WASTE HEAT RECOVERY AND CONVERSION

• US 20180051652A1
• Filed: 02/01/2016
• Published: 02/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MidCap Financial Trust
• Original Assignee: Claudio Filippone
• Inventors: Filippone, Claudio
• Granted Patent: US 10,544,753 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: F01K 23/10 with exhaust fluid of one cycle heating the fluid in another cycle F01K17/025 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F01K 5/00 Plants characterised by use of means for storing steam in an alkali to increase steam pressure, e.g. of Honigmann or Koenemann type
• CPC Class Codes: F01N 5/02 the devices using heat
• CPC Class Codes: F02G 5/02 Profiting from waste heat of exhaust gases
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/12 Improving ICE efficiencies

Abstract

Embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure provide systems and methods for a waste heat recovery and conversion. The waste heat recovery and conversion system includes a housing non-invasively mountable onto an engine. The waste heat recovery and conversion system also includes a power conversion unit (PCU) entirely within the housing. The PCU includes heat exchangers, an expander, an electrical power generator, and a fluid pump. The heat exchangers, the expander, the fluid pump, and the fluid reservoir form a thermodynamic loop that drives the electrical power generator using thermal energy from waste heat. Under various configurations the waste heat recovery and conversion system offer pollutant reduction features all together with fuel savings.

Claims

1. A system (10) for recovering waste heat from an engine (40) and converting the recovered waste heat into useable energy, the system (10) comprising:

a first heat exchanger (21, 22, or 23) configured to transfer heat from the engine (40) to a working fluid (29);

a turbine expander (128) driven by the working fluid (29);

a power generator (127) coupled to the turbine expander (128);

a turbo-compressor turbine (122) coupled to the power generator (127) and configured to compress intake air;

a fluid reservoir (108) configured to contain the working fluid (29); and

a fluid pump (107) configured to pump the working fluid (29) from the fluid reservoir (108) to the first heat exchanger (21, 22, or 23),

wherein the first heat exchanger (21, 22, or 23), the turbine expander (128), the fluid reservoir (108), and the fluid pump (107) comprise a thermodynamic loop that drives the power generator (127) and are controlled by a controller (114),

wherein at least the turbine expander (128), the power generator (127), and the turbo-compressor turbine (122) constitute a power conversion unit (30) for converting the heat from the working fluid into useable energy, and

wherein the power conversion unit (30) is substantially enclosed in a mounting enclosure (302) that is configured to be mounted to a housing structure or a component of the engine (40).

2. The system (10) of claim 1, wherein the turbo-compressor turbine (122) is configured to be driven by the turbine expander (128) and/or the power generator (127).

3. The system (10) of any of claims 1-2, further comprising a plurality of vibration isolators (304) mounted between the mounting enclosure (302) and the engine (40).

4. The system (10) of any of claims 1-3, wherein the power conversion unit (30) further comprises a plurality of second heat exchangers (24, 25, or 26) configured to transfer heat from one or more components of the power conversion unit (30) to the working fluid (29).

5. The system (10) of claim 4, wherein the plurality of second heat exchangers (24, 25, or 26) comprise a condenser heat exchanger (24) configured to exchange heat between the working fluid (29) and air (112).

6. The system (10) of claim 4 or 5, wherein the plurality of second heat exchangers (24, 25, 26) comprise an expander heat exchanger (25) configured to transfer heat between the working fluid (29) before flowing into the fluid reservoir (108) and the working fluid (29) after flowing out of the fluid reservoir (108).

7. The system (10) of any of claims 4-6, wherein the plurality of second heat exchangers (24, 25, or 26) comprise a generator heat exchanger (26) configured to transfer heat from the power generator (127) to the working fluid (29).

15. The system (10) of any of claims 1-14, wherein the mounting enclosure (302) comprises a plurality of vents (116) configured to receive cooling air (112).

