Method for converting one form of energy into another form of energy
AssigneeBattelle Development Corporation
InventorsSherwood L. Fawcett, James N. Anno
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Method for converting one form of energy into another form of energy by isobarically heating a gas, adiabatically expanding the gas while converting the heat energy of the gas into the kinetic energy of a moving body, converting the kinetic energy of the moving body into another form of energy, and approximately isothermally compressing the gas to a higher pressure. Improved efficiency is achieved by virtue of the fact that this system employs approximately isothermal compression, which is preferably achieved by injecting liquid into an adiabatically-expanded gas, thereby effecting a thermodynamic cycle which more closely approximates the efficiency of a Carnot cycle.
Claims11
In a method for converting one form of energy into another form of energy, the steps of isobarically heating a gas, adiabatically expanding said gas in a cell between bodies in a continuous-loop passageway while converting the heat energy of the gas into the kinetic energy of at least one moving body of a plurality of bodies in said passageway, converting the kinetic energy of the moving body into another form of energy, and approximately isothermally compressing said gas in said cell to a higher pressure.
A method for converting one form of energy into a second form of energy which comprises:
- (a) providing a closed, continuous loop passageway containing a plurality of movable bodies,
- (b) expanding at constant pressure a fluid medium in unit cells between successive ones of said bodies in a first region of said passageway to thereby propel successive ones of the bodies around the passageway, thereby exchanging energy between the gas and the bodies,
- (c) continuing expanding said fluid medium in said unit cells in a second region of said passageway by adiabatic expansion of the fluid medium,
- (d) approximately isothermally compressing the fluid medium in said unit cells in a third region of the passageway,
- (e) exhausting said fluid medium from said passageway in a fourth region of the passageway,
- (f) returning successive ones of said bodies through a fifth region of said passageway back to said first region where they are again propelled by expansion of a fluid medium, and
- (b) extracting energy from the system by changing kinetic energy from said propelled bodies into other useful forms of energy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.