Patent Description:
The solar power generating technology can save the energy and reduce the carbon by using solar cells to convert the optical energy into the electric energy. However, the solar power generating is restricted to the sunshine duration and does not work at night. Due to the flourishing development of the solar cell, there are more and more solar generator apparatuses installed in each area, the considerable electrical power can be provided to the mains supply system in the daytime. Thus, the solar generator apparatus may generate the excess electrical power in the future daytime. Although batteries can be used to store the electric energy, the batteries have the high price and the low efficiency and cause the environment contamination.

In addition, water in the conventional boiler is heated by thermal power to generate the water vapor to drive a vapor generator to generate the power. However, the danger of boiler explosion tends to occur when the boiler is not well monitored. Thus, how to provide safe and stable energy storage and conversion ways is a problem to be solved by this invention. This disclosure provides further improvements for the SPRAYING HEAT PRESERVATION VAPOR SUPPLYING DEVICE AND GENERATOR APPARATUS USING SUCH DEVICE disclosed in the commonly assigned <CIT> to further provide the stabler high-temperature vapor for the vapor generator.

Patent application publication <CIT> discloses an apparatus having the features of the preamble of claim <NUM>.

It is therefore an objective of this disclosure to provide a spraying and re-heating vapor reactor and a generator apparatus using the same, wherein a liquid is atomized into an atomized liquid and the atomized liquid is heated in a multi-stage heating manner to generate a high-temperature vapor provided to a vapor generator for generating the electric power.

To achieve the above-identified object, this invention provides a spraying and re-heating vapor reactor having the features of claim <NUM>. Further embodiments are subject matter of the dependent claims. The spraying and re-heating vapor reactor includes: a heat preservation boiler; a vapor reaction boiler disposed in the heat preservation boiler; a re-heating conduit communicating the vapor reaction boiler with a device outside the heat preservation boiler, wherein a high heat capacity material is accommodated within the heat preservation boiler, and surrounds the vapor reaction boiler and the re-heating conduit; a heater heating the high heat capacity material; a sprayer disposed in the vapor reaction boiler; and a liquid supplying tube communicating with the sprayer through a structure wall of the heat preservation boiler and a structure wall of the vapor reaction boiler, and supplying an external liquid to the sprayer, so that the sprayer atomizes the liquid and absorbs thermal energy from the high heat capacity material and becomes a low-temperature vapor, which enters the re-heating conduit and is re-heated into a high-temperature vapor to be outputted.

This disclosure also provides a generator apparatus including: a solar power generating device for converting solar energy into electric energy; the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor, wherein the heater converts the electric energy into thermal energy to heat the high heat capacity material; and a vapor generator, which communicates with the re-heating conduit and receives the high-temperature vapor to generate electric power and then a recycled vapor.

With the above-mentioned embodiment, the vaporizing of the heat preservation boiler and the re-heating of the re-heating conduit can be adopted to effectively and stably provide the high-temperature vapor, having the temperature approaching the temperature of the high heat capacity material, for the vapor generator, and to increase the power generating efficiency and the thermal efficiency of the high heat capacity material.

The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<FIG> is a schematic view showing a generator apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of this disclosure. Referring to <FIG>, this embodiment provides a generator apparatus <NUM> including a solar power generating device <NUM>, a spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM> and a vapor generator <NUM>.

<FIG> is a schematic view showing the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM> of <FIG>. Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM> includes a heat preservation boiler <NUM>, a vapor reaction boiler <NUM>, a re-heating conduit <NUM>, a sprayer <NUM>, a liquid supplying tube <NUM> and a heater <NUM>.

The heat preservation boiler <NUM> preferably includes a heat insulation or heat insulating material, which may be disposed in a structure wall 11A of the heat preservation boiler <NUM> to suppress the thermal energy inside the heat preservation boiler <NUM> from being dissipated to the external environment. The heat insulating material can block the heat transfer, and includes, for example but without limitation to, glass fiber, asbestos, rockwool, silicate, aerogel blanket, vacuum plate or the like.

The vapor reaction boiler <NUM> is disposed in the heat preservation boiler <NUM>. The re-heating conduit <NUM> is a heat exchange tube communicating the vapor reaction boiler <NUM> with a device outside the heat preservation boiler <NUM>, wherein the device may be the vapor generator <NUM> or a vapor storage device <NUM>. A high heat capacity material <NUM> is accommodated within the heat preservation boiler <NUM>, and surrounds the vapor reaction boiler <NUM> and the re-heating conduit <NUM>. In one example, the vapor reaction boiler <NUM> includes a tank body made of a stainless steel.