16. The system (10) of any of claims 1-15, wherein the engine (40) comprises the engine (40) of a locomotive, and the power conversion unit (30) is mounted to the housing structure (116, 206, 208) of the engine (40).

17. The system (10) of claim 16, wherein the power conversion unit (30) occupies at least a part of an engine compartment (200) of the engine (40) and protrudes externally from the engine compartment (200).

18. The system (10) of claim 16, wherein the power conversion unit (30) is mounted to a roof lid (206) above an engine compartment (200) of the engine (40).

19. The system (10) of any of claims 16-18, wherein the housing structure comprises a reinforcing structure (116, 208) configured to support a weight of the power conversion unit (30).

20. The system (10) of claim 16, wherein the power conversion unit (30) is mounted to an undercarriage of the locomotive.

21. The system (10) of any of claims 1-15, wherein the engine (40) comprises the engine (40) of an automotive platform.

22. The system (10) of claim 21, wherein the automotive platform is a truck, and the power conversion unit (30) is mounted to a cabin of the truck.

23. The system (10) of claim 21 or 22, wherein the mounting enclosure (302) of the power conversion unit (30) encloses a portion of the exhaust gas manifold (149) of the automotive platform.

24. The system (10) of any of claims 1-23, further comprising a traction motor (1321, 1331, 1506) coupled to a power train of the engine (40), wherein the power conversion unit (30) is configured to control the traction motor (1321, 1331, 1506) to hybridize the engine (40).

25. The system (10) of any of claims 1-23, wherein the engine (40) comprises the engine of a marine platform (1400).

8. The system (10) of any of the preceeding claims, wherein the power conversion unit (30) comprises a power module heat exchanger (145) configured to transfer heat from one or more electronic components of the controller (114) to the working fluid (29).

9. The system (10) of any of the preceeding claims, further comprising an engine cooling heat exchanger (21) mounted to an intake manifold (104) of the engine (40) and configured to transfer heat from an engine cooling system to the working fluid (29).

10. The system (10) of any of the preceeding claims, further comprising a stack heat exchanger (22) mounted to an exhaust gas stack (102) of the engine (40) and configured to transfer heat from an exhaust gas (130) flowing through the exhaust gas stack (102) to the working fluid (29).

11. The system (10) of claim 10, wherein the mounting enclosure (302) is mounted to the exhaust gas stack (102).

12. The system (10) of any of the preceeding claims, wherein the first heat exchanger (23) is a manifold heat exchanger (23) mounted to an exhaust gas manifold (106) of the engine (40) and configured to transfer heat from the exhaust gas (130) flowing through the exhaust gas manifold (106) to the working fluid (29).

13. The system (10) of claim 12, wherein the manifold heat exchanger (23) is configured to fit inside the exhaust gas manifold (106) of the engine (40).

14. The system (10) of claim 12, wherein the manifold heat exchanger (23) is located inside the mounting enclosure (302) of the power conversion unit (30).

26. A method of recovering waste heat from an engine (40) and converting the recovered waste heat into useable energy, the method (10) comprising:

transferring heat from the engine (40) to a working fluid (29) via a first heat exchanger (21, 22, or 23);

converting the transferred heat from the working fluid (29) into useable energy by controlling a thermodynamic loop that comprises;

a turbine expander (128) driven by the working fluid (29);

a power generator (127) coupled to the turbine expander (128);

a turbo-compressor turbine (122) coupled to the power generator (127) and configured to compress intake air;

a fluid reservoir (108) configured to contain the working fluid (29); and

a fluid pump (107) configured to pump the working fluid (29) from the fluid reservoir (108) to the first heat exchanger (21, 22, or 23),

wherein at least the turbine expander (128), the power generator (127), and the turbo-compressor turbine (122) constitute a power conversion unit (30) for converting the heat from the working fluid (29) into the useable energy, and

wherein the power conversion unit (30) is substantially enclosed in a mounting enclosure (302); and

mounting the mounting enclosure (302) to a housing structure or a component of the engine (40).

