Hybrid power and cooling system
AssigneeOregon State University
InventorsHailei Wang, Thomas Herron
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hybrid power and cooling system includes a cooling system that absorbs and removes heat from a space and includes a compressor for compressing a circulating refrigerant and a waste heat recovery system with an expander configured to use a working fluid to generate mechanical work by expansion using heat received from a heat source. The waste heat recovery system can be coupled to the compressor of the cooling system to drive the compressor by the generated mechanical work. The condensing heat of the fluid in the waste heat recovery system can be used to providing heating function.
Claims18
A hybrid power and cooling system comprising:
- a cooling system that absorbs and removes heat from a space, the cooling system comprising a compressor for compressing a circulating refrigerant;
- a waste heat recovery system with an expander configured to use a working fluid to generate mechanical work by expansion using heat received from a heat source, the waste heat recovery system being coupled to the compressor of the cooling system to drive the compressor by the generated mechanical work;
- and
- a motor/generator coupled to the compressor of the cooling system to drive the compressor.
A hybrid power and cooling system comprising:
- a cooling system comprising a vapor compression cycle having a shaft-driven compressor;
- an expander within an organic Rankine cycle coupled to one or more waste heat sources for generating power to drive the shaft-driven compressor;
- and
- a motor/generator coupled to the cooling system to drive the shaft-driven compressor when the power generated by the expander is insufficient.
A method of recovering waste heat to drive a hybrid power and cooling system, the method comprising:
- directing primary waste heat to an organic Rankine cycle system with an expander that is configured to use a working fluid to generate power by expansion;
- driving a compressor of a cooling system that is configured to absorb and remove heat from a space using the power generated by the expander;
- and
- supplementing the power generated by the expander with mechanical work produced by a motor/generator coupled to the compressor of the cooling system to drive the compressor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.