Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6536207?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-03-07 05:38:52
Document Index: 662630802

Matched Legal Cases: ['application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'Application No. 60', 'application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'application No. 09']

Patent US6536207 - Auxiliary power unit - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsAn auxiliary power system for providing electrical power and heat to an indoor area includes an external combustion engine, such as a Stirling cycle engine, for generating mechanical energy and thermal energy. The external combustion engine burns a fuel with substantially complete combustion such that...http://www.google.com/patents/US6536207?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6536207 - Auxiliary power unitAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6536207 B1Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 09/517,808Publication dateMar 25, 2003Filing dateMar 2, 2000Priority dateMar 2, 2000Fee statusPaidAlso published asCA2400750A1, CA2400750C, CA2782772A1, CN1292162C, CN1416505A, CN1952375A, CN1952375B, DE60143232D1, EP1259724A2, EP1674706A2, EP1674706A3, EP1674706B1, WO2001065100A2, WO2001065100A3Publication number09517808, 517808, US 6536207 B1, US 6536207B1, US-B1-6536207, US6536207 B1, US6536207B1InventorsDean L. Kamen, Christopher C. Langenfeld, Michael Norris, Jason Michael SachsOriginal AssigneeNew Power Concepts LlcExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (39), Non-Patent Citations (7), Referenced by (38), Classifications (72), Legal Events (5) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetAuxiliary power unitUS 6536207 B1Abstract An auxiliary power system for providing electrical power and heat to an indoor area includes an external combustion engine, such as a Stirling cycle engine, for generating mechanical energy and thermal energy. The external combustion engine burns a fuel with substantially complete combustion such that exhaust emissions from the external combustion engine are below a predetermined exhaust level. A generator is coupled to the external combustion engine and converts the mechanical energy produced by the external combustion engine to electrical power. A first power output is used to provide the electrical power produced by the generator. The external combustion engine and generator are disposed within a housing such that the external combustion engine, generator and housing combination is a portable size. The thermal energy generated by the external combustion engine may be used to heat the atmosphere surrounding the housing.
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention pertains to auxiliary power units for the co-generation of heat and power for indoor use wherein the auxiliary power unit includes an external combustion engine and in particular, a Stirling cycle engine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An auxiliary power unit (�APU�) consists of an engine and an electric generator. Thermal energy of a burning fuel is converted to mechanical energy in the engine of the APU and mechanical energy is converted to electrical energy in the generator of the APU. One advantage of an APU is that it is a portable size such that it can be easily transported and used in a remote location, such as a construction site, cell tower or cabin, that is not connected to the local power grid. APU's are also important for providing emergency backup power for businesses and homes during a power outage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one aspect of the invention, in one of its embodiments, a method for providing auxiliary electrical power and heat to an indoor area of a house includes generating mechanical energy and thermal energy using an external combustion engine, the external combustion engine burning a fuel and having substantially complete combustion and converting the mechanical energy generated by the external combustion engine into electrical power using a generator coupled to the external combustion engine. The external combustion engine and generator are placed in the indoor area such that the thermal energy generated by the external combustion engine heats an area surrounding the external combustion engine. The external combustion engine and generator may be contained within a portable housing. In a preferred embodiment, the external combustion engine is a Stirling cycle engine. In other embodiments, the fuel burned by the external combustion engine may be propane or natural gas. In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the electrical power may direct current power or alternating current power.