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the turbo-compressor turbine (122) is configured to be driven by the turbine expander (128) and/or the power generator (127).

28. The method of any of claims 26 and 27, further comprising isolating the power conversion unit (30) from vibration of the engine (40) by mounting a plurality of vibration isolators (304) between the mounting enclosure (302) and the engine (40).

29. The method of any of claims 26-28, further comprising transferring heat from one or more components of the power conversion unit (30) to the working fluid (29) via a plurality of second heat exchangers (24, 25, and/or 26) of the power conversion unit (30).

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the plurality of second heat exchangers (24, 25, 26) comprise a condenser heat exchanger (24) configured to exchange heat between the working fluid (29) and air (112).

31. The method of claim 29 or 30, wherein the plurality of second heat exchangers (24, 25, 26) comprise an expander heat exchanger (25) configured to transfer heat between the working fluid (29) before flowing into the fluid reservoir (108) and the working fluid (29) after flowing out of the fluid reservoir (108).

32. The method of any of claims 29-31, wherein the plurality of second heat exchangers (24, 25, 26) comprise a generator heat exchanger (26) configured to transfer heat from the power generator (127) to the working fluid (29).

33. The method of any of claims 26-32, further comprising transferring heat from one or more electronic components of a controller (114) that controls the thermodynamic loop to the working fluid (29) via a power module heat exchanger (145) of the power conversion unit (30).

34. The method of any of claims 26-32, further comprising mounting an engine cooling heat exchanger (21) to an intake manifold (104) of the engine (40) to transfer heat from an engine cooling system to the working fluid (29).

35. The method of any of claims 26-34, further comprising mounting a stack heat exchanger (22) to an exhaust gas stack (102) of the engine (40) to transfer heat from an exhaust gas (130) flowing through the exhaust gas stack (102) to the working fluid (29).

36. The method of any of claims 26-35, wherein the first heat exchanger (21, 22, 23) comprises a manifold heat exchanger (23) mounted to an exhaust gas manifold (106) of the engine (40) and configured to transfer heat from the exhaust gas (130) flowing through the exhaust gas manifold (106) to the working fluid (29).

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising fitting the manifold heat exchanger (23) inside the exhaust gas manifold (106) of the engine (40).

38. The method of any of claims 26-37, wherein the engine (40) comprises a locomotive engine (40), and the method further comprises mounting the power conversion unit (30) to the housing structure (116, 206, 208) of the engine (40).

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the power conversion unit (30) occupies at least a part of an engine compartment (200) of the engine (40) and protrudes externally from the engine compartment (200).

40. The method of claim 38, wherein mounting the power conversion unit (30) to the housing structure (116, 206, 208) of the engine (40) comprises mounting the power conversion unit (30) to a roof lid (206) above an engine compartment (200) of the engine (40).

41. The method of claim 39 or 40, wherein the housing structure comprises a reinforcing structure (116, 208) configured to support a weight of the power conversion unit (30).

42. The method of any of claims 26-41, wherein the engine (40) comprises a locomotive engine (40), and the power conversion unit (30) is mounted below an undercarriage of the locomotive engine.

43. The method of any of claims 26-37, wherein the engine (40) comprises the engine (40) of an automotive platform.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the automotive platform is a truck, and the method further comprises mounting the power conversion unit (30) to a cabin of the truck.

45. The method of claim 43 or 44, wherein the mounting enclosure (302) of the power conversion unit (30) encloses a portion of the exhaust gas manifold (149) of the automotive platform.

46. The system (10) of any of claims 26-45, further comprising:

coupling a traction motor (1321, 1331, 1506) to a power train of the engine (40);

controlling the traction motor (1321, 1331, 1506) via the power conversion unit (30) to hybridize the engine (40).

47. The method of any of claims 26-37, further comprising mounting the power conversion unit (30) to the engine (40) of a marine platform (1400).