features of the present invention provide a rotary centrifuge unit comprising a submerged rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor, and which employs high gravity (HiGee) process intensification technology.

[0008] A further feature of the present invention provides for the absorption section and distillation section to be provided as part of the overall element of the rotary centrifugal unit, with the absorption section provided adjacent the periphery of the rotary centrifugal unit and the absorber H / E provided as a conduit running along the absorption section.

[0009] A further feature of the invention provides for the absorber H / E conduit to be a coil running around the distillation section within the absorber section.

[0010] A further feature of the invention provides for an integral pump that moves the distillation outlet liquid, the pump being a pitot type pump, and a rotary centrifugal unit that provides the rotary drive for the pitot type pump including multiple pitot tubes arranged in a multi-stage cascade arrangement.

[0011] A further feature of the present invention provides a working steam supply assembly including a high pressure (HP) supply line for the distillation outlet liquid from the distillation section which is pumped through the absorber H / E to provide an HP working steam supply to the vapor expansion drive mechanism. [The concentrated NH3 binary liquid is pumped directly to the flash in the cooling coil of the absorber H / E to remove heat in the form of latent energy which is exported to the vapor expansion drive mechanism. In this embodiment of the invention, the absorber H / E provides a combined evaporative function and cooling, and no external HP evaporator is required.]

[0012] A further feature of the present invention provides for an HP working steam supply line extending from the absorber H / E to the vapor expansion drive mechanism, including a bypass return through the condenser heat exchanger (H / E) and a connection to a second return line to the absorber section of the VAB reactor.

[0013] A further feature of the present invention provides a bypass return that includes a pressure reducing valve.

[0014] A further feature of the present invention is a supply line for a heat transfer fluid pumped through the absorber H / E to pass through a flow path isolated from and in thermal communication with the second side of the HP evaporator, the heat transfer fluid being heated and delivered to the first side of the HP evaporator as a heated absorber output heat transfer fluid; a high pressure supply line for a distillation outlet liquid from the distillation section connected to the second side of the HP evaporator for extracting heat energy from the heat transfer fluid in the flow path and evaporating the distillation outlet liquid in the second side of the HP evaporator; Equipped with HP working steam is generated in an HP evaporator, resulting in a working steam supply assembly that provides HP steam supplied to a steam expansion drive mechanism.

[0015] A further feature of the present invention provides an absorber output heat transfer fluid flow path that includes a bypass away from the HP evaporator that provides a reduction in high temperature mass flow through the HP evaporator [and limits the power generated in the expansion turbine].

[0016] A further feature of the present invention provides an external heat source and provides ambient air that is isolated from the second side of the LP evaporator and is directed onto a first side of the LP evaporator in thermal communication with the second side of the LP evaporator having a low pressure supply line for the distillation outlet liquid from the distillation reactor that provides an air chilling heat exchanger (H / E) for extracting atmospheric water from the ambient air, the low pressure supply line being connected to the second side of the LP evaporator for evaporation of the distillation outlet liquid and for extraction of thermal energy from the ambient air.

[0017] A further feature of the present invention provides for a heat transfer liquid medium connected via a first branch to an LP evaporator having a liquid medium cooling flow path on a first side of the LP evaporator isolated from and in thermal communication with the second side of the LP evaporator, and a low pressure supply line for distillation outlet liquid from a distillation reactor connected to the second side of the LP evaporator for evaporation of the distillation outlet liquid and extraction of heat energy from the liquid medium in the liquid medium cooling flow path.

[0018] A further feature of the present invention provides for the liquid media cooling passage of the LP evaporator to be connected to an air chilling heat exchanger (H / E) for extracting atmospheric water from the air.

[0019] A further feature of the present invention provides for a dense liquid heat transfer medium, preferably water, to be supplied from an external heat source.

[0020] A further feature of the present invention is an absorption section provided as an absorber unit isolated from and in fluid communication with the rotating centrifugal unit, and a conduit running within the absorber unit, a conduit for a hot outlet from the heated periphery of the rotary centrifugal unit connected to and pumped by the absorber unit; a conduit for an outlet from the absorber unit connected to the rotating centrifugal unit; a conduit for a cold outlet from the cold center of the rotating centrifugal unit connected to: (a) below; and (b) below; (a) Second LP evaporator pump supplying the LP evaporator (b) HP absorber turbine pump supplying absorber H / E of absorber unit a conduit for an outlet from the LP evaporator connected to the absorber unit; and Provide absorber H / E, which is a conduit for the outlet from absorber H / E that is connected to a vapor expansion drive mechanism.

[0021] A further feature of the present invention provides for a first pump to be provided between the hot outlet from the rotating centrifugal unit and the absorber unit.

[0022] A further feature of the present invention provides a rotary centrifugal unit comprising a hydraulically driven rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor driven by radially inflowing liquid from a first pump through an absorber unit and a rotor having hydraulic turbine blades (Francis type). That is the thing.

[0023] A further feature of the present invention provides for a heated binary liquid of low volatile component (NH3) concentration to be pumped from the rotating centrifugal unit by hydraulic turbine blades and fed to the absorber unit via the first pump, the first pump being a boost pump.

