Patents by Inventor Frederick E. Naef

Frederick E. Naef has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4104883
    Abstract: Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) uses a fluid, such as ammonia, hea by high-temperature surface water to provide a turbine-driving working gas. To condense the gas for re-use, a slurry of phase-transformation particles and cold ambient sea water is mixed in a deeply-submerged tank and delivered to a surface tank essentially at the cold sub-surface temperature. Condensing of the working gas is performed at the ocean surface level by exposure to the cold slurry temperature. Particle phase-transformation, which occurs at a temperature between that of the cold sub-surface water and the reject temperature of the heat-exchanger, maintains a surface tank temperature at about that of the sub-surface water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 1977
    Date of Patent: August 8, 1978
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventor: Frederick E. Naef