High efficiency positive displacement thermodynamic system

A method for moving a working fluid through a controlled thermodynamic cycle in a positive displacement fluid-handling device in such a manner that, in the case of a refrigerator heat is moved with the minimum theoretical application of work and, in the case of a heat engine the maximum theoretical amount of work is extracted from a given movement of heat, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a working fluid at an inlet pressure, the working fluid comprising a compressible substance capable of intermittently storing and releasing mechanical energy;
• providing at least one compression chamber and at least one expansion chamber, each having a respective displacement volume and definable volumetric efficiency;
• volumetrically compressing a fixed quantity of the working fluid in the compression chamber, and volumetrically expanding a fixed quantity of the working fluid in the expansion chamber;
• creating a pressure differential in the working fluid relative to the inlet pressure during one of said compressing and expanding steps, then moving a variable amount of heat into or out of the working fluid, and then subsequently returning the working fluid to the inlet pressure during the other one of said compressing and expanding steps entirely within the respective compression or expansion chamber;
• said step of moving a variable amount of heat including providing a high-side heat exchanger operatively disposed between an outlet from the compression chamber and an inlet to the expansion chamber;
• providing a low-side heat exchanger operatively disposed between an outlet from the expansion chamber and an inlet to the compression chamber;
• rejecting heat energy from the working fluid in the high-side heat exchanger;
• and absorbing heat energy in the working fluid in the low-side heat exchanger;
• said step of returning the working fluid to the inlet pressure including adjusting the displacement volume of the expansion chamber relative to the compression chamber based on the amount of heat moved during said moving step without decreasing the volumetric efficiency of the compression and expansion chambers;
• and
• said step of creating a pressure differential in the working fluid including radially displacing at least one vane relative to a rotating hub.

A positive displacement rotating vane-type device of the type operated in a thermodynamic cycle, said device comprising:

• a generally cylindrical stator housing having a central axis and longitudinally spaced, opposite ends;
• a rotor rotatably disposed within said stator housing and establishing an interstitial space therebetween;
• a plurality of vanes operatively disposed between rotor and said stator housing for dividing said interstitial space into intermittent compression and expansion chambers;
• a compression chamber outlet and an expansion chamber inlet respectively communicating with said interstitial space;
• a high-pressure side heat exchanger fluidly adjoining said compressor outlet and said expander inlet;
• an expansion chamber outlet and a compression chamber inlet respectively communicating with said interstitial space;
• a low-pressure side heat exchanger fluidly adjoining said expansion chamber outlet and said compression chamber inlet;
• and
• at least one rotatable outlet valve plate disposed adjacent said expansion chamber outlet with an aperture formed therein for conducting the passage of a working fluid, and at least one rotatable inlet valve plate disposed adjacent said compression chamber inlet with an aperture formed therein for conducting the passage of a working fluid, whereby said outlet and inlet valve plates can be rotated with respect to said stator housing so as to manage the thermodynamic efficiency of said device under varying conditions.