The heater <NUM> for heating the high heat capacity material <NUM> may be disposed inside or outside the heat preservation boiler <NUM>. The sprayer <NUM> is disposed in the vapor reaction boiler <NUM>. The liquid supplying tube <NUM> communicates with the sprayer <NUM> through the structure wall 11A of the heat preservation boiler <NUM> and a structure wall 12B of the vapor reaction boiler <NUM>, and supplies an external liquid LQ from outside to the sprayer <NUM>. The sprayer <NUM> atomizes the external liquid LQ into an atomized liquid, which absorbs thermal energy of the high heat capacity material <NUM> and becomes a low-temperature vapor LV. The low-temperature vapor LV enters the re-heating conduit <NUM> and is re-heated into a high-temperature vapor HV to be outputted.

In one example, the high heat capacity material <NUM> includes nitrate, such as sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, lithium nitrate or sodium nitrite. In another example, the high heat capacity material <NUM> is the multi-element mixed nitrate, such as the four-element mixed nitrate composed of sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, lithium nitrate and sodium nitrite. When the mass ratio of NaNO<NUM>: KNO<NUM>: LiNO<NUM>: NaNO<NUM> is equal to <NUM>: <NUM>: <NUM>: <NUM>, the four-element mixed salt has the melting point as low as <NUM>, and the boiling point reaching <NUM>. By adjusting the mass ratio and type (binary or ternary), different multi-element mixed nitrate materials having different melting points and boiling points can be fabricated to have the melting points ranging from <NUM> to <NUM> and the boiling points ranging from <NUM> to <NUM>.

In this example, the high heat capacity material <NUM> is heated by way of electromagnetic heating, so the structure wall 11A of the heat preservation boiler <NUM> is entirely or partially made of a magnetic permeability material (e.g., iron). In one example, the heat insulating material is not adopted in a portion of the structure wall 11A within an electromagnetic heating range 16A to increase the heating efficiency. So, the structure wall 11A in this case may have portions made of different materials. The electromagnetic heating can provide the contactless heating to the high heat capacity material <NUM> without physically penetrating through the structure wall 11A, and the heating temperature is not restricted to the working temperature of the physical heating tube. For example, the heating power of the heater <NUM> can be controlled to heat the high heat capacity material <NUM> into a liquid state at a temperature ranging from <NUM> to <NUM>, and more particularly ranging from <NUM> to <NUM>. In another example, the heater <NUM> is connected to the heat preservation boiler <NUM> to heat the high heat capacity material <NUM>. The thermal energy of the high heat capacity material <NUM> is transferred to the vapor reaction boiler <NUM> through the structure wall 12B of the vapor reaction boiler <NUM>. The heater <NUM> is a stainless steel electric heating tube having a metal tube, in which spiral heating alloy (nickel chromium or iron chromium alloy) wires are axially distributed, magnesia sand with the good thermal insulation property is densely filled into gaps therein, and two ends of the tube are sealed with silicone or ceramic. The stainless steel electric heating tube has the high thermal efficiency, can be conveniently used, can be easily installed, has no contamination, and can be widely used in various heating occasions.

In one example, a standard container, which is usually transported by a cargo truck, may be used as a main portion of the heat preservation boiler <NUM>, the heat insulating material is attached to the inner housing and the outer housing of the standard container, or filled into the housing of the standard container to provide the heat preservation effect. The vapor reaction boiler <NUM> is disposed near the inner right side of the heat preservation boiler <NUM>, and the re-heating conduit <NUM> is disposed near the inner left side of the heat preservation boiler <NUM>. Thus, the vapor reaction boiler <NUM> may be configured to have a biased tapered channel 12A, which is biased from the lower right side to the upper left side in this example, provides a nozzle channel for guiding the vapor in the upper left direction, and communicates with a first end portion 13A of the re-heating conduit <NUM> to guide the low-temperature vapor LV to the re-heating conduit <NUM>.

