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:
Dec. 14, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 26, 2003
Carsten Bloch, Berlin, DE;
Detlef Wüsthoff, Berlin, DE;
Enginion AG, Berlin, DE;
Abstract
The invention concerns a device to generate mechanical work with a steam engine that works with a closed circuit and that has a feed water tank, a feed pump, an evaporator to generate steam, the steam engine, and a condenser. The invention is based on the problem of keeping a device of the initially cited kind free of damage from freezing water when the device is not operating and the environmental temperatures are low. To this end, an inert gas in the feed water tank ( ) is used to expel the feed water from the other part ( ) of the circuit to the feed water tank ( ). This is done by switching a valve arrangement. The feed water tank ( ) is designed so that it will not be damaged, for example by exploding from freezing water inside. The advantages of the closed circuit are retained. To restart the device, the system is reheated, and the valve arrangement only has to be switched back to the position suitable for normal operation.