Isothermal Pump Bladder Cooling for Hermetic Heat Exchange
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing isothermal pumps face inefficiencies due to slow heat exchange rates, which limit their operational speed and thermodynamic efficiency, and flexible seals often degrade at low temperatures, restricting the temperature differential between the heating liquid and gas, thus affecting pump performance.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a bladder cooled by a coolant system, a high-temperature liquid system, and a pressure equalization system, with a hermetically sealed piston and heat transfer fins, allowing for rapid convective heat transfer and maintaining a near-isothermal process while preventing liquid and gas commingling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flexible seals are used to prevent liquid and gas commingling, then hermetic sealing is achieved, but the seals degrade at low temperatures which restricts the temperature differential between heating liquid and gas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sealing function from the flexible seal and relocates it to the piston structure itself. The piston includes a sealed cavity that hermetically contains the gas, eliminating the need for flexible seals that contact the heating liquid. This allows the system to operate with larger temperature differentials without seal degradation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a coolant cavity as an intermediary between the piston and the heating liquid. This coolant cavity allows thermal management while maintaining hermetic separation, enabling the piston to withstand higher temperature differentials without direct exposure of sealing elements to extreme temperatures.
2Productivity
If heat exchange rate is increased to improve thermodynamic efficiency, then operational speed increases, but the complexity of the heat exchange system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the heat exchange system into distinct functional zones: a heating liquid cavity surrounding the piston and a separate coolant cavity within the piston structure. This segmentation allows independent optimization of heating and cooling pathways, enabling rapid heat exchange without requiring a complex integrated heat exchanger system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested configuration where the coolant cavity is positioned within the piston structure, which itself is surrounded by the heating liquid cavity. This nested arrangement enables efficient thermal management with minimal system complexity, as the cooling function is integrated into the existing piston geometry rather than requiring separate external cooling components.
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 enhances thermodynamic efficiency by maintaining a constant gas temperature during compression and expansion, allowing for higher operating temperatures and increased work extraction, while the bladder's cooling system prevents degradation and ensures a hermetic seal.
Implementation Method 1
Convective heat transfer can be expressed with the following equation: q=hcA dT where q=heat transferred per unit time (W), A=heat transfer area of the surface (m2), hc=convective heat transfer coefficient of the process (W/(m2K)), dT=temperature difference between the surface and the bulk liquid (K)
Implementation Method 2
Conductive heat transfer can be expressed with 'Fourier's Law': q=kAdT/s where q=heat transfer (W, J/s), A=heat transfer area (m2), k=thermal conductivity of material (W/m K), dT=temperature gradient−difference−in the material (K), s=material thickness (m)
Data Source
AI summary
The pump has a body having a heat sink on the body underside. An extension rises from the body. A guide is provided for a piston, which together move up and down relative to the body and extension. The pump is within a tank filled with heating liquid. The heating liquid is separated (directly or indirectly) from a gas cavity with a bladder. The pump can have a coolant cavity partially bordered by a bladder that separates the heating liquid from the gas. A coolant then flows through the cavity over the top of the bladder keeping it cool and preventing bladder degradation. A high temperature liquid system maintains the temperature of the heating liquid. A coolant system maintains the temperature of the coolant. A pressure equalization system maintains balance in pressure between the heating liquid and coolant. A steam system is provided as is a control system.