Chicago Bridge & Iron Company

Elmer W Rothrock

Craig T Bouchard

James B Maher

Clarence D Miller

An enclosed storage tank for a hot liquid comprising a metal shell with a flat metal bottom, a vertical cylindrical metal side wall and a metal roof; a vertical cylindrical internal wall, supported by the tank bottom, axially located in the tank to provide an annular space between the tank side wall and the internal wall; openings to provide gravity flow of liquid between both sides of the internal wall; and the internal wall comprising a plurality of interconnected insulating blocks constituting thermal insulation surrounded by a covering layer impervious and corrosion resistant to hot liquid to be stored in the tank. A method of storing thermal energy as a hot liquid in the tank is also disclosed.

Hot liquid thermal energy storage tank and method

A storage tank having internal and external spaced apart walls defining a first liquid storage space between the two walls and a second liquid storage space surrounded by the internal wall; each of the internal and external walls being joined to a bottom; at least one fluid conduit in fluid flow communication with and between the first and second storage spaces; and a valve capable of blocking fluid flow through the fluid conduit from the second storage space to the first storage space which is actuated by a sudden loss of liquid from the first storage space to outside of the tank.

Liquid storage tank

A cooling tower self-supporting vertical shell essentially circular in horizontal section and wider at the base than at the top,

Cooling tower with fluted wall

A dry-type cooling system for condensing steam in a steam operated electric power generating plant and disposing of the heat withdrawn, by converting some of the heat to a form of power or work, such as electric power, and rejecting some of the heat to the air. The system requires a power input at relatively high ambient air temperatures, but such power consumption is offset by power produced during cooling with ambient air at lower temperatures. The cooling system utilizes a closed loop containing a suitable refrigerant fluid. The loop contains a steam condenser in the hot-well of a steam system of an electric generating plant, and a heat exchanger in a cooling tower through which air enters at atmospheric temperature and exits at an elevated temperature. The closed loop is branched to incorporate two consecutively operable cooling cycles employing the same refrigerant fluid. One of the cooling cycles operates when the atmospheric temperature of the air is comparatively high, and the other cooling cycle operates when the atmospheric temperature of the air is comparatively low, such as below 80.degree. F. The cooling cycle operating at the higher temperatures is a power consuming cycle while the cooling cycle operating at the lower temperatures is a power generating cycle. Overall, efficiency of an electric power plant may be increased 2 to 3%. The cooling system produces as much as twelve times more power than it consumes over a yearly period. The cooling system employs no water so there is no water loss or environmental disturbance and no thermal pollution.

Power producing dry-type cooling system

A ship having a hold with a bottom, and a vertically positioned tank with a top and bottom standing in gravity support on the hold bottom, said tank having a portion circular in horizontal section between the tank top and tank bottom, a circular restraining wall horizontally positioned around the tank, and equally spaced from, the circular portion of the tank, and a plurality of pairs of cross-braces joined to the cylindrical portion of the tank and extending therefrom and joined to the circular restraining wall, said cross-braces accommodating expansion and contraction of the tank with temperature change while providing support against lateral movement of the tank during pitching and rolling of the ship.

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Hinsdale, IL, United States of America

Elmer W Rothrock