[0024] A further feature of the present invention provides for the pressure applied by the first booster pump to serve to subcool the binary liquid of the lower volatility component concentration to provide a binary liquid of the higher volatility component concentration after vapor absorption in the absorber unit.

[0025] A further feature of the present invention provides for the distillate from the rotary centrifugal unit to be fed to the LP evaporator through a LP evaporator pump and to the absorber H / E of the absorber unit through a turbine pump.

[0026] A further feature of the present invention provides for the LP evaporator design pressure to be slightly higher than the combined absorber-distillation process pressure and the working vapor supply assembly pressure to be designed for the vapor expansion drive mechanism.

[0027] A further feature of the present invention provides for the vapor expansion driver to be an expansion turbine, or positive displacement expander.

[0028] A further feature of the present invention provides a binary liquid-vapor mixture that is an ammonia-water (NH3-H2O) mixture.

[0029] A further feature of the present invention provides for two different pressure levels to be achieved via two different pressure pumps or via one HP pump and a pressure reducing valve to reduce the pressure level of the LP evaporator pressure. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0030] These and other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof, given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a schematic process layout of a first open cycle water flow generating apparatus according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of the submerged high gravity (HIGEe) rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor used for NH3-H2O absorption-distillation in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 shows a cross section of an alternative centrifugal reactor (using water as the carrier for heat removal) combined with an internal multi-stage Pitot type liquid pump. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 shows a schematic process layout of a closed cycle airflow generating system for producing power and water from air. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 shows a cross section of a centrifugal reactor combined with an internal multi-stage Pitot type liquid pump for use in the process units of FIGS. 6 and 7 (using NH3 rich liquid as a carrier for heat removal). [Figure 6] FIG. 6 shows a schematic process layout of another embodiment of an air to power and water generator. [Figure 7]FIG. 7 shows a schematic process layout of a further embodiment of a generator for extracting power and water from air. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 shows the process layout of an open cycle water flow generator adapted for high power applications. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 shows a cross section of a centrifugal distillation reactor for use in the process unit of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] According to the present invention, a renewable power and atmospheric water generation system employing a regenerative dissolved heat of steam (REHOS) cycle is provided. More specifically, the present invention uses an absorption heat transformer (AHT) as a heat pump, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) for power generation, and a coupling between the AHT and the ORC to regenerate the ORC waste heat.

[0032] 1 and 2, a first embodiment of a renewable power and / or water (RPW) generator (100) with open cycle water flow operation is described. The AHT (102) consists of a low pressure (LP) evaporator (104) and a vapor absorption binary reactor (VABR or VAB reactor). The VAB reactor (106) forms the coupling between the AHT and the ORC and provides heat regeneration.

[0033] The VAB reactor (106) consists of a high temperature absorption section (108) for the volatile chemical vapors from the LP evaporator (104) to generate a temperature increase. Following the absorption section (108) is a distillation section (110) for recovering the volatile components in the more concentrated zeotropic binary mixture. The distillation section is cooled by an endothermic distillation process. The absorption section is provided with an absorber heat exchanger (H / E) (112).

[0034] In the embodiment herein, the volatile component is ammonia (NH3) and the binary liquid mixture is ammonia-water (NH3-H2O). Many different refrigerants form zeotropic mixtures that can be used. However, each binary combination provides operation in different temperature and pressure ranges and also has very specific conversion efficiencies.

[0035] For purposes of illustration, the distillation section (110) of the VAB reactor (106) is shown diagrammatically above the absorption section (108) in Figure 1. In accordance with the present invention, the VAB reactor (106) employs the process intensification principle of a relatively small and compact centrifugal unit (114) as shown in the arrangement of Figure 2.

[0036] The centrifugal unit is provided by a high specific gravity (HiGee) rotating packed bed (RPB) (114). In this embodiment, the absorption section (108) and the distillation section (110) are provided as part of the overall element of the centrifugal unit (114). The absorption section (108) is located adjacent to the periphery of the centrifugal unit (114), and the absorber H / E is provided as a conduit (112) running along the absorption section (108). More specifically, the absorber H / E conduit is a coil (112) running around the distillation section within the absorber section. The drive pulley (113) is connected to rotate the rotor casing (115) of the centrifugal unit (114) at about 500-1000 RPM in this embodiment.

[0037] The generator (100) includes an external pump (116) separate from the VAB reactor (106), as shown in Figure 1. [The pump can also be incorporated into the rotating assembly of the centrifugal reactor, as shown in Figure 3. Alternatively, a separate pump can be used as part of the process equipment to provide the required flow rates and delivery pressures, as described and illustrated below.]

[0038] In this embodiment, the dense input medium is a liquid, typically water (but could be replaced with glycol, thermal oil or similar suitable substances). Water is used as the heat medium within the generator (100) and as a supply of ambient heat from an external source (118). The input liquid stream (200) is split in two upon entering the Absorption Heat Transformer (AHT).

[0039] (a) A first portion of the stream (201) traverses the LP evaporator (104) which extracts heat from the flowing input liquid stream and cools the stream to a low temperature, typically 5-10°C, at which point the low temperature stream leaves the LP evaporator and hence the AHT.

