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US 2014/0368045 A1Published application
Power Management and Energy Storage Method
OwnerRonald David Conryinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for improving grid power quality despite the presence of rapidly changing loads and a rapidly changing supply. The inventive method includes an energy generation mode that is used when grid demand is relatively high and an energy storage mode that is used when the energy supply exceeds the grid demand. The method is able to rapidly switch between the two modes. In the energy storage mode some of the energy available from a source is transferred to a storage unit. In the energy generation mode, available energy and stored energy is transferred to the grid.
Claims20
A method for reducing power oversupply and undersupply on an electrical distribution grid, comprising:
- a. providing an electrical power source;
- b. providing a first switching module for selectively connecting said electrical power source to said electrical distribution grid, so that said electrical power source can feed electrical power onto said electrical distribution grid;
- c. providing a load bank configured to convert electrical power to heat;
- d. providing a thermal storage unit connected to said load bank;
- e. providing a second switching module for selectively connecting said electrical power source to said load bank;
- f. providing an Organic Rankine Cycle engine, connected to said thermal storage unit so that energy stored in said thermal storage unit can be used to drive said Organic Rankine Cycle engine;
- g. providing an ORC generator powered by said Organic Rankine Cycle engine;
- h. providing a third switching module for selectively connecting said ORC generator to said electrical distribution grid;
- i. providing a fourth switching module for selectively connecting said ORC generator to said load bank;
- j. disconnecting said electrical power source and said ORC generator from said grid;
- k. connecting said electrical power source and said ORC generator to said load bank in order to send thermal energy to said thermal storage unit;
- and
- l. at a later time disconnecting said electrical power source and said ORC generator from said load bank and connecting said electrical power source and said ORC generator to said grid, whereby thermal energy stored within said thermal storage unit is used to power said Organic Rankine Cycle engine and thereby return a portion of said stored energy to said grid.
10 more elements
A method for reducing power oversupply and undersupply on an electrical distribution grid, comprising:
- a. providing an electrical power source;
- b. providing an Organic Rankine Cycle engine;
- c. providing an ORC generator powered by said Organic Rankine Cycle engine;
- d. providing at least one load bank;
- e. providing at least one thermal storage unit connected to said at least one load bank;
- f. wherein said electrical power source can be selectively connected to said grid and can be selectively connected to said at least one load bank;
- g. wherein said ORC generator can be selectively connected to said grid and can be selectively connected to said at least one load bank;
- h. disconnecting said electrical power source from said grid and connecting said electrical power source to said at least one load bank, thereby sending thermal energy to said at least one load bank;
- i. disconnecting said ORC generator from said grid and connecting said ORC generator to said at least one load bank so that said Organic Rankine Cycle engine may continue running while said ORC generator is disconnected from said grid;
- j. disconnecting said electrical power source from said at least one load bank and connecting said electrical power source to said grid, thereby delivering power from said electrical power source to said grid;
- and
- k. disconnecting said ORC generator from said at least one load bank and connecting said ORC generator to said grid, thereby delivering energy from said thermal storage unit to said grid.
9 more elements
A method for reducing power oversupply and undersupply on an electrical distribution grid, comprising:
- a. providing an electrical power source;
- b. providing an Organic Rankine Cycle engine;
- c. providing an ORC generator powered by said Organic Rankine Cycle engine;
- d. providing at least one load bank;
- e. providing at least one thermal storage unit connected to said at least one load bank;
- f. wherein said electrical power source can be selectively connected to said grid and can be selectively connected to said at least one load bank;
- g. wherein said ORC generator can be selectively connected to said grid and can be selectively connected to said at least one load bank;
- h. disconnecting at least one selected device of said electrical power source and said ORC generator from said grid and connecting said same selected device to said at least one load bank;
- and
- i. at a later time disconnecting said same selected device from said at least one load bank and connecting said same selected device to said grid.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.