Hydrodynamic steam generation system and method

Abstract

A method and system for generating vapor or steam are provided where steam is generated using thermal energy largely from the liquid's own thermal energy. The system being a thermo- and hydrodynamic oscillator where steam is formed by intentionally having an unstable column of water drop, generating low-pressure steam in its wake, having the column overshoot and in its return motion using the column as a liquid piston or column that compresses, heats and finally ejects the newly formed steam. The system includes an actuation system that is configured to modulate, assist, initiate or sustain oscillatory motion of the liquid piston or column. The system may include an initiation valve for interrupting a flowing liquid and forming a liquid piston or column therefrom.

Description

HYDRODYNAMIC STEAM GENERATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The disclosure relates generally to the generation of heated and pressurized steam and / or gas, and to devices, systems, and methods for the generation, heating, pressurization, ejection, and collection, and / or use of the generated steam or vapor, as well as high- temperature heat-pumps that convert low-grade thermal energy to steam, enhanced geothermal utilization and solar power. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to devices, systems, and methods using an open oscillatory approach for steam generation, such as by evaporating a liquid with repeated and controlled volume expansion or cavitation using the liquid’s own weight and momentum to form steam or vapor and subsequently having the liquid piston compress the steam so as to pressurize and heat it before concluding the oscillation by ejecting the steam from the system.

[0003] BACKGROUND

[0004] Steam is the interim medium of energy world-wide and is used in industry, heating and power production. Many modern industrial processes use vast amounts of steam. For example, hot pressurized steam is a mainstay in the pulp and paper industries, in chemical manufacturing industries, in petroleum refining plants, in textile industries, in the food industry, etc. Geothermal steam is also used directly in power production and heating. Steam furthermore is widely generated and used for central heating. It is likely a reasonable estimate that currently approximately half of the world’s extracted hydrocarbons are burned to create steam. Besides steam’s role in various power intensive industrial processes and space heating, it furthermore plays a role in generating the lion’s share of the world’s electricity (coal, nuclear, biomass, gas, geothermal, and concentrated solar).

[0005] The most significant operational inefficiency of modern thermal intensive industrial processes is how much of the thermal energy is lost as low-grade waste-heat. In some processes, over half of the required thermal energy is eventually either emitted to the atmosphere in radiators and cooling towers or poured down the drain in the form of warm cooling water because it is uneconomical to capture that energy and transform it to steam or electricity, often because of theoretical limitations of modern high temperature heat pumps and relatively high price of electricity in comparison to natural gas.

[0006] Suitable thermal energy is furthermore widely abundant such as in geothermally active areas that supply hot water. Furthermore water can be widely be heated by the sun’s rays in large pools.

[0007] There is always a need for improvements, such as for an alternative method of efficiently converting low-grade heat into energized and valuable steam.

[0008] SUMMARY

[0009] The embodiments disclosed herein are directed to providing a hydrodynamic oscillator using an open oscillatory approach to steam generation, comprising improved vapor or steam generating systems and methods that enable an advantage of efficient vapor or steam production with reduced energy costs. The embodiments may be employed to generate vapor or steam for direct use in heating and / or industrial processes, or to generate vapor or steam for use in generating electricity.

[0010] In simple “layman’s terms” one embodiment of the disclosure could be described as generating steam in an “inverted manner”. Instead of the traditional way of heating water to its boiling point and beyond, the system turns a portion of a liquid into vapor by using a weight and momentum of the liquid itself, for example in an oscillating or repeating cycle. The liquid may be loaded into a container in contact with a first end of the container to form a liquid piston and be intentionally “dropped” or otherwise moved away from the first end, such that the weight and momentum of the liquid results in a reduction in pressure that generates a low-pressure “cold” steam from the liquid in a process that may be referred to as controlled “cold boiling”, “cavitation”, or simply “evaporation”. When the steam has been generated in the wake of the falling liquid piston, the system may energize or heat the newly generated low-pressure steam in order to preserve it and prevent it from being turned into condensate during a subsequent compression phase when the liquid piston returns back to the first end. When the liquid piston has compressed and heated the steam sufficiently and the steam has reached a desired pressure and / or temperature, the system may be configured to allow the liquid piston to eject the steam from the system, for example with a swift opening and closing of a steam extraction valve allowing the steam to exit and be separated from the liquid in the container. After extraction of the steam, the process is ideally repeated in a natural oscillatory manner.

[0011] The oscillatory motion of the liquid in the container is assisted by modifying the momentum, mass or pressure state of the liquid. The energy required to maintain theoscillation of the liquid is mainly to counter the energy required due to the increased pressure of the steam during its compression as compared to the pressure during the evaporation phase. Added energy is furthermore required for ejection of the steam, as well as to offset energy lost due to hydrodynamic head-loss of the moving liquid.

[0012] To pressurize and / or heat the initially low-pressure steam the return motion of the liquid piston rapidly reduces a volume of the steam.

[0013] Oscillation frequency depends on a system’s size and dimensions, angle, height, properties of the liquid that is to be boiled as well as its temperature, the chosen pressure conditions in the system and gravitational conditions. For reference, in a vertical three-story high, low-temperature water system, one oscillation of the system may take approximately 3- 4 seconds.

[0014] In an embodiment where the liquid being boiled is warm water it is advantageous to pre-treat the water, such as would be performed by a skilled operator of traditional fire- tube / water-tube industrial boiler. Boiler water in industry is typically both de-aerated, to remove otherwise corrosive oxygen, and softened, to prevent scaling in industrial equipment using the generated steam.

[0015] According to an embodiment, a system for generating steam or vapor is provided comprising a container defining an interior volume holding a liquid, wherein a portion of the container is configured in such a way as to translate energy to the system by expanding and contracting the interior volume at selected intervals. This movement can be timed in such a way that when the pressure in an air-pocket in a side tank is the highest the system contracts the volume, thus increasing the pressure in the system further and then waiting until the volume of an air-pocket is the largest and the pressure there the lowest to further expand the volume of the system, lowering the pressure even further. A portion of the container that is configured to move and translate energy into the system may comprise a piston or related element.

[0016] The system may furthermore comprise additional means of heating the steam or vapor generated by the system besides the heating generated by the rapid compression of the steam by the returning liquid piston.

[0017] The system may include a vapor extraction mechanism configured to allow vapor to be ejected or extracted from the container or from the system, after pressurization. The vapor extraction mechanism may further be configured to prevent liquid from exiting thecontainer or the system and mix with the extracted steam and / or to prevent vapor from reentering the container or the system.

[0018] During the system’s repeated evaporation of the liquid, the evaporation cooling effect rapidly chills the remaining liquid in the system unless thermal energy is continuously added to the liquid. In some embodiments there are therefore several methods of adding thermal energy to the liquid. In systems having an initiation valve the thermal energy can be sourced from an external source of liquid such as a pool heated by the sun. Systems with or without the initiation valve can have a heat-exchanger advantageously placed in the system for transferring thermal energy from, for example, hot cooling fluid or warm exhaust gas leaving an economizer. The system can also be placed in generally warm locations, such as submerged in hot cooling fluid or underground in a geothermally active area. Thermal energy is furthermore added to the liquid in the system if configured to receive warm boiler feedwater or condensate exiting steam systems on-site. Thermal energy will also be added if a condenser is placed in the system receiving and condensing steam exiting an electric turbine, increasing the turbine’s efficiency. The mechanical energy required to assist the system’s oscillation also entails transferring thermal energy to the system. In embodiments having pre-heating mechanisms to increase the enthalpy of the newly generated steam, such a pre-heating mechanism transfers thermal energy to the system. For completion it should furthermore be noted that most of the head-loss in the liquid oscillating back and forth in the system is converted into thermal energy. Higher liquid temperatures may advantageously increase the amount of steam generated in each cycle of the system.

[0019] A vapor heating mechanism according to the disclosure may comprise means of inducing, with thermal radiation such as infra-red rays, heated walls of the steam generation part of the system, or with high voltage and / or rapid changes in voltage, one or more ion waves, streamers, arcs and / or sparks through the vapor for heating the vapor. A vapor heating mechanism according to varying embodiments may be configured for providing microwaves, infrared, or other electromagnetic radiation wherein said electromagnetic radiation comprises a suitable frequency known to be absorbed by the newly generated vapor.

[0020] Movement of a portion of the container, such as in the form of a piston, chemical reaction, injection of a pressurized gas that subsequently condenses or a related element, may be used to translate energy to the system to initiate and sustain the oscillations. Some embodiments of the system have a movable portion in the container designed to reduce the volume and increase the pressure in the system when the newly formed steam is the mostvoluminous and overall pressure elsewhere in the system is already the highest. And, inversely, when the steam has been ejected and the pressure in the system is the lowest the movable portion moves away, expanding the volume in the container and lowering the system’s pressure even further. Movement which can be likened to pushing a pendulum or a swing when it is moving away and then adding a slight pull force when the pendulum or swing is furthest away thus maintaining the natural oscillation of the system. Similarly, the liquid’s momentum can be augmented and the liquid’s oscillation maintained by means of a plunger, screw mechanism, paddle or similar device.

[0021] Some embodiments of the system excite the oscillations by advantageously modulating other parameters of the system such as by adding and removing liquid in the container during the system’s natural oscillation. Some embodiments modulate the system’s head height by lowering and raising a float into the container, thus changing the head height difference between the liquid-gas boundary of the liquid piston and the surface level of the container. Some embodiments have a large piston that lifts and / or is connected to a spring type mechanism which can act similarly to a container with a bubble of air

[0022] According to an embodiment, a method for generating steam or vapor is provided, the method comprising providing a liquid to an interior volume of a container and “dropping” or moving the liquid away from a first end of the container, such that a portion of the liquid in the container is vaporized using a low pressure generated by the weight and momentum of the liquid. In some embodiments, movement of the liquid may be induced by varying parameters of the system such as expanding the interior volume of the container, or by another manipulation of pressure, flow of mass within the interior volume.

[0023] In some embodiments the mechanical energy required to assist the liquid’s oscillation is added by repeatedly injecting small, controlled amounts of steam into a side tank of the container. Injecting the steam, when the pressure in the system is already high, increases it further. As the air-pocket in the side tank subsequently expands, the injected steam expands with it, cools and finally collapses in an instant with an ensuing cascading pressure drop in the side tank advantageously at the time when the pressure in the system is lowest.

[0024] The system may alternatively or additionally be used to separate and remove gases and / or fluids from a main working liquid, for example gases and / or fluids having higher vaporization pressures than the main working liquid. In one method of gas separation, thevapor or steam generation process may be interrupted or paused and momentarily delay the pressurization of the vapor or steam. The delay may be configured for allowing other gases in the liquid to expand, float to the surface of the liquid and replace the vaporized gas partly or fully. When this fractional distillation process has been concluded, the gas may be heated and the movable portion of the container may be moved to reduce the interior volume, such as to pressurize, heat and eject a resulting gas mixture. Leveraging the repeated pressure drops in the system, in particular in the vicinity of the first end of the container the system can furthermore serve as an efficient oscillating boiler water deaerator.

[0025] In another embodiment, a flowing column of liquid is interrupted, such as by closing an initiation valve in a conduit, to cause a liquid column or piston to form. The liquid piston continues to move away from the interruption, such that the weight and momentum of the liquid piston results in a reduction in pressure that generates a low-pressure “cold” steam from the liquid in a process that may be referred to as controlled “cold boiling”, “cavitation”, or simply “evaporation”. To pressurize and / or heat the initially low-pressure steam, the return motion of the liquid piston rapidly reduces a volume of the steam in a compression phase. The movement of the liquid piston may then continue to assist with the opening of the initiation valve and continue to traverse to or toward the source of the liquid before coming to a stop. Then the liquid may reverse direction and accelerate in the original direction before the initiation valve closes again.

[0026] When the steam has been generated in the wake of the falling liquid piston, the system may energize or heat the newly generated low-pressure steam in order to preserve it and prevent it from being turned into condensate during the subsequent compression phase when the liquid piston returns back in the direction of the interruption. When the liquid piston has compressed and heated the steam sufficiently and the steam has reached a desired pressure and / or temperature, the system may be configured to allow the liquid piston to eject the steam from the system, for example with a swift opening and closing of a steam extraction valve allowing the steam to exit and be separated from the liquid in the container. After extraction of the steam, the process is ideally repeated in a natural oscillatory manner. For example, an initiation valve may be configured to be re-opened by the liquid following its ejection of the steam, allowing the liquid to flow back to its original position before stopping momentarily, then accelerating again toward the downward section so that the process may be repeated.

[0027] According to varying embodiments, the oscillatory motion of the liquid in the conduit is assisted. The added energy includes any actuation means that changes the parameters of the system’s oscillation such as pressure conditions, momentum or mass. Advantageously, a significant part of the ejected steam’s energy is derived from the thermal energy in the liquid in the conduit. However added energy is still required to maintain the oscillation of the liquid and offset the factors that want to dampen it. Actuation or mechanical energy is mainly provided to counter the energy required due to the increased pressure of the steam during its compression as compared to the pressure during the evaporation phase, ejecting the pressurized steam and returning the liquid to its original position. The added energy is furthermore required provided for ejection of the steam, as well as to offset energy lost due to hydrodynamic head-loss of the moving liquid and inefficiencies in compression and expansion of gas pockets in the side tank.

[0028] Oscillation frequency depends on factors such as the system’s size and dimensions, properties of the liquid that is to be boiled as well as its temperature, the initial pressure conditions in the system, properties of the initiation valve, head-loss, conduit angle and gravitational conditions.

[0029] In an embodiment where the liquid being boiled is warm water it is advantageous to pre-treat the water, such as would be performed by a skilled operator of traditional fire- tube / water-tube industrial boiler. Boiler water in industry is typically both de-aerated, to remove otherwise corrosive oxygen, and softened, to prevent scaling in industrial equipment using the generated steam.

[0030] According to an embodiment, a system for generating steam or vapor is provided comprising an inlet section of a conduit connected to a supply of liquid, a gas section of the conduit connected to the inlet section, an initiation valve provided between the inlet section and the gas section, and a downstream section of the conduit configured in such a way as to translate energy to the system to assist its oscillation. The initiation valve may be configured to abruptly close and form a moving liquid column in the gas section, such that a momentum of the moving liquid column causes the moving liquid to continue moving away from the initiation valve and generate a low pressure area in the liquid column close to the initiation valve, vaporizing and expanding a small amount of the liquid.

[0031] The downstream section of the conduit may be configured in such a way as to translate energy to the system to advantageously affect the pressure there such as byexpanding and contracting an interior volume at selected intervals. This movement can be timed in such a way that when the pressure in a side tank at the downstream section of the conduit is the highest the system contracts the volume, thus increasing the pressure in the system further and then waiting until the volume of an air-pocket is the largest and the pressure there the lowest to further expand the volume of the system, lowering the pressure even further. A portion of the side tank that is configured to move and translate mechanical energy into the system may comprise a piston or related element.

