Source: https://patents.justia.com/patent/8763390
Timestamp: 2019-09-15 22:34:59
Document Index: 754607516

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61']

US Patent for Heat exchange with compressed gas in energy-storage systems Patent (Patent # 8,763,390 issued July 1, 2014) - Justia Patents Search
Justia Patents Fluid Mingling (e.g., Condensation)US Patent for Heat exchange with compressed gas in energy-storage systems Patent (Patent # 8,763,390)
Aug 1, 2012 - SustainX, Inc.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/094,960, filed on Apr. 27, 2011, which (A) claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/328,408, filed Apr. 27, 2010; (B) is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/690,513, filed Jan. 20, 2010, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/145,860, filed on Jan. 20, 2009, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/145,864, filed on Jan. 20, 2009, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/146,432, filed on Jan. 22, 2009, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/148,481, filed on Jan. 30, 2009, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/151,332, filed on Feb. 10, 2009, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/227,222, filed on Jul. 21, 2009, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/256,576, filed on Oct. 30, 2009, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/264,317, filed on Nov. 25, 2009, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/266,758, filed on Dec. 4, 2009; and (C) is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/639,703, filed Dec. 16, 2009, which (i) is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/421,057, filed Apr. 9, 2009, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/148,691, filed Jan. 30, 2009, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/043,630, filed Apr. 9, 2008; (ii) is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/481,235, filed Jun. 9, 2009, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/059,964, filed Jun. 9, 2008; and (iii) claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 61/166,448, filed on Apr. 3, 2009; 61/184,166, filed on Jun. 4, 2009; 61/223,564, filed on Jul. 7, 2009; 61/227,222, filed on Jul. 21, 2009; and 61/251,965, filed on Oct. 15, 2009. The entire disclosure of each of these applications is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The control system 205 may be any acceptable control device with a human-machine interface. For example, the control system 205 may include a computer (for example a PC-type) that executes a stored control application in the form of a computer-readable software medium. More generally, control system 205 may be realized as software, hardware, or some combination thereof. For example, controller 205 may be implemented on one or more computers, such as a PC having a CPU board containing one or more processors such as the Pentium, Core, Atom, or Celeron family of processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., the 680×0 and POWER PC family of processors manufactured by Motorola Corporation of Schaumburg, Ill., and/or the ATHLON line of processors manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif. The processor may also include a main memory unit for storing programs and/or data relating to the methods described above. The memory may include random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and/or FLASH memory residing on commonly available hardware such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROM), programmable read-only memories (PROM), programmable logic devices (PLD), or read-only memory devices (ROM). In some embodiments, the programs may be provided using external RAM and/or ROM such as optical disks, magnetic disks, as well as other commonly storage devices.
At any time during an expansion or compression phase of gas within the first or upper chamber 214 of the cylinder assembly 202, the chamber 214 will typically contain a gas 226 (e.g., previously admitted from storage vessel 206 during the expansion phase or from vent 208 during the compression phase) and (e.g., an accumulation of) heat-transfer fluid 228 at substantially equal pressure Ps, (e.g., up to approximately 3,000 psig). The heat-transfer fluid 228 may be drawn through the center-drilled rod 212 and through a pipe 230 by the pump 224. The pump 224 raises the pressure of the heat-transfer fluid 228 to a pressure Pi′ (e.g., up to approximately 3,015 psig) somewhat higher than Ps, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/009,409, filed on Jan. 19, 2011 (the '409 application), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. The heat-transfer fluid 228 is then sent through the heat exchanger 222, where its temperature is altered, and then through a pipe 232 to a spray mechanism 234 disposed within the cylinder assembly 202. In various embodiments, when the cylinder assembly 202 is operated as an expander, a spray 236 of the heat-transfer fluid 228 is introduced into the cylinder assembly 202 at a higher temperature than the gas 226 and, therefore, transfers thermal energy to the gas 226 and increases the amount of work done by the gas 226 on the piston 210 as the gas 226 expands. In an alternative mode of operation, when the cylinder assembly 202 is operated as a compressor, the heat-transfer fluid 228 is introduced at a lower temperature than the gas 226. Control system 205 may enforce substantially isothermal operation, i.e., expansion and/or compression of gas in cylinder assembly 202, via control over, e.g., the introduction of gas into and the exhausting of gas out of cylinder assembly 202, the rates of compression and/or expansion, and/or the operation of heat-transfer subsystem 204 in response to sensed conditions. For example, control system 205 may be responsive to one or more sensors disposed in or on cylinder assembly 202 for measuring the temperature of the gas and/or the heat-transfer fluid within cylinder assembly 202, responding to deviations in temperature by issuing control signals that operate one or more of the system components noted above to compensate, in real time, for the sensed temperature deviations. For example, in response to a temperature increase within cylinder assembly 202, control system 205 may issue commands to increase the flow rate of spray 236 of heat-transfer fluid 228.
