BYPASS AND THROTTLE VALVES FOR A SUPERCRITICAL WORKING FLUID CIRCUIT
First Claim
1. A method for generating electricity with a heat engine system, comprising:
- circulating a working fluid within a working fluid circuit by a turbo pump, wherein the working fluid comprises carbon dioxide and the working fluid circuit has a high pressure side and a low pressure side and at least a portion of the working fluid circuit contains the working fluid in a supercritical state;
transferring thermal energy from a heat source stream to the working fluid by at least a primary heat exchanger fluidly coupled to and in thermal communication with the high pressure side of the working fluid circuit;
flowing the working fluid into a power turbine and transferring the thermal energy from the working fluid to the power turbine while converting a pressure drop in the working fluid to mechanical energy, wherein the power turbine is disposed between the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the working fluid circuit and fluidly coupled to and in thermal communication with the working fluid;
converting the mechanical energy into electrical energy by a power generator coupled to the power turbine;
transferring the electrical energy from the power generator to a power outlet, wherein the power outlet is electrically coupled to the power generator and configured to transfer the electrical energy from the power generator to an electrical grid;
controlling the power turbine by modulating a turbo pump throttle valve and a power turbine bypass valve by adjusting a flowrate of the working fluid entering the power turbine, wherein;
the turbo pump throttle valve is fluidly coupled to the working fluid circuit upstream of an inlet of a drive turbine of the turbo pump and configured to modulate a flow of the working fluid into the drive turbine; and
the power turbine bypass valve is fluidly coupled to a power turbine bypass line extending from a point disposed upstream of the inlet of the power turbine and to a point disposed downstream of an outlet of the power turbine, and the power turbine bypass valve is configured to modulate a flow of the working fluid through the power turbine bypass line for controlling the flowrate of the working fluid entering the power turbine; and
monitoring and controlling process operation parameters of the heat engine system via a process control system operatively connected to the heat engine system, wherein the process control system is configured to synchronize a generator frequency of the power generator to a grid frequency of the electrical grid.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Aspects of the invention disclosed herein generally provide heat engine systems and methods for recovering energy, such as by generating electricity from thermal energy. Generally, the heat engine system has a working fluid circuit containing a working fluid (e.g., sc-CO2) for absorbing thermal energy from the heat source stream via a heat exchanger. In one aspect, the method includes controlling a power turbine by modulating a turbo pump throttle valve and a power turbine bypass valve to adjust the flowrate of the working fluid entering the power turbine while monitoring and controlling process operation parameters of the heat engine system to synchronize the frequency of the power generator to the frequency of the electrical grid during a synchronization process.
67 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for generating electricity with a heat engine system, comprising:
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circulating a working fluid within a working fluid circuit by a turbo pump, wherein the working fluid comprises carbon dioxide and the working fluid circuit has a high pressure side and a low pressure side and at least a portion of the working fluid circuit contains the working fluid in a supercritical state; transferring thermal energy from a heat source stream to the working fluid by at least a primary heat exchanger fluidly coupled to and in thermal communication with the high pressure side of the working fluid circuit; flowing the working fluid into a power turbine and transferring the thermal energy from the working fluid to the power turbine while converting a pressure drop in the working fluid to mechanical energy, wherein the power turbine is disposed between the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the working fluid circuit and fluidly coupled to and in thermal communication with the working fluid; converting the mechanical energy into electrical energy by a power generator coupled to the power turbine; transferring the electrical energy from the power generator to a power outlet, wherein the power outlet is electrically coupled to the power generator and configured to transfer the electrical energy from the power generator to an electrical grid; controlling the power turbine by modulating a turbo pump throttle valve and a power turbine bypass valve by adjusting a flowrate of the working fluid entering the power turbine, wherein; the turbo pump throttle valve is fluidly coupled to the working fluid circuit upstream of an inlet of a drive turbine of the turbo pump and configured to modulate a flow of the working fluid into the drive turbine; and the power turbine bypass valve is fluidly coupled to a power turbine bypass line extending from a point disposed upstream of the inlet of the power turbine and to a point disposed downstream of an outlet of the power turbine, and the power turbine bypass valve is configured to modulate a flow of the working fluid through the power turbine bypass line for controlling the flowrate of the working fluid entering the power turbine; and monitoring and controlling process operation parameters of the heat engine system via a process control system operatively connected to the heat engine system, wherein the process control system is configured to synchronize a generator frequency of the power generator to a grid frequency of the electrical grid. