Patents Examined by Mark A Laurenzi
  • Patent number: 11027950
    Abstract: A system having a primary current generating assembly includes a primary thermal engine and a secondary current generating assembly, in particular an electric turbo compound installation, for the secondary conversion into electricity of exhaust gas heat from the primary current generating assembly. The secondary current generating assembly includes an exhaust gas turbine arranged in an exhaust gas stream of the primary thermal engine, and the exhaust gas turbine drives an electric secondary generator. In order to improve efficiency, and in particular to reduce fuel consumption, it is proposed that an exhaust gas cooler followed by a compressor are arranged in the exhaust gas stream downstream of the exhaust gas turbine, the compressor being driven by an electric motor and the rotational speeds of the compressor and the exhaust gas turbine are controlled by a process control system. The disclosed invention also relates to a vehicle equipped therewith.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: Konecranes Global Corporation
    Inventor: Reinhard Bauer
  • Patent number: 11028773
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided that use compressed gas to power a turbine, which in turn powers a generator, where an expansion of the compressed gas provides cooling for an electrical load that is powered by the generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce North American Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Karam, Robert Duge
  • Patent number: 11028821
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure include a tidal power generator comprising a first container, at least one second container pivotably coupled to the first container, a frame pivotably coupled to the first container, a first valve, associated with the first container, configured to selectively control ingress of a first volume of a first fluid into the first container, and a second valve, associated with the first container, configured to selectively control egress of a second volume of the first fluid out of the first container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Inventor: Gregory H. Nahas
  • Patent number: 11022067
    Abstract: A closed cycle regenerative heat engine has a housing (12) defining a chamber (14). A displacer (18) is housed in the chamber. A shaft (24) is connected with the displacer and extends from the chamber. A power piston (30) is housed in the chamber. The displacer (18) is secured to the housing (12) and is resiliently deformable from a rest condition in response to movement of the shaft (24) to displace the working fluid in the chamber. The displacer may be a multi-start volute spring. The displacer (18) may be provided with a heat storage reservoir to store heat received from a working fluid as the working fluid is displaced from a heating location in the chamber (14) to a cooling location in the chamber and reject heat to the working fluid when the working fluid is displaced from the cooling location to the heating location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Stirling Works Global Ltd
    Inventors: Michael Dann, Graham Nicholson
  • Patent number: 11022068
    Abstract: A monolithic heater body may include a combustor body, a hot-side heat exchanger body, and an eductor body. The combustor body may define a combustion chamber and a conditioning conduit circumferentially surrounding the combustion chamber. The conditioning conduit may fluidly communicate with the combustion chamber at a distal portion of the combustion chamber. The hot-side heat exchanger body may define a hot-side heat exchanger that includes a heating fluid pathway fluidly communicating with a proximal portion of the combustion chamber. The eductor body may define an eduction pathway fluidly communicating with a downstream portion of the heating fluid pathway and a proximal portion of the conditioning conduit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Joshua Tyler Mook, Kevin Michael VandeVoorde, Aigbedion Akwara, Michael Robert Notarnicola, Jason Joseph Bellardi, Mohammed El Hacin Sennoun, Mohamed Osama, Zachary William Nagel
  • Patent number: 11020833
    Abstract: A turbine power unit for a power tool having a turbine housing with an interior space configured to receive therein a fluid powered turbine supported for rotation on a bearing within the turbine housing. A service opening through the turbine housing into the interior space thereof, the service opening configured to permit installation and removal of a bearing into and out of the interior space of the turbine housing. A removable cover releasably securable to the turbine housing over the service opening and transitionable between an open configuration in which a bearing can be installed into and removed from the interior space of the turbine housing through the service opening and a closed configuration in which an installed bearing within the interior space is secured for operation in the turbine housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: WTO, INC.