[0040] (b) A second portion (202) of the input liquid stream is used as a coolant or chilled water (CW) and is heated in passages provided by the absorber cooling coil (112) in the high temperature absorption section (108). The heated second portion of the input liquid stream is delivered by the AHT as a hot water AHT output stream (203) which may have a temperature rise typically 20-50°C higher than the temperature of the input stream (202). A lower temperature lift of 20-40°C gives a high AHT thermodynamic efficiency (coefficient of performance COP~0.7 or higher), whereas a higher temperature lift, e.g. 50-70°C, gives a lower AHT efficiency (COP~0.5-0.6).

[0041] (c) The hot water AHT output stream (203) then traverses the high pressure (HP) evaporator (120) which removes heat from the stream, cooling it in the process. Because the concentrated binary mixture (high NH3 distillate entering the shell side of the HP evaporator (120) begins to evaporate (flash) at a low temperature (below the ambient input stream temperature), the hot stream (203) may be cooled to ambient temperature in the HP evaporator.

[0042] (d) The cooled heat transfer liquid stream (204) exiting the HP evaporator (120) forms a waste heat stream. The chilled water outlet stream (205) exiting the LP evaporator (104) and the waste heat outlet stream exiting the HP evaporator are recombined to form a combined heat transfer liquid return stream (206).

[0043] The heat transfer fluid never comes into contact with the binary mixture forming the REHOS thermodynamic cycle, but is used only to deliver heat to and remove heat from the cycle in a heat exchanger configuration. The REHOS cycle extracts thermal energy from the heat transfer fluid stream and converts a portion of it into electrical power. Thus, the thermal internal energy of the combined heat transfer fluid return stream (206) is less than the thermal internal energy content of the ambient input water stream (200) and depends on the net power output of the REHOS cycle.

[0044] (HP evaporator to turbine) In this embodiment of the NH3-H2O cycle, high pressure NH3 vapor produced in the HP evaporator (120) is fed through a feed line (300) and expanded in a power turbo expander or expansion turbine (122) connected to a generator (124) that produces electrical power. The low pressure, low temperature turbine exhaust NH3 vapor is fed back through a second return line (302) to the absorption section (108) of the AHT reactor (106) and used regeneratively to partially replace and dramatically reduce the NH3 vapor required in the first return line (301) from the LP evaporator (104) and increase the overall thermal energy to electrical energy conversion efficiency of the REHOS cycle.

[0045] If the generator (100) only needs to generate enough power to drive its own auxiliaries (pumps and fans) and does not plan to dump power from the machine, a portion of the hot AHT outlet flow heat transfer liquid may be sent to bypass the HP evaporator (120) to limit the energy input to the HP evaporator and thus the turbine steam mass flow to generate less power. A RPW generator machine used in this manner operates as a true AWG machine, eliminating the external electrical power requirement to power water production. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a bypass is shown referenced.

[0046] (Vapor Absorption Binary Reactor) Steam from the turbine (122) exhaust in the second return line (302) and steam from the LP evaporator (104) in the first return line (301) are combined in the input line (303) and enter the hot absorption section (108) at the periphery of the reactor (114). A perforated gas-liquid plate (126) provides the separation interface around the periphery of the absorption section. The absorption process generates a significant amount of heat, keeping the temperature of the absorber high. The excess of this heat must be removed by heating the heat transfer liquid flow in the absorber H / E coil (112) that forms the hot AHT outlet, as described above. A portion of this heat of absorption in the absorption section (108) (e.g., on the order of 10%) is also used in the VAB reactor (106) to power the NH3 distillation process, also called the volatiles concentration process.

[0047] (a) The process involves density separation of the two components of a binary liquid mixture. In an NH3-H2O binary mixture, the vapor entering the absorber has a very high NH3 content (90-99%), while the hot liquid mixture in the absorber has a low NH3 concentration, typically 20-30% NH3 in water. When an NH3 vapor bubble is absorbed, a localized region of high NH3 concentration is formed, which is less dense than the surrounding liquid mixture.

[0048] (b) Density separation under the influence of centrifugal force in the distillation reactor (114) results in a liquid with high NH3 concentration, e.g., 80% NH3, at the reactor rotating center or inner region.

[0049] (c) Distillation of a NH3-H2O binary mixture process is also endothermic, and the NH3 absorbs heat as it moves toward the center of the reactor, so the concentrated (high %) NH3 liquid distillate near the center of the reactor is at a fairly low temperature, usually 0°C or slightly below 0°C.

[0050] According to the VAB reactor (106) of Figure 2, high volumetric reduction ratios (typically 5-10x) are obtained using process intensification principles in a high gravity (HiGee) (tens to hundreds of gravity) rotating packed bed (RPB) operating at hundreds of revolutions per minute (RPM). In addition to improved efficiency, the arrangement shown also helps provide a compact, small-sized configuration, considering the associated heat loads.

[0051] The total mass of the RPB reactor (106) is determined by the packing material (128) and geometry used. For example, using small 3 mm diameter stainless steel balls as the packing material may result in a power-to-weight ratio of the entire generator of approximately 7 kg / kWe in a particular configuration, whereas using the same size polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) balls in the same generator may result in a power-to-weight ratio of approximately 2 kg / kWe. The power-to-weight ratio is a result of the density difference between stainless steel and PTFE. By making the diameter of the packing balls slightly larger (e.g., 5-6 mm), this ratio can be significantly reduced, resulting in a higher H / E capacity of the reactor.

