Cooling system, air-conditioning system, motor assembly and associated methods
AssigneeEosgen-Technologies
InventorJean-Philippe Georges VERNET
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to a cooling system (1) comprising at least: a Stirling heat pump (2) designed to cool an inlet gas (Ge) down to a cryogenic temperature so as to form a cryogenic liquid (L), a primary electric motor (3), intended to put said Stirling heat pump (2) into operation, a primary pump (4) intended to cause said cryogenic liquid (L) to circulate under pressure, and a cooling means (5) intended to cool said primary electric motor (3) with the aid of the cryogenic liquid (L) output by said primary pump (4). The invention is particularly suitable for the production of a cryogenic liquid and the applications thereof.
Claims30
1- A cooling system (1) comprising at least:
- a Stirling heat pump (2) designed to cool an inlet gas (Ge) down to a cryogenic temperature in order to form a cryogenic liquid (L),
- a primary electric motor (3), intended to operate said Stirling heat pump (2),
- a primary pump (4) intended to circulate said cryogenic liquid (L) under pressure, and
- a cooling means (5), intended to cool said primary electric motor (3) by means of the cryogenic liquid (L) coming from said primary pump (4).
2- The cooling system (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the primary pump (4) comprises a secondary electric motor, the cooling system (1) being designed to cool said secondary electric motor by means of the cryogenic liquid (L) coming from said Stirling heat pump (2).
3- The cooling system (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a helium liquefaction device (30), which comprises at least:
- a heat exchanger (31) intended to collect, on the one hand, gaseous helium to cool it to a cryotemperature, for example 120 K or less, and on the other hand, the pressurized cryogenic liquid (L) coming from the primary electric motor (3) to heat it,
- an isenthalpic expansion module (32), intended to carry out the isenthalpic expansion of the cooled gaseous helium (He) coming from the heat exchanger (31), in order to liquefy said gaseous helium (He).
4- The cooling system (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that said helium liquefaction device (30) further comprises:
- a cooling circuit (33) of a magnetic element (34), such as a medical imaging magnet, using liquefied helium (He) coming from said isenthalpic expansion module (32), in such a way that the liquefied helium (He) is heated enough to be vaporized into gaseous helium (He),
- a secondary compressor (36), intended to compress the gaseous helium (He) coming from said cooling circuit (30) and to send it to said heat exchanger (31), and
- a secondary turbine (35), positioned upstream from said isenthalpic expansion module (32) and intended to recover mechanical energy from the cooled gaseous helium (He) coming from the heat exchanger (31), said secondary turbine (35) powering said secondary compressor (36).
5- The cooling system (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an evaporator (6) intended to evaporate at least part of said pressurized cryogenic liquid (L) coming from said primary electric motor (3), in order to form an outlet gas (Gs) and to collect cooling energy.
6- The cooling system (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that said evaporator (6) comprises at least one primary heat exchanger (7) intended to collect, on the one hand, said inlet gas (Ge) to cool it before it enters said Stirling heat pump (2), and on the other hand, at least part of said cryogenic liquid (L), coming from said primary electric motor (3), to heat it.
7- The cooling system (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that said evaporator (6) further comprises at least one secondary heat exchanger (8) intended to heat said outlet gas (Gs) or at least part of said cryogenic liquid (L) coming from said primary heat exchanger (7) by means of a heat source (Q).
8- The cooling system (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises a module (9) for supplying said heat source (Q), said supply module (9) being formed by a solar energy production device (10), a system (51) for recovering combustion heat, or a device for recovering waste heat from the cooling system (1) or from another system.
9- The cooling system (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a mechanical energy recovery device (12) to recover the mechanical energy produced by a displacement of said outlet gas (Gs).
10- The cooling system (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises, upstream from said Stirling heat pump (2), a primary compressor (15) designed to compress said inlet gas (Ge), said primary compressor (15) being at least partly operated by means of said mechanical energy recovery device (12).
11- The cooling system (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that said mechanical energy recovery device (34) comprises at least one electrical generator (13), the cooling system (1) further comprising a module (16) for electrolysing water into dihydrogen (H2) and dioxygen (O2), powered by at least said electric generator (13).
12- The cooling system (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that it further comprises a heat exchange module (17) designed to:
- cool at least down to liquefaction the dioxygen (O2) coming from the electrolyse module (16) in order to form liquefied dioxygen (O2), and
- heating the outlet gas (Gs) coming from the mechanical energy recovery device (12).