[0032] The downstream section of the conduit may be configured to modulate other parameters of the system to add energy to the oscillation such as by increasing the head height of the liquid in the side tank by lowering and raising a object into the liquid. The oscillation may furthermore be assisted by adding and removing liquid from the system in or in proximity to the side tank. In an embodiment of the system the pressure of the air bubble in the side tank is augmented by means of increasing the temperature when it is compressed and already heated and lowering it when its expanded and cold. In a system with an initiation valve the oscillation can be maintained by repeatedly removing liquid from the side tank thus exciting the system with the potential energy of the liquid released from the lowest part of the system.

[0033] The system may furthermore comprise additional means of heating the steam or vapor generated by the system besides the heating generated by the rapid compression of the steam by the returning liquid piston.

[0034] The system may include a vapor extraction mechanism configured to allow vapor to be ejected or extracted from the conduit or from the system, after pressurization. The vapor extraction mechanism may further be configured to prevent liquid from exiting the conduit or the system and mix with the extracted steam and / or to prevent vapor from reentering the conduit or the system.

[0035] The initiation valve may optionally but preferably be elevated compared to a lower part of the system, for example so that a weight of the elevated liquid’s mass may contribute positively to initially accelerating the liquid and / or beneficially have gravity assist with the momentum required for creating the low pressures required to vaporize the liquid and create more vapor.

[0036] During the system’s repeated evaporation of the liquid, the evaporation cooling effect chills the remaining liquid in the system unless thermal energy is added to the liquid. Insome embodiments, liquid supplied to the system may be pre-heated or otherwise provided to the system at an elevated temperature, such as for increasing the system’s efficiency and / or increasing production of vapor. Higher liquid temperatures may advantageously increase vaporization pressure, allowing for an increased mass of vapor produced in each cycle of the system.

[0037] In some embodiments there may be one or more methods of adding thermal energy to the liquid. A heat-exchanger can advantageously be placed in the system for transferring thermal energy from, for example, hot cooling fluid or warm exhaust gas leaving an economizer. The system can also be placed in generally warm locations, such as submerged in hot cooling fluid or underground in a geothermally active area. Thermal energy is furthermore added to the liquid in the system if configured to receive warm boiler feedwater or condensate exiting steam systems on-site. Thermal energy will also be added if a condenser is placed in the system receiving and condensing steam exiting an electric turbine, increasing the turbine’s efficiency. The mechanical energy required to assist the system’s oscillation also entails transferring thermal energy to the system. In embodiments having preheating mechanisms to increase the enthalpy of the newly generated steam prior to its compression, such a pre-heating mechanism transfers thermal energy to the system. For completion it should furthermore be noted that most of the head-loss in the liquid oscillating back and forth in the system is converted into thermal energy. Higher liquid temperatures may advantageously increase the amount of steam generated in each cycle of the system.

[0038] A vapor heating mechanism according to the disclosure may comprise means of inducing, with thermal radiation such as infra-red rays, heated walls of the steam generation part of the system, or with high voltage and / or rapid changes in voltage, one or more ion waves, streamers, arcs and / or sparks through the vapor for heating the vapor. A vapor heating mechanism according to varying embodiments may be configured for providing microwaves, infrared, or other electromagnetic radiation wherein said electromagnetic radiation comprises a suitable frequency known to be absorbed by the newly generated vapor.

[0039] An initiation valve according to varying embodiments may further be configured to repeatedly open and close. The closing of the valve for generating vapor or steam, and the opening of the valve to allow the liquid to enter the gas section and join with or form the liquid piston. The initiation valve may be designed to operate independently and / or with external assistance, such as to regulate a timing of each phase in the system’s operation and / or to shut the system off. If operating independently the initiation valve might closerapidly when fluid’ s velocity induces sufficient pressure gradient across the valve and the initiation valve might be opened by the returning liquid after it has mostly pushed out the newly compressed steam.

[0040] The pressure of the liquid in front of the closed initiation valve can provide counterforce to the force induced by the compression and ejection of the steam that’s performed on the gas side of the initiation valve by the liquid piston in its return motion. For higher pressure steam to be ejected and preventing premature opening of the initiation valve it may be advantageous to have the water level of the source at a higher elevation than the initiation valve and / or augment the ambient pressure above the water source.

[0041] The abrupt closing of the initiation valve stops the flow of liquid in front of the valve creating a momentary pressure spikes called a water hammer. The energy in those pressure fluctuations can be advantageously harnessed, for example with a mechanism designed to further increase the pressure of previously ejected and pressurized steam.

[0042] Movement of a liquid piston back towards the initiation valve and against the generated vapor may be used to compress, pressurize, heat, and / or eject the vapor. The liquid piston may be accelerated by a pressure difference between a first end facing the initiation valve and a second end opposite the first end. Such a pressure differential may be further augmented by increasing and / or decreasing a pressure at the second end of the liquid piston by providing a pressure mechanism connected to the conduit.

[0043] Movement of a portion of the side tank of the downstream section of the conduit, such as in the form of a piston, chemical reaction, injection of a pressurized gas that subsequently condenses or a related element, may be used to translate energy to the system so as to initiate and or sustain the oscillation of the liquid. Some embodiments of the system have a movable portion in the side tank designed to reduce the volume and thus increase the pressure in the system when the newly formed steam is the most voluminous and overall pressure elsewhere in the system is already the highest. And, inversely, when the steam has been ejected, the liquid has returned to its initial position and the pressure in the system is the lowest the movable portion moves away, expanding the volume in the downstream section and lowering the system’ s pressure even further. Such a movement may be likened to pushing a pendulum or a swing when it is moving away and then adding a slight pull force when the pendulum or swing is furthest away, thus maintaining the natural oscillation of the system. Similarly, the liquid’s oscillation can be maintained by advantageously changingparameters of the system such as mass, pressure and momentum during its operation. Similarly, the liquid’s momentum can be augmented and the liquid’s oscillation maintained by means of a plunger, screw mechanism, paddle or similar device.

[0044] According to an embodiment, a method for generating steam or vapor is provided, the method comprising providing a liquid to an inlet section of a conduit, the inlet section connected to a gas section of the conduit at an initiation valve, and abruptly closing the initiation valve to form a moving liquid piston in the gas section, such that the liquid piston in the gas section moves away from the initiation valve, lowering a pressure in an area next to the initiation valve to a point where a portion of the liquid piston is vaporized. In some embodiments the acceleration of the liquid is induced by gravity and may be further assisted by an reduction of pressure in the interior volume at the downstream section of the conduit or by another manipulation of pressure or flow of the liquid within the interior volume.

[0045] In some embodiments the mechanical energy required to assist the liquid’s oscillation is added by repeatedly injecting small, controlled amounts of steam into a side tank of the conduit. Injecting the steam, when the pressure in the system is already high, increases it further. As the water level in the side tank lowers during the return motion of the liquid piston the air-pocket in the side tank subsequently expands. As the newly injected steam expands, it cools and finally collapses in an instant with an ensuing cascading pressure drop in the side tank advantageously at the time when the pressure in the system is lowest which augments the acceleration of the liquid in the next oscillation.

[0046] The system may alternatively or additionally be used to separate and remove gases and / or fluids from a main working liquid, for example gases and / or fluids having higher vaporization pressures than the main working liquid. In one method of gas separation, the vapor or steam generation process may be interrupted or paused and momentarily delay the pressurization of the vapor or steam. The delay may be configured for allowing other gases in the liquid to expand, float to the surface of the liquid and replace the vaporized gas partly or fully. When this fractional distillation process has been concluded, the gas may be heated and the movable portion of the container may be moved to reduce the interior volume, such as to pressurize, heat and eject a resulting gas mixture. Leveraging the repeated pressure drops in the system, in particular in the side tank of the system can furthermore serve as an efficient oscillating boiler water deaerator.

[0047] The system may include a gas extraction valve located near one end of the gas section, for example where a pressurized gas may be located after it is compressed. The gas extraction valve may be configured to eject a vapor or steam at a determined pressure and / or temperature. The valve may furthermore be configured to both prevent the ejection of pressurized liquid out of the gas section and / or preventing already generated vapor or steam from re-entering the gas section.

[0048] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an indication of the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0049] Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure as set forth hereinafter.

[0050] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become better understood regarding the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only some typical embodiments of the disclosure and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope. The disclosure will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

[0052] Figure 1A provides an illustration of a steam generation system at an initial stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0053] Figure IB provides an illustration of a steam generation system at a low-pressure generation stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0054] Figure 1C provides an illustration of a steam generation system at a steam generation and / or compression stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0055] Figure ID provides an illustration of a steam generation system at a steam compression and / or ejection stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0056] Figure 2A provides an illustration of a steam generation system at an initial stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0057] Figure 2B provides an illustration of a steam generation system at a low-pressure and steam generation stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0058] Figure 2C provides an illustration of a steam generation system at a steam compression and / or ejection stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0059] Figure 3 includes an illustration of a system for generating steam according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0060] Figure 4 includes an illustration of a system for generating steam according to an embodiment of the disclosure including a plurality of containers connected in series.

[0061] Figure 5 includes an illustration of a system for generating steam according to an embodiment of the disclosure including a plurality of first tanks connected to a central second tank.

[0062] Figure 6 includes an illustration of a system for generating steam according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0063] Figure 7 includes an illustration of a method for generating steam according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0064] Figure 8 includes a plot of water height versus gas temperature in a side tank of a steam generation system according to embodiments of the disclosure.

[0065] Figure 9 illustrates an arrangement of heat-exchangers in a steam generation system according to embodiments of the disclosure.

[0066] Figure 10 illustrates an arrangement of heat-exchangers in a steam generation system according to embodiments of the disclosure.

[0067] Figure 11 provides an illustration of a steam generation system at an acceleration stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0068] Figure 12 includes an illustration of a method for generating steam according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0069] Figure 13 provides an illustration of a steam generation system following closure of an initiation valve in a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0070] Figure 14 provides an illustration of a steam generation system with a piston assisting movement in a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0071] Figure 15 provides an illustration of a steam generation system at a pressurization and heating stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0072] Figure 16 provides an illustration of a steam generation system at an ejection stage of a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0073] Figure 17 provides an illustration of a steam generation system following opening of an initiation valve in a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0074] Figure 18 provides an illustration of a steam generation system with a piston assisting movement in a steam generation process according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0075] The drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, but instead are drawn to provide a better understanding of the components, and are not intended to be limiting in scope, but to provide exemplary illustrations.

[0076] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0077] Overview

[0078] A better understanding of different embodiments of the disclosure may be had from the following description read with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like elements.

[0079] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrative embodiments are in the drawings and are described below. It should be understood, however, there is no intention to limit the disclosure to the specificembodiments disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention covers all modifications, alternative constructions, combinations, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

[0080] It will be understood that unless a term is expressly defined in this application to possess a described meaning, there is no intent to limit the meaning of such term, either expressly or indirectly, beyond its plain or ordinary meaning.

[0081] As used herein, including in the claims, singular forms of terms are to be construed as also including the plural form and vice versa, unless the context indicates otherwise. Thus, it should be noted that as used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0082] Throughout the description and claims, the terms “comprise”, “including”, “having”, and “contain” and their variations should be understood as meaning “including but not limited to”, and are not intended to exclude other components.

[0083] The present disclosure also covers the exact terms, features, values and ranges etc. in case these terms, features, values and ranges etc. are used in conjunction with terms such as about, around, generally, substantially, essentially, at least etc. (i.e., "about 3" shall also cover exactly 3 or "substantially constant" shall also cover exactly constant).

[0084] The term “at least one” should be understood as meaning “one or more”, and therefore includes both embodiments that include one or multiple components. Furthermore, dependent claims that refer to independent claims that describe features with “at least one” have the same meaning, both when the feature is referred to as “the” and “the at least one”.

[0085] Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “some embodiments” or “varying embodiments” or the like, means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, appearances of the phrases “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “some embodiments” or “varying embodiments” or the like in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.

[0086] Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some, but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of differentembodiments are meant to be within the scope of the disclosure, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. All the features and / or steps disclosed in the specification can be combined in any combination, except for combinations where at least some of the features and / or steps are mutually exclusive. Preferred features of the disclosure are applicable to all aspects of the disclosure and may be used in any combination. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

[0087] Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, various features of the disclosure are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this disclosure.

[0088] It will be appreciated that variations to the disclosed embodiments of the invention can be made while still falling within the scope of the disclosure. Features disclosed in the specification, unless stated otherwise, can be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose. Thus, unless stated otherwise, each feature disclosed represents one example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

[0089] Use of exemplary language, such as “for instance”, “such as”, “for example” and the like, is merely intended to better illustrate the invention and does not indicate a limitation on the scope of the disclosure unless so claimed. Any steps described in the specification may be performed in any order or simultaneously unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0090] As used herein, the terms “gas,” “steam,” and “vapor” are generally intended to mean the same and to be understood by their common dictionary definitions. That is, the terms “gas,” “steam,” and “vapor” broadly include water and / or liquids in a gaseous instead of liquid or solid form. Examples of other liquids that may be employed and / or vaporized according to the disclosed embodiments may include one or more of bromine, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, etc., although the disclosure is not limited thereto. As such, each of“gas,” “steam,” and “vapor” according to the disclosure may be created from water and / or other substances / liquids at a respective combination of pressure and temperature conditions, for example as evident by a phase diagram for water, such as through evaporation, cavitation, boiling, vaporization, and / or related mechanisms. It will be appreciated that the systems, devices and methods of the present disclosure may be configured to produce heated gas or gas hotter than the working liquid.

[0091] Similarly, while they may be referenced as “water vapor,” “steam” or the like for exemplary purposes, the use of these terms in the disclosure contemplates liquids and fluids of various character and composition. For example, liquids used in the described embodiments may include water obtainable from a variety of different sources, both natural and man-made, with corresponding vapor or steam generated therefrom. Further, additives may be included or provided in the liquid for adjusting desired properties. Likewise, the liquid may be pretreated for configuring similar properties. In practice, most embodiments will use traditional treated boiler water suitable for modern industrial processes.

[0092] The terms conduit, container, pipe or tube may be used interchangeably herein and refer to a substantially rigid, hollow structure allowing liquid to flow through said hollow structure and for sealing liquid and / or gas inside said hollow structure. Furthermore, the substantially rigid hollow structure is not limited to any specific geometrical shape (crosssection) and may comprise a layered structure (i.e., having layered walls), wherein the material selection and thickness of different layers is selected to obtain desired physical properties of each layer and the overall structure.

[0093] Similarly, while valves are described herein in various positions and / or configurations, it should be understood that suitable valves may be of varying types.

[0094] Moreover, the term “liquid piston” as used herein, refers to an expanse or a body of liquid arranged or stretched in any orientation (horizontal, angled, curved or vertical) between two components, wherein the two components may comprise space of near- vacuum, gas, vapor or air, such as a liquid column arranged between a low-pressure space of gas / vapor and for example ambient air. In some embodiments, the liquid column may be defined by a valve acting as an end component thereof. Depending on the context, a liquid piston may be at rest (stationary) or may be moving as a single component.

[0095] Various Embodiments and Components for Use Therewith

[0096] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide novel devices, systems and methods for the production of steam using a weight and momentum of the liquid to form low pressure conditions and induce evaporation. The production of the steam may beneficially utilize a thermal energy content of the liquid for evaporation as liquids are cooled during their evaporation. In some embodiments, devices, systems and methods may be provided for the production of heated and / or pressurized steam. For example, devices, systems and methods of the disclosure may utilize a return motion of a liquid piston to pressurize, heat and eject the steam. Furthermore, the disclosed embodiments may be configured to heat, compress, eject, collect, and / or otherwise employ the resulting steam for heating, industrial purposes and, in some embodiments, to generate and harness electrical energy. The disclosed embodiments may be configured to efficiently convert low grade waste heat to energized steam using relatively limited amounts of added mechanical energy.

[0097] As an illustrative example of the foregoing, steam generation systems disclosed herein may employ a container 110 defining an interior volume 120 holding a liquid 130 therein between a first end 112 and a second end 114 of the container 110. As may be seen in the illustrated system according to Figures 1A-1D, the liquid 130 in the system may alternate such that at one point in the oscillation it is in contact with or in vicinity to the first end 112 of the container 110 and subsequently “drops” or otherwise moves away from the first end 112, such that the weight and momentum of the liquid 130 results in a reduction in pressure that generates a low-pressure steam 140 of similar temperature as the liquid 130 in a process that may be referred to as “cold boiling”, “cavitation” or simply “evaporation”. For example, the weight of the liquid may generate a negative pressure of 20kPa-abs at the first end 112, such that a portion of the liquid 130 at a temperature of 60C undergoes a phase change from liquid to steam while the liquid 130 is moving away from the first end 112.

[0098] When the system has generated the steam 140, the system may energize or heat the steam 140 using a heating means in order to preserve it and prevent it from being turned into condensate in later stages of the process. In some embodiments maintaining an elevated temperature outside the container 110 in comparison to the temperature of the system’s liquid 130 and augmenting the natural return movement of the liquid piston 130 is sufficient to largely prevent the newly generated steam 140 from condensing during its initial stage of compression. When the steam 140 reaches a certain pressure and / or temperature, the steam 140 may be collected and separated from the liquid 130 in the container 110, such as by an extraction valve 150 momentarily opening to extract the steam 140, such as with themovement of the system’s liquid toward the extraction valve 150. The extracted more energized and pressurized steam 142 may be collected or diverted to beneficial use. After extraction of the steam 140, the process may be repeated and the system may furthermore be intentionally designed not to be at equilibrium at the start of the evaporation due to the liquid’s 130 head height, pressure conditions and / or forces enacted on the liquid elsewhere in the system.

[0099] In the system according to Figure 2, a steam generation system may include a container 210 defining an interior volume 220 holding a liquid 230 therein between a first end 212 and a second end 214 of the container 210. The container 210 may be configured to facilitate repeated movement of the liquid 230 for steam generation, the container comprising a first tank 216, a second tank 218, and a movable portion 260, for example in the form of a piston, a screw, paddle, plunger or the like, for controlling or influencing movement of the liquid 230 within the container 210 and / or add energy to maintain the liquid’s 230 natural oscillation from the first end 212, toward the second end 214 and back. In some embodiments, an air pocket 232 may be provided to act as a “spring” compressing and expanding due to the movement of liquid 230 back and forth between the first tank 216 and the second tank 218. A movable portion 260 or other such mechanisms may serve to add energy to sustain the system’s liquid 230 oscillation. The air pocket 232 may be formed from gas or a mixture of gases suitable for the purpose of the system such an inert gas, e.g. helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, argon or the like that are commonly used in modern boiler systems and / or gases that have come out of solution from the liquid 230 during the system’s operation such as CO2 or O2.

[0100] Similar to Figure 1A, the system of Figure 2A is illustrated at a point in which the system is primed to begin steam generation, by the liquid 230 that has been added to the container 210 in contact or close proximity with the first end 212 of the container 210. The system may initiate the steam generation process by having the liquid 230 head height unsustainably high in relation to the liquid’s surface in the second tank 218 and pressure conditions in the air pocket 232. The movement may further be assisted by an intentional reduction in pressure at the second end 214, such as by the movable portion 260 operating to expand the volume 220 of the container 210 at the second tank 218 as shown in Figure 2B and / or expand the volume of the air pocket 232. Due to the elevation and weight of the liquid 230 and pressure conditions in the second tank 218, pressure at the first end 212 decreases to the evaporation pressure of the liquid 230 allowing the liquid 230 to drop and accelerate fromthe first end 212. At a point during the drop of the liquid 230, when its downward velocity is the highest, the head height of the liquid in the first tank 216 in relation to its surface in the second tank 218 as well as higher pressure in the air pocket 232 in relation to the evaporative pressure in the low-pressure steam 240 at the top of the first tank 216 induce deceleration of the dropping liquid 230. Due to the weight and momentum of the liquid 230 the liquid “overshoots” and only comes to a rest at an “unsustainably” low height and high pressure in the air pocket 232. During the liquid’s travel away from the first end 212 it generated low- pressure steam 240 at similar temperature as the liquid 230.

[0101] When the liquid 230 has started to decelerate but has not come to rest with its surface level the furthest away from the first end 212, a preheating mechanism may be enabled so as to increase the temperature of the newly formed steam 240 while the liquid 230 is still expanding the volume available to the steam 240 during its heating.

[0102] As the liquid 230 begins its rebound and acceleration in the direction of the first end 212, the movable portion 260 may be configured to add energy to the liquid’s 230 movement and assist its natural oscillation by contracting the volume 220 of the container 210 at the second tank 218, increasing the pressure in the air pocket 232, thus adding further momentum to the liquid 230 in its travel toward the first end 212, as illustrated in Figure 2C.

[0103] As the liquid 230 moves towards the first end 212, the steam 240 is compressed and heated. When the steam 240 is sufficiently pressurized and heated, the steam 240 may be removed from the container 210 via an extraction valve 250. For example, the extraction valve 250 may be opened and the steam 240 may be pushed out of the system by the movement of the liquid 230. After removal of at least a portion of the steam 242, and with the extraction valve 250 closed the, the liquid 230 comes momentary to rest before starting a new oscillation. As the liquid moves away from the first end 212 the movable portion 260 may further accelerate the movement of the liquid 230 by providing a reduction in pressure at the second end 214, such as by operating to expand the volume 220 of the container 210 at the second tank 218 as shown in Figure 2B. In this manner, the system provides an oscillating process for generating steam using the weight and momentum of the liquid 230, and driven with relatively minor additions of added energy, for example by movement of the movable portion 260.

[0104] While the illustrated embodiment of Figures 2A-2C is described as including a movable portion 260 for controlling or influencing movement of the liquid 230 within thecontainer 210, the movable portion 260 may be replaced or supplemented by another pressure controlling device according to varying embodiments. For example, a pressure controlling device may comprise one or more methods of modulating the parameters influencing the oscillation of the liquid such as pressure conditions, momentum and mass. That can for example be done using a piston, chemical reaction, injection of a pressurized gas that subsequently condenses, lowering and raising a voluminous object into the side tank to increase the elevation of the liquid there, adding and / or removing liquid or a related element for translating energy to the oscillating system even using direct excitation methods such as a paddle or a screw mechanism in the liquid 230.

[0105] Below is a list of excitation methods, where energy is added to the system to initiate and / or sustain the oscillation, whether by augmenting (increasing or decreasing) the pressure of the fluid at a bottom of a side tank or otherwise. The four columns indicate the influenced parameters:

[0106] In an embodiment, the second tank 218 may be connected to a pressure source or pump for increasing a pressure within the container 210 by adding pressurized gas or air, for example to air pocket 232, and for reducing pressure within the container 210 by allowing gas or air to escape, for example from air pocket 232. Alternatively, the system may be connected to a source of liquid that alternates in and out in such a way that it increases the oscillation amplitude of the system’s liquid 230 and maintains its operation.

[0107] According to varying embodiments, parameters of the system can be selected so that the liquid 230 deaccelerates during a latter part of the extraction of the steam 240 due to an increased elevation of the first end 212 and / or increased pressure of the steam 240 and / or due to expansion of an air pocket 232 and therefore reduced pressure at the second end 214. Intentional design of systems that reduce the end velocity of the liquid during compression of the steam may advantageously reduce energy loss from impact of the liquid 230 with the first end 212. Notably, while illustrated in Figures 2A-2C as including the first tank 216 in the form of a vertical column, the container 210 is not limited to such a shape or configuration, and may include a first tank 216 that has a slope that is less than vertical or another variation in shape. An angled configuration of the first tank 216 might in some configurations be considered advantageous to increase the weight of the liquid 230, slow down the oscillating frequency of the system and increase the overall volume of evaporated steam in each oscillation. An upper portion of the second container 218 may be curved, e.g. as a barrel roofed building or angled as gabled roofed buildings, which in some embodiments is advantageous to more rapidly reduce or even invert the differential head height of the liquid230 during the final stages of the evaporation phase and thus advantageously increase the upward acceleration of the liquid 230 in the first tank 216 during the critical initial stages of the compression process. The bottom half of the system and second container 218 may in a similar manner have intentional ridges that alternate between being submerged and protruding, such as when the liquid 230 is at an elevated position and the liquid level in the second container 218 is lowered, so as to advantageously modify the acceleration profile of the liquid 230 during the last stages of the compression and ejection profile as well as slowing down the flow of liquid from the second container 218 to the first container 216 preventing the formation of a vortex in the second container 218 which might harmfully transfer ‘air’ from the second container 218 to the first one and mix with the steam 216.

[0108] In varying embodiments, the formed steam may be promptly energized by the system in the final stages of evaporation. By increasing the steam’s enthalpy, its pressure and / or temperature should at the minimum be increased and maintained sufficiently for it not to condense during initial stages of compression by the liquid 230 moving toward the first end 212 and preferably such that the compression process is as nearly isentropic as practical, elevating both the steam’s temperature and pressure.

[0109] In varying embodiments, the low pressure steam 240 may be energized using one or more heating means provided in the steam generation area at the first end of the container to augment and / or replace the heating performed by the compression of the returning liquid 230. The heating means may provide an elevated temperature outside the system where the low-pressure steam 240 is generated so to prevent the internal walls of the container 210 in the evaporation area to become colder during evaporation. The heating may also be provided from the previously generated, hot and pressurized steam outside the system such as through the ejection valve 250, the first end 212 or the walls of the container 210 where the evaporation takes place. In some embodiments, the heating means may include devices for conducting current through the low-pressure steam, devices for heating the steam using electromagnetic waves, and / or devices for applying heat to the container generally (e.g., inductive heating elements, heat exchanger using waste heat, heated container walls, etc.). For example, the steam may be heated using an electrically induced fast ion wave, ion wave, plasma, spark or short duration arc generated by antennas / electrodes in, around or in proximity to the first end of the container. The steam may also or alternatively be energized using a beam of electromagnetic energy, at frequencies selected for maximum absorption by the steam, including light generated by a laser, microwaves and / or related electromagneticradiation. As such, the heating may be performed using a laser and / or a magnetron, or related device, configured to emit electromagnetic radiation into the steam. Other ways to energize the steam may be employed, such as inductive heating, frictional heating, vibrational heating, heating using sound waves, and / or another heating means, and may be located at varying points in the system or by equipment that starts to protrude from the liquid 230 during the final stages of the evaporative process in the first tank 216.

[0110] In varying embodiments, the first end 212 of the container 210 may be kept at an elevated temperature relative to the liquid 230 inside the container 210. In this manner, the steam 240 may be prevented from recondensing on the inside walls of the container 210 before it can be heated and pressurized for extraction.

[0111] Embodiments of the current disclosure advantageously enable the very efficient creation of steam or vapor by using the potential and kinetic energy and / or weight of a moving liquid to generate evaporative conditions by means of abrupt volume expansion and low-pressure conditions. Although bringing a liquid through the liquid-gas barrier is the most energy intensive part of boiling, the kinetic and / or potential energy of the working liquid isn’t lost when the steam has been generated. Instead, the energy is stored in the low-pressure volume of the newly generated steam, the high-pressure volume in the air pocket 232 and the unsustainably low potential energy in the reduced head height of the liquid. This energy is beneficially used in the return motion of the liquid 230, largely pressurizing the steam, heating it and moving the liquid towards the first end. Furthermore, the energy required to bring the liquid across the liquid-gas barrier is largely drawn from the thermal energy of the liquid, thus resulting in cooling the remaining liquid 230.

[0112] In varying embodiments, the thermal energy of the liquid in the system may be compensated by heating the liquid in the container so as to maintain the liquid’s stable temperature despite the repeated evaporation. One or more of low-grade process waste heat such as from a cooling liquid from an industrial process or warm flue gas, solar energy, geothermal energy, or another heating means may be used to continuously add thermal energy to the liquid during the oscillating process as well as beneficially cooling the medium transferring the required thermal energy to the system. In an embodiment, a heat exchanger may be provided in the container for transferring thermal energy gathered as waste heat from another system to the liquid in the container.

[0113] As illustrated in the embodiment of Figure 3, a heat exchanger 234 may be provided for increasing or maintaining the temperature of the liquid 230 in the container 210 or elsewhere in the system. In the illustration, the heat exchanger 234 is shown for passing aheated medium, such as a liquid or gas, into an input 236 of the heat exchanger 234 and through the liquid 230 in the second tank 218 for transferring the thermal energy of the heated medium to the liquid 230 without mixing the two, before passing out of the system, now in a colder state, via an output 238 of the heat exchanger 234. According to varying embodiments, a heat exchanger 234 may be provided in the first tank 216, in the second tank 218, and / or in or on any other portion of the container 210 that allows a transfer of heat to the liquid 230. In some embodiments, the liquid 230 may be maintained at a temperature of 20 to 100°C. In some embodiments, the heat exchanger may be of another type than illustrated in the figures. In some embodiments, an efficiency of the system will increase with higher temperature in the system, such as measured by coefficient of performance (COP).

