Patent ID: 6986251

Claim:
An energy recovery system of the type wherein heat is extracted from an engine by refrigerant passing through a heat exchanger of an organic rankine cycle system, comprising: at least one heat exchanger for transferring heat from said engine to a fluid passing through said heat exchanger; a turbine for receiving said heated fluid from said at least one heat exchanger and for transferring its thermal energy to motive power, with said fluid being cooled in the process; a condenser for receiving said cooled fluid and for further cooling said fluid to cause it to change to a liquid state; a first pump for receiving said liquid refrigerant and passing it to said heat exchanger; and a second pump being disposed in a fluid flow path between said condenser and said heat exchanger and being capable of receiving said liquid refrigerant and passing it to said at least one heat exchanger and including control means for operating said first pump during normal operation in which said engine and said organic rankine cycel system are operating, and for operating only said second pump during periods in which said engine is operating and said organic rankine cycle system is not operating.