EP3011161A1

EP3011161A1 - Device for thermal compression of a gaseous fluid

Info

Publication number: EP3011161A1
Application number: EP14750525.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jean-Marc JOFFROY; Martin BIDAR; Luc DANDO
Original assignee: Boostheat SA
Current assignee: Boostheat SA
Priority date: 2013-06-18
Filing date: 2014-06-16
Publication date: 2016-04-27
Anticipated expiration: 2034-06-16
Also published as: JP6621872B2; US20180328312A1; JP2018141623A; CA2916005C; CN105492751A; DK3011161T3; WO2014202885A1; JP6352409B2; EP3011161B1; US10704493B2; PT3011161T; PL3011161T3; CN108708840A; RU2018108835A3; US10054078B2; ES2824205T3; RU2759462C2; RU2018108835A; CN108708840B; FR3007077A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for compressing a gaseous fluid, including a first chamber (21) thermally coupled with a hot source (6), a second chamber (22) thermally coupled with a cold source (5), a movable piston (7) moved by a rod (8), and a regenerating exchanger (9) establishing fluid communication between the first and second chambers, wherein the rod is arranged in a cylindrical socket (17) and guided in axial translation by a linear guiding system (3) such as to guide the piston without contact relative to the sleeve, wherein a sealing ring (18) attached to the cylindrical socket surrounds the rod with a very low radial clearance, in order to limit the passage of the gaseous fluid along the mobile rod. The invention also discloses an integral cold casing having machined boreholes, a thermal screen in the hot casing, and a self-driving system with a resilient return means.

Description

Device for thermal compression of gaseous fluid

The present invention relates to gaseous fluid compression devices, and deals in particular with regenerative thermal compressors.

Background and prior art

Several technical solutions already exist for compressing a gas from a heat source.

In thermal compressors such as those described in US2,157,229 and US3,413,815, the heat received is directly transmitted to the fluid to be compressed, which avoids any mechanical element for the compression and discharge steps.

In US2,157,229 and US3,413,815, a displacer piston is movably mounted in an enclosure for moving the fluid alternately to the hot source or to the cold source. This displacer piston is connected to a control rod. The displacer piston and / or the associated control rod are subject to friction and wear, which limits the life of such compressors or requires regular maintenance. In addition, the efficiency of the heat exchange within the compressor as well as the control principle of the displacer can be further improved.

It has therefore appeared a need in the first place to increase the service life and / or to reduce maintenance requirements. Secondly, the need to improve the efficiency by a better efficiency of heat exchanges within the compressor is a constant concern. In addition, it is desirable to improve the control of displacement of the displacer piston. Finally, it is necessary to meet the need to be able to manufacture the essential parts of the compressor at an attractive cost. All these needs contribute to the goal of providing a regenerative thermal compressor with improved efficiency and at the same time competitive and easy to manufacture industrially.

For this purpose, it is first proposed a gaseous fluid compression device comprising:

a gaseous fluid inlet to be compressed and an outlet for compressed gaseous fluid,

a working enclosure containing a gaseous fluid,

a first chamber, thermally coupled to a hot source adapted to supply calories to the gaseous fluid,

a second chamber thermally coupled to a cold source for transferring calories from the gaseous fluid to the cold source,

a piston movably mounted in a cylindrical jacket in an axial direction and separating the first chamber and the second chamber inside said working chamber, the piston being displaced by a rod integral with the piston,

- A regenerative exchanger and communication channels communicating fluidly the first and second chambers,

in which the rod is arranged in a cylindrical sleeve integral with the chamber, and the rod is guided in axial translation by a linear guide system in order to guide the piston without contact with respect to the jacket,

characterized in that a cylindrical sealing ring fixed in the cylindrical sleeve surrounds the rod with a radial clearance between 2 and 20 μιτι, to strongly limit the passage of gaseous fluid along the movable rod from and to an auxiliary chamber .