[0114] As may be understood from the description of the oscillating process of Figures 2A-2C, various embodiments of steam generating systems may provide an intermittent supply of steam. For example, a system according to Figures 2A-2C may be designed and configured to output a quantity of steam at a set interval, for example every four seconds. As a constant flow of steam may be desired in some embodiments, systems according to the current disclosure may be configured to reduce the fluctuations in steam generation by arranging multiple out-of-phase systems ejecting steam, or to eject steam into an accumulator.

[0115] In an embodiment, a steam generation system may be provided that includes several containers according to Figures 2A-2C connected in series, as illustrated in Figure 4. As illustrated in the embodiment of Figure 4, a heat exchanger 434 may be provided for increasing or maintaining the temperature of the liquid in a plurality of containers 410a, 410b, 410c, each comprising a respective first tank 416a, 416b, 416c and second tank 418a, 418b, 418c. In the illustration, the heat exchanger 234 is provided for passing a heated medium through the plurality of containers 410a, 410b, 410c in series.

[0116] For example, the heated medium may enter a first container 410a at input 436a for transferring thermal energy to a liquid therein before passing out of the first container 410a via an output 438a. The heated medium may subsequently enter a second container 410b at input 436b for transferring thermal energy to a liquid therein and pass out of the second container 410b via an output 438b to a third container 410c via input 436c before exiting the series at output 438c. Providing a plurality of containers 410a, 410b, 410c in series advantageously allows for an efficient extraction of more energy from the heated medium, cooling it further and improving a power output of the overall system.

[0117] In varying embodiments, the containers 410a, 410b, 410c may be provided as coupled oscillators, such that a liquid, pressure, steam or the like may be coupled between the containers in order to improve an efficiency of the overall system. For example, oscillators may be coupled together that are offset with respect to a phase of oscillation, such that the oscillators may assist one another with mechanical energy at the desired phase of oscillation.

[0118] In an embodiment according to Figure 5, a container 510 may be provided comprising a plurality of first tanks 516 and a central second tank 518. In this manner, one powerful means of mechanical input would maintain an oscillation of a large system. Such an embodiment may be more cost effective under certain conditions, as it would allow ejection of a significant amount of superheated steam to be distributed between several large ejection valves, potentially at different pressures and temperatures for different industrial processes and uses.

[0119] According to an embodiment of a steam generation system, the energy provided to assist the oscillation may be added by way of repeatedly adding mass of liquid into the system and subsequently removing it. The added and subtracted volume of liquid advantageously increases the pressure when pressure is already high and lowers it when it is already low - thus maintaining an oscillatory motion of the main liquid.

[0120] In one such configuration according to the illustration of Figure 6, a sloping conduit 640 is connected to the middle of the second tank 618, or side tank, of the container 610. A top portion 642 of the sloping conduit 640 is provided at an elevated position but lower than a top portion of the first tank 616, or steam ejection tank. The sloping conduit 640 is connected to an opening 644 on the side tank 618 and is full of liquid to its closed top portion 642. At the top portion 642, a valve 646 is provided connecting the liquid to a reservoir of steam. Such steam may be of low-quality (wet steam) and of relatively low temperature with most of its original energy having been previously depleted.

[0121] In such a configuration mechanical energy can be added to the oscillating system in the following way: approximately at the moment in the oscillation where evaporation volume of the steam is the largest, in other words when the first tank 616 contains low-pressure steam and a liquid level there is low, an equivalent amount of boiler liquid has flowed into the side tank 618 and thus the pressure there is at its highest. A short while earlier, the valve 646 opens, allowing for a short burst of the potentially low-quality steam to enter into the top portion 642 and low-pressure environment of the sloping conduit 640. The steam increases a pressure at the top portion 642 and accordingly presses on the already heavy liquid column in the sloping conduit 640 allowing it to drop. The liquid column in the sloping conduit 640 thusstarts to flow into the already pressurized side tank 618, which has the effect of delaying the depressurization of the side tank 618 during the compression phase of the steam in the first tank 616. The liquid column in the sloping conduit 640 reaches velocity and momentum and 'overshoots' when the expanded low-quality steam that originally pressed on the liquid column from the top portion 642 condenses and collapses. The collapse generates low pressure conditions, decelerating the liquid in the sloping conduit 640 so that the liquid eventually stops flowing into the side tank 618 and subsequently shoots back up into the low pressure area now in the top portion 642 by the collapsed steam. This advantageously happens at the same instance that pressure conditions in the side tank 618 are the lowest, i.e. when the generated steam has just been ejected from the first tank 616 and water level in the side tank 618 is the lowest. With an exact amount of steam injected at the top portion 642 and appropriate angle and length of a sloping conduit the timing could be advantageously set so that the upward motion of the liquid column in the sloping conduit 640 will delay the pressurization of the side tank 618 due to the flowing liquid from the first tank 616 up the sloping conduit - thus also adding energy to the liquid’ s movement during the steam generation part of the system's oscillation.

[0122] In embodiments of the system, a condenser may be provided in the side tank. This might for example be advantageous in configuration where the steam from the system is used to drive an electric steam turbine. By placing a condenser in the side tank of the system the steam exiting an electric turbine is condensed creating low pressure conditions which increases the turbine’s power output. It furthermore returns the remaining thermal energy to the liquid in the side tank. In most cases the steam flowing through the turbine is from treated boiler water (de-aerated and softened), and its condensate can therefore be allowed to flow directly into the side tank. This can be done by placing a one-way valve at the end of and bottom of the condensate line so that liquid condensate is repeatedly sucked into the side tank during the part of the oscillation where the pressure in the side tank is the lowest (i.e. when the water level there is the lowest and the water line in the high pipe is the highest).

[0123] Embodiments of the system may include an input of liquid, e.g. boiler water, to replace the mass of liquid ejected in the form of steam.

[0124] An illustrative example of a method 700 for generating vapor or steam from a liquid is described with respect to Figure 7, such as may be performed with a system according to the embodiment of Figure 2. As seen in Figure 7, the method 700 may comprise providing a liquid piston at or in close vicinity to a first end of a container 702, inducing movement of the liquid piston towards a second end of the container, such as with gravityand further augmenting the movement of the liquid, such as by reducing a pressure at the second end of the container, to form a low-pressure steam at the first end 704, optionally preheating the low-pressure steam 706, assisting oscillation of the liquid piston back towards the first end for compressing the steam 708, such as by increasing the pressure at the second end to add mechanical energy to the movement of the liquid piston back towards the first end, and extracting the steam from the first end of the container 710. The compression process may further heat and pressurize the steam, particularly where the compression process may be rapid and / or if the process is conducted in a large, heated and thermally reflective container. In various embodiments, the heat of compression added to the steam during the compression step 708 may be significantly greater than the heat added to the steam by the optional heating step 706 of the newly generated low-pressure steam. When the steam has been sufficiently pressurized and heated, the steam may be extracted from the interior volume of the container, such as via a gas extraction valve. Notably, the method 700 of Figure 7 may be repeated, such that the method 700 may represent a cycle of an oscillating process.

[0125] Various phases of the method 700 may be further described in greater detail with respect to features or elements of the illustrated embodiments of corresponding systems, with reference to the drawings of the disclosure.

[0126] The formed steam may furthermore be promptly energized by the system in a preheating process following the steam’s generation, such as using a heating means. This energization of the steam may preferably commence at the last stage of the steam formation and can continue alongside the steam’s compression process until the steam is ejected. By increasing the steam’s enthalpy, its pressure and / or temperature should at the minimum be increased and maintained sufficiently for it not to condense during compression of the steam and preferably so that the compression process elevates the steam’s temperature and pressure. In many embodiments, an amount of energy required to prevent the steam to condensate during compression is trivial compared to the energy required for its initial generation and subsequent compression.

[0127] In varying embodiments, the steam may be energized using one or more heating means provided at the container. The heating means may include heating from previously generated and heated steam, for example via the ejection valve, and / or a device or surface that emits electromagnetic radiation that is optimally absorbed by the steam being vaporized, such as infrared waves. Other devices and means may be used to heat the steam such as devices for conducting current through the steam, and / or devices for applying heat to thesteam generally (e.g., inductive heating elements). For example, the steam may be heated using an electrically induced fast ion wave, ion wave, plasma, spark or short duration arc generated by antennas / electrodes in, around or in proximity to the steam in the container. The steam may also or alternatively be energized using a beam of electromagnetic energy, at frequencies selected for maximum absorption by the steam, including light generated by a laser, microwaves and / or related electromagnetic radiation. As such, the heating may be performed using a laser and / or a magnetron, or related device, configured to emit electromagnetic radiation into the steam in the container. Other ways to energize the steam may be employed, such as inductive heating, frictional heating, vibrational heating, heating using sound waves, and / or another heating means.

[0128] When the steam has reached a predetermined state in terms of pressure, temperature and / or volume, a valve may be configured to open, allowing the heated and / or pressurized gas to exit the interior volume of the container for storage and / or direct use. A key part of the system may be a dedicated extraction valve that has the ability to open and allow hot and pressurized steam to exit, while staying firmly sealed at all other times, in particular during the low-pressure evaporation phase and in some embodiments where the valve is impacted by the high-pressure liquid following the pressurized steam being extracted through the valve. For this purpose, a vase valve, a floating ball clack valve, dynamic air valve, float valve, gas release valve, air vent valve, high-speed electrically controlled valve, a combinatory one-way and buoyancy valve, or the like may be provided as the extraction valve. The extraction valve may be configured to prevent fluid from the interior volume of the container from following and mixing with the extracted, pressurized steam.

[0129] Following extraction of the heated and / or pressurized steam, the system may repeat the process to continue generating steam or vapor. In order for evaporation to start at the next cycle, the system may have a remainder of the pressurized and heated steam, which will augment the downward acceleration of the liquid column while expanding, cooling and loosing its energy to the surroundings. When the pressure of the steam that remained drops to evaporation pressure of the liquid during the volume expansion, evaporation of new steam commences.

[0130] Notably, while described as generating steam, the disclosed methods and systems could be used or otherwise adapted for boiling other liquids and / or extracting and / or separating one or more liquids from a base liquid, such as where the one or more liquids have a higher vapor pressure than the base liquid.

[0131] Embodiments of the current disclosure advantageously enable a very efficient creation of steam or vapor by using volume expansion to generate evaporative conditions for a liquid. The models show that most of the energy is derived from the specific energy of the liquid, cooling it slowly with every evaporative cycle. A continuous transfer of thermal energy to the working liquid is therefore an important design consideration. Keeping the working fluid warm can be done with a heat exchanger connected to a heat source such as waste heat leaving an industrial process. In some embodiments, the resulting cooling of the liquid may be harnessed, such as using a heat exchanger, so that besides generating a hot steam, a secondary use for the system may be to act as a habitat cooling system or refrigerator or the like.

[0132] Notably, with higher temperatures of the working liquid more mass of steam may be generated in each cycle of the system, both due to higher density of steam at higher evaporation pressures as well as more generated volume overall due to higher evaporation pressure. This advantageous feature may, however, be somewhat offset as compressing and ejecting the steam requires more added energy as steam’s density and mass increases.

[0133] Although bringing a liquid through the liquid-gas barrier is the most energy intensive part of boiling, the kinetic and / or potential energy of the working liquid isn’t lost when the steam has been generated. Instead, the energy is stored in the pressure difference between the low-pressure volume of the newly generated steam and, the high-pressure volume in an side tank’s air pocket and the unsustainably low potential energy in the reduced head height of the liquid. According to the disclosed embodiments, this stored energy may subsequently be beneficially used to pressurize and further heat the steam during the return motion of the liquid.

[0134] To facilitate this advantageous transfer of energy between the evaporative and the compression stages, a movable portion or piston of the container may be configured to collect and return energy, such as by inertia of a heavy cast wheel or being connected to mechanisms for generating and releasing electrical energy from the movement of the piston. In systems which lower the surface of the liquid to expand the volume, inertia of the liquid itself may act as the collection and return mechanism of the energy. Although the back and forth movement of the piston requires net energy due to the different pressure profiles of the steam during its expansion versus its compression, the net energy is significantly less than the system generates. This is due to energy for expansion being similar to the energy returned by the system to perform the first part of the steam’s compression. That is, the net energyused / gained to expand the volume for the evaporation process being largely offset in the compression process.

[0135] The net energy required to move the piston can both be sourced externally or be produced by the system itself, e.g. using a traditional steam engine or the like. The piston can be pulled / pushed using various means, such as using a pumpjack, linear motor, pressure changes, intentional steam hammer etc. For example, an intentional steam-hammer can be used to move the piston, using the intentional collapse of previously generated gas with somewhat depleted enthalpy which is close to the condensation line to move the piston. In some instances, the piston can be controlled, e.g., using a control rod connected to a rotating cast wheel, by using a linear motor, by using hydraulics, and / or by using pressurized gas.Increased efficiency, reduced strain on equipment and less piston leakage may be realized for some embodiments by configuring a pressure differential in front and back of the piston to be low. The energy can be added by varying the pressure in the air pocket or the system’s overall volume and / or by influencing the liquid’s back and forth flow.

[0136] In varying embodiments, to prevent loss of enthalpy (heat) during compression of the steam and to furthermore act as a reflector and / or even “waveguide” for electromagnetic energy from the heating means, walls of the first end of the container may be made from or coated with materials having high thermal refractivity, such as silver, gold, aluminum compounds or similar materials.

[0137] The current figures illustrate various embodiments of the disclosure including combinations of several features of the disclosure. As previously noted, other advantageous configurations are envisioned, and varying embodiments may include varying combinations of different features from the depicted embodiments.

[0138] As can be appreciated from the foregoing, in addition to alternative and / or additional embodiments provided herein, the devices, systems, and methods of the present disclosure can facilitate the generation of vapor or steam using volume expansion. In its simplest embodiment, vapor or steam may be generated from a sturdy system with only two to four fine-tuned moving parts, rendering the disclosed devices and systems both economical and highly durable.

[0139] Various embodiments of the described embodiments are economical, safe, and clean alternative to traditional means of producing heated gas or steam. In some embodiments, the disclosed devices, systems and methods may be used to additionallyproduce and harness electricity that can be used to augment some functions and / or components of the respective device or system, e.g., to power additional means of heating and / or sensors and / or a connection means to allow the operational status of the system to be transmitted for remote monitoring and / or control in real-time in situ or at a remote location and / or to provide lighting around the infrastructure, etc.

[0140] In one embodiment the system is configured to generate high temperature steam at relatively low pressures suitable for hydrogen generation.

[0141] In a further embodiment, a steam generation system according to the disclosure may repeatedly compress and expand a pocket of gas in a side tank, for example as in Figures 2A-2C. When a volume of gas is expanded or compressed its temperature changes. In a steam generation system of the current disclosure, whenever the water level rises, the gas temperature and pressure rises and inversely when the water level drops the pressure and temperature of the gas drops as well and may even go below freezing. The gas temperature can thus be said to oscillate in a controlled manner far above and far below the more stable temperature of the boiler liquid or water in the system (operating temperature). This feature can be leveraged to transfer very low temperature source heat into the system while maintaining higher operating temperature.

