ENERGY STORAGE AND RECOVERY UTILIZING LOW-PRESSURE THERMAL CONDITIONING FOR HEAT EXCHANGE WITH HIGH-PRESSURE GAS

• US 20110314810A1
• Filed: 08/17/2011
• Published: 12/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SustainX, Inc. (General Compression, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SustainX, Inc. (General Compression, Inc.)
• Inventors: MCBRIDE, TROY O., Bollinger, Benjamin R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,495,872 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 60/641.1
• CPC Class Codes: F15B 11/06 involving features specific to the use of a compressible medium, e.g. air, steam
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 15/006 in the form of pneumatic energy, e.g. compressed air energy storage [CAES] accumulators for supplying fluid under pressure F15B1/04
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/46 Conversion of thermal power into mechanical power, e.g. Rankine, Stirling or solar thermal engines

Abstract

In various embodiments, gas is compressed to store energy and/or expanded to recover energy to or from high pressures, and the gas is exchanges heat with a heat-exchange fluid that is thermally conditioned at low pressures.

Claims

1-41. -41. (canceled)

42. A method of energy storage and recovery, the method comprising:

during each of a plurality of cycles;

at least one of compressing a gas to store energy or expanding a gas to recover energy, and

circulating, without thermal conditioning thereof, a heat-exchange fluid through the gas to exchange heat between the gas and the heat-exchange fluid; and

thermally conditioning, external to the at least one of compression or expansion, at least a portion of the heat-exchange fluid between cycles.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the at least a portion of the heat-exchange fluid is thermally conditioned only between cycles.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the at least a portion of the heat-exchange fluid is thermally conditioned between cycles at a pressure lower than a pressure of the at least one of compression or expansion.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the at least a portion of the heat-exchange fluid is thermally conditioned between cycles at approximately atmospheric pressure.

46. The method of claim 42, wherein exchanging heat between the gas and the heat-exchange fluid comprises maintaining the gas at a substantially constant temperature.

47. The method of claim 42, wherein the gas is compressed or expanded within a chamber of a cylinder.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein circulating heat-exchange fluid through the gas comprises spraying the heat-exchange fluid into the chamber.

49. The method of claim 42, wherein, during each cycle, circulating the heat-exchange fluid comprises pumping heat-exchange fluid into a first chamber of a hydraulic cylinder and pumping heat-exchange fluid out of a second chamber of the hydraulic cylinder separated from the first chamber.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the first and second chambers are separated by a moveable mechanical boundary mechanism.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein each of the first and second chambers is sized to contain sufficient heat-exchange fluid for at least one cycle of compression or expansion.

52. The method of claim 42, wherein thermally conditioning the heat-exchange fluid comprises pumping heat-exchange fluid from a first chamber of a hydraulic cylinder through a heat exchanger or an external reservoir and into a second chamber of the hydraulic cylinder separated from the first chamber.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the first and second chambers are separated by a movable mechanical boundary mechanism.

54. The method of claim 52, wherein the heat-exchange fluid is pumped through a heat exchanger comprising a plate-type heat exchanger.

55. The method of claim 42, further comprising at least one of (i) venting expanded gas to atmosphere or (ii) storing compressed gas in a compressed-gas reservoir.

56. The method of claim 42, wherein energy stored during compression of the gas originates from an intermittent renewable energy source of wind or solar energy, and further comprising expanding gas to recover energy when the intermittent renewable energy source is nonfunctional.

57-77. -77. (canceled)