    Inventor: Gerald Jay Sanders
  • Patent number: 11015463
    Abstract: A turbine for solar thermal power generation and a Brayton cycle are disclosed. The turbine includes a blade which has a cooling working medium inlet and a cooling working medium jet orifice. The blade is provided as a cavity with hollow interior; the cooling working medium inlet is located inside the blade; the cooling working medium jet orifice is provided on the blade surface on which is provided a spectral conversion coating; the spectral conversion coating converts heat on the blade surface into conversion characteristic band radiation which is radiation energy adjacent to cooling working medium characteristic band radiation of a cooling working medium. The turbine adopts a characteristic spectral coating and a jet cooling to enhance the cooling effect for a turbine blade and to improve the system efficiency of the Brayton cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Gang Xiao, Kaixiang Xing, Tianfeng Yang, Mingjiang Ni, Zhongyang Luo, Kefa Cen
  • Patent number: 11015488
    Abstract: A heat exchange system with at least one heat exchange chamber with heat exchange chamber boundaries which surround at least one heat exchange chamber interior of the heat exchange chamber, wherein the heat exchange chamber boundaries include at least one first opening for guiding in an inflow of at least one heat transfer fluid into the heat exchange chamber interior and at least one second opening for guiding out an outflow of the heat transfer fluid out of the heat exchange chamber interior is provided. At least one heat storage material is arranged in the heat exchange chamber interior such that a heat exchange flow of the heat transfer fluid through the heat exchange chamber interior causes a heat exchange between the heat storage material and the heat transfer fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Inventor: Volker Seidel
  • Patent number: 11008863
    Abstract: A piston arrangement including a track and a piston moveable within a cylinder; wherein the track is adapted to rotate relative to the cylinder about an axis of rotation and has a cam surface and an edge surface extending away from the cam surface; wherein the piston is coupled to the track by a follower running on the cam surface; wherein the cam surface is shaped such that, as the track moves relative to the cylinder, the piston head moves in reciprocating motion within the cylinder in accordance with the path of the cam surface; wherein a stabilising element is connected to the piston, the stabilising element extending below the piston head and comprising a contact surface which engages the edge surface of the track.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: NEWLENOIR LIMITED
    Inventor: Ryan Bowen
  • Patent number: 11008895
    Abstract: A method for operating a steam turbine where steam turbine has at least two sub-turbines, wherein the steam turbine is paired with a steam turbine controller which has a sub-turbine controller for each of the sub-turbines, and each sub-turbine controller compares respective target values with respective actual values of the respective sub-turbine during operation in order to determine a respective control deviation for each sub-turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: Siemens Energy GLobal GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Martin Bennauer, Marc Borowski, Christoph Schindler, David Veltmann, Michael Winkel
  • Patent number: 11008982
    Abstract: An exhaust-gas turbocharger includes: an exhaust-gas turbocharger housing having a turbine housing, a compressor housing, and a bearing housing; a turbine in the turbine housing; a compressor in the compressor housing; and a shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing housing by which the turbine and the compressor are rigidly connected, at least one channel having an inlet opening and an outlet opening being formed inside the shaft, the inlet opening and/or the outlet opening being arranged in a radial direction on a circumference of the shaft between the turbine and the compressor. The at least one channel is part of a channel system of an exhaust-gas recirculation system, a reducing agent infeed, or a secondary air infeed. For the secondary air infeed, an interior space of the compressor housing is in fluidic connection with an interior space of the turbine housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: IAV GMBH INGENIEURGESELLSCHAFT AUTO UND VERKEHR
    Inventor: Matthias Kratzsch
  • Patent number: 11009012
    Abstract: Disclosed is a combined energy supply system of wind, photovoltaic, solar thermal power and medium-based heat storage, capable of storing the energy which would have been “abandoned wind” and “abandoned light” temporarily in the form of heat by medium-based energy storage. Heat is released during peaks in the power grid to generate power, which serves the function of adjusting the peaks in the power grid. With the medium-based energy storage, unstable photovoltaic electric energy can be converted into stable heat energy output when a relatively large fluctuation occurs in wind and photovoltaic power generation, and therefore the stable supply of energy sources can be guaranteed efficiently. Furthermore, a second heater can also be used for heating the low-temperature media outputted by a first medium tank (100), or a third heater is used for heating water in a heat exchanger (500), and therefore the energy storage of the medium or the heating efficiency of the heat exchanger is improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: SHENZHEN ENESOON SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
    Inventors: Zhiyong Zeng, Xiaomin Cui, Bei Huang
  • Patent number: 11002156
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes a valvetrain having a rocker arm assembly including a rocker arm on which a latch pin is mounted. An actuator for the latch pin, including an electromagnet, is mounted separately from the rocker arm. Therefore, the rocker arm is able to move independently from the electromagnet. The electromagnet is operative to cause the latch pin to actuate through magnetic flux following a magnetic circuit that passes through the rocker arm. Mounting the electromagnet apart from the rocker arm allows wires powering the electromagnet to be held in relatively static positions. The magnetic circuit is arranged to bring magnetic flux into the latch pin, or a co-acting part, within the volume of the rocker arm. This enables a compact design that is suitable for installation in engines where the available space under the valve cover may be very limited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Limited
