Thermal Energy Storage with Fluid Flow Insulation
AssigneeRondo Energy, Inc.
InventorsJohn Setel O'Donnell, Peter Emery von Behrens, Matthieu Jonemann, Robert Ratz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thermal energy storage system with fluid flow insulation, the system including heated thermal storage blocks positioned within a housing, and a method for operating the thermal energy storage system, including providing a flow of fluid into the housing, the fluid convectively extracting heat from a top region, a side region and a bottom region of the thermal energy storage system, to generate heated fluid that insulates the thermal storage blocks from the housing and a foundation of the thermal energy storage system.
Claims25
1-5. (canceled)
A thermal energy storage (TES) system, including:
- an outer housing having an interior surface;
- an inner housing having an outer surface and positioned within the outer housing;
- at least one thermal storage assemblage positioned within the inner housing;
- a fluid passage between the outer housing and the inner housing and extending along at least two sides of the interior surface of the outer housing and the outer surface of the inner housing;
- and
- a fluid movement system configured to:
- (i) provide a flow of fluid through the fluid passage to form an insulating layer, and
- (ii) direct the flow of fluid into the inner housing to extract heat from the thermal storage assemblage to generate heated fluid at a temperature that is cooler than a temperature of the thermal storage assemblage.
A thermal energy storage (TES) system, including:
- an outer housing having an interior surface;
- an inner housing positioned within the outer housing and having an outer surface;
- at least one thermal storage assemblage positioned within the inner housing;
- a fluid passage positioned between the outer housing and the inner housing and extending along at least two sides of the interior surface of the outer housing and the outer surface of the inner housing;
- a fluid movement system configured to:
- (i) provide a flow of fluid through the fluid passage to form an insulating layer, and
- (ii) direct the flow of fluid into the inner housing to extract heat from the thermal storage assemblage to generate heated fluid at a temperature that is cooler than a temperature of the thermal storage assemblage;
- and
- louvers configured to control flow of fluid from one fluid passage into different subsets of fluid pathways in the TES system.
A thermal energy storage (TES) system, including:
- a housing having an interior surface;
- a fluid passage positioned along at least two sides of the interior surface of the housing and configured to receive a flow of fluid to form an insulating layer;
- structural supports located outside the fluid passage;
- at least one thermal storage assemblage positioned within the housing;
- and
- a fluid movement system configured to direct a flow of fluid into the TES system and extract heat from the thermal storage assemblage to generate heated fluid at a temperature that is cooler than a temperature of the thermal storage assemblage, wherein the temperature of the generated heated fluid is selected to prevent overheating of the structural supports.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.