The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 29, 1981
Filed:
Jan. 04, 1980
Matloob Husain, Wheaton, IL (US);
Ban-Yen Lai, Willowbrook, IL (US);
James B Maher, Oak Brook, IL (US);
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, Oak Brook, IL (US);
Abstract
Spent steam from a steam driven electric generating power plant is condensed by heat rejection to a refrigerant in a closed loop. The closed refrigerant loop contains an expander and a compressor, and a heat exchanger in a cooling tower. The compressor and expander are integrated so that (1) in an upper cooling cycle at the upper end of the ambient or air temperature range, only the compressor is operated within its operating range, (2) in a lower cooling cycle at the lower end of the ambient or air temperature range, only the expander is operated and (3) in a middle cooling cycle at the middle range of the ambient or air temperatures, when the turn-down of either the compressor or the expander is a limiting factor, both of them are operated. The characteristics of the compressor and the expander are advisably matched such that when both are operated the duties on both are balanced above their respective turn-down limits thus minimizing the energy loss and enhancing the power producing capability of the system. The integrated compressor/expander operation, during the middle range of the ambient or air temperatures in which the system is designed to operate, will also provide smoother operation, as the discontinuity going to and from the compressor to the expander mode of operation is eliminated.