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US 12,510,306 B2Granted
Thermal battery and electricity generation system
AssigneeThe Sunlands Company Pty Ltd
InventorsSal Catalano, Bruno Ruggiero
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thermal battery includes a heat sink material that remains solid across an operating temperature range (i.e., for all operating modes) of the battery, and a heat conductive material in direct heat transfer relationship with the solid heat sink material. The heat conductive material has a melting point below that of the heat sink material so that in use the heat conductive material is a fluid, for example molten when the heat conductive material is a metal, in the operating temperature range of the battery.
Claims9
A thermal battery includes:
- (a) a heat sink material that remains solid across an operating temperature range of the thermal battery, wherein the heat sink material includes graphite;
- (b) a heat conductive material in heat transfer relationship with the heat sink material to receive thermal energy from the heat sink material and to transfer thermal energy for use in a downstream application, the heat conductive material having a melting point below that of the heat sink material so that in use the heat conductive material is fluid in the operating temperature range of the battery;
- (c) a housing that encloses the heat sink material and the heat conductive material and is formed to thermally insulate the heat sink material and the heat conductive material and thereby minimise heat loss via the housing;
- and
- (d) a control system that is operable to control the operation of the thermal battery in a thermal storage mode, a thermal transfer mode, and in a standby mode in which there is no heat transfer to and no thermal transfer from the thermal battery;
- and
- wherein:
- the heat sink material and the heat conductive material are selected on the basis that the materials do not react chemically with each other, and
- the heat sink material is in the form of a block of material or a series or combination of plates that are immersed in the heat conductive material.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.