Thanks to these arrangements, it is possible to significantly reduce the friction, both at the piston relative to the jacket and at the rod relative to its associated sealing means, and this in now a sealing performance compatible with the alternating cycle of the pressures involved. It is thus possible to obtain a reduction in the wear of the moving parts and to reduce the frequency of the maintenance operations or even eliminate them completely. Moreover, thanks to the reduction of the friction, one can obtain an improvement of the yield.

In various embodiments of the invention, one or more of the following arrangements may also be used.

According to one aspect of the invention, the piston may have an outer edge disposed adjacent to the jacket and the outer edge of the piston is guided without friction in the jacket with a functional clearance between the outer edge and the jacket between 5um and 30um, preferably close to 10um; whereby an absence of contact and an absence of friction are achieved while ensuring satisfactory sealing in dynamic mode during the alternating cycle.

According to another aspect of the invention, the linear guide system may be a cylindrical ball device; thanks to the rolling of the balls, this is a powerful solution for the precision guidance of the rod with negligible friction.

According to another aspect of the invention, the linear guide system may comprise plain bearings of PTFE type material; which is a powerful solution for the precision guidance of the rod and which has very low friction and negligible wear.

According to another aspect of the invention, the compression device is devoid of liquid lubrication; whereby the device is simple and certain problems inherent in the use of lubricants such as pollution or mixtures with the working fluid are avoided. According to another aspect of the invention, the rod can be cooled by a device for deflecting the flow of cooled gaseous fluid; whereby heating of the rod is avoided and the heat transfer due to the rod from the hot zone to the cold zone is limited.

According to another aspect of the invention, the rod may have a diameter greater than one quarter of the diameter of the piston; so that the action of the pressure differential is sufficient to actuate the cycle of the self-driving device; moreover, the quality of the guidance is improved.

According to another aspect of the invention, the device may further comprise a self-driving device acting on one end of the rod and comprising a connecting rod connected to the rod and an inertial flywheel connected to the connecting rod. So that the operation of the device in steady state is autonomous.

According to another aspect of the invention, the self-driving device is disposed in the auxiliary chamber filled with the gaseous fluid, the sealing ring being interposed between the second chamber and the auxiliary chamber; so that the overall tightness of the device provided with its self-training system is improved.

According to another aspect of the disclosed device, which is independent of the guide and the sealing of the rod, the efficiency is also improved by limiting the direct conductive heat exchange between the hot chamber and the cold room.

Indeed, it is proposed a proposed gaseous fluid compression device comprising:

a working enclosure containing gaseous fluid, generally of revolution about an axis and delimited by a first housing and a second housing; assembled together,

the work enclosure comprising:

a first chamber, thermally coupled to a hot source adapted to supply calories to the gaseous fluid via the first casing,

a second chamber thermally coupled to a cold source for transferring calories from the gaseous fluid to the cold source via the second housing,

a piston movably mounted in a cylindrical liner in an axial direction and separating the first chamber and the second chamber, the piston being displaceable by a rod connected to the piston, in an axial reciprocating movement,

a regenerative exchanger arranged around the piston and putting in fluid communication the first and second chambers,

a hot communication channel connecting at least one orifice of the first chamber with the regenerating exchanger, this hot communication channel having a general shape of revolution about the axis, and

wherein a first heat shield, formed by a thermally insulating annular cylindrical portion, is interposed between the piston and the hot communication channel, the hot communication channel being formed by a radial gap formed between the first heat shield and the first housing.

So that the effects of thermal conduction, in particular in an intermediate axial portion, are limited and that the great majority of heat exchanges between the hot and cold portions pass through the physical flow of convection of the working fluid.

According to a complementary aspect, the first casing is metallic and has an insulating annular zone in the form of an axial annular portion of lower thermal conduction; which further limits the effects of thermal conduction in the axial direction.

According to a complementary aspect, the annular portion of lower coefficient of thermal conduction is enclosed in a hoop; this makes it possible to obtain a satisfactory mechanical robustness.

According to a complementary aspect, the annular portion of lower thermal conductivity coefficient (forming the insulating annular zone) is obtained integrally in the first housing by providing a plurality of recesses (grooves) distributed around the heat shield; simple solution with controlled internal geometry.

