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:
Oct. 07, 2014
Filed:
Mar. 15, 2013
Lightsail Energy, Inc., Berkeley, CA (US);
Michael Coney, Swindon, GB;
Karim Wazni, Danville, CA (US);
Danielle A. Fong, Oakland, CA (US);
Stephen E. Crane, Santa Rosa, CA (US);
Edwin P. Berlin, Jr., Oakland, CA (US);
LightSail Energy, Inc., Berkeley, CA (US);
Abstract
An expansion system utilizes external combustion of its residual warm exhaust air, in order to heat incoming compressed air. The heat of this external combustion is communicated to the incoming compressed air through a heat exchanger. The expansion system may be incorporated into an energy storage device also featuring a compressed air storage unit supplied by a compressor. Where the stored supply of compressed air is depleted, the energy storage device may continue to supply electricity on demand through operation as a heat engine, with the compressor being driven directly (e.g. on a same rotating shaft) or indirectly (via generated electrical power) by the expansion system. Multiple expanders of the same or different types (e.g. rotating, reciprocating), may be utilized in parallel and/or in series (e.g. multiple stages) depending upon the particular application. Multi-stage embodiments featuring internal combustion in low pressure stages, may be particularly suited for placement in vehicles.