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US 2014/0196601 A1Published application
Uniflow Steam Engine
AssigneeVillage Industrial Power, Inc.
InventorCarl Norman Bielenberg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Improvements to the steam engine for the purpose of small scale generation of electricity using biomass fuels and for co-generation of heat and electricity using biomass fuels in both developed and less developed countries are described. The engine is particularly well adapted to co-generation where the thermal load, as in building heating and many process applications, is extremely variable, because of its ability to operate efficiently under partial load. For the same reason, it would be suited to solar generated steam. Experiments have been conducted with steam as the working fluid. The design may in some or all respects be applied to other working fluids.
Claims15
A steam engine comprising:
- a cylinder, having two ends and a sidewall, having an exhaust port disposed in said sidewall;
- a reciprocating piston disposed in said cylinder, separating said cylinder into an upper cylinder region and a lower cylinder region;
- an upper steam chest, disposed at one end of said cylinder;
- a lower steam chest, disposed at a second end of said cylinder;
- an upper valve plate comprising:
- an upper valve port passing through said plate and connecting said cylinder and said upper steam chest;
- and
- an upper inlet valve, disposed above said upper valve port and retained in place by an upper valve retainer, wherein said upper inlet valve comprises a leaf spring, normally biased in an arched shape so as to allow passage of steam between said upper steam chest and said cylinder in an open position;
- and
- a lower valve plate comprising:
- a lower valve port passing through said plate and connecting said cylinder and said lower steam chest;
- and
- a lower inlet valve, disposed below said lower valve port and retained in place by a lower valve retainer, wherein said lower inlet valve comprises a stainless steel leaf spring, normally biased in an arched shape so as to allow passage of steam between said lower steam chest and said cylinder in an open position.
10 more elements
A steam engine comprising:
- a cylinder, having two ends and a sidewall, having an exhaust port disposed in said sidewall;
- a reciprocating piston disposed in said cylinder, separating said cylinder into an upper cylinder region and a lower cylinder region;
- an upper steam chest, disposed at one end of said cylinder;
- a lower steam chest, disposed at a second end of said cylinder;
- an upper valve plate comprising:
- an upper valve port passing through said plate and connecting said cylinder and said upper steam chest;
- and
- an upper inlet valve to allow passage of steam between said upper steam chest and said cylinder in an open position;
- and
- a lower valve plate comprising:
- a lower valve port passing through said plate and connecting said cylinder and said lower steam chest;
- and
- a lower inlet valve to allow passage of steam between said lower steam chest and said cylinder in an open position;
- wherein said piston comprises one or more graphite seals.
11 more elements
A steam engine comprising:
- a cylinder, having two ends and a sidewall, having an exhaust port disposed in said sidewall;
- a reciprocating piston disposed in said cylinder, separating said cylinder into an upper cylinder region and a lower cylinder region;
- an upper steam chest, disposed at one end of said cylinder;
- a lower steam chest, disposed at a second end of said cylinder;
- an upper valve plate comprising:
- an upper valve port passing through said plate and connecting said cylinder and said upper steam chest;
- and
- an upper inlet valve, disposed above said upper valve port and retained in place by an upper valve retainer, wherein said upper inlet valve comprises a leaf spring, normally biased in an arched shape so as to allow passage of steam between said upper steam chest and said cylinder in an open position;
- and
- a lower valve plate comprising:
- a lower valve port passing through said plate and connecting said cylinder and said lower steam chest;
- and
- a lower inlet valve, disposed above below said lower valve port and retained in place by a lower valve retainer, wherein said lower inlet valve comprises a stainless steel leaf spring, normally biased in an arched shape so as to allow passage of steam between said lower steam chest and said lower cylinder in an open position;
- wherein said piston comprises
- two or more piston discs, each pair of adjacent piston discs separated by a respective spacer ring;
- and
- one or more graphite seals, disposed in a gap created between said adjacent piston discs by said respective spacer ring.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.