According to a complementary aspect, the gap forming the hot communication channel may have a width of less than 4 millimeters, or even less than 2 millimeters; so that the volume that represents the hot communication channel is very limited, and thus the volume of the hot gases including the first chamber and the hot channels of the working fluid to the regenerator, when the piston is at the highest point, is less than 15% of the volume swept by the piston between the lowest point and the highest point.

According to a complementary aspect, the first casing has a hemispherical dome-shaped end, as well as the upper part of the heat shield, as well as the upper part of the piston; which is an optimal form to withstand pressure forces.

R27 According to a complementary aspect, the piston may comprise an upper part of low thermal conduction; this contributes to the limitation of heat flows conducted from the hot part to the cold part.

According to a complementary aspect, the first housing and the second housing are assembled to each other directly without intermediate part; which is a simple and robust solution; According to a complementary aspect, the first casing comprises a first reinforcing flange arranged between the dome-shaped upper portion and the insulating sleeve region and a second reinforcing flange to serve as a flange for attachment to the second casing; this contributes to the mechanical strength of the first housing.

According to another aspect of the disclosed device, which is independent of the guide and the sealing of the rod and the limitation of the axial thermal conduction effects already mentioned above, the second chamber and the cold channels of the working fluid are made in one piece (here called second housing, or 'cold structural part' or 'cooler'), the channels being made in the form of holes obtained by machining.

Indeed, it is proposed a proposed gaseous fluid compression device comprising:

a working enclosure containing gaseous fluid, delimited by a first housing and a second housing assembled together,

the work enclosure comprising:

a regenerative exchanger arranged around the piston and putting in fluid communication the first and second bedrooms ,

- At least one cold communication channel connecting at least the second chamber to the regenerator exchanger, the cold communication channel comprising a plurality of axial holes disposed in the second housing around the second chamber.

In this way, the ducts of the cold communication channel are obtained by machining a massive piece, which reduces the number of parts required and also reduces the dead volumes in the cold part.

According to a complementary aspect, first auxiliary cold channels conducting the coupling fluid of the cold source extend parallel to the axial direction, and second auxiliary cold channels extend perpendicularly to the axial direction and serve as a collector for the first cold channels. auxiliaries by connecting to them; the heat exchanger is thus easily obtained by the proximity of the auxiliary channels with the cold channel of the working fluid.

According to an alternative complementary aspect, all the first auxiliary channels conducting the coupling fluid of the cold source extend perpendicularly to the axial direction; which is industrially easy to machine and which dispenses with having to plug some ducts;

According to a complementary aspect, the second housing 12 comprises a cylindrical cavity adapted to receive the lower part of the piston and a circular groove arranged at the base of the cylindrical cavity and which serves as a lower manifold by connecting the lower outlet of the bores; this results in a limitation of the dead volumes by the small volume of the collector of the cold channels;

According to a complementary aspect, a deflector is arranged in the lower part of the cylindrical cavity, said deflector delimits with the bottom of the second chamber a disc-shaped recess which is part of the cold communication channel; whereby the heating of the rod is avoided and the transfer of heat due to the rod from the hot zone to the cold zone is limited. According to a complementary aspect, the second casing may be a single piece including the lower portion of the cylindrical jacket, the cold communication channel and the various auxiliary cold channels, as well as the inputs and outputs of the working fluid; which reduces the number of parts needed in the cold part.

According to a complementary aspect, in addition, the volume of the cold gases comprising the second chamber and the cold channels of the working fluid to the regenerator, when the piston is at the lowest point, is less than 15% of the volume swept by the piston between the lowest point and the highest point; which helps to improve thermal efficiency.

According to another aspect of the disclosed device, which is independent of the guiding and sealing of the rod, the limitation of the effects of axial thermal conduction already and the constructive structure of the cold room mentioned above, it is proposed to improve the movement control of the piston.

