Isothermal power system

Abstract

This invention provides means for producing power by using isothermal compressors and isothermal expanders. One embodiment has an isothermal compressor that compresses air (or other gas), passes the air through a counter-flow heat exchanger, which heats the air, uses the heated air to drive an isothermal expander for power generation, and passes the expander exhaust back through the counter-flow heat exchanger to heat the input air to the expander. Another embodiment has a boiler that produces vapor that flows through a counter-flow heat exchanger to superheat the vapor. The vapor then flows through an isothermal expander for power generation. The exhaust from the isothermal expander flows back through the counter-flow heat exchanger to supply heat to super heat the vapor coming from the boiler. The description presents several devices that can perform at near isothermal conditions, including a modified Tesla turbine.

1 . An isothermal power generating system comprising:
 an isothermal compressor for compressing a gas;   a cooler, which supplies a cooling fluid to the isothermal compressor to cool the gas flowing through the isothermal compressor;   a counter-flow heat exchanger for heating the compressed gas;   an isothermal expander for expanding the heated compressed gas to produce mechanical power;   a heater for supplying a heating fluid to the isothermal expander to heat gas flowing through the isothermal expander; and   means for conducting the expanded gas back through the counter-flow heat exchanger to supply heat to the compressed gas flowing from the compressor through the counter-flow heat exchanger;   wherein the isothermal compressor draws in and compresses cooled and expanded gas flowing from the isothermal expander through the counter-flow heat exchanger.   
   
   
       2 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 1 , wherein the isothermal compressor is an isothermal Tesla turbine comprising:
 rotatable disks spaced along a shaft;   a chamber within each disk;   input channels for conducting the cooling fluid from the cooler into the chamber within each disk; and   output channels for conducting the cooling fluid out of the chamber within each disk and returning the cooling fluid to the cooler;   wherein the rotating disks compress gas flowing between the disks, and wherein the cooling fluid flowing through the chamber within each disk absorbs heat from walls of the chamber, and wherein the chamber walls thus absorb heat from the gas to maintain the gas at near isothermal conditions, and wherein the cooling fluid flows from the chamber to the cooler for further cooling.   
   
   
       3 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 2  further comprising disk supports for attaching the disks to the shaft, and wherein the input channels are defined within the shaft and within at least one of the disk supports, and wherein the output channels are defined within at least one of the disk supports and within the shaft. 
   
   
       4 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the cooling fluid is a liquid as it enters the chambers in the disks and evaporates to cool the disks thereby to cool the gas flowing between the disks; and   wherein vapor produced by the evaporation of the liquid flows through the output channels to the cooler, where the vapor condenses back to a liquid.   
   
   
       5 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 1 , wherein the isothermal expander is an isothermal Tesla turbine comprising:
 rotatable disks spaced apart along a shaft;   a chamber within each disk;   input channels for conducting the heating fluid from the heater into the chamber within each disk; and   output channels for conducting the heating fluid out of the chamber within each disk and returning the heating fluid to the heater;   wherein the flow of expanding gas between the disks produces torque on the disks to produce shaft power, and wherein the heating fluid flowing into the chamber within each disk heats the walls of the chamber, and wherein the chamber walls thus heat the expanding gas to maintain the gas at near isothermal conditions, and wherein cooled heating fluid flows out of the chamber back to the heater to be reheated.   
   
   
       6 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 5  further comprising disk supports for attaching the disks to the shaft, and wherein the input channels are defined within the shaft and within at least one of the disk supports, and wherein the output channels are defined within one or more of the disk supports and within the shaft. 
   
   
       7 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 5 , wherein the heating fluid is a vapor as it enters the chambers in the disks and condenses to heat the disks, thereby to heat the gas flowing between the disks. 
   
   
       8 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 7 , wherein:
 liquid produced by the condensation of the vapor is forced by vapor pressure to flow through radial tubes fluidly connected to the output channels and extending away from the periphery and toward the center of the chamber within each disk, and   the liquid flows through the output channels and returns to the heater where it is boiled to a vapor, and   the vapor flows back to the isothermal expander.   
   
   
       9 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 7 , wherein:
 the liquid produced by the condensation of the vapor is forced by vapor pressure to flow through a spiral tube running from the outer periphery of the chamber in each disk to output channels in the shaft, and   as the liquid flows through the spiral tube toward the output channels, it decelerates due to a decreasing absolute speed of the liquid as the liquid approaches the disk axis of rotation, and a deceleration force on the liquid promotes movement of the liquid toward the output channels in the shaft, and   the liquid flows through the output channels and returns to the heater where it is boiled to a vapor, and   the vapor flows back to the isothermal expander.   
   
