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:
May. 15, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 18, 2008
Douglas W. P. Smith, Port Coquitlam, CA;
Douglas W. P. Smith, Port Coquitlam, CA;
Other;
Abstract
This invention provides a method of converting heat energy to a more usable form using an externally-heated Brayton cycle. Atmospheric air is used with water injection in a thermodynamic cycle that includes compression (), evaporative cooling (), recuperative heating (), evaporative cooling (), external heating () and expansion through a turbine (). Power capacity and overall efficiency are maximized by decreasing the temperature of working fluid entering recuperator () and heater () while increasing the mass flow through turbine (). Overall efficiency during turndown is maximized using a portion of low-pressure working fluid from the turbine in a three-chamber combustor wherein volume flow into the first chamber containing solid fuel determines the system energy, volume flow into the second chamber combines with partially combusted gases from the first chamber to achieve the optimum combustion temperature and volume flow into the third chamber blends with combustion gases from the second chamber to limit the hot gas to the maximum temperature allowed by the system equipment.