[0052] (Binary Mixture Fluid Pump) A binary mixed liquid pump (116) receives the high % NH3 distillate from the low temperature reactor core via outlet line (304) and is shared between the LP evaporator (104) and the HP evaporator (120). The pump output pressure is designed to match the pressure requirement of the HP evaporator. A pressure reducing valve (130) is provided in the first feed line (305) to drop the high pump outlet pressure to match the pressure requirement of the LP evaporator, which the pump feeds directly to the HP evaporator via the second feed line (306).

[0053] The design pressure of the LP evaporator (104) is only slightly higher (e.g., 0.5-1.5 bar) than the combined absorption-distillation process pressure, while the HP evaporator pressure is designed to match the turbine and is typically 2-4 bar higher than the LP evaporator pressure.

[0054] This higher pressure is also a trade-off: the greater the pressure difference across the turbine (122), the higher the turbine's isentropic expansion efficiency. However, the higher the design pressure of the HP evaporator pressure, the more flashing of the binary mixture is possible, and since heat extraction from the hot AHT exit heat carrying stream only starts from a higher (saturated) temperature, less heat is extracted in the HP evaporator, resulting in a higher temperature of the waste heat stream leaving the HP evaporator, lowering the HP mass flow rate (and power), and returning more heat energy to the environment.

[0055] (Pseudoisobaric temperature gliding) When using zeotropic binary mixtures such as NH3-H2O, pseudo-isobaric temperature gliding occurs in all binary mixtures containing the component.

[0056] · An input liquid (heat transfer medium) stream (200) enters the LP evaporator (104) via (201) at ambient temperature (e.g. 20°C) and is cooled to a cooled exit heat transfer medium liquid stream (205) temperature (e.g.) of 1°C to 5°C. Countercurrent to this cooling gradient, the concentrated binary mixture that generates the cooling enters the evaporator at a sub-cooled inlet temperature below 0°C, but the LP evaporator pressure is designed to allow flashing of the saturated binary mixture from just above freezing (0°C) to avoid cold water freeze blockage. Evaporation and heat extraction continues with the same temperature gradient (gliding at constant saturation pressure) as the cooling gradient of the water stream, and the flashed-off vapor exits the LP evaporator at approximately 20°C.

[0057] Thus, by bringing the flashing binary mixture temperature closer to the decreasing water stream temperature, the H / E efficiency is maximized and the entropy generation in the LP evaporator is minimized.

[0058] · Similarly, isobaric temperature gliding also occurs in the HP evaporator (120) to maximize H / E efficiency and ensure that the HP steam temperature entering the turbine (122) is close to the hot AHT exit heat transfer liquid stream (203) temperature.

[0059] In the centrifugal HiGeeRPB reactor (106), temperature gliding also exists. The liquid at the periphery of the rotating separation reactor is at a higher temperature (e.g. 60-80°C), while the concentrated mixture at the rotating center remains close to 0°C. Due to the centrifugal pressure difference at the periphery and rotating center, this process is not truly isobaric, hence the name "pseudo" isobaric temperature gliding. In Figure 2, the flow in the radial countercurrent direct contact heat exchanger is indicated by the arrows (132), which show the heat transfer resulting in a temperature gradient within the reactor.

[0060] The above description details the process of extracting thermal energy from ambient water to power the REHOS cycle and generate chillers. The ambient water inlet temperature is assumed to be (realistically) between 10 and 40°C, so heat flows naturally from the water crossing the LP evaporator to the saturated binary mixture used in the REHOS thermodynamic cycle.

[0061] Initially, just after starting up the unit, the power developed is limited by the thermodynamic maximum, or Carnot limit, imposed by the actual power cycle (Lorentz cycle) operating between the AHT outlet hot and the AHT inlet temperature. With an inlet (ambient) temperature of 20°C and an AHT temperature rise of 30°C, the AHT hot outlet temperature is approximately 50°C, and even with this temperature gradient the heat-to-power Carnot conversion efficiency is only 9%.

[0062] In the regeneration process, due to the use of latent heat from the turbine exhaust steam in the absorber, the thermodynamic overall conversion efficiency for the entire RPW generator machine does not depend on the internal AHT temperature gradient and is calculated as follows: TIFF2025504628000002.tif1396

[0063] (Generation device starts) Upon start-up of the generator (100), steam generated in the LP evaporator (104) provides heat energy to the absorption section (108) of the distillation unit (114) to establish the design point AHT outlet temperature. As the HP evaporator (120) begins to produce steam, the turbine (122) begins to generate electricity. The low pressure steam in the turbine exhaust gradually increases to replace the required steam from the LP evaporator while the heat loads of the absorber and distillation reactors remain constant.

[0064] As the vapor load from the LP evaporator (104) decreases, the amount of energy extracted from the input heat transfer liquid (and therefore from the environment) gradually decreases, decreasing the divisor value in the efficiency equation above. In summary, the generated power remains constant while the steam absorption heat input remains constant, but increasing regeneration from the exhaust steam of the turbine (122) gradually reduces the external (ambient) heat required, improving the overall heat-to-power conversion efficiency and resulting in an estimated 15% to 50% nett power output efficiency (minus pumping and fan power) for the described example conditions. The overall power output of the RPW generator (100) is not bound by the 9% limit of its internal temperature gradient.

