Patents by Inventor Scott E. Rasmussen

Scott E. Rasmussen 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: 11828204
    Abstract: Steam generators in power plants exchange energy from a primary medium to a secondary medium for energy extraction. Steam generators include one or more primary conduits and one or more secondary conduits. The conduits do not intermix the mediums and may thus discriminate among different fluid sources and destinations. One conduit may boil feedwater while another reheats steam for use in lower and higher-pressure turbines, respectively. Valves and other selectors divert steam and/or water into the steam generator or to other turbines or the environment for load balancing and other operational characteristics. Conduits circulate around an interior perimeter of the steam generator immersed in the primary medium and may have different cross-sections, radii, and internal structures depending on contained. A water conduit may have less flow area and a tighter coil radius. A steam conduit may include a swirler and rivulet stopper to intermix water in any steam flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC
    Inventors: Eric P. Loewen, Scott E. Rasmussen
  • Publication number: 20230096162
    Abstract: Steam generators in power plants exchange energy from a primary medium to a secondary medium for energy extraction. Steam generators include one or more primary conduits and one or more secondary conduits. The conduits do not intermix the mediums and may thus discriminate among different fluid sources and destinations. One conduit may boil feedwater while another reheats steam for use in lower and higher-pressure turbines, respectively. Valves and other selectors divert steam and/or water into the steam generator or to other turbines or the environment for load balancing and other operational characteristics. Conduits circulate around an interior perimeter of the steam generator immersed in the primary medium and may have different cross-sections, radii, and internal structures depending on contained. A water conduit may have less flow area and a tighter coil radius. A steam conduit may include a swirler and rivulet stopper to intermix water in any steam flow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2022
    Publication date: March 30, 2023
    Inventors: Eric P. Loewen, Scott E. Rasmussen
  • Patent number: 11525374
    Abstract: Steam generators in power plants exchange energy from a primary medium to a secondary medium for energy extraction. Steam generators include one or more primary conduits and one or more secondary conduits. The conduits do not intermix the mediums and may thus discriminate among different fluid sources and destinations. One conduit may boil feedwater while another reheats steam for use in lower and higher-pressure turbines, respectively. Valves and other selectors divert steam and/or water into the steam generator or to other turbines or the environment for load balancing and other operational characteristics. Conduits circulate around an interior perimeter of the steam generator immersed in the primary medium and may have different cross-sections, radii, and internal structures depending on contained. A water conduit may have less flow area and a tighter coil radius. A steam conduit may include a swirler and rivulet stopper to intermix water in any steam flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: GE-HITACHI NUCLEAR ENERGY AMERICAS LLC
    Inventors: Eric P. Loewen, Scott E. Rasmussen
  • Patent number: 11482345
    Abstract: Passive safety systems cool reactors using surrounding ground as a heat sink. A coolant flow channel may loop around the reactor and then pass outside, potentially through a containment building, into surrounding ground. No active components need be used in example embodiment safety systems, which may be driven entirely by gravity-based natural circulation. The coolant loop may be air-tight and seismically-hardened and filled with any coolant such as water, air, nitrogen, a noble gas, a refrigerant, etc. The ground may include a soil of grey limestone, soft grey fine sandy clay, grey slightly silty sandy gravel, etc. or any other fill with desired heat-transfer characteristics. Coolant fins and/or jackets with secondary coolants may be used on the coolant loop. The coolant loop may be buried at any constant or variable depth, and the reactor and containment may also be buried in the ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC
    Inventors: Brian S. Hunt, Scott E. Rasmussen
  • Publication number: 20200325798
    Abstract: Steam generators in power plants exchange energy from a primary medium to a secondary medium for energy extraction. Steam generators include one or more primary conduits and one or more secondary conduits. The conduits do not intermix the mediums and may thus discriminate among different fluid sources and destinations. One conduit may boil feedwater while another reheats steam for use in lower and higher-pressure turbines, respectively. Valves and other selectors divert steam and/or water into the steam generator or to other turbines or the environment for load balancing and other operational characteristics. Conduits circulate around an interior perimeter of the steam generator immersed in the primary medium and may have different cross-sections, radii, and internal structures depending on contained. A water conduit may have less flow area and a tighter coil radius. A steam conduit may include a swirler and rivulet stopper to intermix water in any steam flow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2020
    Publication date: October 15, 2020
    Inventors: Eric P. Loewen, Scott E. Rasmussen
  • Publication number: 20200027594
    Abstract: Passive safety systems cool reactors using surrounding ground as a heat sink. A coolant flow channel may loop around the reactor and then pass outside, potentially through a containment building, into surrounding ground. No active components need be used in example embodiment safety systems, which may be driven entirely by gravity-based natural circulation. The coolant loop may be air-tight and seismically-hardened and filled with any coolant such as water, air, nitrogen, a noble gas, a refrigerant, etc. The ground may include a soil of grey limestone, soft grey fine sandy clay, grey slightly silty sandy gravel, etc. or any other fill with desired heat-transfer characteristics. Coolant fins and/or jackets with secondary coolants may be used on the coolant loop. The coolant loop may be buried at any constant or variable depth, and the reactor and containment may also be buried in the ground.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2018
    Publication date: January 23, 2020
    Inventors: Brian S. Hunt, Scott E. Rasmussen
  • Publication number: 20190203614
    Abstract: Steam generators in power plants exchange energy from a primary medium to a secondary medium for energy extraction. Steam generators includes one or more primary conduits and one or more secondary conduits. The conduits do not intermix the mediums and may thus discriminate among different fluid sources and destinations. One conduit may boil feedwater while another reheats steam for use in lower and higher-pressure turbines, respectively. Valves and other selectors divert steam and/or water into the steam generator or to other turbines or the environment for load balancing and other operational characteristics. Conduits circulate around an interior perimeter of the steam generator immersed in the primary medium and may have different cross-sections, radii, and internal structures depending on contained. A water conduit may have less flow area and a tighter coil radius. A steam conduit may include a swirler and rivulet stopper to intermix water in any steam flow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2017
    Publication date: July 4, 2019
    Inventors: Eric P. Loewen, Scott E. Rasmussen
  • Patent number: 5518170
    Abstract: A collapsible storage pen is disclosed. The pen having a segmented peripheral wall and interior wall segments forming a plurality of retaining cells, the interior wall segments being connected to the peripheral wall to move between an open position defining a rectangular periphery and a closed position wherein the wall segments are parallel and the length of the collapsed pen is less than the length of the longest side of the open pen. A method of forming the segmented peripheral wall and interior walls from a single blank of material is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1996
    Assignee: Box Boy Ltd.
    Inventor: Scott E. Rasmussen
  • Patent number: D405610
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1999
    Assignee: Box Boy, Ltd.
    Inventor: Scott E. Rasmussen