The re-heating conduit <NUM> may also be configured to have a helical conduit having multiple spiral portions 13C. All of the spiral portions 13C are submerged (immersed) into the high heat capacity material <NUM>, so that the low-temperature vapor LV in the re-heating conduit <NUM> continuously absorbs the thermal energy of the high heat capacity material <NUM> and becomes the high-temperature vapor HV. In this example, the thermal energy of the high heat capacity material <NUM> can provide a path for the vapor to be heated and speeded up through the helical conduit, which circulates vertically and extends leftwards. In addition, the re-heating conduit <NUM> is partially disposed in the heat preservation boiler <NUM>, and has the first end portion 13A and a second end portion 13B. The first end portion 13A communicates with the vapor reaction boiler <NUM>. The second end portion 13B passes through the structure wall 11A of the heat preservation boiler <NUM> and extends outside the heat preservation boiler <NUM>. In addition, an expansion space 11B is left above the high heat capacity material <NUM>, so that the high heat capacity material <NUM> can expand in the expansion space 11B, and the second end portion 13B of the re-heating conduit <NUM> can pass through the structure wall 11A of the heat preservation boiler <NUM> from the expansion space 11B and extend outside the heat preservation boiler <NUM>. In this case, the high heat capacity material <NUM> cannot provide the pressure to the second end portion 13B or the high heat capacity material <NUM> cannot leak from the junction between the second end portion 13B and the heat preservation boiler <NUM> at risk.

In a non-restrictive example, a molten salt (high heat capacity material) is heated to about <NUM>, and the water (liquid LQ) is atomized and sprayed into the vapor reaction boiler <NUM> to generate the low-temperature vapor LV having the temperature ranging from about <NUM> to <NUM>. After passing through the spiral portions 13C of the re-heating conduit <NUM>, the temperature of the low-temperature vapor LV is gradually increased to, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, for example. Finally, the temperature of the high-temperature vapor HV in the second end portion 13B near the outlet approaches the temperature (<NUM>) of the molten salt. The water is preferably the pure water or has the property similar to the pure water. In other examples, other liquids to be heated may also be used.

Optionally, the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM> further includes a safety valve <NUM>, which is disposed on the heat preservation boiler <NUM> and selectively communicates the inside of the heat preservation boiler <NUM> with the outer environment to prevent the pressure in the heat preservation boiler <NUM> from getting too high. The vapor reaction boiler <NUM> has a lower chamber 12D, a middle chamber 12C and an upper chamber (tapered channel 12A). The lower chamber 12D is a cone-type chamber having a conical surface 12E. The liquid supplying tube <NUM> enters the middle chamber 12C through the lower chamber 12D, the sprayer <NUM> is disposed in the middle chamber 12C, and the sprayed water mist can be vaporized in the lower chamber 12D, the middle chamber 12C and/or the upper chamber. If there is some water mist, which has not been vaporized, falls on the high-temperature conical surface 12E, the water mist is also vaporized rapidly, and the water vapor enters the re-heating conduit <NUM> through the upper chamber.

Optionally, the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM> may further include a vapor recycling conduit <NUM>, which selectively communicates with the inside or inner chamber of the heat preservation boiler <NUM>, and recycles a recycled vapor RV back to the heat preservation boiler <NUM> in which the recycled vapor RV is re-heated. The vapor recycling conduit <NUM> may be disposed in the middle chamber 12C, and may also be disposed in the tapered channel 12A or the lower chamber 12D, and may include a check valve for preventing the vapor from reversing. Furthermore, the configuration of the vapor reaction boiler can be simplified according to the re-heating efficiency of the re-heating conduit, so that the crepe-like compartment layer, provided in <CIT>, is not needed, and the structure wall of the vapor reaction boiler is very simple.

In a non-restrictive example, no pressure safety valve is required in the vapor reaction boiler <NUM>. When the pressure in the heat preservation boiler gets too high, the liquid in the liquid supplying tube cannot be sprayed into the heat preservation boiler, so that the effect of automatically cutting off the liquid source is obtained. As long as the liquid does not enter the inner chamber and expand, there is no danger of explosion. Thus, the heat preservation boiler and the vapor reaction boiler are quite safe.

The material of the liquid supplying tube <NUM> may include a metal material or a heat insulating material. Preferably, the liquid supplying tube <NUM> does not directly contact the high heat capacity material <NUM> to prevent the water from being vaporized in the liquid supplying tube <NUM> to cause dangers.

In the generator apparatus <NUM>, the solar power generating device <NUM>, such as a fixed solar cell module or a sun-tracking solar cell module, converts the solar energy into the electric energy. The heater <NUM> converts the electric energy into the thermal energy to heat the high heat capacity material <NUM>. The vapor generator <NUM>, such as a steam turbine generator, communicates with the re-heating conduit <NUM>, and receives the high-temperature vapor HV to generate the electric power and then generate the recycled vapor RV. The recycled vapor RV is recycled to the heat preservation boiler <NUM> and re-heated in the heat preservation boiler <NUM> through the vapor recycling conduit <NUM> of the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM>, and the circulation repeats.