13- The cooling system (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that it also comprises a methane reforming unit (18), designed to react carbon dioxide (CO2) with dihydrogen (H2) coming from said water electrolysis module (16) in order to form methane (CH4) and water (H2O).
14- The cooling system (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said cryogenic liquid (L) coming from said primary electric motor (3) is formed of at least a first component (C1) and a second component (C2) distinct from each other and in the liquid state, the cooling system (1) further comprising a separation device (19) designed to separate by magnetism said first and second components (C1, C2) in the liquid state, one of said first and second components (C1, C2) in the liquid state having a paramagnetic character far greater than that of the other of said first and second components (C1, C2).
15- The cooling system (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that it comprises an evaporator (6) intended to evaporate at least part of said pressurized cryogenic liquid (L) coming from said primary electric motor (3), in order to form an outlet gas (Gs) and to collect cooling energy, and in that said separation device (19) is designed to inject said second component (C2) in the liquid state into said evaporator (6) and not to inject said first component (C1) in the liquid state into the evaporator (6).
16- The cooling system (1) according claim 14, characterized in that said separation device (19) further comprises an induction pump (20), for example single-phase or three-phase, designed to expel from the separation device (19) said most paramagnetic component, among said first and second components (C1, C2), preferably while pressurizing it.
17- The cooling system (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that said separation device (19) comprises a magnetic trap (21) designed to emit a magnetic field (100) in order to retain the most paramagnetic component, among said first and second components (C1, C2), substantially within a trap portion (22) of said separation device (19).
18- The cooling system (1) according to the claim 17, characterized in that said separation device (19) comprises a means (24) for settling said cryogenic liquid (L), a portion a least of said settling means (24) forming said trap portion (22).
19- The cooling system (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that said inlet gas (Ge) is formed by air, said first component (C1) being mainly formed by dioxygen (O2), whereas said second component (C2) is mostly formed by dinitrogen (N2).
20- The cooling system (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that it is connected to a internal combustion engine (50) comprising a combustion chamber (25), the cooling system (1) being designed to inject, into said combustion chamber (25), the first component (C1) coming from the separation device (19).
21- The cooling system (1) according to the claim 20, characterized in that said first injected component (C1) is intended to serve as an oxidizer in the internal combustion engine (50).
(canceled)
23- A motor assembly (60) characterized in that it comprises at least:
- the cooling system (1) according to claim 1, said cooling system (1) being designed to produce liquefied dioxygen (O2), and
- an internal combustion engine (50), downstream from said cooling system (1) and comprising a combustion chamber (25), the cooling system (1) being connected to said internal combustion engine (50) in order to be able to inject said liquefied dioxygen (O2) into said combustion chamber (25).
24- A motor assembly (60) according to claim 23, characterized in that said cryogenic liquid (L) coming from said primary electric motor (3) is formed of at least a first component (C1) and a second component (C2) distinct from each other and in the liquid state, the cooling system (1) further comprising a separation device (19) designed to separate by magnetism said first and second components (C1, C2) in the liquid state, one of said first and second components (C1, C2) in the liquid state having a paramagnetic character far greater than that of the other of said first and second components (C1, C2), and that he motor assembly is designed in such a way that the cooling system (1) can inject, into said combustion chamber (25), the first component (C1) in the liquid state coming from the separation device (19), said first component (C1) in the liquid state advantageously forming said liquefied dioxygen (O2).
25- The motor assembly (60) according to claim 24, characterized in that said mechanical energy recovery device (34) comprises at least one electrical generator (13), the cooling system (1) further comprising a module (16) for electrolysing water into dihydrogen (H2) and dioxygen (O2), powered by at least said electric generator (13), and in that said liquefied dioxygen (O2) comes from said water electrolyse module (16).
(canceled)
(canceled)
28- A cooling method comprising at least:
- a step of cooling an inlet gas (Ge) by means of at least one Stirling heat pump (2), in order to form a cryogenic liquid (L), said Stirling heat pump (2) being powered by a primary electric motor (3),
- a pumping step to circulate said cryogenic liquid (L) under pressure, and
- a cooling step, during which said primary electric motor (3) is cooled by means of the cryogenic liquid (L) coming from said pumping step.
29- The cooling method according to claim 28, characterized in that said cryogenic liquid (L) coming from said primary electric motor (3) is formed of at least a first component (C1) and a second component (C2), distinct from each other and in the liquid state, the cooling method further comprising a step of separating by magnetism said first and second components (C1, C2) in the liquid state, one of said first and second components (C1, C2) in the liquid state having a paramagnetic character far greater than that of the other of said first and second components (C1, C2).
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.