Energy Conversion Device With Pressurized Gas Turbine
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current energy conversion devices, particularly fluid power plants, face inefficiencies in converting potential energy of stored fluids into electrical energy and thermal energy, with challenges in efficiently returning fluids to the reservoir and managing pressure dynamics.
Innovation Solution
The energy conversion device incorporates a pressure vessel with excess pressure, utilizing a gas like helium to enhance fluid flow and return efficiency, and a compressor and mixing unit to mix the fluid with compressed conveying gas, allowing for efficient energy conversion and thermal energy extraction from the environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a conventional fluid power plant design is used, then the structure is simple, but the energy conversion efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into distinct functional modules: a pressure vessel for energy storage, a turbine for energy conversion, and a return line for fluid circulation. This modular segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for its specific function, improving overall energy conversion efficiency while maintaining manageable device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
A pressurized gas (such as nitrogen or air) is introduced as an intermediary substance in the return line to facilitate fluid return to the reservoir. This intermediary gas provides the necessary pressure differential to move fluid back to the reservoir without requiring additional pumps, thereby reducing energy losses while adding a moderate level of system complexity
2Use of energy by moving object
If the fluid is returned to the reservoir without pressurized gas, then the device complexity is low, but the energy consumption for fluid return is high
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the kinetic energy already present in the flowing fluid to drive the turbine, which in turn generates electrical energy. The pressurized gas in the return line is automatically recharged from the pressure vessel during fluid return, creating a self-sustaining cycle that minimizes external energy input while maintaining a moderate level of system complexity
3Loss of energy
If the turbine operates without a pressure vessel, then the device complexity is reduced, but the friction losses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure vessel maintains a controlled overpressure environment (typically 1-10 bar above atmospheric pressure) around the turbine and in the return line. This parameter change in pressure reduces the pressure differential that the turbine must work against, thereby reducing friction losses and improving energy conversion efficiency while adding moderate device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure vessel creates a controlled inert environment around the turbine using pressurized gas. This inert atmosphere minimizes turbulent flow and reduces friction losses by providing a stable, laminar flow condition for the fluid passing through the turbine, thereby improving efficiency while adding moderate system complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration improves the efficiency of energy conversion and fluid return, reducing energy consumption and enhancing the device's ability to convert potential energy into electrical and thermal energy while minimizing friction losses and operational costs.
Implementation Method 1
The pressure vessel is intended to reduce friction losses for a turbine by providing a pressurized environment
Implementation Method 2
a turbine connected downstream of the downpipe and provided to convert a kinetic energy of the fluid, which can be supplied from the fluid reservoir via the downpipe to the turbine, into a rotational energy of an output shaft of the turbine
Implementation Method 3
a generator provided to convert the rotational movement of the output shaft into electrical energy
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an energy conversion device, in particular a fluid power plant device, comprising a fluid reservoir (14a; 14b) for storing a fluid (100a; 100b), a gravity line (20a; 20b) connected to the fluid reservoir (14a; 14b), a turbine (22a; 22b) downstream of the gravity line (20a; 20b) and designed to convert the kinetic energy of the fluid (100a; 100b), which can be supplied from the fluid reservoir (14a; 14b) to the turbine (22a; 22b) via the gravity line (20a; 20b), into a rotational motion of an output shaft of the turbine (22a; 22b), and a generator (48a; 48b) designed to generate the rotational motion of the output shaft. to convert it into electrical energy.It is proposed that the energy conversion device comprises a pressure vessel (30a; 30b), which is designed in particular differently from a housing of the turbine (22a; 22b), in which a gas (102a; 102b) is arranged at an overpressure above the ambient air pressure, in particular of at least 0.2 bar, and the turbine (22a; 22b) is arranged at least partially.