Optionally, the generator apparatus <NUM> further includes the vapor storage device <NUM>, such as a vapor storage tank. The vapor generator <NUM> communicates with the re-heating conduit <NUM> through the vapor storage device <NUM>.

Optionally, the generator apparatus <NUM> further includes a power management device <NUM>, a vapor condenser <NUM>, a liquid source <NUM> and a water resource managing device <NUM>.

The power management device <NUM> is electrically connected to the solar power generating device <NUM>, the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM> and a grid <NUM>, and provides power management thereto. For example, the power management device <NUM> includes a controller, an inverter and the like, can control the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM> to provide the high-temperature vapor to the vapor storage device <NUM> for generating the electric power when the solar power generating device <NUM> stops generating the electric energy, and can also control the solar power generating device <NUM> to transmit the electric power to the grid <NUM> or the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM> to perform heating. It is understandable that the vapor generator <NUM> may also be electrically connected to the grid <NUM> directly, and may also be electrically connected to the grid <NUM> through the power management device <NUM>. The vapor condenser <NUM> communicating with the vapor generator <NUM> condenses the recycled vapor RV to generate a condensed liquid CL. The liquid source <NUM> supplies the liquid LQ. The water resource managing device <NUM> includes a controller, a control valve and the like, communicates with the vapor condenser <NUM> and a production device <NUM>, and provides the water resource management.

In this example, the solar power generating device <NUM> is disposed above the production device <NUM>. The production device <NUM> is a crop production device, for example. The water resource managing device <NUM> selectively supplies the condensed liquid CL to the production device <NUM> to enhance the environment heating effect of the production device <NUM> and prevent the crops from being damaged by the cold snap. In addition, the water resource managing device <NUM> may include a reverse osmosis water softener for softening the condensed liquid CL to obtain soft water to be supplied to the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor <NUM> for recycling. The water resource managing device <NUM> may also include fluid control devices, such as a check valve, a three-pass valve and the like, to provide the selective water resource flow management.

With the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor and the generator apparatus using the same according to the embodiment, when the excess electric power is generated by the solar power generating device under the sunshine, the power management device controls to provide the electric power of the solar power generating device to the heater for heating the high heat capacity material. When the sunshine disappears, the power management device controls the liquid source to provide the liquid to the inner chamber of the heat preservation boiler to generate the vapor, so that the vapor generator may generate the electric power using the vapor, and the optimum management of the electric power can be performed. In addition, the vaporizing of the heat preservation boiler and the re-heating of the re-heating conduit can be adopted to effectively and stably provide the high-temperature vapor, having the temperature approaching the temperature of the high heat capacity material, for the vapor generator, and to increase the power generating efficiency and the thermal efficiency of the high heat capacity material.

Claim 1:
A spraying and re-heating vapor reactor (<NUM>), comprising:
a heat preservation boiler (<NUM>);
a vapor reaction boiler (<NUM>) disposed in the heat preservation boiler (<NUM>);
a heater (<NUM>);
a sprayer (<NUM>) disposed in the vapor reaction boiler (<NUM>);
a re-heating conduit (<NUM>) communicating the vapor reaction boiler (<NUM>) with a device outside the heat preservation boiler (<NUM>);
a liquid supplying tube (<NUM>), which communicates with the sprayer (<NUM>) through a structure wall (11A) of the heat preservation boiler (<NUM>) and a structure wall (12B) of the vapor reaction boiler (<NUM>), and is configured to supply an external liquid (LQ) to the sprayer (<NUM>), so that the sprayer (<NUM>) atomizes the external liquid (LQ) into an atomized liquid;
a high heat capacity material (<NUM>) is accommodated within the heat preservation boiler (<NUM>), and surrounds the vapor reaction boiler (<NUM>) and the re-heating conduit (<NUM>);
and the heater (<NUM>) is configured to heat the high heat capacity material (<NUM>);
wherein the spraying and re-heating vapor reactor (<NUM>) is configured such that the atomized liquid absorbs thermal energy from the high heat capacity material (<NUM>) and becomes a low-temperature vapor (LV), which enters the re-heating conduit (<NUM>) and is re-heated into a high-temperature vapor (HV) to be outputted,
characterized in that
the vapor reaction boiler (<NUM>) has a biased tapered channel (12A), which communicates with a first end portion (13A) of the re-heating conduit (<NUM>) and guides the low-temperature vapor (LV) to the re-heating conduit (<NUM>).