[0065] The high power efficiency of the generator (100) also eliminates the need for additional heat rejection equipment, as all waste heat energy forms part of the regenerative heat load returned to the absorption section (108) of the distillation reactor (114).

[0066] In the further embodiments described below, equivalent parts will generally be designated by the same reference numerals where convenient.

[0067] As shown in Figure 3, a binary liquid mixing pump can be integrated as part of the RPB reactor by using a multi-stage pitot pump (400). The operating curve of the pitot pump is very flat, with little change in isentropic pumping efficiency over a wide range of pumping flow rates. This combined VAB reactor (106) and pump configuration allows for a more compact and practical arrangement of the generator (100).

[0068] A fixed central shaft (402) is provided to support the pitot tubes (404). In this embodiment, three pitot tubes are arranged to provide three stages of a multi-stage cascade arrangement (406). A liquid ring (408) is provided at the base of the cascade (406). This configuration draws concentrated NH3 liquid from the center of the distillation section (110). The absorption section (108) and absorber H / E (112) are substantially the same as in FIG. 2.

[0069] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a closed cycle operation of a renewable power and water generating machine uses the same process described above for the REHOS thermodynamic cycle, but the heat transfer liquid flow is closed and the same liquid is recirculated, as shown diagrammatically in Figure 4. The closed cycle machine uses water to provide an intermediate medium to recirculate the heat transfer liquid, and indirectly extracts thermal energy from the surrounding air.

[0070] (a) The cooled water outlet from the LP evaporator is sent to an air chilling H / E (150) equipped with a fan (152) which cools humid air at ambient temperature below the dew point temperature in the air chilling H / E, condensing the water vapor present in the air. This condensate is directed to a reservoir (154) as the AWG water product.

[0071] (b) The waste heat outlet stream from the HP evaporator is also routed to a second air H / E (not shown) in the cooled and dried air flow path exiting the air chilling H / E (150) to dissipate excess heat remaining in the heat transfer liquid stream (this type of arrangement with a second air H / E is shown in FIG. 6). After passing through the air heat exchanger, the two streams are combined and returned to the reservoir (154) for recirculation as the input heat transfer liquid stream entering the AHT.

[0072] Thus, thermal energy is extracted from the air to power the REHOS cycle.

[0073] In the current embodiment of the generator operation, the primary focus is water production from the chilled water output, and power output from the turbine may be secondary, so a hot flow bypass valve (156) and direct path to the reservoir (154) are provided to reduce the mass flow rate of hot water through the HP evaporator, limiting the power generated by the turbine to the required amount.

[0074] The centrifugal reactor and pump are integrated and combined into a single unit, while the turbine and generator are still separate units, as shown in Figure 3. This configuration may be common in larger applications, e.g., where the electrical output exceeds 50 kWe. Since the pressure difference across the turbine is fairly low (only about 2-4 bar), it may be quite practical to use liquid piston expanders in power turbines. This would result in further integration of components.

[0075] In the above description, water is used as a dense intermediate heat transfer liquid medium to transfer heat from the high temperature absorber to the external HP evaporator to generate steam for use in the ORC. In variations of the described embodiments, the use of water as the intermediate heat transfer liquid may be omitted from the system.

[0076] To achieve this result, an alternative embodiment of the VAB reactor is provided, as shown in Figure 5. The VAB reactor (106) is combined with an internal multi-stage Pitot-type liquid pump (400) located above a centrifugal distillation section (110) with a peripheral absorption section (108). Unlike the absorber H / E shown in Figures 2 and 3, which uses water as a carrier for heat removal, this embodiment pumps NH3 rich liquid inward through the peripheral absorption section of the centrifugal distillation section, transferring heat in the form of steam (as latent heat) from the VAB reactor to the turbine.

[0077] The concentrated NH3 liquid is pumped directly from the NH3 inlet (410) in the reactor (106) and flashed through the cooling coils of the absorber H / E (112) in the absorption section (108), removing heat in the form of latent heat energy and exported directly to the ORC expander. In this embodiment of the invention, no external HP evaporator is required since the evaporation function of the HP evaporator is combined with the cooling function of the absorber H / E in the absorption section.

[0078] In this manner, the absorber H / E cooling coil (112) produces HP steam that exits the VAB reactor at NH3 outlet (412) and drives the turbine directly (without an external HP evaporator or using water as a heat transfer medium). The mixed steam from the turbine and LP evaporator enters the reactor (106) at input line (303). A pitot pump (400) delivers the low pressure binary liquid mixture from outlet line (304) to the LP evaporator.

[0079] The VAB reactor of FIG. 5 is used in the generators of FIGS.

[0080] FIG. 6 shows a process layout diagram of a specific embodiment of the present invention designed for extracting thermal energy and water (AWG) directly from air.

[0081] In this embodiment, Water is used as the heat carrier, keeping the air H / E coil away from the NH3 circuit. This feature provides additional safety and prevents NH3 contamination of the AWG water by a leaking air H / E coil. Liquid NH3 is used internally as a heat transfer medium to transfer the generated steam absorption heat from the absorber to the turbine.