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an auxiliary power unit (�APU�) 100 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. APU 100 includes an external combustion engine 101 coupled to a generator 102. In a preferred embodiment, the external combustion engine 101 is a Stirling cycle engine. The outputs of the Stirling cycle engine 101 during operation include both mechanical energy and residual heat energy. Heat produced in the combustion of a fuel in a burner 104 is applied as an input to the Stirling cycle engine 101, and partially converted to mechanical energy. The unconverted heat or thermal energy accounts for 65 to 85% of the energy released in the burner 104. This heat is available to provide heating to the local environment around the APU in two forms: a smaller flow of exhaust gas from the burner 104 and a much larger flow of heat rejected at the cooler 103 of the Stirling engine. The exhaust gases are relatively hot, typically 100 to 300� C., and represent 10 to 20% of the thermal energy produced by the Stirling engine 101. The cooler rejects 80 to 90% of the thermal energy at 10 to 20� C. above the ambient temperature. The heat is rejected to either a flow of water or, more typically, to the air via a radiator 107. Stirling cycle engine 101 is of a size such that the APU 100 is portable. A portable APU that provides both electric power and heat to indoor areas is typically less than 5 kW. Larger units would reject too much energy to be used in an indoor area. For additional information relating to preferred embodiments of a Stirling cycle engine, see pending U.S. patent application No. 09/115,383, filed Jul. 14, 1998; pending U.S. patent application No. 09/115,381, filed Jul. 14, 1998; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/116,483, filed Jan. 20, 1999; and pending U.S. patent application No. 09/335,392, filed Jun. 17, 1999, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
As shown in FIG. 1, Stirling engine 101 is powered directly by a heat source such as burner 104. Burner 104 combusts a fuel to produce hot exhaust gases which are used to drive the Stirling engine 101. A burner control unit 109 is coupled to the burner 104 and a fuel canister 110. Burner control unit 109 delivers a fuel from the fuel canister 110 to the burner 104. The burner controller 109 also delivers a measured amount of air to the burner 104 to advantageously ensure substantially complete combustion. The fuel combusted by burner 104 is preferably a clean burning and commercially available fuel such as propane. A clean burning fuel is a fuel that does not contain large amounts of contaminants, the most important being sulfur. Natural gas, ethane, propane, butane, ethanol, methanol and liquefied petroleum gas (�LPG�) are all clean burning fuels when the contaminants are limited to a few percent. One example of a commercially available propane fuel is HD-5, an industry grade defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers and available from Bernzomatic. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, and as discussed in more detail below, the Stirling engine 101 and burner 104 provide substantially complete combustion in order to provide high thermal efficiency as well as low emissions. The characteristics of high efficiency and low emissions are key to using the APU 100 indoors.
Generator 102 is coupled to a crankshaft (not shown) of Stirling engine 101. It should be understood to one of ordinary skill in the art that the term generator encompasses the class of electric machines such as generators wherein mechanical energy is converted to electrical energy or motors wherein electrical energy is converted to mechanical energy. The generator 102 is preferably a permanent magnet brushless motor. A rechargeable battery 113 provides starting power for APU 100 as well as direct current (�DC�) power to a DC power output 112. In a further embodiment, APU 100 also advantageously provides alternating current (�AC�) power to an AC power output 114. An inverter 116 is coupled to the battery 113 in order to convert the DC power produced by battery 113 to AC power. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the battery 113, inverter 116 and AC power output 114 are disposed within an APU enclosure 120. In an alternative embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the battery 113, inverter 116 and the APU power output 114 may be separate from the APU enclosure 120.
The operation of Stirling cycle engine 101 will now be described in more detail with respect to FIG. 3 which is a cross-sectional view of a Stirling engine in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The configuration of Stirling engine 101 shown in FIG. 3 is referred to as an alpha configuration, characterized in that a compression piston 300 and an expansion piston 302 undergo linear motion within respective and distinct cylinders: compression piston 300 in a compression cylinder 304 and expansion piston 302 in an expansion cylinder 306. The principle of operation of a Stirling engine configured in an �alpha�configuration and employing a first �compression� piston and a second �expansion� piston is described at length in pending U.S. application No. 09/115,383, filed Jul. 14, 1998 and pending U.S. patent application No. 09/115,381, filed Jul. 14, 1998, which have been incorporated herein by reference above. The alpha configuration is discussed by way of example only, and without limitation of the scope of any appended claims.