For this purpose, a gaseous fluid compression device comprising:

a working enclosure containing a gaseous fluid,

- a piston mounted mobile in a cylindrical jacket in an axial direction and separating the first chamber and the second chamber, the piston being movable by a rod connected to the piston, in an axial reciprocating motion,

a regenerative exchanger putting in fluid communication the first and second chambers,

the compression device comprising a self-driving device acting on one end of the rod and comprising on the one hand a connecting rod connected to the rod and an inertial flywheel connected to the connecting rod, and on the other hand an elastic return means double-acting, connected to the rod and having a neutral point corresponding to a position in the vicinity of the half-stroke of the piston.

Thanks to these arrangements, the resilient biasing means cyclically alternately stores a certain energy, in parallel with that stored in the flywheel, which reduces the forces at the bearings of the connecting rod assembly and to size the latter at the best.

According to a complementary aspect, the elastic return means may comprise two springs working in an antagonistic manner; it is thus possible to avoid the dead races and hysteresis and / or to compensate for the dispersions of the characteristics of the springs.

According to a complementary aspect, the self-driving device may comprise a motor magnetically coupled to the flywheel; which makes it possible to give an initial start pulse and then to regulate the speed of rotation.

According to a complementary aspect, the self-driving device is disposed in an auxiliary chamber in which there is a mean pressure which is the half-sum of the inlet and outlet pressures P2 and P2; we thus have balanced and limited exchanges with the second chamber. Finally, the invention also relates to a thermal system comprising a heat transfer circuit and at least one compressor according to one of the preceding characteristics. The thermal system in question may be intended to collect calories in an enclosed area and in this case it is an air conditioning or refrigeration system, but the thermal system in question may also be intended to bring calories in a closed and in this case it is a heating system such as residential heating or industrial heating.

Other aspects, objects and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following description of embodiments of the invention, given by way of non-limiting examples. The invention will also be better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view in axial section of a gaseous fluid compression device according to the invention,

FIG. 2 represents a partial detail view of the guide of the rod,

FIG. 3 represents a perspective view of a cold room included in the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 represents a perspective view of the hot parts included in the device of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 represents a perspective view of the cold part of FIG. 3, with a cross-section and a snatch,

FIG. 6 represents a detail concerning the sealing ring,

FIG. 7 represents a detail concerning the piston-liner interface,

FIG. 8 represents a diagram of the thermodynamic cycle implemented in the device, in particular for the self-training device, FIG. 9 represents a second embodiment of the cold room,

FIG. 10 represents a second embodiment concerning the self-training device,

FIG. 11 represents the piston assembly,

- Figure 12 shows a partial view first housing illustrating the portion of lower thermal conductivity.

In the different figures, the same references designate identical or similar elements,

FIG. 1 shows a device 1 for compressing a gaseous fluid, adapted to admit a gaseous fluid (also called 'working fluid') via an inlet or inlet 46, at a pressure P 1 and supply on an output denoted 47 the compressed fluid to P2 pressure.

As shown in Figures 1 to 12, the device is architected around an axial direction X, which is preferably arranged vertically, but another provision is not excluded. According to this axis can move a piston 7 mounted movable at least in a cylindrical jacket 50. Said piston hermetically separates two closed spaces, respectively called first chamber 21 second chamber 22, these two chambers being included in a hermetic work enclosure 2 (except the above-mentioned inputs / outputs). The working chamber 2 has an upper end 2h and a lower end 2b. The piston has an upper portion in the form of a dome, for example hemispherical.

The working chamber 2 is delimited by a first casing 11, arranged in the upper part of the assembly and in thermal contact with the hot source at least in the upper zone, and by a second casing 12, arranged in the lower part, and cooled by the cold source. According to English language terms, the first housing 11 can be called 'heater' and the second housing 12 can be named 'cooler'. The cylindrical jacket 50 extends both into the second housing and into the first housing, in contact with a room called 'heat shield' 35 which will be discussed later.

The first housing 11 is made of stainless steel material or metal alloy strong enough to withstand the temperatures of the hot part. The second housing 12 is preferably made of light metal alloy, its service temperature is lower.

The first casing 11 and the second casing 12 are in the illustrated example assembled together directly without an intermediate piece. However, they could be assembled together with one (or more) intermediate piece.