   
       10 . An isothermal power generating system for two-phase working fluids comprising:
 a boiler for boiling a working fluid;   a first counter-flow heat exchanger for superheating working fluid vapor;   an isothermal expander for expanding the superheated working fluid vapor to produce mechanical power;   a heater for supplying a heating fluid to an isothermal expander to heat the working fluid vapor flowing through the isothermal expander;   a means for conducting the expanded working fluid from the isothermal expander back through the first counter-flow heat exchanger to heat the working fluid flowing from the boiler;   a condenser for condensing the working fluid vapor to a liquid;   a pump for pumping working fluid into the boiler; and   a second counter-flow heat exchanger for preheating the working fluid flowing to the boiler;   wherein working fluid vapor from the boiler flows through the first counter-flow heat exchanger, and wherein the isothermal expander extracts mechanical energy from the working fluid vapor as the working fluid vapor expands, and wherein the working fluid flows back through the first counter-flow heat exchanger and releases heat to superheat the working fluid vapor flowing from the boiler, and wherein the working fluid flows through the second counter-flow heat exchanger to preheat the working fluid liquid, and the working fluid vapor flows into the condenser to be condensed to a liquid, and wherein the working fluid liquid is pumped through the second counter-flow heat exchanger to the boiler.   
   
   
       11 . An isothermal power generating system for two-phase fluids according to  claim 10 , wherein the isothermal expander is an isothermal Tesla turbine comprising:
 rotatable disks spaced along a shaft; and   a chamber within each disk;   input channels for conducting the heating fluid from the heater into the chamber within each disk; and   output channels conducting the heating fluid out of the chamber within each disk and returning the heating fluid to the heater;   wherein a flow of working fluid between the disks produces torque on the disks to produce shaft power, and wherein the heating fluid flowing through the input channels and into the chamber within each disk heats the walls of the chamber, which chamber walls provide heat to expanding working fluid to maintain the expanding working fluid at near isothermal conditions, and wherein cooled heating fluid flows out of the chamber through the output channels and back to the heater to be reheated.   
   
   
       12 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 11  further comprising disk supports for attaching the disks to the shaft, and wherein the input channels are defined within the shaft and within at least one of the disk supports, and wherein the output channels are defined within one or more of the disk supports and within the shaft. 
   
   
       13 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 11 , wherein the heating fluid is a vapor as it enters the chamber in each disk, and the vapor condenses to provide heat to the disk thereby to heat the working fluid flowing between the disks, and wherein the liquid produced by the condensation of the vapor is forced by vapor pressure to flow through tubes disposed radially in the disk and fluidly connected to the output channels, and wherein the liquid flows through the output channels and into the heater. 
   
   
       14 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 11 , wherein:
 the heating fluid is a vapor as it enters the chamber in each disk, and the vapor condenses to provide heat to the disk thereby to heat the working fluid that is flowing between the disks, and   wherein the liquid produced by the condensation of the vapor is forced by vapor pressure to flow through a spiral tube running from the outer periphery of the chamber in each disk to output channels in the shaft, and   as the liquid flows through the spiral tube toward the output channels, it decelerates due to a decreasing absolute speed of the liquid as the liquid approaches the disk axis of rotation, and a deceleration force on the liquid promotes movement of the liquid toward output channels in the shaft, and   the liquid flows out through the output channels in the disk supports and in the shaft and returns to the heater where it is boiled to a vapor, and   the vapor flows back to the isothermal expander.   
   
   
       15 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 1 , wherein the isothermal compressor is an isothermal Tesla turbine comprising:
 a set of closely spaced rotatable disks operatively connected to a shaft by disk supports;   a set of curved vanes on outside faces of each disk, wherein the vanes comprise a spiral configuration to guide the gas from the center of the turbine toward the periphery of the turbine to increase compression of the gas, and wherein the vanes further comprise surface area for promoting heat transfer between the disk and the gas;   a chamber within each disk;   input channels within the shaft and within at least one of the disk supports for conducting the cooling fluid from the cooler into the chamber within each disk; and   output channels within at least one of the disk supports and within the shaft for conducting the cooling fluid out of the chamber within each disk and for returning the cooling fluid to the cooler;   wherein the rotating disks aided by the curved vanes compress gas flowing between the disks, and wherein the cooling fluid flowing through the input channels in the shaft and disk supports into the chamber within each disk absorbs heat from the walls of the chamber, and wherein the chamber walls absorb heat from the compressing gas to maintain the gas at near isothermal conditions, and wherein the cooling fluid flows out of the chamber through output channels in the disk supports and the shaft and back to the cooler where it cooled and then returns to the isothermal compressor.   
   
   
       16 . An isothermal power generating system according to  claim 1 , wherein the isothermal expander is an isothermal Tesla turbine comprising:
 a set of closely spaced rotatable disks operatively connected to a shaft by disk supports;   a set of curved vanes on outside faces of each disk, wherein the vanes comprise a spiral configuration whereby gas flowing from the periphery of the turbine toward the center of the turbine presses on the vanes to increase torque on the shaft, and wherein the vanes comprise surface area for promoting heat transfer between the disk and the gas;   a chamber within each disk;   input channels within the shaft and within at least one of the disk supports for conducting the heating fluid from the heater into the chamber within each disk; and   output channels within at least one of the disk supports and within the shaft for the purpose of conducting the heating fluid out of the chamber within each disk and returning the heating fluid to the heater;   wherein the flow of gas between the disks imposes torque on the disks and on the vanes, to produce shaft power, and wherein the heating fluid flowing through the input channels in the shaft and disk supports into the chamber within each disk heats the walls of the chamber, and wherein the chamber walls provide heat to the expanding gas to maintain the gas at near isothermal conditions, and wherein the cooled heating fluid flows out of the chamber through output channels in the disk supports and shaft back to the heater to be reheated, and then to return to the isothermal expander.