[0142] Figure 8 provides an illustrative example for assisting an understanding of how a gas temperature can oscillate based on a liquid or water level in the side tank. The graph of Figure 8 shows on a left-hand side an idealized water level curve in a side tank over one oscillation of the system. First, the water level rises from 100cm to 200cm while water flows into the side tank during the system’s evaporation phase, then dropping back to 100cm during the compression and ejection of the steam in the opposite tank or pipe. For this example, the side tank is assumed to be uniform with its ceiling at 250cm so it can be said that if the initial volume is when the water level is the lowest it has been compressed by 2 / 3rds when a side tank water level is at its highest ((e.g., height 250- 100=150cm to 250-200=50cm (at t=1.6sec) then multiplied by an arbitrary cross sectional area of the tank for volume)). On the right hand of the graph is an estimated temperature of gas (e.g., helium, hydrogen, or a mix of hydrogen and oxygen) in the air-pocket during the compression and expansion, oscillating from being negative 20C all the way to positive 120C.

[0143] In one aspect, two heat-exchange mechanisms may be placed in the gas pocket of the side tank with each of the two heat-exchange mechanisms only in operation for a portionof the oscillation. For example, a first heat-exchanger may be provided to transfer thermal energy from the (rather chilly) input source to the gas pocket (when the gas is expanded and cold) and a second heat-exchanger may be provided to transfer thermal energy from the gas to the boiler water (during periods when the gas is compressed and hot).

[0144] In Figure 8, a first period A and a second period B indicate when each of the first heat-exchanger and second heat-exchanger are enabled or operating. During period A, the gas is colder than 30C. At that point the gas is exposed to the first heat-exchanger, e.g., with a 30C source, and during that period heat flows from the source to the gas through the first heat-exchanger. During period B the gas is hotter than the 70C boiler water and the second heat-exchanger is allowed to transfer thermal energy from the gas to the boiler liquid.

[0145] In an embodiment according to Figure 9, a relatively cold thermal source flows into the first heat-exchanger 934a. When the liquid level in the side tank 918 rises, a floatinginsulator 935 covers heating coils / fins of the first heat-exchanger thus stopping heat transfer (the movement of the insulating float also has the added benefit of pulling in and pushing out the air in the air pocket). When a liquid level in the side tank is high - and the gas pocket compressed and hot - the liquid reaches and partially submerges thermally conductive fins of the second heat-exchanger 934b effectively transferring thermal energy from the now hot gas to the colder liquid.

[0146] In an embodiment according to Figure 10, the first heat-exchanger 934a receives source thermal energy at upper-sides and / or a roof of the side tank 918, transferring thermal energy to the gas when it is at its coldest. When the liquid level rises a float 935 is lifted that covers the first heat-exchanger 934a with insulating material. The liquid continues to rise compressing and heating the gas. When the boiler liquid reaches the second heat-exchanger 934b, e.g., thermally conductive copper fins, thermal energy from the now heated gas is conducted into the liquid. The jagged configuration of the side tank, and / or the first heatexchanger, in the embodiment of Figure 10 serves dual purpose of increasing surface volume for heat conduction from the walls to the gas as well as increasing jerk (first derivative of acceleration) in the liquid’s movement during both final stages of evaporation and first stage of compression by rapidly elevating the surface level in the side tank and hence more rapidly reducing system net head height.

[0147] As previously discussed, while illustrated in Figures 2A-2C as including the first tank 216 in the form of a vertical column, the container 210 is not limited to such a shape orconfiguration, and may include a first tank 216 that has a slope that is less than vertical or another variation in shape. In some embodiments, the first tank according to Figures 2A-2C may be replaced with an angled system, such as described in International Patent Application No. PCT / IB2024 / 052557, filed 15 March 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As an illustrative example of the foregoing, steam generation systems disclosed herein may include a conduit provided in the form of a pipe 1122, including an initiation valve 1134 provided at an inlet section 1124 of the pipe 1122, such as shown in the illustrated embodiment of Figure 11. Following the initiation valve 1134, the system may comprise a gas section 1125 where a liquid may be vaporized. The gas section 1125 may include means for heating the vapor for example in the form of infra-red emitter / antennas / electrodes. A vapor extraction mechanism or extraction valve 1140 may be provided at one or both ends of the gas section 1125. In some embodiments, a downstream section 1144 may be provided following the gas section 1125 and may be configured for adding energy to the natural oscillation of the system, for example, in a compression phase of the vapor.

[0148] As seen in the depicted embodiment of Figure 11, the downstream section 1144 may comprise a horizontal section 1147 provided before a side tank 1148. A liquid trap may be provided or otherwise configured by the side tank 1148 for preserving an interface between the working liquid and the vapor by preventing air or the like from entering the horizontal section 1147 and / or the gas section 1125 during the system’s compression phase, which may involve the liquid traversing in the direction of the initiation valve. In varying examples, a side tank 1148 may comprise a tank or another container as illustrated in the embodiment of Figure 11 and / or, in some embodiments, may be provided as a section having an lower elevation or the like.

[0149] A pressurization system may be provided at the side tank 1148, for example configured to assist with the compression phase in the system or varying other parameters controlling the oscillation of the system such as via pressure, mass or momentum. In varying embodiments, the pressurization system may comprise a movable portion according to other described embodiments herein, such as according to Figures 2A-2C or in the form of a piston, a screw, paddle, or the like, for directly controlling or influencing movement of the liquid piston within the conduit and / or adding mechanical energy to maintain the liquid piston’s natural oscillation from a first end at the initiation valve, toward a second end opposite the first end and back. In some embodiments, an air pocket may be provided to act as a “spring” compressing and expanding due to the movement of the liquid piston back and forth betweenthe first end and the second end. A movable portion or other such mechanisms may serve to add energy to sustain the system’s oscillation. The air pocket may be formed from gas or a mixture of gases suitable for the purpose of the system such an inert gas, e.g. helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, argon or the like that are commonly used in modern boiler systems and / or gases that have come out of solution from the liquid during the system’s operation such as CO2 or O2.

[0150] An illustrative example of a method 1200 for generating vapor or steam from a liquid is described with respect to Figure 12, such as may be performed with a system according to the embodiment of Figure 11. As seen in Figure 12, the method 1200 may comprise an acceleration phase 1202, a vaporization phase 1204, a heating phase 1206, a compression phase 1208, and an extraction phase 1210.

[0151] In an acceleration phase 1202 a flowing liquid may be provided to an inlet section of a conduit, the inlet section connected to a gas section of the conduit at an initiation valve. The flowing liquid may accelerate through the inlet section, the open initiation valve and the gas section until the liquid reaches a predetermined velocity. To start the vaporization phase 1204 the initiation valve may be abruptly closed, sealing the gas section from the inlet section and causing a liquid piston to form from the flowing liquid in the gas section, such that the liquid piston moves away from the initiation valve and generates a low pressure in the gas section that partially vaporizes the liquid into a vapor. The acceleration phase 1202 and / or the vaporization phase 1204 may further include assisting movement of the liquid piston away from a first end at the initiation valve by adding energy to the system’s oscillation, such as by reducing a pressure at a second end opposite the first end. In the vaporization phase 1204 the liquid piston may decelerate in response to the low pressure in the gas section. In a heating phase 1206 the vapor in the gas section may be heated using a heating means, such that the vapor persists as a gas without condensing to a liquid form and rejoining the liquid piston. The heating of the vapor in the heating phase 1206 may be described as a “flash-heating”, a rapid heating of the vapor. The heating phase 1206 may start during final moments of the vaporization phase 1204 and may coincide with an initial or entire duration of a compression phase 1208. In a compression phase 1208 the liquid piston moves back towards the initiation valve due to the pressure differential and potential energy of the system, which compresses the vapor. This compression of the vapor further heats and pressurizes the vapor. In various embodiments, the heat of compression added to the vapor during the compression phase 1208 may be significantly greater than a heat added to the vapor in the optional heating phase1206. The compression phase 1208 may further include assisting oscillation of the liquid piston back towards the first end for compressing the steam, such as by increasing the pressure at the second end to add energy to the movement of the liquid piston back towards the first end. Following the compression phase 1208, when the gas has been sufficiently pressurized and heated, an extraction phase 1210 may begin. In the extraction phase 1210 the liquid piston continues its travel toward the initiation valve, reducing available volume for the vapor which allows the hot and pressurized vapor to be extracted from the gas section of the conduit, for example using an extraction valve. Notably, the method 1200 of Figure 12 may be repeated, such that the method 1200 may represent a cycle of an oscillating process.

[0152] Various phases of the method 1200 may be further described in greater detail with respect to features or elements of the illustrated embodiments of corresponding systems, with reference to the drawings of the disclosure.

[0153] As illustrated in Figure 11, during a liquid acceleration phase, a liquid may flow from a liquid source with elevated temperature 1120 and / or the inlet section 1124 through the initiation valve 1134 and into the gas section 1125 which during this stage may be full of said liquid. The liquid may be accelerated or otherwise flow, for example, in response to gravitational force and / or pressure differential. During the liquid acceleration phase pressure may be allowed to build up in the pressurization system or side tank.

[0154] As illustrated in Figure 13, when predetermined conditions are fulfilled, such as the liquid in the pipe 1122 reaching a predetermined velocity, or liquid level in the side tank 1148, the initiation valve 1134 may be configured to abruptly close, forming a liquid piston 1127 in the gas section 1125 of the pipe 1122 which is initially moving away from the closed initiation valve 1134. The movement may further be assisted by an intentional reduction in pressure at a second end of the liquid piston, such as by the movable portion 1160 operating to expand the volume of the side tank 1148 as shown in Figure 13 and / or expand the volume of the air pocket.

[0155] Herein, the term “abruptly” refers to a sufficiently rapid process relative to a flow rate such that abruptly stopping the flow of liquid will cause a pressure shockwave (also known as the water hammer effect) both in front and behind the initiation valve 1134. As such, with the initiation valve 1134 having been closed, the liquid piston 1127 in the gas section 1125 of the pipe 1122 continues, due to its momentum and / or weight, to traverse downstream said gas section 1125 while rapidly decelerating. As the liquid piston 1127travels downstream, low-pressure (or near-vacuum) conditions form behind or upstream of the liquid piston 1127, such as between the liquid piston 1127 and the initiation valve 1134. This causes a hydrostatic pressure of said liquid of the liquid piston 1127 to reduce below a liquid vapor pressure at an interface between the liquid piston 127 and the low-pressure region forming between the liquid piston 1127 and the initiation valve 1134, forcing evaporation and / or cavitation from said liquid piston 1127 to form evaporated particles 1133 (herein, referred to as gas or vapor or steam) in the gas section 1125 of the pipe 1122. In certain embodiments, if the liquid is a mix of different liquids, a liquid with a highest vapor pressure may vaporize first allowing for separation of the different liquids.

[0156] At a point during the drop of the liquid piston, when its downward velocity is the highest, the head height of the liquid piston in relation to its surface in the side tank as well as higher pressure in the air pocket of the side tank 1148 in relation to the evaporative pressure in the low-pressure steam at the gas section of the pipe induce deceleration of the dropping liquid piston. Due to the weight and momentum of the liquid the liquid piston “overshoots” and only comes to a rest at an “unsustainably” low height and high pressure in the air pocket. During the liquid’s travel away from the first end it generated low-pressure steam at a similar temperature as the liquid.

[0157] When the liquid has started to decelerate but has not come to rest with its surface level the furthest away from the first end, a preheating mechanism may be enabled so as to increase the temperature of the newly formed steam while the liquid is still expanding the volume available to the steam during its heating.

[0158] In many embodiments, an amount of energy required to heat the vapor is trivial compared to the energy required for the vaporization and rapid compression, a process that if approximately isentropic further heats and pressurizes the vapor. In varying embodiments, the formed vapor 1133 may be energized using one or more heating means provided at the gas section 1125. The heating means may include heating by previously generated steam such as infra-red emissions emitted through the ejection valve. The heating means may also include devices for conducting current through the vapor, devices for heating the vapor using electromagnetic waves, and / or devices for applying heat to the gas section generally (e.g., inductive heating elements). For example, the vapor 1133 may be heated using an electrically induced fast ion wave, ion wave, plasma, spark or short duration arc generated by antennas / electrodes in, around or in proximity to the gas section. The vapor 1133 may also or alternatively be energized using a beam of electromagnetic energy, at frequencies selected formaximum absorption by the vapor, including light generated by a laser, microwaves and / or related electromagnetic radiation. As such, the heating may be performed using a laser and / or a magnetron, or related device, configured to emit electromagnetic radiation into the vapor in the gas section of the conduit Other ways to energize the vapor 1133 may be employed, such as inductive heating, frictional heating, vibrational heating, heating using sound waves, and / or another heating means.

[0159] As the liquid piston begins its rebound and acceleration in the direction of the first end, the movable portion 1160 may be configured to add energy to the liquid piston 1127 such as by contracting the volume of side tank 1148, increasing the pressure in the air pocket, thus adding further momentum to the liquid piston in its travel toward the initiation valve 1134, as illustrated in Figures 14 and 15. In preferred embodiments, a compression of the vapor 1133 may be allowed to happen sufficiently rapidly for the process to become approximately isentropic, advantageously further increasing the temperature of the vapor 1133.

[0160] As the liquid 1127 moves towards the initiation valve 1134, the steam is compressed and heated. When the steam 1133 is sufficiently pressurized and heated, the steam 1133 may be removed from the pipe 1122 via an extraction valve 1140. For example, the extraction valve 1140 may be opened and the steam 1133 may be pushed out of the system by the movement of the liquid 1127. After removal of at least a portion of the steam 1133a, and with the extraction valve 1140 closed the liquid 1127 may come momentarily to rest before starting a new oscillation.

[0161] According to the embodiment of Figure 17, the system may be configured such that the liquid piston 1127 assists in opening the initiation valve 1134 when the vapor has been extracted from the gas section, for example by contacting or impacting the initiation valve 1134. Such an impact may be configured to open or reopen the initiation valve 1134, allow a liquid supply to join the liquid piston and / or equalize a pressure on either side of the initiation valve 1134.

[0162] As the combined liquid moves away from the initiation valve 1134 the movable portion 1160 may further accelerate the movement of the liquid by providing a reduction in pressure at the opposite end, such as by operating to expand the volume of the side tank 1148 as shown in Figure 18. In this manner, the system provides an oscillating process for generating steam using the weight and momentum of the liquid, and driven with relativelyminor additions of mechanical energy, for example by movement of the movable portion 1160.