In addition to compression piston 300 and expansion piston 302, the main components of Stirling engine 101 include a burner (not shown), a heater heat exchanger 322, a regenerator 324, and a cooler heat exchanger 328. Compression piston 300 and expansion piston 302, referred to collectively as pistons, are constrained to move in reciprocating linear motion within respective volumes 308 and 310 defined laterally by compression cylinder 304 and expansion cylinder liner 312. The volumes of the cylinder interior proximate to the burner heat exchanger 322 and cooler heat exchanger 328 will be referred to, herein, as hot and cold sections, respectively of engine 101. The relative phase (the �phase angle�) of the reciprocating linear motion of compression piston 300 and expansion piston 302 is governed by their respective coupling to drive mechanism 314 housed in crankcase 316. Drive mechanism 314 may be one of various mechanisms known in the art of engine design which may be employed to govern the relative timing of pistons and to interconvert linear and rotary motion. For additional information relating to a preferred drive mechanism 314, see pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/335,392, filed Jun. 17, 1999, entitled �Folded Guide Link Stirling Engine�, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Compression piston 300 and expansion piston 302 are coupled, respectively, to drive mechanism 33 via a first connecting rod 208 and a second connecting rod 320. The volume of compression cylinder 308 is coupled to cooler heat exchanger 328 via duct 205 to allow cooling of compressed working fluid during the compression phase. Duct 205, more particularly, couples compression volume 308 to the annular heat exchangers comprising cooler heat exchanger 328, regenerator 203, and heater heat exchanger 322. The burner (not shown) combusts a fuel in order to provide heat to the heater heat exchanger 322 of a heater head 330 of the Stirling engine. The expansion cylinder and piston are disposed within a heater head 330 such that the working fluid in the expansion cylinder may be heated via the heater heat exchanger 322. For additional information relating to a preferred configuration of a burner, regenerator 203 and heater head 330, see co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/517,123, attorney docket number 2229/105, entitled �Stirling Engine Thermal System Improvements�.
Q est(t)=Q est(t−dt)+I B(t)dt+I adj(t)dt, (Eqn. 1) in block 420. When the engine is first started, the initial estimated state of charge (Qest) is set to a preselected value. In a preferred embodiment, the initial state of charge value is 10% of full charge. The adjustment current is then used to correct the battery current such that Qest approaches a value near the actual state of charge. By selecting a low initial value for Qest at startup, faster correction is achieved because a lower value for Qest allows for a higher charging current.
P V =V chg*MAX[I min ,I B ]−I oc, (Eqn. 2). The charging voltage Vchg is the optimum battery voltage to keep the battery charged and is typically specified by the manufacturer of a particular battery. For example, in a preferred embodiment, the lead-acid battery has a charging voltage of 2.45V/cell. Vchg is multiplied by the larger of either the measured battery current (IB) or a predetermined minimum current value (Imin) Imin may be selected based on the known characteristics of the V-I plane of the battery. For example, in one embodiment, when the measured battery voltage VB is much less than Vchg, Imin may be set to a high value in order to quickly increase the voltage of the battery, VB, up to Vchg. If VB is near Vchg, Imin may be set to a low value as it will not require as much additional energy to bring the battery voltage VB up to Vchg. If VB is greater than Vchg, however, an overcharge current Ioc may be subtracted from the greater of IB and Imin in order to avoid an overvoltage condition.
P Q =K Q(Q G −Q est)−(ηI bus V bus −I B V B), (Eqn. 3) where:
P err=MIN[P v ,P Q ]−I B V B, (Eqn. 4) The measured power PB flowing into the battery is the product of the measured battery current IB and the measured battery voltage VB. As mentioned above, the power error Perr is indicative of whether the APU must produce more or less power output. In other words, if the actual battery power is less than the desired battery power, the APU will need to produce more power (i.e., increase speed and temperature). If the actual battery voltage is greater than the desired battery voltage, the APU will need to produce less power (i.e., decrease speed and temperature).
