Gradual oxidation with heat transfer
AssigneeEner-Core Power, Inc.
InventorsJeffrey Armstrong, Richard Martin, Douglas Hamrin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Described herein are embodiments of systems and methods for oxidizing gases. In some embodiments, a reaction chamber is configured to receive a fuel gas and maintain the gas at a temperature within the reaction chamber that is above an autoignition temperature of the gas. The reaction chamber may also be configured to maintain a reaction temperature within the reaction chamber below a flameout temperature. In some embodiments, heat and product gases from the oxidation process can be used, for example, to drive a turbine, reciprocating engine, and injected back into the reaction chamber.
Claims23
A system for oxidizing fuel, comprising:
- an oxidizer having a reaction chamber with an inlet and an outlet, the reaction chamber configured to receive a gas comprising an oxidizable fuel through the inlet, the oxidizer configured to maintain oxidation of the fuel within the reaction chamber;
- means for drawing heat from the reaction chamber;
- and
- a controller that outputs instructions to the means for drawing heat from the reaction chamber to draw heat out of the reaction chamber while a calculated adiabatic reaction temperature within the reaction chamber exceeds a flameout temperature, such that an actual temperature within the reaction chamber is reduced to a temperature that does not exceed the flameout temperature.
A system for oxidizing fuel, comprising:
- an oxidizer having a reaction chamber with an inlet and an outlet, the reaction chamber configured to receive a gas comprising an oxidizable fuel through the inlet, the oxidizer configured to maintain a flameless oxidation process within the reaction chamber;
- a heat exchanger;
- and
- a controller that outputs instructions to the heat exchanger to draw heat from the reaction chamber while a calculated adiabatic reaction temperature within the reaction chamber exceeds a flameout temperature, such that an actual temperature within the reaction chamber is reduced to a level that does not exceed the flameout temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.