[0163] In another embodiment (not shown) the system may be configured to pressurize the vapor by quickly reopening the initiation valve during an end of the vaporization phase. In such an embodiment the liquid supply may quickly accelerate down into the gas section and compress the heated vapor by “sandwiching” it between the liquid supply and the liquid piston. In such embodiments, the heated and pressurized vapor may be extracted thorough a gas extraction valve located where the liquid supply and liquid piston would meet, contact, and / or re-unite. In such embodiments liquid must be allowed to escape the side tank repeatedly.

[0164] While the illustrated embodiment of Figures 11 and 13-18 is described as including a movable portion 1160 for controlling or influencing movement of the liquid within the conduit, the movable portion 1160 may be replaced or supplemented by another pressure controlling device according to varying embodiments. For example, a pressure controlling device may comprise one or more of a piston, chemical reaction, injection of a pressurized gas that subsequently condenses, or a related element for translating mechanical energy to the oscillating system such as a paddle, screw mechanism or plunger submerged in the liquid.

[0165] In an embodiment, the side tank 1148 may be connected to a pressure source or pump for increasing a pressure within the conduit by adding pressurized gas or air, for example to the air pocket, and for reducing pressure within the conduit by allowing gas or air to escape, for example from the air pocket. Alternatively, the system may be connected to a source of liquid that alternates in and out in such a way that it increases the oscillation amplitude of the system’ s liquid and maintains its operation.

[0166] According to varying embodiments, parameters of the system can be selected so that the liquid deaccelerates during a latter part of the extraction of the steam due to an increased elevation of a first end at the initiation valve or liquid supply and / or increased pressure of the steam and / or due to expansion of an air pocket in a side tank and therefore reduced pressure at the second end opposite the first end. Intentional design of systems that reduce the end velocity of the liquid during compression of the steam may advantageously reduce energy loss from impact of the liquid with the initiation valve.

[0167] An upper portion of the side tank may be curved, e.g. as a barrel roofed building or angled as gabled roofed buildings, which in some embodiments is advantageous to morerapidly reduce the head height of the liquid during the final stages of the evaporation phase and thus advantageously increase the upward acceleration of the liquid in the conduit during the critical initial stages of the compression process. The bottom half of the system and side tank may in a similar manner have intentional ridges that alternate between being submerged and protruding, such as when the liquid is at an elevated position and the liquid level in the side tank is lowered, so as to advantageously modify the acceleration profile of the liquid during the last stages of the compression and ejection profile as well as slowing down the flow of liquid from the side tank towards the first end and preventing the formation of a vortex in the second container.

[0168] Various valve types may serve as the system’s initiation valve, including modified clack valves, butterfly valves, one-way ball-valves, gate valves and three-way-valves. The initiation valve may be operated and / or partly assisted by an external control mechanism or can operate autonomously by the movement and / or pressures generated by the liquid supply and the liquid piston.

[0169] In varying embodiments, the formed steam may be promptly energized by the system. This energization of the steam may preferably commence as soon as the system has formed a suitable amount of steam. By increasing the steam’s enthalpy, its pressure and / or temperature should at the minimum be increased and maintained sufficiently for it not to condense during compression by the liquid moving toward the first end and preferably so that the compression process is as isentropic as possible, elevating the steam’s temperature and pressure.

[0170] In varying embodiments, the low pressure steam may be energized using one or more heating means provided in the steam generation area at the first end of the conduit to augment and / or replace the heating performed by the compression of the returning liquid. The heating means may provide an elevated temperature outside the system where the low- pressure steam is generated so to prevent the internal walls of the container in the evaporation area to become colder during evaporation. The heating may also be provided from the previously generated, hot and pressurized steam outside the system such as through the ejection valve, the first end or the walls of the conduit where the evaporation takes place.

[0171] In some embodiments, the heating means may include devices for conducting current through the low-pressure steam, devices for heating the steam using electromagnetic waves, and / or devices for applying heat to the container generally (e.g., inductive heatingelements, heat exchanger using waste heat, heated container walls, etc.). For example, the steam may be heated using an electrically induced fast ion wave, ion wave, plasma, spark or short duration arc generated by antennas / electrodes in, around or in proximity to the first end of the container. The steam may also or alternatively be energized using a beam of electromagnetic energy, at frequencies selected for maximum absorption by the steam, including light generated by a laser, microwaves and / or related electromagnetic radiation. As such, the heating may be performed using a laser and / or a magnetron, or related device, configured to emit electromagnetic radiation into the steam. Other ways to energize the steam may be employed, such as inductive heating, frictional heating, vibrational heating, heating using sound waves, and / or another heating means, and may be located at varying points in the system or by equipment that starts to protrude from the liquid during the final stages of the evaporative process in the gas section.

[0172] In varying embodiments, the gas section may be kept at an elevated temperature relative to the liquid inside the conduit. In this manner, the steam may be prevented from recondensing on the inside walls of the gas section of the conduit before it can be heated and pressurized for extraction.

[0173] Embodiments of the current disclosure advantageously enable the very efficient creation of steam or vapor by using the potential and kinetic energy and / or weight of a moving liquid to generate evaporative conditions by means of abrupt volume expansion and low-pressure conditions. Although bringing a liquid through the liquid-gas barrier is the most energy intensive part of boiling, the kinetic and / or potential energy of the working liquid isn’t lost when the steam has been generated. Instead, the energy is stored in the low-pressure volume of the newly generated steam, the high-pressure volume in the air pocket and the unsustainably low potential energy in the reduced head height of the liquid. This energy is beneficially used in the return motion of the liquid, largely pressurizing the steam, heating it and moving the liquid towards the first end. Furthermore, the energy required to bring the liquid across the liquid-gas barrier is largely drawn from the thermal energy of the liquid, thus resulting in cooling the remaining liquid.

[0174] In varying embodiments, the thermal energy of the liquid in the system may be compensated by heating the liquid in the conduit so as to maintain the liquid’s stable temperature despite the repeated evaporation. One or more of low-grade process waste heat such as from a cooling liquid from an industrial process or warm flue gas, solar energy, geothermal energy, or another heating means may be used to continuously add thermalenergy to the liquid during the oscillating process as well as beneficially cooling the medium transferring the required thermal energy to the system. In an embodiment, a heat exchanger may be provided at the liquid supply for transferring thermal energy gathered as waste heat from another system to the liquid in the conduit.

[0175] In some embodiments, the liquid may be maintained at a temperature of 20 to 100°C. In some embodiments, an efficiency of the system will increase with higher temperature in the system, such as measured by coefficient of performance (COP). However, it should be noted that the system is source and input temperature agnostic.

[0176] As with the oscillating process of Figures 2A-2C, various embodiments of steam generating systems may provide an intermittent supply of steam. For example, a system according to Figures 11 and 13-18 may be configured to output a quantity of steam at a set interval, for example every four seconds. As a constant flow of steam may be desired in some embodiments, systems according to the current disclosure may be configured to reduce the fluctuations in steam generation by arranging multiple out-of-phase systems ejecting steam, or to eject steam into an accumulator.

[0177] In an embodiment, a steam generation system may be provided that includes several systems according to Figures 11 and 13-18 connected in series, according to the illustrated example of Figure 4. Similarly, according to the embodiment of Figure 5, a system 510 may be provided comprising a plurality of conduits 1122 and a central pressurization system or side tank 1148 according to the system of Figures 11 and 13-18. In this manner, one powerful means of mechanical input would maintain an oscillation of a large system. Such an embodiment may be more cost effective under certain conditions, as it would allow ejection of a significant amount of superheated steam to be distributed between several large ejection valves, potentially at different pressures and temperatures for different industrial processes and uses.

[0178] According to an embodiment of a steam generation system, the mechanical energy provided to assist the oscillation may be added by way of repeatedly adding mass of liquid into the system and subsequently removing it. The added and subtracted volume of liquid advantageously increases the pressure when pressure is already high and lowers it when it is already low - thus maintaining an oscillatory motion of the main liquid.

[0179] In one such configuration, a sloping conduit 640 according to the illustration of Figure 6 may be connected to the middle of the side tank 1148, of the system according toFigures 11 and 13-18. A top portion 642 of the sloping conduit 640 is provided at an elevated position but lower than a top portion of the gas section 616. The sloping conduit 640 is connected to an opening 644 on the side tank 618 and is full of liquid to its closed top portion 642. At the top portion 642, a valve 646 is provided connecting the liquid to a reservoir of steam. Such steam may be of low-quality (wet steam) and of relatively low temperature with most of its original energy having been previously depleted.

[0180] In such a configuration mechanical energy can be added to the oscillating system in the following way: approximately at the moment in the oscillation where evaporation volume of the steam is the largest, in other words when the gas section 616 contains low-pressure steam and a liquid level there is low, an equivalent amount of liquid has flowed into the side tank 618 and thus the pressure there is at its highest. A short while earlier, the valve 646 opens, allowing for a short burst of the potentially low-quality steam to enter into the top portion 642 and low-pressure environment of the sloping conduit 640. The steam increases a pressure at the top portion 642 and accordingly presses on the already heavy liquid column in the sloping conduit 640 allowing it to drop. The liquid column in the sloping conduit 640 thus starts to flow into the already pressurized side tank 618, which has the effect of delaying the depressurization of the side tank 618 during the compression phase of the steam in the gas section. The liquid column in the sloping conduit 640 reaches velocity and momentum and 'overshoots' when the expanded low-quality steam that originally pressed on the liquid column from the top portion 642 condenses and collapses. The collapse generates low pressure conditions, decelerating the liquid in the sloping conduit 640 so that the liquid eventually stops flowing into the side tank 618 and subsequently shoots back up into the low pressure left in the top portion 642 by the collapsed steam. This advantageously happens at the same instance that pressure conditions in the side tank 618 are the lowest, i.e. when the generated steam has just been ejected from the gas section 616. With an exact amount of steam injected at the top portion 642 and appropriate angle and length of a sloping conduit the timing could be advantageously set so that the upward motion of the liquid column in the sloping conduit 640 will delay the pressurization of the side tank 618 due to the flowing liquid from the gas section 616 - thus also adding mechanical energy during the steam generation part of the system's oscillation.

[0181] In embodiments of the system, a condenser may be provided in the side tank. This might for example be advantageous in configuration where the steam from the system is used to drive an electric steam turbine. By placing a condenser in the side tank of the system the steam exiting an electric turbine is condensed creating low pressure conditions whichincreases the turbine’s power output. It furthermore returns the thermal energy to the liquid in the side tank. Where the steam flowing through the turbine is treated boiler water (de-aerated and softened), its condensate can be allowed to flow directly into the side tank. This can be done by placing a one-way valve at the end of and bottom of the condensate line so that liquid condensate is repeatedly sucked into the side tank during the part of the oscillation where the pressure in the side tank is the lowest (i.e. when the water level there is the lowest and the water line in the high pipe is the highest).

[0182] The formed steam may furthermore be promptly energized by the system in a preheating process following the steam’s generation, such as using a heating means. This energization of the steam may preferably commence as soon as the steam has been formed. By increasing the steam’s enthalpy, its pressure and / or temperature should at the minimum be increased and maintained sufficiently for it not to condense during compression of the steam and preferably so that the compression process elevates the steam’s temperature and pressure. In many embodiments, an amount of energy required to prevent the steam to condensate during compression is trivial compared to the energy required for its initial generation and subsequent compression.

[0183] In varying embodiments, the steam may be energized using one or more heating means provided at the gas section. The heating means may include heating from previously generated and heated steam, for example via the ejection valve, and / or a device or surface that emits electromagnetic radiation that is optimally absorbed by the steam being vaporized, such as infrared waves. Other devices and means may be used to heat the steam such as devices for conducting current through the steam, and / or devices for applying heat to the steam generally (e.g., inductive heating elements). For example, the steam may be heated using an electrically induced fast ion wave, ion wave, plasma, spark or short duration arc generated by antennas / electrodes in, around or in proximity to the steam in the gas section. The steam may also or alternatively be energized using a beam of electromagnetic energy, at frequencies selected for maximum absorption by the steam, including light generated by a laser, microwaves and / or related electromagnetic radiation. As such, the heating may be performed using a laser and / or a magnetron, or related device, configured to emit electromagnetic radiation into the steam in the gas section. Other ways to energize the steam may be employed, such as inductive heating, frictional heating, vibrational heating, heating using sound waves, and / or another heating means.

[0184] When the steam has reached a predetermined state in terms of pressure, temperature and / or volume, a valve may be configured to open, allowing the heated and / or pressurized gas to exit the interior volume of the gas section for storage and / or direct use. A key part of the system may be a dedicated extraction valve that has the ability to open and allow hot and pressurized steam to exit, while staying firmly sealed at all other times, in particular during the low-pressure evaporation phase and in some embodiments where the valve is impacted by the high-pressure liquid following the pressurized steam being extracted through the valve. For this purpose, a floating ball clack valve, dynamic air valve, float valve, gas release valve, air vent valve, high-speed electrically controlled valve, a combinatory oneway and buoyancy valve, or the like may be provided as the extraction valve. The extraction valve may be configured to prevent fluid from the interior volume of the gas section from following and mixing with the extracted, pressurized steam.

[0185] Following extraction of the heated and / or pressurized steam, the system may repeat the process to continue generating steam or vapor. In order for evaporation to start at the next cycle, the system may be configured to ensure that a small steam-hammer collapses any remaining steam which was not extracted by the valve or the remaining steam may expand too far during volume expansion and thus prevent evaporation during its expansion and cooling.

[0186] Notably, while described as generating steam, the disclosed methods and systems could be used or otherwise adapted for boiling other liquids and / or extracting and / or separating one or more liquids from a base liquid, such as where the one or more liquids have a higher vapor pressure than the base liquid.

[0187] Embodiments of the current disclosure advantageously enable a very efficient creation of steam or vapor by using volume expansion to generate evaporative conditions for a liquid. The models show that most of the energy is derived from the specific energy of the liquid, cooling it slowly with every evaporative cycle. A continuous transfer of thermal energy to the working liquid is therefore an important design consideration. Keeping the working fluid warm can be done by providing a heated liquid supply or using a heat exchanger in the conduit.

[0188] Notably, with higher temperatures of the working liquid more mass of steam may be generated in each cycle of the system, both due to higher density of steam at higher evaporation pressures as well as more generated volume overall. This advantageous featuremay, however, be somewhat offset as compressing and ejecting the steam requires more added energy as steam’s density and mass increases.