[0082] The heat transfer between the absorber and the turbine, carried in the form of latent heat by the HP steam supply, performs the HP evaporation function of the external / separate HP evaporator shown in Figures 1 and 4. This embodiment also shows how the steadily generated power can be stored in a battery and utilized as energy to carry short-term high peak power (e.g., required to boil water for a kettle) in a home inverter generating 220 volt home power.

[0083] Figure 7 shows a process layout diagram of a power generation embodiment that expands on the embodiment of Figure 6 and also uses the internal NH3-H2O binary liquid mixture as the heat carrier for the AWG air chiller evaporator H / E coil. Thus, as shown in Figure 6, the generator functions without an additional intermediate water heat carrier to interface with the air H / E.

[0084] Both the embodiments of Figures 6 and 7 use a bypass valve (156) in case it is necessary to limit the power produced by the turbine. In both cases, the HP steam is returned to the VAB reactor via a heat exchanger (158) that uses water and air, respectively, to extract thermal energy.

[0085] Even when the ambient air temperature is negative, e.g. -40°C to 0°C, as commonly encountered on aircraft flying at high altitudes, heat may be extracted from this cold air by using an adiabatic compression process that raises the air temperature above the value required for energy extraction in an LP evaporator operating at temperatures greater than zero. The resulting compressed air leaving the energy-depleted cold H / E may be adiabatically expanded in a power turbine to recover some of the air compression energy. The remaining compression energy may be provided by an RPW generator. This type of solution allows energy extraction from very cold air, making generator machines a practical power source for mobile applications also in the aviation industry.

[0086] Not only can this RPW generator be used to generate non-intermittent renewable electricity utilizing ambient thermal energy, but the favorable power to weight achievable provides open cycle generators for the mobility industry, and more specifically the marine industry, as a viable propulsion source drawing energy from oceans, lakes and rivers. Closed cycle power from air generator machines can ideally generate propulsion for the road and rail transport sectors. Meanwhile, the high power and high speed miniature reactors used in generators provide electric propulsion from thermal energy extracted from the air, which may be ideal for the aviation industry.

[0087] The invention has been described and illustrated in a manner that is primarily suitable for the manufacture of small units or machines for delivering a few kilowatts of power. In such an embodiment, the VAB reactor may preferably be a single component consisting of a peripheral absorber area or section and a packed bed distillation area, integrated in the same centrifugal body with the liquid Pitot type pump cascade.

[0088] For large scale implementation in the megawatt power output range that might typically be used in utility-scale power generation applications, the present invention can be scaled up as needed by modifying the relative physical size and placement of components for a particular application.

[0089] Referring to FIG. 8, a process layout diagram of an open cycle water stream generator (100) adapted for high power installations (e.g., in the megawatt range) is shown. The absorber H / E (112) is very large to meet the power requirements. In this embodiment, only the essential VAB reactor distillation process is kept in the rotating centrifugal unit (114) described below. FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of a hydraulically driven RPB reactor (114) suitable for high power delivery applications. Three system drive pumps and the absorber H / E unit (414) are fixedly mounted outside the centrifugal unit (114).

[0090] The distillation section (110) of the VAB reactor (106) is located in a centrifugal unit (114) and the absorption section (108) is located in an absorber H / E unit (414) with an internal absorber H / E (112). The centrifugal unit (114) includes a rotor body (416) having an arrangement of turbine pump blades (not shown) for moving the binary liquid mixture to the absorber H / E unit (414). The rotor body (416) rotates at approximately 500-1000 RPM in this embodiment.

[0091] The turbine pump blades are positioned between the inlet scroll (418) and the outlet scroll (420) to provide the necessary rotation and liquid displacement. Suitable liquid inlet and outlet distribution structures (422) are provided between the scrolls (418, 420) and the rotating packed bed structure (128). This arrangement provides a slightly lower temperature, lower density, higher % NH3 hydraulic turbine liquid inlet at (419) and a higher temperature, higher density, lower % NH3 centrifugal rotating outlet liquid at (421).

[0092] The heated dilute NH3 liquid is pumped out of the centrifugal unit (114) under the action of the outer pump blades and fed to the external absorber H / E unit (414). The booster pump (424) pressurizes the hot dilute NH3 liquid, subcooling it and preparing it for use in vapor absorption in the hot absorber H / E (112). The slightly cooled more concentrated NH3 liquid, concentrated by the vapor absorbed in the absorption section (108), enters the centrifugal distillation section (110) and enters the hydro-turbine radial inlet braiding (preferably of Francis turbine type). This converts a portion of the hydraulic pressure applied by the booster pump (424) into hydraulic kinetic energy, driving the rotary motion of the centrifuge to move at a specific design speed. Thus, speed control of the VABR high power centrifuge (114) is achieved by controlling the output of the external booster pump.

[0093] The concentrated NH3 distillate is drawn from the low temperature reactor core to the LP evaporator pump (426) and the HP turbine pump (428) via the outlet line (304). The concentrated NH3 liquid is pumped through the absorber H / E (112) to the turbine (122). The mixed vapor from the LP evaporator and turbine is returned to the external absorber H / E unit (414) via the first and second return lines (301, 302). The second return line (302) from the turbine is provided with a condenser (430). Both the LP evaporator (104) and the condenser (430) have a second side to which water (CW) is fed.

