Heat Engine With Moveable Separators and Displacers for Cogeneration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat pump and heat engine technologies face inefficiencies in utilizing excess heat energy, often discharging it as waste without practical application, and struggle to simultaneously provide heating, cooling, and mechanical or electrical power effectively.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus employs a vessel with a hot side and a cold side in fluid communication, utilizing a displacer and separators to manage a working fluid through sequential filling and emptying processes, allowing for near adiabatic expansion and compression, and incorporating heat exchangers to optimize temperature differences for enhanced cogeneration of heating, cooling, and power generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If waste heat is discharged without utilization, then the system complexity is reduced, but energy efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The heat engine system performs multiple functions simultaneously: it generates mechanical power from heat input, provides heating through the hot-side heat exchanger, and delivers cooling through the cold-side heat exchanger. This multi-functionality allows waste heat to be utilized for multiple purposes, improving energy efficiency without proportionally increasing system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the power generation cycle with heating and cooling functions into a single integrated system. The working fluid cycle serves both to drive the power output mechanism and to transfer heat between the hot and cold sides, merging what would traditionally be separate systems into one unified apparatus
2Productivity
If heat exchangers are added for heating and cooling, then energy efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The working fluid serves multiple functions: it acts as the power-generating medium in the heat engine cycle and simultaneously serves as the heat transfer fluid for both heating and cooling operations. This multi-functionality increases productivity by providing power, heating, and cooling from a single system without requiring separate fluid systems
Solution Approach 2:
The hot-side and cold-side heat exchangers are integrated into the same working fluid cycle, allowing the apparatus to provide heating and cooling services simultaneously with the power generation function, thereby increasing overall productivity
3Reliability
If separators are used to create temperature differences, then heat transfer efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vessel is divided into separate hot-side and cold-side chambers by a separator, allowing independent temperature management in each region. This segmentation enables the hot side to be heated while the cold side is cooled simultaneously, improving heat transfer efficiency by maintaining optimal temperature differences across the heat exchangers
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the vessel are assigned different thermal characteristics: the hot-side chamber is optimized for heat input and the hot-side heat exchanger, while the cold-side chamber is optimized for heat rejection and the cold-side heat exchanger. This local optimization of thermal properties improves overall heat transfer efficiency
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 approach enables efficient utilization of heat energy for both heating and cooling while generating power, improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of heat engines and pumps by allowing for near adiabatic processes and strategic temperature management.
Implementation Method 1
a displacer positioned within the vessel. The displacer is moveable to the hot side of the vessel to displace working fluid from the hot side into the cold side via the flow path. The displacer moveable to the cold side of the vessel to displace working fluid from the cold side into the hot side via the flow path.
Implementation Method 2
a separator positioned within the cold side of the vessel to divide the cold side into separate volumes including a first volume on a side of the separator closer to the displacer and a second volume on an opposite side of the separator further from the displacer. The separator is moveable to selectively communicate the first volume to the flow path and the second volume to the flow path to allow the first and second volumes to have different temperatures of working fluid at the cold side of the vessel.
Implementation Method 3
incorporating heat exchangers to optimize temperature differences for enhanced cogeneration of heating, cooling, and power generation
Implementation Method 4
utilizing a displacer and separators to manage a working fluid through sequential filling and emptying processes, allowing for near adiabatic expansion and compression
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus, which may be operated as a heat engine and/or a heat pump, includes moveable separators at a cold side and/or moveable separators at a hot side. Each separator divides a volume into two smaller volumes. Working fluid may be sequentially filled and emptied from volumes between the separators. The separators may move to maintain uniform pressure in the volumes. Hot-side separators may allow for near adiabatic compression/expansion of working fluid. Cold-side separators may allow for near adiabatic expansion/compression of working fluid. Two displacers are positioned between the cold-side separators and the hot-side separators. The displacers are independently actuatable to force working fluid into and out of the volumes between separators and into and out of a variable intermediate volume between the displacers. Heat exchangers, including a warming heat exchanger, are provided to heat, cool, and warm working fluid as it flows between separated volumes and the intermediate volume.