Patent ID: 9745870
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: F01K,Y02E

Claim:
1. A heat engine employing an organic Rankine cycle comprising: an organic refrigerant exhibiting a boiling point below −35 degrees Celsius; a hot water heat source having a temperature of less than 82 degrees Celsius; a heat sink; a sealed, closed-loop path for the organic refrigerant, the sealed, closed-loop path having both a high-pressure zone configured to absorb heat from the hot water heat source, and which contains a first portion of the organic refrigerant in at least a gaseous phase, and a low-pressure zone which transfers configured to transfer heat to the heat sink, and which contains a second portion of the organic refrigerant in at least a liquid phase; a positive-displacement decompressor configured to provide a pressure gradient through which the organic refrigerant in the gaseous phase is configured to flow continuously from the high-pressure zone to the low-pressure zone, the positive-displacement decompressor maintaining a pressure differential between the high-pressure zone and the low-pressure zone of between about 20 bar and about 42 bar, the positive-displacement decompressor extracting mechanical energy due to the pressure gradient; an electrical generator coupled to the positive-displacement decompressor configured to convert extracted mechanical energy to electrical energy; and a positive displacement hydraulic pump for providing continuous flow of the organic refrigerant in the liquid phase from the low-pressure zone to the high-pressure zone.