Chicago Bridge & Iron Company

Cbi Research Corporation

John T Crawford

Don H Coers

Lewis Tyree, Jr

Harry C Fischer

A system for storing electrical energy in the form of triple-point CO.sub.2 and then using such stored energy plus heat to generate electrical power. A reservoir of carbon dioxide liquid at about the triple point is created in an insulated vessel. Liquid carbon dioxide is withdrawn and pumped to a high pressure, which high pressure carbon dioxide is heated and expanded to create rotary power which generates electrical power. The discharge stream from the expander is cooled and returned to the vessel where carbon dioxide vapor is condensed by melting solid carbon dioxide. A fuel-fired gas turbine connected to an electrical power generator can be used to heat the high pressure carbon dioxide, and an ambient air stream flowing toward the gas turbine can be cooled by giving up heat to the high pressure carbon dioxide stream. The returning expanded carbon dioxide stream can be returned to a separate auxiliary vessel, and liquid carbon dioxide pumped from such auxiliary vessel to a main vessel wherein solid carbon dioxide is formed and then transferred to the auxiliary vessel.

Power plant using CO.sub.2 as a working fluid

Condensing exhaust steam by conveying a stream of the exhaust steam under vacuum to a base cooling tower to condense the steam so long as the heat rejection capacity of the base cooling tower is adequate to condense the steam; supplementing the base cooling tower, when it provides inadequate cooling, by contemporaneously also withdrawing cold cooling water from a cold water reservoir and injecting the cooling water into the stream of exhaust steam under vacuum to condense a portion of the steam to water such that the remaining portion of the steam is condensed to water in the base cooling tower; withdrawing hot condensed water from the exhaust steam stream and feeding a portion thereof to a hot reservoir; withdrawing hot cooling water from the hot reservoir, when the cooling tower capacity is adequate to decrease the temperature of the exhaust steam to below the temperature of the hot cooling water in the hot reservoir, and subjecting the withdrawn hot cooling water to the exhaust steam vacuum to cool the hot cooling water by converting part of the water to steam; and feeding the so-cooled cooling water to the cold water reservoir.

Growing community of inventors

Naperville, IL, United States of America

John T Crawford