[0094] In this embodiment, it is estimated that up to 70-80% of the thermal energy absorbed by the LP evaporator is converted to electrical power. The distillation rotor arrangement allows for a compact, high power (utility scale) embodiment of the invention as shown in Figure 8. Estimated temperatures within the cycle are indicated in the drawing.

[0095] Some important features common to the embodiments of the present invention can be summarized as follows: (a) An AHT consisting of an evaporator and a VAB reactor is used to extract thermal energy from an external heat source (such as waste heat or direct ambient temperature environmental heat from ambient air or water). (b) Using the AHT as a heat pump to create a temperature gradient at both the hot and cooled outlets. (c) Using a temperature gradient to drive an ORC for power generation. (d) Using two different pressure levels, namely, LP evaporator pressure and higher ORC turbine pressure. In some embodiments, two different pressure pumps are used to accomplish this, while in other embodiments, only one HP pump and pressure reducing valve are used to reduce the pressure level to the LP evaporator pressure demand level. (e) Production of heat at high temperatures in the absorption process in the absorber H / E which forms part of the VAB reactor. (f) Use of a centrifugal distillation process to increase the concentration of the volatile component (NH3) in the distillation outlet liquid used in both the LP evaporator and the ORC power expander. (g) All embodiments use a VAB reactor as a regenerative coupling component between the AHT and the ORC to achieve regeneration in combination with upgrading of low-grade heat to a temperature (estimated 5-10°C in the example) higher than the operating temperature of the ORC turbine HP. The VABR functions to upgrade the low-grade heat (by an estimated 30°C-40°C temperature increase in the example) so that the regenerator output temperature is higher than the ORC turbine inlet temperature. The regenerative heat thereby provides not only the liquid heating energy (as in a typical regenerative Rankine cycle used in power generation) but also the majority of the evaporation energy for the HP evaporator. This dramatically increases the thermodynamic cycle efficiency, showing real values ​​of over 50%, regardless of the actual temperature value at which the turbine operates.

[0096] The high efficiency of feature (g) allows for very high efficiency gains in practicing the present invention.

[0097] RPW generators can unlock the Earth's reserves of thermal energy that can be used to provide electricity, local air-to-water, air conditioning and refrigeration services in a renewable, environmentally friendly manner with zero emissions.

[0098] It will be understood that many variations can be made to the features of the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as enabled and / or anticipated by the disclosure herein.

Claims

1. Contains a binary liquid-vapor mixture; A low pressure (LP) evaporator; Vapor Absorption Binary (VAB) Reactor The absorption heat transformer (AHT) comprises: The AHT is configured to extract thermal energy from an external heat source and function as a heat pump to create a temperature gradient that is used to drive an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) employing a high pressure (HP) vapor expansion driven mechanism for the generation of electricity; The VAB reactor comprises: An absorbing portion; Distillation section and Including, an absorber heat exchanger (H / E) located inside the absorption section and taking in heat from the absorption section; The distillation section comprises: (a) the LP evaporator; (b) a working steam supply assembly for the steam expansion drive mechanism; a rotating centrifugal unit for increasing the volatile component concentration of said binary liquid-vapor mixture in the distillation outlet liquid used in both The LP evaporator is arranged to extract heat from the external heat source; configured to receive a distillation outlet liquid from the distillation section for conversion to an LP evaporator vapor; configured to supply the LP evaporator vapor from the LP evaporator to the absorption section through a first return line; a heat transfer liquid medium is connected to the LP evaporator via a branch with a liquid medium cooling flow path on a first side of the LP evaporator isolated from and in thermal communication with a second side of the LP evaporator; and a low pressure supply line for a distillation outlet liquid from the distillation reactor is connected to the second side of the LP evaporator for evaporation of the distillation outlet liquid and extraction of heat energy from the liquid medium in the liquid medium cooling flow path; The absorption section generates heat in a vapor absorption process within the absorption section; the working steam supply assembly incorporates the absorber H / E and is positioned to use heat from the absorber H / E in the absorption section to convert distillation outlet liquid from the absorption section into heated high pressure (HP) working steam; the HP working steam is supplied to the steam expansion drive mechanism coupled to a generator; The LP exhaust steam from the steam expansion drive mechanism is connected to the absorption section of the VAB reactor through a second return line.

2. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the absorption section and the distillation section are provided as part of an overall element of the rotating centrifugal unit, the absorption section being provided adjacent to the periphery of the rotating centrifugal unit, and the absorber H / E being provided as a conduit running along the absorber section.

3. 3. The generator of claim 2, wherein the conduit of the absorber H / E is a coil running around the distillation section within the absorber section.

4. 3. The generator of claim 2, wherein the rotary centrifugal unit provides the rotary drive for an integral pump that moves the distillation outlet liquid, a pump that is a Pitot type pump, and a Pitot type pump that includes multiple Pitot tubes arranged in a multi-stage cascade.