[0189] Although bringing a liquid through the liquid- gas barrier is the most energy intensive part of boiling, the kinetic and / or potential energy of the working liquid isn’t lost when the steam has been generated. Instead, the energy is stored in the low-pressure volume of the newly generated steam, the high-pressure volume in an air pocket and the unsustainably low potential energy in the reduced head height of the liquid. According to the disclosed embodiments, this stored energy may subsequently be beneficially used to pressurize and further heat the steam, optionally once the system has increased the enthalpy of the low-pressure steam in a pre-heating process to ensure that it does not condense in the compression process of the return motion of the liquid.

[0190] To facilitate this advantageous transfer of energy between the evaporative and the compression stages, a movable portion or piston of the conduit may be configured to collect and return energy, such as by inertia of a heavy cast wheel or being connected to mechanisms for generating and releasing electrical energy from the movement of the piston. In systems which lower the surface of the liquid to expand the volume, inertia of the liquid itself may act as the collection and return mechanism of the energy. Although the back and forth movement of the piston requires net energy due to the different pressure profiles of the steam during its expansion versus its compression, the net energy is significantly less than the system generates. This is due to energy for expansion being similar to the energy returned by the system to perform the first part of the steam’s compression. That is, the net energy used / gained to expand the volume for the evaporation process being largely offset in the compression process. This fact is unintuitive and surprising, as one instinctively considers pressurization of hot steam a process requiring significant effort. In this regard it should be noted that newly generated steam at 25°C, even if it were heated to 300°C in the same volume, only increases its pressure from ~3% to 6% of ATM. The energy required to generate the pressurized and heated steam is therefore mainly from the thermal energy of the boiler water itself - and only partly sourced the mechanical energy added to the system by its operator.

[0191] The net energy required to move the piston can both be sourced externally or be produced by the system itself, e.g. using a traditional steam engine or the like. The piston can be pulled / pushed using various means, such as using a pumpjack, linear motor, pressure changes, intentional steam hammer etc. For example, an intentional steam-hammer can beused to move the piston, using the intentional collapse of previously generated gas with somewhat depleted enthalpy which is close to the condensation line to move the piston. In some instances, the piston can be controlled, e.g., using a control rod connected to a rotating cast wheel, by using a linear motor, by using hydraulics, and / or by using pressurized gas. Increased efficiency, reduced strain on equipment and less piston leakage may be realized for some embodiments by configuring a pressure differential in front and back of the piston to be low. The energy can be added by varying the pressure in the air pocket or the system’s overall volume and / or by influencing the liquid’s back and forth flow.

[0192] In varying embodiments, to prevent loss of enthalpy (heat) during compression of the steam and to furthermore act as a reflector and / or even “waveguide” for electromagnetic energy from the heating means, walls of the first end of the container may be made from or coated with materials having high thermal refractivity, such as silver, gold, aluminum compounds or similar materials.

[0193] A possible implementation of an embodiment of a system for generating vapor or steam according to the various embodiments of the disclosure may be arranged with a connection to a liquid supply of various types, for example comprising water such as a pond, tank, lake, river, spring, or the like. The liquid may be located at a point of higher elevation than said system. Systems according to this illustrated embodiment may be more common in temperate or tropical regions, or may be located near industrial centers, as higher temperature working liquids may be used to increase steam production and system efficiency. When an inlet section is connected to said liquid supply or water supply, liquid may begin to flow along said inlet section, gaining momentum due to the gravitational potential energy of the liquid being converted into kinetic energy. A change in momentum of said flowing liquid may be dependent on the descending angle and other factors determining headloss pressure, such as a diameter of said inlet section, bends in pipes, and a pipe’s material roughness. A configurable initiation valve may be configured to repeatedly open according to a desired momentum (or dynamical pressure) of the flowing liquid, such that only a minimal amount of gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy of the flowing liquid is wasted.

[0194] In varying aspects, a source of liquid may comprise a highly pressurized liquid, such as provided by a pump or process inducing pressure in the liquid as may be found within several chemical processes and in water treatment plants. The highly pressurized liquid may flow rapidly into said inlet section until sufficient momentum of flowing liquid is obtained and said initiation valve abruptly closes, initiating the evaporation and generation of the gaswhich is subsequently heated. In such an embodiment, the one or more pipes comprising the inlet section, gas section and downstream section may all be aligned in any slope configuration, such as a (approximately) horizontal fashion, and in pipes of varying length and diameter. In this embodiment the pressurized liquid used may be a byproduct of an industrial process.

[0195] In an embodiment, the initiation valve may be configured to re-open when a pressure differential between an inlet section upstream of the initiation valve and the gas section downstream of the initiation valve is reduced to a predetermined limit. For some embodiments, the initiation valve may be configured similar to an inverted weighted or stiffened non-return valve, meaning that it should only allow liquid to flow in the opposite direction, but because the valve is stiffened or otherwise configured it allows liquid to flow through it in the direction it is conventionally designed to stop, up until the dynamic pressure of the liquid reaches a certain limit when the valve closes.

[0196] In an embodiment, the initiation valve may be configured to abruptly close when the velocity of the liquid reaches a certain limit.

[0197] In one embodiment the system is configured to generate high temperature steam at relatively low pressures suitable for hydrogen generation.

[0198] It should be noted that several Figures depict the side tank 1148 forming a liquid trap in a downstream section of the pipe, with the horizontal section 1147 leading to the liquid trap forming an angle with the gas section. In embodiments having such a horizontal section 1147, the arrangement of the horizontal section 1147 may advantageously increase an overall kinetic energy that the system harnesses both due to the available head-height and increasing mass of the moving liquid piston. In some embodiments, a substantially horizontal section 1147, or at least in some embodiments more horizontal than the gas section, may further provide a counterbalance for compressing and directing the vapor to an extraction valve, such as in embodiments of the system which extract vapor by reopening the initiation valve and allowing a flow of liquid from the inlet section into the gas section and pushing the vapor against the liquid piston. In one embodiment, the system may use the horizontal section 1147 to increase the momentum of the liquid piston in traversing back into the gas section. Likewise, the angle formed by the horizontal section 1147 with the gas section 1125 may be configured for corresponding with other restraints or parameters, such as maximum height, tobalance process parameters in the system, such as final temperature and pressure of the output steam.

[0199] In some embodiments, having the gas section 1125 pipe positioned at an angle or vertically, further has the advantage of a smaller and better-defined surface area between the colder liquid of the liquid piston and the low pressure vapor, which the heated vapor will interact with during the compression phase.

[0200] A liquid source 1120 may be provided in various embodiments of the disclosure, such as depicted in Figure 11. As seen in the illustrated embodiment, the liquid source 1120 may be provided at a location of higher potential energy than said initiation valve 1134. The pipe 1122 may comprise a mechanical or electrical valve at or near the point of connection to the supply of liquid.

[0201] The inlet section 1124 may be configured at a descending angle, wherein the flowing liquid is accelerated down said inlet section 1124 due to gravity. Alternatively, the liquid source 1120 may be selected as a supply of (highly) pressurized liquid in comparison to pressure at the liquid trap of the side tank 1148, wherein the momentum of flowing liquid through said inlet section 1124 is then generated by the pressure difference between the liquid source 1120 and the pressure in the liquid trap of the side tank 1148. For some embodiments having a pressurized liquid source, the inlet section 1124 and gas section 1125 may be aligned in any direction, such as horizontally aligned and the liquid source 1120 does not need to be elevated compared to the initiation valve 1134 and the liquid trap of the side tank 1148.

[0202] In an embodiment, the inlet section 1124 and gas section 1125 may be arranged at descending angle relative to the ground. In some embodiments the gas section 1125 is furthermore connected to a liquid trap and a downstream section 1144 which may be approximately parallel to the ground. Absolute and relative lengths of the conduit or pipe parts of the system can be chosen to achieve particular temperature, pressures, and / or efficiencies in the system. For example, if the initiation valve is located relatively low in the system, less steam may be produced but at higher temperature and pressure due to (a) higher compressive pressures required by the liquid piston to reopen the initiation valve in the compression phase and / or (b) increased energy generated by abruptly stopping the mass of the relatively larger liquid supply acting on the relatively smaller mass of evaporated vapor in the gas section 1125.

[0203] The current figures illustrate various embodiments of the disclosure including combinations of several features of the disclosure. As previously noted, other advantageous configurations are envisioned, and varying embodiments may include varying combinations of different features from the depicted embodiments.

[0204] As can be appreciated from the foregoing, in addition to alternative and / or additional embodiments provided herein, the devices, systems, and methods of the present disclosure can facilitate the generation of vapor or steam using volume expansion. In its simplest embodiment, vapor or steam may be generated from a sturdy system with only two to four fine-tuned moving parts, rendering the disclosed devices and systems both economical and highly durable.

[0205] The described devices, systems and methods have several advantages over existing boiler and high-temperature heat pump technologies relying on the evaporator condenser cycle, potentially including significantly higher efficiency and lower operating costs. Unlike most other ways to create energy, this system should not require mined “rare-earth” materials for its construction nor does it require any refrigerants. The disclosed embodiments may employ conventional and readily available materials in a robust and sturdy system with no or minimal software or electrical vulnerabilities, increasing regional energy security and energy independence. The disclosed embodiments are likewise safe for operators, consumers, and the environment, as they do not require the use of radioactive materials, toxic and / or combustible refrigerants, hydrocarbon fuels, or the like.

[0206] Various alterations and / or modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and additional applications of the principles illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims, and are to be considered within the scope of this disclosure. Thus, while various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments are contemplated. While a number of methods and components similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used to practice embodiments of the present disclosure, only certain components and methods are described herein.

[0207] It will also be appreciated that systems, devices, kits, methods, and / or processes, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure may include, incorporate, or otherwise comprise properties, features (e.g., components, members, elements, parts, and / orportions) described in other embodiments disclosed and / or described herein. Accordingly, the various features of certain embodiments can be compatible with, combined with, included in, and / or incorporated into other embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, disclosure of certain features relative to a specific embodiment of the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting application or inclusion of said features to the specific embodiment. Rather, it will be appreciated that other embodiments can also include said features, members, elements, parts, and / or portions without necessarily departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0208] Moreover, unless a feature is described as requiring another feature in combination therewith, any feature herein may be combined with any other feature of a same or different embodiment disclosed herein. Furthermore, various well-known aspects of illustrative systems, methods, apparatus, and the like are not described herein in particular detail in order to avoid obscuring aspects of the example embodiments. Such aspects are, however, also contemplated herein.

[0209] The skilled artisan will recognize the interchangeability of various disclosed features. Besides the variations described herein, other known equivalents for each feature can be mixed and matched by one of ordinary skill in this art to prepare a steam or vapor generation system and perform a method for utilizing the same under principles of the present disclosure. The skilled artisan will understand that the features described herein may be adapted to other types of liquids, industries, gases and energy applications generally.

[0210] The disclosure further relates to several embodiments as identified by the below numbered clauses. The present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described by way of example and represented in the clauses, and the clauses are provided only to demonstrate non-limiting examples of possible embodiments.

[0211] 1. A steam generation system comprising: a container defining an interior volume containing a liquid piston, a pressure control device provided in the container, and an extraction valve, wherein the pressure control device is configured to assist movement of the liquid piston; wherein the liquid piston moves away from a first end of the container, the movement of the liquid piston further being driven by a weight and height of the liquid piston such that a low-pressure steam is generated at the first end, wherein the extraction valve is configured to remove the steam from the first end of the container.

[0212] 2. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the pressure control device comprises a movable portion of the container configured to expand and contract the interior volume in order assist movement of the liquid piston away from the first end during expansion of the interior volume and to assist movement of the liquid piston towards the first end of the container during contraction of the interior volume before the steam is extracted from the container through the extraction valve.

[0213] 3. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said movement of the liquid piston comprises a natural oscillating movement.

[0214] 4. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising heating means configured to heat the steam in the container.

[0215] 5. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the movable portion of the container comprises a piston, screw, and / or paddle.

[0216] 6. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the piston, screw, and / or paddle is configured to expand and contract the interior volume of the container in a repeated manner and maintain an oscillation of the liquid piston in the container.

[0217] 7. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the extraction valve is configured to only allow pressurized and heated steam to exit the interior volume of the container, while preventing liquid from exiting the interior volume of the container and / or preventing the extracted steam from reentering the interior volume of the container.

[0218] 8. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising a heat exchanger configured to add thermal energy to the liquid piston in the container.

[0219] 9. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising an air pocket in the interior volume at a second end of the container opposite the first end.

[0220] 10. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein a diameter of the container at the first end is less than a diameter of the container at a second end of the container opposite the first end.

[0221] 11. A method for generating steam, the method comprising: providing a liquid piston to an interior volume of a container, initiating movement of the liquid piston away from a first end of the container, the movement of the liquid piston being driven by aweight and height of the liquid piston such that a low-pressure steam is generated from the liquid piston at the first end, and extracting the steam from the first end of the container.

[0222] 12. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said initiating movement of the liquid piston away from the first end of the container comprises expanding and contracting the interior volume in order to generate the steam from the liquid piston during expansion of the interior volume and to compress the steam during contraction of the interior volume before the steam is extracted from the container.

[0223] 13. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said movement of the liquid piston comprises a natural oscillating movement.

[0224] 14. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising heating the steam in the container.

[0225] 15. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising expanding and contracting the interior volume of the container in a repeated manner and maintaining an oscillation of the liquid piston in the container.

[0226] 16. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said initiating movement of the liquid piston away from the first end of the container comprises decreasing a pressure in an air pocket at a second end of the container opposite the first end in order assist movement of the liquid piston away from the first end for generating the steam.

[0227] 17. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising adding thermal energy to the liquid piston in the container using a heat exchanger.

[0228] 18. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising injecting steam into the container at a second end opposite the first end to increase a pressure at the second end adding energy into the movement of the liquid piston compressing the newly formed steam at the first end, the steam in the second container subsequently collapsing when the liquid piston oscillates in a direction away from the first end initiating its steam formation phase.

[0229] 19. A steam generation system comprising a plurality of steam boilers, each steam boiler comprising: a container defining an interior volume containing a liquid piston, a pressure control device provided in the container, and an extraction valve, wherein the pressure control device is configured to assist movement of the liquid piston away from a first end of the container, the movement of the liquid piston being driven by a weight andheight of the liquid piston such that a low-pressure steam is generated from the liquid piston at the first end, wherein the extraction valve is configured to remove the steam from the first end of the container; wherein the plurality of steam boilers are connected in series or in parallel.

[0230] 20. A vapor generation system, as shown and / or described, that operates by repeatedly (a) expanding volume of a container to evaporate a liquid (b) increasing the enthalpy of the newly generated vapor and preventing it from condensing (c) reducing the volume of the container to assist the natural return motion of the liquid piston compressing and thus pressurizing and further heating the vapor (d) ejecting the heated and pressurized vapor.

