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US 2006/0213207 A1Published application
Reciprocating four-stroke Brayton refrigerator or heat engine
OwnerRobert Redlichinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thermal machine that can function as either a refrigerator or an external combustion heat engine is disclosed. A working gas undergoes four thermodynamic processes that comprise a Brayton cycle. Two of these processes, adiabatic compression and adiabatic expansion, take place in the same cylinder, within which a piston, driven by a crankshaft, reciprocates. The remaining two processes, each of which is a transfer of heat at constant pressure, take place in a high pressure heat exchanger and a low pressure heat exchanger. A rotary valve, rotating at one-half crankshaft speed, creates passages between the cylinder and the heat exchangers, and is constructed so that compression and expansion ratios are equal.
Claims8
A refrigerator comprising,
- a sealed enclosure containing a cylinder and a piston, the piston driven in reciprocation within the cylinder by a crankshaft, one end of the crankshaft passing from the interior to the exterior of the sealed enclosure through a shaft seal,
- a work space bounded by the piston and cylinder,
- a high pressure heat exchanger designated herein by H, H having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet to H connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PHIN, PHIN entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Hin, the outlet from H connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PHOUT, PHOUT entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Hout,
- a low pressure heat exchanger designated herein by L, L having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet to L connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PLIN, PLIN entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Lin, the outlet from L connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PLOUT, PLOUT entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Lout,
- a one-way valve in a sealed passage between the work space and port Hin,
- a working gas filling the entire apparatus,
- a rotary valve rotating at one-half crankshaft speed, the rotary valve creating passages in the following sequence,
- a) in the interval between piston top dead center (TDC) and piston bottom dead center (BDC), the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and L(out),
- b) in the subsequent interval BDC to TDC, no passage is created by the rotary valve,
- c) in the subsequent interval TDC to an angle of crankshaft rotation 2θ after TDC, where θ is an angle less than 90 degrees, the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and H(out),
- d) in the subsequent interval from an angle of crankshaft rotation of 2θ after TDC to 2Φ after BDC, where Φ is an angle less than 90 degrees, no passage is created by the rotary valve,
- e) in the subsequent interval from an angle of crankshaft rotation of 2Φ after BDC to TDC, the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and L(in).
9 more elements
A refrigerator comprising,
- a sealed enclosure containing a cylinder and a piston, the piston driven in reciprocation within the cylinder by a crankshaft, the crankshaft rotated by an electric motor, the electric motor within the sealed enclosure,
- a work space bounded by the piston and cylinder,
- a high pressure heat exchanger designated herein by H, H having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet to H connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PHIN, PHIN entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Hin, the outlet from H connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PHOUT, PHOUT entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Hout,
- a low pressure heat exchanger designated herein by L, L having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet to L connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PLIN, PLIN entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Lin, the outlet from L connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PLOUT, PLOUT entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Lout,
- a one-way valve in a sealed passage between the work space and port Hin,
- a working gas filling the entire apparatus,
- a rotary valve rotating at one-half crankshaft speed, the rotary valve creating passages in the following sequence,
- a) in the interval between piston top dead center (TDC) and piston bottom dead center (BDC), the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and L(out),
- b) in the subsequent interval BDC to TDC, no passage is created by the rotary valve, c) in the subsequent interval TDC to an angle of crankshaft rotation 2θ after TDC, where θ is an angle less than 90 degrees, the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and H(out),
- d) in the subsequent interval from an angle of crankshaft rotation of 2θ after TDC to 2Φ after BDC, where Φ is an angle less than 90 degrees, no passage is created by the rotary valve,
- e) in the subsequent interval from an angle of crankshaft rotation of 2Φ after BDC to TDC, the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and L(in).
8 more elements
A heat engine comprising,
- a sealed enclosure containing a cylinder and a piston, gas forces on the piston driving the piston in reciprocation within the cylinder, reciprocation of the piston causing a crankshaft to rotate, one end of the rotating crankshaft passing from the interior to the exterior of the sealed enclosure through a shaft seal,
- a work space bounded by the piston and cylinder,
- a high pressure heat exchanger designated herein by H, H having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet to H connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PHIN, PHIN entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Hin, the outlet from H connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PHOUT, PHOUT entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Hout,
- a low pressure heat exchanger designated herein by L, L having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet to L connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PLIN, PLIN entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Lin, the outlet from L connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PLOUT, PLOUT entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Lout,
- a one-way valve in a sealed passage between the work space and port Hin,
- a heat source, the heat source transferring heat to H,
- a working gas filling the entire apparatus,
- a rotary valve rotating at one-half crankshaft speed, the rotary valve creating passages in the following sequence,
- a) in the interval between piston top dead center (TDC) and an angle 2ψ of crankshaft rotation after piston bottom dead center (BDC), where ψ is an angle less than 90 degrees, the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and L(out),
- b) in the subsequent interval between 2ψ of crankshaft rotation after BDC to TDC, no passage to the work space is created by the rotary valve,
- c) in the subsequent interval TDC to an angle of crankshaft rotation 2θ after TDC, where θ is an angle less than 90 degrees, the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and H(out),
- d) in the subsequent interval from an angle of crankshaft rotation of 2θ after TDC to BDC, no passage to the work space is created by the rotary valve,
- e) in the subsequent interval from BDC to TDC, a passage between the work space and L(in) is created by the rotary valve.
10 more elements
A heat engine comprising,
- a sealed enclosure containing a cylinder and a piston, gas forces on the piston driving the piston in reciprocation within the cylinder, reciprocation of the piston causing a crankshaft to rotate, the rotating crankshaft turning an electric generator, the electric generator within the sealed enclosure,
- a work space bounded by the piston and cylinder,
- a high pressure heat exchanger designated herein by H, H having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet to H connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PHIN, PHIN entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Hin, the outlet from H connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PHOUT, PHOUT entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Hout,
- a low pressure heat exchanger designated herein by L, L having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet to L connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PLIN, PLIN entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Lin, the outlet from L connected to the sealed enclosure by a sealed passage designated herein as PLOUT, PLOUT entering the sealed enclosure at a port designated herein as Lout,
- a one-way valve in a sealed passage between the work space and port Hin,
- a heat source, the heat source transferring heat to H,
- a working gas filling the entire apparatus,
- a rotary valve rotating at one-half crankshaft speed, the rotary valve creating passages in the following sequence,
- a) in the interval between piston top dead center (TDC) and an angle 2ψ of crankshaft rotation after piston bottom dead center (BDC), where ψ is an angle less than 90 degrees, the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and L(out),
- b) in the subsequent interval between 2ψ of crankshaft rotation after BDC to TDC, no passage to the work space is created by the rotary valve,
- c) in the subsequent interval TDC to an angle of crankshaft rotation 2θ after TDC, where θ is an angle less than 90 degrees, the rotary valve creates a passage between the work space and H(out),
- d) in the subsequent interval from an angle of crankshaft rotation of 2θ after TDC to BDC, no passage to the work space is created by the rotary valve,
- e) in the subsequent interval from BDC to TDC, a passage between the work space and L(in) is created by the rotary valve.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.