ω=ωmin +K pw P err +K iw ∫P err dt (Eqn. 6) where:
In order to achieve high efficiency and low emissions such that APU 100 may be used inside a residence to advantageously provide both electrical power and heat, Stirling engine 101 and burner 104 provide substantially complete combustion. Preferred methods of improving thermal efficiency and providing low emissions of Stirling engine 101 will now be discussed in more detail in reference to FIGS. 6-11. Components of such thermal efficiency include efficient pumping of an oxidant (typically air, and, referred to herein as �air�) through the burner 104 to provide combustion, and the recovery of hot exhaust leaving the heater head 330 (shown in FIG. 3) of the Stirling engine. In many applications, air (or other oxidant) is pre-heated, prior to combustion, nearly to the temperature of the heater head 330, so as to achieve thermal efficiency. There is still a considerable amount of energy left in the combustion gases after the heater head of the Stirling engine has been heated, and, as known to persons skilled in the art, a heat exchanger may be used to transfer heat from the exhaust gases to the combustion air prior to introduction into burner 104. A preheater assembly is discussed in more detail below with respect to FIG. 8.
In addition, minimizing emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) requires a lean fuel-air mixture which still achieves complete combustion. A lean fuel air mixture has more air than a stoichiometric mixture (i.e., 15.67 grams of air per gram of propane, for example). As more air is added to the fuel, the emissions of CO, HC and NOx decrease until the amount of air is large enough that the flame becomes unstable. At this point, pockets of the fuel-air mixture will pass through the burner without complete combustion. Incomplete combustion of the fuel-air mixture produces large amounts of CO and HC. The CO and HC emissions will continue to increase as more air is added to the fuel-air mixture until the flame extinguishes at a Lean Blow-Out limit (�LBO�). The LBO will increase as the temperature of the incoming air (i.e., the preheated air) increases. As a result, the optimal fuel-air ratio decreases as the temperature of the preheated air increases during the warmup phase of the engine. Once the engine is warmed up, the fuel-air ratio is adjusted to minimize the emissions produced and to maintain a stable flame. As used in this description and the following claims, a fuel-air ratio is the ratio of the mass of the fuel to the mass of the air flowing into the combustion chamber of the burner.
Once the flame is stabilized, and the temperature of the combustion chamber of the burner reaches the desired warmup temperature, the fuel-air ratio is then controlled based on the air preheat temperature and the fuel type. As described above, the optimal fuel-air ratio of the fuel-air mixture decreases as the temperature of the preheated air increases. The optimal fuel-air ratio first decreases linearly from a �start� fuel-air ratio for room temperature air to a �run� fuel-air ratio, for warmed up preheated air temperature. The air is considered fully warmed up when it exceeds its known ignition temperature. For example, the ignition temperature for propane is 490� C. In a preferred embodiment, where the fuel is propane, the �start� fuel-air ratio is 0.052 grams fuel to gram air, which results in approximately 4% oxygen in the exhaust of the engine. The �run� fuel-air ratio in the preferred embodiment is 0.026 grams fuel to gram air, which results in approximately 13% oxygen in the exhaust of the engine. Once the air reaches its warmed up preheated temperature, the air flow rate is adjusted to maintain the optimal fuel-air ratio for the warmed up preheated temperature. The air flow rate may be adjusted, for example, in response to a change in the fuel flow rate or a change in the air preheat temperature.
In addition to providing the optimal fuel-air ratio, the fuel and air combusted in burner 604 must be well-mixed with sufficient amounts of oxygen to limit the emission of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) and, additionally, must be burned at low enough flame temperatures to limit the formation of oxides of nitrogen (NOx). The high temperature of pre-heated air, which as described above is desirable for achieving high thermal efficiency, complicates achieving low emission goals by making it difficult to premix the fuel and air and requiring large amounts of excess air in order to limit the flame temperature. As used herein, the term �auto-ignition temperature� is defined as the temperature at which a fuel will ignite without a temperature-decreasing catalyst under existing conditions of air and fuel pressure. The typical preheated air temperature exceeds the auto-ignition temperature of most fuels, potentially causing the fuel air mixture to ignite before entering the combustion chamber of the burner. One solution to this problem is to use a non-pre-mixed diffusion flame. However, since such diffusion flames are not well mixed, higher than desirable emissions of CO and NOx result. A detailed discussion of flame dynamics is provided by Turns, An Introduction to Combustion: Concepts and Applications, (McGraw-Hill, 1996), which is incorporated herein by reference. An increased air flow provided to limit flame temperature typically increases the power consumed by an air pump or blower, thereby degrading overall engine efficiency.
