THERMAL ENERGY RETRIEVAL SYSTEM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES

摘要

A thermal energy retrieval system (10) in which waste heat generated by a fixed or mobile mounted internal combustion engine (12) is used to evaporate an organic working fluid in an evaporator (18). The evaporated working fluid is passed through a turbine (36) to generate mechanical or electrical power which could be used to supplement the work done by the internal combustion engine (12). A unitary control valve (58) is disposed between a feed pump (14) and the evaporator (18) to automatically regulate the flow of working fluid to the evaporator (18) in accordance with the sensed temperature of the working fluid at its exit from the evaporator (18). This ensures the optimization of the thermodynamic efficiency of the system, which in turn leads to the provision of a more compact system useful as an add on to mobile mounted engines.