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:
Mar. 01, 1988
Filed:
Aug. 17, 1981
Adam P Bruckner, Seattle, WA (US);
Abraham Hertzberg, Bellevue, WA (US);
David J Shaw, Seattle, WA (US);
The Board of Regents of the University of Washington, Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
An energy storage and conversion system utilizes unique heat exchange media for storing and transferring heat. In one embodiment, a refractory material is heated to the molten state by a solar furnace. The refractory material is stored in its molten form and metered to a direct-contact heat exchanger. It is fed into the heat exchanger in a plurality of streams that break into a plurality of droplets. The droplets flow through the heat exchanger in countercurrent relationship with a relatively inert gas such as argon or nitrogen. The gas is heated and expanded through an expansion engine to convert the thermal energy to mechanical energy which in turn can be utilized to produce electricity, for example. The refractory can be sufficiently cooled in the heat exchanger to fuse into beads, which can be easily recycled to the solar furnace.