The use and method of manufacture of heat transfer pins is described in copending U.S. patent application No. 09/517,123, attorney docket number 2229/105, titled �Stirling Engine Thermal System Improvements�, incorporated by reference above.
Referring again to FIG. 9a, the air and fuel, now mixed, referred to hereafter as �air-fuel mixture� 909, is transitioned in direction through a throat 908 which has a contoured fairing 930 and is attached to the outlet 907 of the conduit 901. Fuel 906 is supplied via fuel regulator 932. Throat 908 has an inner radius 914 and an outer dimension 916. The transition of the air-fuel mixture is from a direction which is substantially transverse and radially inward with respect to combustion axis 920 to a direction which is substantially parallel to the combustion axis. The contour of the fairing 930 of throat 908 has the shape of an inverted bell such that the cross sectional area of throat 908 with respect to the combustion axis remains constant from the inlet 911 of the throat to outlet 912 of the throat. The contour is smooth without steps and maintains the flow speed from the outlet of the swirler to the outlet of the throat 908 to avoid separation and the resulting recirculation along any of the surfaces. The constant cross sectional area allows the air and fuel to continue to mix without decreasing the flow speed and causing a pressure drop. A smooth and constant cross section produces an efficient swirler, where swirler efficiency refers to the fraction of static pressure drop across the swirler that is converted to swirling flow dynamic pressure. Swirl efficiencies of better than 80% may typically be achieved by practice of the invention. Thus, the parasitic power drain of the combustion air fan may be minimized.
In order to safely operate a burner, it is important to be able to sense or detect the presence of the flame. If the flame is extinguished, the flame should be relit or the fuel supply to the burner be shut off within a few seconds. Otherwise, the burner and APU may fill up with a flammable mixture, which if ignited would produce a fire or explosion. Several types of flame sensors are used in the art such as thermocouples, flame rectification, infrared (�IR�) and ultraviolet (�UV�) detectors.
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PartnershipWater vapor distillation apparatus, method and systemWO2014018896A1Jul 26, 2013Jan 30, 2014Deka Products Limited PartnershipControl of conductivity in product water outlet for evaporation apparatus* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification60/39.6, 60/524, 903/902, 903/905, 60/517International ClassificationF02G1/04, F02G1/055, F02G5/04, F02G1/05, B62M23/02, F02G3/02, B62M7/00, F24D15/04, B60L11/04, F02B61/02, B60L9/02, F02G1/057, F02G1/043, B60K6/46, B60K6/00, B60K6/24Cooperative ClassificationY10S903/905, Y10S903/902, B60L2200/12, B60K6/485, F02G1/0435, F02G2280/20, Y02B30/123, F02G1/043, F02B61/02, F02G2275/30, F24D15/04, Y02T10/6295, F02G1/06, B60W2300/36, Y02T10/7077, F02G2243/30, B60L9/02, B60K6/00, B60Y2200/126, Y02T10/166, B60L11/126, F24H2240/04, F02G1/05, Y02T10/6217, F02G3/02, B62K2202/00, F02G1/04, Y02T10/70, B60K6/24, B60K6/46, B60Y2200/12, F02G5/04, Y02E20/14, Y02T10/6226European ClassificationB60L11/12D, B60L11/08, F02G5/04, B60K6/485, F02G1/06, B60L9/02, B60K6/00, B60L11/04, B60K6/46, F02G1/043F, F02G1/05, B60K6/24, F24D15/04, F02B61/02, F02G1/043, F02G1/04, F02G3/02Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionSep 27, 2010FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Sep 18, 2006FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Jun 10, 2003CCCertificate of correctionMay 6, 2003CCCertificate of correctionMar 2, 2000ASAssignmentOwner name: NEW POWER CONCEPTS LLC, NEW HAMPSHIREFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:KAMEN, DEAN L.;LANGENFELD, CHRISTOPHER C.;NORRIS, MICHAEL;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:010601/0405Effective date: 20000301Owner name: NEW POWER CONCEPTS LLC 340 COMMERCIAL STREET MANCHRotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google