a first cylinder assembly for at least one of, over a first pressure range, compressing gas to store energy or expanding gas to recover energy, the first cylinder assembly comprising two separated chambers;
selectively fluidly connected to a chamber of the first cylinder assembly, a vent for admitting ambient air into the chamber of the first cylinder assembly for compression and for exhausting gas from the chamber of the first cylinder assembly after expansion;
selectively fluidly connected to the first cylinder assembly, a second cylinder assembly for at least one of, over a second pressure range higher than the first pressure range, compressing gas to store energy or expanding gas to recover energy, the second cylinder assembly comprising two separated chambers;
a first spray mechanism for mingling heat-exchange fluid and gas for at least one of compression or expansion within the second cylinder assembly;
selectively fluidly connected to a chamber of the second cylinder assembly, a compressed-gas reservoir for storage of gas after compression and supply of compressed gas for expansion, the compressed-gas reservoir comprising an underground cavern; and
a heat-exchange subsystem for thermally conditioning gas within the compressed-gas reservoir, the heat-exchange subsystem comprising (i) a second spray mechanism disposed within the underground cavern, (ii) a circulation apparatus for extracting liquid from a bottom portion of the underground cavern, and (iii) a conduit selectively fluidly connecting the circulation apparatus and the bottom portion of the underground cavern.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the heat-exchange subsystem comprises:
a second conduit fluidly connecting the circulation apparatus and the heat exchanger.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the second spray mechanism comprises at least one of a spray head or a spray rod.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the heat-exchange fluid comprises water and one or more additives for (i) reducing surface tension of the water and (ii) retarding or preventing corrosion.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the circulation apparatus comprises a water pump.
6. The system of claim 2, wherein the heat exchanger is in fluid communication with an external heating or cooling source.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the external heating or cooling source comprises at least one of a fossil fuel power plant, a heat engine power plant, a solar thermal source, a geothermal source, an industrial process with waste heat, a heat pump, a heat source, a heat sink, or a source of environmentally chilled water.
8. The system of claim 6, wherein the external heating or cooling source comprises a thermal well.
9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a movable boundary mechanism separating the two chambers of the first cylinder assembly.
10. The system of claim 9, further comprising, mechanically coupled to the boundary mechanism, a crankshaft for converting reciprocal motion of the boundary mechanism into rotary motion.
11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a motor/generator coupled to the crankshaft.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the heat-exchange subsystem and the first spray mechanism both utilize the same heat-exchange fluid for heat exchange.
13. The system of claim 1, wherein the first spray mechanism comprises at least one of a spray head or a spray rod.
14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a control system for enforcing at least one of substantially isothermal expansion or substantially isothermal compression within at least one of the first cylinder assembly or the second cylinder assembly.
15. The system of claim 1, wherein the heat-exchange subsystem comprises a heat-transfer fluid incorporating an additive to reduce the surface tension of the heat-transfer fluid.
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10 2005 0476 April 2007 DE
Patent Publication Number: 20120297776
Inventors: Benjamin R. Bollinger (Windsor, VT), Troy O. McBride (Norwich, VT), Benjamin Cameron (Hanover, NH), Patrick Magari (Plainfield, NH), Michael Izenson (Hanover, NH), Weibo Chen (Hanover, NH)
Application Number: 13/564,430
Current U.S. Class: Fluid Mingling (e.g., Condensation) (60/511); Having Means Within The Working Chamber To Effect The Pressure Of Fluid Therein (60/512); Having Control Means For Heating Or Cooling Means (60/515); 91/4.0R; 91/4.0A
International Classification: F01K 21/04 (20060101); F15B 21/04 (20060101);