Energy and/or material transport including phase change
AssigneeMcAlister Technologies, LLC
InventorRoy Edward McAlister
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Techniques, systems and material are disclosed for transport of energy and/or materials. In one aspect a method includes generating gaseous fuel (e.g., from biomass dissociation) at a first location of a low elevation. The gaseous fuel can be self transported in a pipeline to a second location at a higher elevation than the first location by traveling from the first location to the second location without adding energy of pressure. A liquid fuel can be generated at the second location of higher elevation by reacting the gaseous fuel with at least one of a carbon donor, a nitrogen donor, and an oxygen donor harvested from industrial waste. The liquid fuel can be delivered to a third location of a lower elevation than the second location while providing pressure or kinetic energy.
Claims29
A method for transporting energy and/or material, comprising:
- providing or forming a first gaseous material at a first location;
- transporting by expansion the first gaseous material from the first location to a second location having a higher elevation than the first location;
- reacting the first gaseous material to form a first liquid material at the second location;
- transporting by gravitational acceleration the first liquid material from the second location to a third location having a lower elevation than the second location;
- reacting the first liquid material to form a second gaseous material at the third location;
- transporting the second gaseous material to a fourth location having a higher elevation than the third location;
- reacting the second gaseous material to form a second liquid material at the fourth location;
- and
- transporting the second liquid material to a fifth location having a lower elevation than the fourth location.
A method for transporting energy and/or material, comprising:
- providing or forming a first gaseous fuel at a first location and a first elevation;
- transporting the first gaseous fuel from the first location to a second location having a second elevation;
- reacting the first gaseous fuel to form a first liquid fuel at the second location;
- transporting the first liquid fuel from the second location to a third location having a third elevation;
- extracting energy with a turbine from flow of the first liquid fuel from the second location to the third location;
- reacting the first liquid fuel to form a second gaseous fuel at the third location;
- transporting the second gaseous fuel to a fourth location having a fourth elevation;
- reacting the second gaseous fuel to form a second liquid fuel at the fourth location;
- transporting the second liquid fuel to a fifth location having a fifth elevation;
- and
- extracting energy with the turbine from flow of the second liquid fuel from the fourth location to the fifth location, wherein a pressure from providing or forming the first gaseous fuel accounts for all or a portion of an energy used to transport the first gaseous fuel from the first location to the second location, and a pressure from forming the second gaseous fuel accounts for all or a portion of an energy used to transport the second gaseous fuel from the third location to the fourth location.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.