    Inventors: Douglas Anthony Hughes, Matthew Richard Busdiecker, Dale Arden Stretch, Mark Allan Juds
  • Patent number: 11002254
    Abstract: A turbine for a power plant unit for a hybrid power plant is arranged in a turbine housing in which a flow channel for a compressible medium is arranged. A drive shaft and at least one output impeller are arranged in the flow channel, the output impeller containing an output shaft for operating a generator, wherein the output impeller is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the output shaft. The drive shaft is not connected to the output shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Inventor: Barbara Leone-Meier
  • Patent number: 11002255
    Abstract: A carbon negative clean fuel production system includes: a main platform; a heat collection device for capturing heat from a hydrothermal emissions from a hydrothermal vent on a floor of an ocean; a heat driven electric generator; a heat distribution system including a heat absorbing material and a heat transporting pipe; anchor platforms tethered to the main platform; a mineral separator; a seawater filtration unit; a water splitting device; a sand refinery machine; a carbon removal system; and a chemical production system for producing hydrides, halides and silane. Also disclosed is a method for carbon negative clean fuel production, including: capturing heat; producing electric energy; separating minerals; filtering seawater; splitting water; refining sand; removing carbon dioxide; and producing hydrides, halides, and silane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: Lowry Inheritors Trust
    Inventor: Scott D. Lowry
  • Patent number: 10995664
    Abstract: In a compressed air energy storage and power generation device, a compressed air energy storage and power generation method defines, as a reference storage value, a storage value indicating that a storage amount of air in an accumulator tank is in a predetermined intermediate state. At the reference storage value, at least one of a motor and a generator rotates at a rated rotation speed. When a storage value indicating a current storage amount in the accumulator tank is larger than the reference storage value, at least one of the motor and the generator is controlled to rotate at equal to or less than the rated rotation speed. When the storage value indicating the current storage amount in the accumulator tank is smaller than the reference storage value, at least one of the motor and the generator is controlled to rotate at equal to or more than the rated rotation speed and equal to or less than a maximum permissible rotation speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaki Matsukuma, Hiroki Saruta, Kanami Sakamoto
  • Patent number: 10989141
    Abstract: A Stirling engine feedback controller is provided that includes a Stirling engine having at least one piston, where the Stirling engine includes an Alpha-Stirling engine, and a Gamma-Stirling engine. The feedback controller includes a power sensor, a computer, and an electronic feedback loop. Here, the power sensor is configured to sense the power of the Stirling engine then output a power signal. In one aspect, the computer can be a central processing unit (CPU), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), where the computer operates a control algorithm. Further, the electronic feedback loop receives the output power signal and an output signal from the computer, where an output signal from the electronic feedback loop is configured to a control a position of the piston(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: Nirvana Energy Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Lambertus Hesselink, Rajesh Batra, George Pontis, Geoffrey A. Bruder
  • Patent number: 10982713
    Abstract: Heat engines employing fluid bearing assemblies hermetically sealed with a closed flowpath for a working fluid are generally disclosed. For example, the heat engine includes a rotating drivetrain and a fluid bearing assembly. The rotating drivetrain includes a compressor section, an expander section, and a heat exchanger. The compressor section and expander section together define at least in part a closed flowpath for the flow of a working fluid. The heat exchanger is thermally coupled to the closed flowpath for adding heat to the working fluid. The fluid bearing assembly is configured to utilize the working fluid to support the rotating drivetrain. Further, the fluid bearing assembly is hermetically sealed with the closed flowpath.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Bugra Han Ertas, Douglas Carl Hofer
  • Patent number: 10982646
    Abstract: An ocean tidal current energy power generating system, including a fixing mechanism, an ocean tidal current energy power generator set and a signal monitoring mechanism. The fixing mechanism includes floating bodies, fixing rods, horizontal supporting rods, and a working platform; the floating bodies are fixed to seabed by means of anchor chains; the fixing rods are fixed to the floating bodies; the horizontal supporting rods and the working platform are respectively fixed to underwater portions of the fixing rods and overwater portions of the fixing rods. The power generator set includes underwater assemblies and an overwater assembly. Each underwater assembly includes blades, a hub, a main shaft, a gear box, a coupling, a power generator, a stern cabin and a yawing mechanism, successively connected to each other; a variable pitch mechanism is disposed in the hub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: GUODIAN UNITED POWER TECHNOLOGY COMPANY LTD.
    Inventors: Jingchun Chu, Ling Yuan, Fayong Jia, Lei Pan, Ting Wang
  • Patent number: 10982543
    Abstract: A near-adiabatic engine has four stages in a cycle: a means of near adiabatically expanding the working fluid during the downstroke (expansion stroke); a means of cooling the working fluid at Bottom Dead Center (BDC); a means of near adiabatically compressing that cooled fluid from the lower pressure/temperature level at BDC to the higher level at Top Dead Center (TDC); and finally, a means of passing that working fluid back into the high pressure/temperature source in a balanced condition with minimal resistance to that flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Inventor: Barry W. Johnston