Patent ID: 6523347
Filing Date: 2003-02-25
Classification: F01C,F02C,F02G,F04C,F05D,F25B,Y02E

Abstract:
A method for transforming thermal energy into mechanical energy utilizing thermodynamic bottoming and topping cycles and binary working fluids, comprising:providing a rotary gas/liquid compressor and rotary gas expander unit having a common oval-shaped operating chamber and a common rotor therein dividing said operating chamber into a gas/liquid compressor chamber and a gas expander chamber; introducing a first gas/liquid working fluid mixture of a non-condensable first gas and a low-temperature liquid into said gas/liquid compressor chamber and polytropically compressing it therein in a low-temperature closed bottoming cycle; introducing a second working fluid gas into said gas expander chamber and compressing and expanding said second working fluid gas in a topping cycle to produce power; separating said polytropically compressed first gas/liquid working fluid mixture into a non-condensable first gas component having a low boiling temperature and a liquid component; isobarically heating and adiabatically expanding said separated non-condensable first gas component in a heat exchanger having a second gas as a heat source to cool said second gas to produce cool refrigerated air to be used for said second working fluid gas of said topping cycle and to facilitate rejection of waste heat of said topping cycle; discharging said isobarically heated first gas component of said first gas/liquid working fluid from said heat exchanger into said gas expander chamber; adiabatically expanding said first gas component in said gas expander chamber to simultaneously rotate said common rotor and produce useful work and thereby extract heat from said adiabatically expanded first gas component to cool it to a temperature below the boiling point of said liquid component and facilitate rejection of waste heat from said bottoming cycle; and discharging a portion of said adiabatically expanded cooled first gas component from said gas expander chamber into said gas/liquid compressor chamber; and introducing and atomizing a portion of said separated liquid component into said gas/liquid compressor chamber and mixing it with said cool first gas component during polytropic compression of said gas/liquid mixture to serve as a coolant for said liquid component to adsorb waste heat and supplement said first gas/liquid mixture and to facilitate polytropic compression of said gas/liquid mixture therein.