Caterpillar Tractor Co.

William H Belke

George B Grim

Joseph C Hafele

Alexander Goloff

Thomas J Richards

Ernest W Landen

William E Dearlove

Ralph J King

Rotating fluidized bed hydrogen production system

A rotating fluidized bed combustor particularly adaptable for mounting on conventional gas turbine engines comprising an annular fluidized bed, defined by inner and outer spaced apart coaxial, cylindrical, perforated walls, which rotates about the longitudinal axis of the cylinders. Compressed air and solid or liquid fuel enter the bed through the outer perforated wall and fluidize the bed. The air reacts with the fuel within the bed to produce hot combustion gas which exits the bed, together with unreacted compressed air, through the inner perforated wall. When employed with gas turbine engines, the gases exiting the bed are directed into the guide vanes of the gasifier turbine. Cooling tubes pass substantially longitudinally through the rotating fluidized bed and compressed air is directed through the tubes to absorb combustion heat from the bed.

Rotating fluidized bed combustor

A bearing having a generally flat planer surface of pearlite, and an array of microasperities of martensite on the planer surface, each microasperity including a gently sloping front surface in relation to the direction of movement of the bearing and a sharply sloping rear surface in relation to such direction of movement. A pulsed laser beam or other heat source is focussed on the bearing to produce the array with microasperities of controlled size and shape.

Bearing having an array of microasperities

A rotating fluidized bed heat exchanger particularly adaptable as a heat exchange unit in the recuperator section of conventional gas turbine engines comprising an annular fluidized bed, defined by inner and outer spaced apart coaxial cylindrical, perforated walls, which rotates about the longitudinal axis of the cylinders. The bed is comprised of pulverulent inert particulate material and includes fluid-containing heat exchange tubes passing substantially longitudinally therethrough. Hot gases, such as turbine exhaust gases, enter the bed through the outer perforated wall, heat and fluidize the bed particles, heat the fluid, usually compressed air, in the tubes, and exit the bed through the inner perforated wall. The heat exchange tubes direct the fluid flowing therein from an inlet adjacent the inner perforated wall to an outlet adjacent the outer perforated wall such that the fluid flows substantially countercurrently to the hot fluidizing gas. In a preferred embodiment, the heat exchange tubes comprise an inlet tube extending longitudinally adjacent the inner perforated wall, an outlet tube extending longitudinally adjacent the outer perforated wall and a plurality of tubes interconnecting the inlet and outlet tubes.

Rotating fluidized bed heat exchanger

PCT No. PCT/US79/00929 Sec. 371 Date Nov. 1, 1979 Sec. 102(e) date Nov. 1, 1979 PCT Filed Nov. 1, 1979 PCT Pub. No. WO81/01295 PCT Pub. Date May 14, 1981 A rotating fluidized bed gasifier system especially useful in compound engines comprising an annular fluidization chamber containing a bed of carbon containing pulverulent solid materials. The chamber, which is defined by inner and outer spaced apart coaxial, cylindrical, perforated walls, rotates about the longitudinal axis of the cylinders. Steam enters the bed, which is maintained at about 1800.degree. F., through the outer perforated wall and fluidizes the particles. The steam reacts endothermically with the carbon to produce reaction product gas which exits the bed, together with unreacted steam, through the inner perforated wall. In a preferred form of the invention the bed is maintained at approximately 1800.degree. F. by combining a rotating fluidized bed combustor with the gasifier. In this embodiment compressed air and powdered coal enter the bed with the steam through the outer perforated wall. The air reacts exothermically with the fuel within the bed to generate heat for the endothermic steam-carbon reaction and to produce hot combustion gas which exit the bed, together with the reaction product gas, unreacted steam and compressed air, through the inner perforated wall.

Rotating fluidized bed gasifier system

PCT No. PCT/US 79/00843 Sec. 371 Date Oct. 15, 1979 Sec. 102(e) Date Oct. 15, 1979 PCT Filed Oct. 15, 1979 A combination rotating fluidized bed combustor and rotating fluidized bed heat exchanger particularly adaptable as the combustor and heat exchange unit, respectively, of conventional gas turbine engines is preferably arranged with the combustor nested within the heat exchanger for maximum compactness. The heat exchanger comprises an annular fluidized bed, defined by inner and outer spaced apart coaxial cylindrical, perforated walls, which rotates about the longitudinal axis of the cylinders. The bed is comprised of pulverulent inert particulate material and includes fluid-containing heat exchange tubes passing substantially longitudinally therethrough. Hot gases, such as turbine exhaust gases, enter the bed through the outer perforated wall, heat and fluidize the bed particles, heat the gas, usually compressed air, in the tubes, and exit the bed through the inner perforated wall. The heat exchange tubes direct the compressed air flowing therein from an inlet adjacent the inner perforated wall to an outlet adjacent the outer perforated wall such that the compressed air flows substantially countercurrently to the hot fluidizing gas. The combustor also comprises an annular fluidized bed, defined by inner and outer spaced apart coaxial, cylindrical, perforated walls, which rotates about the longitudinal axis of the cylinders. The heated, compressed air exiting the heat exchanger tubes and solid or liquid fuel enter the combustor bed through the outer perforated wall and fluidize the bed. The air reacts with the fuel within the bed to produce hot combustion gas which exits the bed, together with unreacted compressed air, through the inner perforated wall. When employed with gas turbine engines, the gases exiting the bed are directed into and through the vanes of the gasifier turbine and the power turbine and then into the rotating fluidized bed heat exchanger as the heating and fluidizing medium therefor.

Combination rotating fluidized bed combustor and heat exchanger

A method of producing a fiber reinforced concrete structure of desired thickness including the steps of extruding a sheet of concrete substantially free of fibers, distributing an effective amount of reinforcing fibers on the sheet, repeating the foregoing steps until the desired thickness is approached and before the concrete sheets have set up, and extruding a further sheet of substantially fiber-free concrete over the structure resulting from the foregoing steps to achieve the desired thickness. The amount of fiber distributed over each sheet may be varied to concentrate the fiber in the areas where the greatest stress concentration is expected. Also disclosed is an apparatus for performing the method.

Method and apparatus for making fibrous concrete

A method and apparatus for producing microasperities for enhancing lubrication is provided. A pulsed laser beam or other heat source having high resolution with respect to time and space is focused onto a surface such as a thrust bearing surface to produce an array of microasperities of controlled size, shape and density. The staggered ramp shaped asperities produce an enhanced lubrication effect.

Corpuscular energy beam produced microasperities

A reflective mirror system for controlling the supply beam of a laser is provided. The system includes a first mirror having the surface of a partial section of the surface of a paraboloid of revolution and mounted in a housing relative to a collimated beam such as produced by a laser, so as to reflect the beam from the direction of travel on to a second mirror. From the second mirror the beam is reflected through an opening in the first mirror and converged to a point of focus for doing useful work on a workpiece.

Growing community of inventors

Peoria, IL, United States of America

William H Belke