[0231] 21. A steam generation system comprising: a container defining an interior volume containing a liquid piston, means for adding mechanical energy to the liquid piston in the container, and an extraction valve, wherein the means for adding mechanical energy to the liquid piston is configured to assist an oscillating movement of the liquid piston between a first end of the container and a second end of the container, the oscillating movement of the liquid piston further being driven by a weight and height of the liquid piston such that a low- pressure steam is generated at the first end when the liquid piston moves toward the first end, wherein the extraction valve is configured to remove the steam from the first end of the container.

[0232] 22. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the means for adding mechanical energy to the liquid piston comprises a movable portion of the container configured to expand and contract the interior volume in order assist movement of the liquid piston away from the first end during expansion of the interior volume and to assist movement of the liquid piston towards the first end of the container during contraction of the interior volume before the steam is extracted from the container through the extraction valve.

[0233] 23. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said movement of the liquid piston comprises a natural oscillating movement.

[0234] 24. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising heating means configured to heat the steam in the container.

[0235] 25. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the movable portion of the container comprises a piston, screw, and / or paddle.

[0236] 26. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the piston, screw, and / or paddle is configured to expand and contract the interior volume of the container in a repeated manner and maintain an oscillation of the liquid piston in the container.

[0237] 27. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the extraction valve is configured to only allow pressurized and heated steam to exit the interior volume of the container, while preventing liquid from exiting the interior volume of the container and / or preventing the extracted steam from reentering the interior volume of the container.

[0238] 28. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising a heat exchanger configured to add thermal energy to the liquid piston in the container.

[0239] 29. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising an air pocket in the interior volume at a second end of the container opposite the first end.

[0240] 30. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein a diameter of the container at the first end is less than a diameter of the container at a second end of the container opposite the first end.

[0241] 31. A method for generating steam, the method comprising: providing a liquid piston to an interior volume of a container, initiating oscillation of the liquid piston between a first end and a second end of the container, such that movement of the liquid piston is driven by a weight and height of the liquid piston and a low-pressure steam is generated from the liquid piston at the first end of the container, and extracting the steam from the first end of the container during oscillation of the liquid piston.

[0242] 32. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the oscillation of the liquid piston comprises a first movement towards the second end for generating the low-pressure steam, and a second movement towards the first end for compressing the generated steam.

[0243] 33. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said initiating oscillation of the liquid piston comprises expanding and contracting the interior volume in order to generate the steam from the liquid piston during expansion of the interior volume and to compress the steam during contraction of the interior volume before the steam is extracted from the container.

[0244] 34. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said oscillation of the liquid piston comprises a natural oscillating movement.

[0245] 35. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising heating the steam in the container.

[0246] 36. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising expanding and contracting the interior volume of the container in a repeated manner and maintaining an oscillation of the liquid piston in the container.

[0247] 37. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said initiating oscillation of the liquid piston comprises decreasing a pressure in an air pocket at the second end of the container opposite the first end in order assist movement of the liquid piston away from the first end for generating the steam.

[0248] 38. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising adding thermal energy to the liquid piston in the container using a heat exchanger.

[0249] 39. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising injecting steam into the container at the second end opposite the first end to increase a pressure at the second end adding energy into the movement of the liquid piston compressing the newly formed steam at the first end, the steam in the second container subsequently collapsing when the liquid piston oscillates in a direction away from the first end initiating its steam formation phase.

[0250] 40. A steam generation system comprising a plurality of steam boilers, each steam boiler comprising: a container defining an interior volume containing a liquid piston, means for adding mechanical energy to the liquid piston in the container, and an extraction valve, wherein the means for adding mechanical energy to the liquid piston is configured to assist an oscillating movement of the liquid piston between a first end of the container and a second end of the container, the oscillating movement of the liquid piston further being driven by a weight and height of the liquid piston such that a low-pressure steam is generated at the first end when the liquid piston moves toward the first end, wherein the extraction valve is configured to remove the steam from the first end of the container; wherein the plurality of steam boilers are connected in series or in parallel.

[0251] 41. A steam generation system comprising: a conduit configured to receive a flowing liquid; an initiation valve provided in the conduit upstream from a gas section of the conduit; an extraction valve provided at the gas section of the conduit; a pressure control device provided downstream from a gas section of the conduit; and an extraction valveprovided at the gas section of the conduit; wherein the initiation valve is configured to abruptly close, forming a lower liquid column in the gas section, the lower liquid column moving away from the closed initiation valve and generating a low pressure that partially vaporizes the liquid column into vapor; wherein the pressure control device is configured to further assist movement of the lower liquid column away from and / or back toward the initiation valve, wherein the extraction valve is configured to remove the vapor from the gas section.

[0252] 42. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the pressure control device comprises a portion of the conduit forming a side tank and configured to increase and decrease pressure in an interior volume of the side tank in order assist movement of the lower liquid column away from the initiation valve and / or toward the initiation valve before the vapor is extracted from the gas section through the extraction valve.

[0253] 43. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said movement of the lower liquid column comprises a natural oscillating movement.

[0254] 44. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising heating means configured to heat the vapor in the gas section.

[0255] 45. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the side tank comprises a movable portion configured to expand and contract the interior volume of the side tank.

[0256] 46. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the movable portion comprises a piston, screw, and / or paddle configured to increase and / or decrease the pressure in the interior volume of the side tank in a repeated manner so as to maintain an oscillation of the lower liquid column in the conduit.

[0257] 47. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the extraction valve is configured to only allow pressurized and heated vapor to exit the gas section, while preventing liquid from exiting the gas section of the conduit and / or preventing extracted vapor from reentering the conduit.

[0258] 48. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising a heat exchanger configured to add thermal energy to the lower liquid column in the conduit.

[0259] 49. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising an air pocket in the interior volume of the side tank.

[0260] 50. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the pressure control device comprises a portion of the conduit forming a side tank and configured to expand and contract an interior volume of the side tank in order assist movement of the lower liquid column away from the initiation valve during expansion of the interior volume and to assist movement of the lower liquid column toward the initiation valve during contraction of the interior volume before the vapor is extracted from the gas section through the extraction valve.

[0261] 51. A method for generating steam, the method comprising: providing a flowing liquid to a conduit, the flowing liquid passing through an initiation valve in the conduit and into a gas section of the conduit; abruptly closing the initiation valve, leaving a liquid column in the gas section, such that the liquid column moves away from the initiation valve, generates a low pressure in the gas section that partially vaporizes the liquid column into a vapor, and moves toward the initiation valve; increasing and / or decreasing a pressure in a side tank of the conduit opposite the initiation valve to assist movement of the liquid column away from the initiation valve and / or toward the initiation valve; and extracting the vapor from the gas section of the conduit using an extraction valve.

[0262] 52. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said increasing and / or decreasing the pressure in the side tank to assist movement of the liquid column away from the initiation valve and / or toward the initiation valve comprises expanding and / or contracting an interior volume of the side tank.

[0263] 53. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said movement of the liquid column comprises a natural oscillating movement.

[0264] 54. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising heating the vapor in the gas section.

[0265] 55. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said expanding and / or contracting the interior volume of the side tank is performed in a repeated manner for maintaining an oscillation of the liquid column in the conduit.

[0266] 56. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said increasing and / or decreasing the pressure in the side tank to assist movement of the liquid column away from the initiation valve and / or toward the initiation valve comprises decreasing and / or increasing a pressure in an air pocket of the side tank.

[0267] 57. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising adding thermal energy to the liquid column in the conduit using a heat exchanger.

[0268] 58. The method according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said increasing and / or decreasing the pressure in the side tank comprises injecting steam into the side tank to increase the pressure, the steam in the side tank subsequently collapsing and decreasing the pressure when the liquid column oscillates in a direction away from the initiation valve.

[0269] 59. A steam generation system comprising: a plurality of oscillating steam boilers, each oscillating steam boiler comprising: a conduit configured to receive a flowing liquid, an initiation valve provided in the conduit upstream from a gas section of the conduit, and an extraction valve provided at the gas section of the conduit; and a pressure control device connected to the plurality of oscillating steam boilers downstream from the gas sections of the conduits, wherein the initiation valves of the plurality of oscillating steam boilers are configured to abruptly close, forming a liquid column in the gas section of each of the plurality of oscillating steam boilers, the liquid columns moving away from the closed initiation valves of the plurality of oscillating steam boilers and generating a low pressure that partially vaporizes the liquid columns into vapor; wherein the pressure control device is configured to further assist movement of the liquid columns away from and / or back toward the initiation valves, wherein the extraction valves are configured to remove the vapor from the gas sections of the plurality of oscillating steam boilers.

[0270] 60. A vapor generation system, as shown and / or described, that operates by repeatedly (a) adding momentum to a liquid that’s oscillating back and forth from the first end to the second end of a conduit using a pressure controlling mechanism (b) where an initiation valve in the conduit closes abruptly when the liquid reaches certain velocity toward the second end thus creating a temporary liquid piston that momentarily continues its travel and generates low pressure steam in its wake (c) where the liquid piston returns back toward the initiation valve, compressing the steam (d) where an ejection valve allows for the pressurized steam to be ejected (e) where the initiation valve is opened allowing the liquid piston to merge with the liquid on the other side of the initiation valve.

[0271] 61. A steam generation system comprising: a conduit configured to receive a flowing liquid; an initiation valve provided in the conduit upstream from a gas section of the conduit, wherein the initiation valve is configured to abruptly close, forming a lower liquid column in the gas section, the lower liquid column moving away from the closedinitiation valve and generating a low pressure that partially vaporizes the liquid column into vapor; means for adding mechanical energy to the liquid column in the conduit, and an extraction valve, wherein the means for adding mechanical energy to the liquid column is configured to assist an oscillating movement of the liquid piston between the first end of the conduit and a second end of the conduit opposite the first end, the oscillating movement of the liquid column further being driven by a weight and height of the liquid column such that the vapor is generated at the first end when the liquid column moves toward the second end, wherein the extraction valve is configured to remove the vapor from the first end of the conduit.

[0272] 62. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the means for adding mechanical energy to the liquid column comprises a movable portion in a side tank portion of the conduit, the movable portion configured to expand and contract an interior volume of the side tank in order to assist movement of the liquid piston away from the first end during expansion of the interior volume and to assist movement of the liquid piston towards the first end of the container during contraction of the interior volume before the steam is extracted from the container through the extraction valve.

[0273] 63. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein said movement of the liquid column comprises a natural oscillating movement.

[0274] 64. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising heating means configured to heat the vapor in the gas section.

[0275] 65. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the movable portion of the container comprises a piston, screw, and / or paddle.

[0276] 66. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the piston, screw, and / or paddle is configured to expand and contract the interior volume of the side tank in a repeated manner and maintain an oscillation of the liquid column in the conduit.

[0277] 67. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein the extraction valve is configured to only allow pressurized and heated vapor to exit the conduit, while preventing liquid from exiting the conduit and / or preventing extracted vapor from reentering the conduit.

[0278] 68. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising a heat exchanger configured to add thermal energy to the liquid column in the conduit.

[0279] 69. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, further comprising an air pocket in an interior volume of a side tank portion of the conduit.

[0280] 70. The system according to one or more of the clauses above and / or below, wherein further comprising a liquid supply connected to the conduit for supplying the flowing liquid, the liquid supply having an elevation higher than the gas section of the conduit.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A steam generation system comprising: a container defining an interior volume containing a liquid piston, means for modulating an oscillating movement of the liquid piston between a first end of the container and a second end of the container, and an extraction valve, wherein the means for modulating the oscillating movement of the liquid piston is configured to introduce external energy to the oscillating movement through direct mechanical means, parametric excitation, or dynamic modification of the liquid piston’s mass or pressure by adding or removing liquid or gas from the container, wherein the oscillating movement of the liquid piston is further driven by a weight and height of the liquid piston such that a low-pressure steam is generated at the first end when the liquid piston moves toward the second end, wherein the extraction valve is configured to remove the steam from the container.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the direct mechanical means comprises a movable portion of the container configured to expand and contract the interior volume in order assist movement of the liquid piston away from the first end during expansion of the interior volume and to assist movement of the liquid piston towards the first end of the container during contraction of the interior volume before the steam is extracted from the container through the extraction valve.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said movement of the liquid piston comprises a natural oscillating movement.

4. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising heating means configured to heat the steam in the container.

5. The system according to claim 2, wherein the movable portion of the container comprises a piston, screw, and / or paddle.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the piston, screw, and / or paddle is configured to expand and contract the interior volume of the container in a repeated manner and maintain an oscillation of the liquid piston in the container.

7. The system according to claim 2, wherein the extraction valve is configured to only allow pressurized and heated steam to exit the interior volume of the container, while preventing liquid from exiting the interior volume of the container and / or preventing the extracted steam from reentering the interior volume of the container.

8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a heat exchanger configured to add thermal energy to the liquid piston in the container.

9. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an air pocket in the interior volume at a second end of the container opposite the first end.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the container at the first end is less than a diameter of the container at a second end of the container opposite the first end.

11. A method for generating steam, the method comprising: providing a liquid piston to an interior volume of a container, initiating oscillation of the liquid piston between a first end and a second end of the container, such that movement of the liquid piston is driven by a weight and height of the liquid piston and a low-pressure steam is generated from the liquid piston at the first end of the container, and extracting the steam from the first end of the container during oscillation of the liquid piston.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the oscillation of the liquid piston comprises a first movement towards the second end for generating the low-pressure steam, and a second movement towards the first end for compressing the generated steam.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein said initiating oscillation of the liquid piston comprises expanding and contracting the interior volume in order to generate the steam from the liquid piston during expansion of the interior volume and to compress the steam during contraction of the interior volume before the steam is extracted from the container.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein said oscillation of the liquid piston comprises a natural oscillating movement.

15. The method according to claim 11, further comprising heating the steam in the container.

16. The method according to claim 11, further comprising expanding and contracting the interior volume of the container in a repeated manner and maintaining an oscillation of the liquid piston in the container.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein said initiating oscillation of the liquid piston comprises decreasing a pressure in an air pocket at the second end of the container opposite the first end in order assist movement of the liquid piston away from the first end for generating the steam.

18. The method according to claim 11, further comprising adding thermal energy to the liquid piston in the container using a heat exchanger.

19. The method according to claim 11, further comprising injecting steam into the container at the second end opposite the first end to increase a pressure at the second end adding energy into the movement of the liquid piston compressing the newly formed steam at the first end, the steam in the second container subsequently collapsing when the liquid piston oscillates in a direction away from the first end initiating its steam formation phase.

20. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising modulating the oscillating movement of the liquid piston by introducing external energy to the oscillating movement through direct mechanical means, parametric excitation, or dynamic modification of the liquid piston’s mass or pressure by adding or removing liquid or gas from the container.

Images