Hybrid thermal cycle with imbedded refrigeration

A method for producing work from heat comprising:

• heating a pressurized flow of a first working fluid to form of a first vapor;
• compressing a second working fluid in the form of a second vapor;
• forming a mixture of said first and second working vapor to form a third working fluid;
• transferring thermal energy directly from said first vapor to said second vapor in said third working fluid, exclusive of any intervening structure;
• expanding said third working fluid to perform useful work after or during said transferring;
• and
• using a second portion of said third working fluid as a refrigerant to cool a first portion of said third working fluid in a condensing step.

An apparatus for producing work from heat comprising:

• a boiler configured for heating a pressurized flow of a first working fluid to form of a first vapor;
• at least one compressor configured for compressing a second working fluid in the form of a second vapor;
• a mixing chamber configured for mixing said first vapor with said second vapor to form a third vapor and to transfer thermal energy directly from said first vapor to said second vapor, exclusive of any intervening structure;
• an expander configured for expanding said third vapor to perform work after or during said transferring;
• and
• a condenser configured to receive at least a first and second portion of said third working fluid from said expander, said condenser including a low pressure heat exchanger configured for using said second portion as a refrigerant to cool said first portion.

A method for producing work from heat in a continuous cycle, comprising:

• pressurizing a first working fluid;
• heating the first working fluid under pressure to obtain a first vapor comprised of the first working fluid;
• compressing a second working fluid comprising a second vapor;
• mixing said first vapor and said second vapor to form a third vapor;
• transferring heat from said first vapor to said second vapor subsequent to said mixing;
• expanding said third vapor to perform work;
• cooling said third vapor to extract a condensate of said first vapor from said third vapor and produce a residual portion of said third vapor;
• using at least a portion of one or more fluids comprising said third vapor in a low pressure expansion zone to function as a refrigerant for providing said cooling;
• repeating said continuous cycle using said condensate recovered in said cooling step, and said second working fluid at least partially reconstituted from said residual portion.

A method for producing work from heat comprising:

• heating a pressurized flow of a first working fluid to form of a first vapor;
• compressing a second working fluid in the form of a second vapor;
• forming a mixture of said first and second working vapor to form a third working fluid;
• transferring thermal energy directly from said first vapor to said second vapor in said third working fluid, exclusive of any intervening structure;
• expanding said third working fluid to perform useful work after or during said transferring;
• cooling said third working fluid to extract a condensate and a residual portion of said third working fluid from which said condensate has been extracted;
• and
• using at least a portion of one or more fluids comprising said third working fluid as a refrigerant to perform said cooling.

An apparatus for producing work from heat comprising:

• a boiler configured for heating a pressurized flow of a first working fluid to form of a first vapor;
• at least one compressor configured for compressing a second working fluid in the form of a second vapor;
• a mixing chamber configured for mixing said first vapor with said second vapor to form a third vapor and to transfer thermal energy directly from said first vapor to said second vapor, exclusive of any intervening structure;
• an expander configured for expanding said third vapor to perform work after or during said transferring;
• and
• a condenser configured to receive said third working fluid from said expander, said condenser including a low pressure heat exchanger configured for using one or more fluids comprising said third working fluid, as a refrigerant to cool said third working fluid.