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for generating electricity with a heat engine system, comprising:
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circulating a working fluid within a working fluid circuit by a turbo pump, wherein the working fluid contains carbon dioxide and the working fluid circuit has a high pressure side and a low pressure side; transferring thermal energy from a heat source stream to the working fluid by at least one heat exchanger fluidly coupled to and in thermal communication with the high pressure side of the working fluid circuit; flowing the working fluid through a power turbine and converting the thermal energy in the working fluid to mechanical energy in the power turbine; converting the mechanical energy into electrical energy by a power generator coupled to the power turbine; transferring the electrical energy from the power generator to an electrical grid electrically coupled to the power generator; and synchronizing a generator frequency of the power generator to a grid frequency of the electrical grid by modulating a turbo pump throttle valve and a power turbine bypass valve during a synchronization process. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A heat engine system for generating electricity, comprising:
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a working fluid circuit containing a working fluid and having a high pressure side and a low pressure side, wherein the working fluid comprises carbon dioxide and at least a portion of the working fluid circuit contains the working fluid in a supercritical state; a primary heat exchanger fluidly coupled to and in thermal communication with the high pressure side of the working fluid circuit, configured to be fluidly coupled to and in thermal communication with a heat source stream, and configured to transfer thermal energy from the heat source stream to the working fluid; a power turbine disposed between the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the working fluid circuit, fluidly coupled to and in thermal communication with the working fluid, and configured to convert thermal energy to mechanical energy by a pressure drop in the working fluid flowing between the high and the low pressure sides of the working fluid circuit; a power generator coupled to the power turbine and configured to convert the mechanical energy into electrical energy; a power outlet electrically coupled to the power generator and configured to transfer the electrical energy from the power generator to an electrical grid; a turbo pump comprising a drive turbine and a pump portion, wherein; the pump portion is fluidly coupled to the low pressure side of the working fluid circuit by an inlet configured to receive the working fluid from the low pressure side of the working fluid circuit, fluidly coupled to the high pressure side of the working fluid circuit by an outlet configured to release the working fluid into the high pressure side of the working fluid circuit, and configured to pressurize or circulate the working fluid within the working fluid circuit; and the drive turbine is fluidly coupled to the high pressure side of the working fluid circuit by an inlet configured to receive the working fluid from the high pressure side of the working fluid circuit, fluidly coupled to the low pressure side of the working fluid circuit by an outlet configured to release the working fluid into the low pressure side of the working fluid circuit, and configured to rotate the pump portion of the turbo pump; a turbo pump throttle valve fluidly coupled to the working fluid circuit upstream of the inlet of the drive turbine of the turbo pump and configured to modulate a flow of the working fluid flowing into the drive turbine; a power turbine bypass line fluidly coupled to the working fluid circuit upstream of an inlet of the power turbine, fluidly coupled to the working fluid circuit downstream of an outlet of the power turbine, and configured to flow the working fluid around and avoid the power turbine; a power turbine bypass valve fluidly coupled to the power turbine bypass line and configured to modulate a flow of the working fluid flowing through the power turbine bypass line for controlling the flowrate of the working fluid entering the power turbine; and a process control system operatively connected to the heat engine system, wherein the process control system is configured to adjust the turbo pump throttle valve and the power turbine bypass valve while synchronizing the power generator to the electrical grid. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification