Patent ID: 7549289

Claim:
A rotary machine operating upon a compressible working fluid, comprising: a rotary expander having a hot side housing with a heat input interface, a hot side rotor having rotor passages adapted to allow passage of the working fluid between the rotor hub and rotor face, heated chambers formed between the rotor face and the hot side housing; a rotary compressor having a cold side housing with a heat rejection interface, a cold side rotor having rotor passages adapted to allow passage of the working fluid between the rotor hub and rotor face, cooled chambers formed between the rotor face and the cold side housing; a shaft, adapted to rotatably couple the rotor hub of the hot side rotor and the rotor hub of the cold side rotor, the shaft having shaft passages adapted to allow passage of the working fluid between the heated chambers and the cooled chambers; the working fluid sealed in the machine; a rotating union adapted to interface between the rotor hub of the hot side rotor and the shaft, the rotating union adapted to provide a substantially continuous passage between the rotor passages and the shaft passages; and a rotating union adapted to interface between the rotor hub of the cold side rotor and the shaft, the rotating union adapted to provide a substantially continuous passage between the rotor passages and the shaft passages; wherein the machine operates under the Carnot cycle.