5. 2. The generator of claim 1, wherein the working steam supply assembly comprises a high pressure (HP) supply line for distillation outlet liquid from the distillation section that is pumped through the absorber H / E and provides the HP working steam supply to the vapor expansion drive mechanism.

6. 6. The generator of claim 5, wherein the HP working steam supply line extending from the absorber H / E to the vapor expansion drive includes a bypass return through a condenser heat exchanger (H / E) and a connection to a second return line to the absorber section of the VAB reactor, the bypass return including a pressure reducing valve.

7. said working steam supply assembly comprising: a supply line for a heat transfer fluid pumped through the absorber H / E to be heated and sent to the first side of the HP evaporator as a heated absorber output heat transfer fluid for passing through a flow path isolated from and in thermal communication with the second side of the HP evaporator; a high pressure supply line for a distillation outlet from the distillation section connected to the second side of the HP evaporator for extracting heat energy from the heat transfer fluid in the flow path and evaporating the distillation outlet in the second side of the HP evaporator; Equipped with The generator of claim 1 , wherein the HP working steam is generated in the HP evaporator to provide HP steam supplied to the steam expansion drive mechanism.

8. 8. The generator of claim 7, wherein the absorber output heat transfer fluid flow path includes a bypass away from the HP evaporator that provides a reduction in high temperature mass flow through the HP evaporator.

9. 2. The generator of claim 1, wherein the liquid medium cooling passage of the LP evaporator is connected to an air chilling heat exchanger (H / E) for extracting atmospheric water from air.

10. 10. The generator of claim 9, wherein the heat transfer liquid medium is a dense liquid heat transfer medium in the form of ambient water that provides the external heat source.

11. the absorption section is provided as an absorber unit isolated from and in fluid communication with the rotating centrifugal unit; The absorber H / E is a conduit running within the absorber unit, a conduit for a hot outlet from the heated periphery of the rotating centrifugal unit connected to and pumped by the absorber unit; a conduit for an outlet from said absorber unit connected to said rotating centrifuge unit; a conduit for a cold outlet from the cold center of said rotating centrifuge unit, said conduit being connected to: (a) a second LP evaporator pump supplying the LP evaporator; (b) a HP absorber turbine pump supplying the absorber H / E of the absorber unit; a conduit for an outlet from the LP evaporator connected to the absorber unit; and 2. The generator of claim 1, wherein a conduit for an outlet from said absorber H / E is connected to said vapor expansion drive mechanism.

12. 12. The generator of claim 11, wherein a first pump is provided between the hot outlet from the rotating centrifugal unit and the absorber unit.

13. 13. The generator of claim 12, wherein the rotating centrifugal unit includes a hydraulically driven rotating packed bed driven by radial inflow from the first pump through the absorber unit and a rotor having hydraulic turbine blades.

14. 14. The generator of claim 13, wherein heated low volatile content binary liquid is pumped from the rotating centrifugal unit by the hydraulic turbine blades and supplied to the absorber unit via the first pump, the first pump being a boost pump.

15. 15. The generator of claim 14, wherein the pressure applied by the first booster pump serves to subcool the binary liquid of the lower volatility component concentration to provide a binary liquid of the higher volatility component concentration after vapor absorption in the absorber unit.

16. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the distillation outlet from the rotary centrifugal unit is fed to the LP evaporator via a LP evaporator pump and fed to the absorber H / E of the absorption section via a turbine pump.

17. Contains a binary liquid-vapor mixture; A low pressure (LP) evaporator; Vapor Absorption Binary (VAB) Reactor The absorption heat transformer (AHT) comprises: The AHT is configured to extract thermal energy from an external heat source and function as a heat pump to create a temperature gradient that is used to drive an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) employing a high pressure (HP) vapor expansion driven mechanism for the generation of electricity; The VAB reactor comprises: An absorbing portion; Distillation section and Including, an absorber heat exchanger (H / E) located inside the absorption section and taking in heat from the absorption section; The distillation section comprises: (a) the LP evaporator; (b) a working steam supply assembly for the steam expansion drive mechanism; a rotating centrifugal unit for increasing the volatile component concentration of said binary liquid-vapor mixture in the distillation outlet liquid used in both The LP evaporator is arranged to extract heat from the external heat source; configured to receive a distillation outlet liquid from the distillation section for conversion to an LP evaporator vapor; configured to supply the LP evaporator vapor from the LP evaporator to the absorption section through a first return line; Ambient air is directed onto a first side of the LP evaporator, isolated from the second side of the LP evaporator, in thermal communication with the second side of the LP evaporator, having a low pressure supply line for the distillation outlet liquid from the distillation reactor, which provides the external heat source and is connected to a second side of the LP evaporator for evaporation of the distillation outlet liquid and extraction of heat energy from the ambient air, and is provided with an air chilling heat exchanger (H / E) for extracting atmospheric water from the ambient air; The absorption section generates heat in a vapor absorption process within the absorption section; the working steam supply assembly incorporates the absorber H / E and is positioned to use heat from the absorber H / E in the absorption section to convert distillation outlet liquid from the absorption section into heated high pressure (HP) working steam; the HP working steam is supplied to the steam expansion drive mechanism coupled to a generator; The LP exhaust steam from the steam expansion drive mechanism is connected to the absorption section of the VAB reactor through a second return line.

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