The first chamber 21, also called 'hot chamber', is arranged above the piston and thermally coupled to a hot source 6 adapted to provide calories to the gaseous fluid. The first chamber is of revolution with a cylindrical portion of diameter corresponding to the diameter Dl of the piston and a hemispherical portion in the upper part.

The hot source 6 is arranged all around the hot chamber 21, and in particular in contact with the first housing 11.

The second chamber 22, also called 'cold room', is arranged below the piston and thermally coupled to a cold source 5 for transferring calories from the gaseous fluid to the cold source. The second chamber is of cylindrical general shape, of diameter Dl corresponding to the diameter of the piston.

Around the cylindrical jacket 50 is arranged a regenerative exchanger 9, of the type conventionally used in thermodynamic machine type Stirling machines. This exchanger 9 (which will also be called simply 'regenerator' in the following) includes fluid channels of low section and thermal energy storage elements and / or a tight network of metal wires. This regenerator 9 is arranged at an intermediate height between the upper end 2h and the lower end 2b of the enclosure and has a hot side 9a upwards and a cold side 9b downwards.

The hot side 9a is connected (in fluid communication) with the first chamber 21, by means of a hot communication channel 25 which comprises collectors 28, an annular passage 25, which joins an orifice 24 located at the top of the first room 21.

The upper portion of the annular passage 25 allows the fluid to lick the first housing 11 in its upper portion where it is particularly hot in contact with the hot source (very good thermal coupling).

The hot communication channel 25 is formed by a radial gap of small thickness (<4mm, or even <2mm, or even close to 1mm) formed between the first housing 11 and a part comprising a first heat shield. The first heat shield 35, formed by a thermally insulating annular cylindrical portion, is interposed between the piston 7 and the hot communication channel 25, and therefore the working fluid does not heat the lateral portions of the piston.

The first heat shield 35 is made of ceramic or high temperature insulation. Its thickness is substantially constant in the illustrated example.

The cylindrical portion may extend above by a hemispherical portion with an almost constant thickness, this hemispherical portion being configured to conform to the outer surface of the piston when the latter is in the highest up position; at the top of the hemispherical portion is arranged an orifice 24 through which flows the inlet and outlet flow of the first chamber 21.

The cold side 9b of the regenerator 9 is connected (set fluid communication) with the second chamber 22, by means of a cold communication channel which comprises collectors 27 and cold channels 26 in the form of holes in the second casing whose arrangement will be specified later.

As is apparent from the figures, as the piston moves, the sum of the volumes of the first and second chambers 21, 22 is substantially constant, except that the volume occupied by the rod 8 is a little larger when the piston is in position. high. In addition, the volume of working fluid contained in the regenerator 9, the cold channels 26,27 and the hot communication channel 28,25 is constant, and consequently the total volume of gaseous fluid in the chamber 2 is almost constant. .

According to the advantageous constructive architecture adopted, the volume of the hot gases comprising the first chamber 21 and the hot pipes 25 to the regenerator is, when the piston is at the highest point, less than 15% of the volume swept by the piston between the lowest point and the highest point, or even less than 10%.

Similarly, the volume of the cold gases, when the piston is at the lowest point, which comprises the residual volume of the second chamber 22 and the cold communication channels 26, is less than 15% of the total volume swept by the piston, even less than 10%.

From the point of view of its structural architecture, the device comprises:

- The second housing 12 which defines the second chamber 22 through the aforementioned sleeve, with the lower part of the piston; this piece is relatively massive, and further comprises the inlet 46 and the outlet 47 of fluid,

the first housing 11, which delimits the first chamber 21, thanks to the inner surface of the heat shield 35 with the upper part of the piston 7h, and which comprises an insulating sleeve zone formed by a portion of more low thermal conduction 37, vis-à-vis partly of the regenerator (see Fig. 12),

the heat shield 35 forming the jacket 50 on its inner surface and defining on its outer surface the radially inner surface of the hot communication channel 25,

an auxiliary heat shield 36 interposed between the hot communication channel 25 and the lower conduction portion 37 of the first housing,

a mobile assembly 78 comprising the piston 7 mentioned above and a rod 8 integral with the piston; said rod 8 is of round section of diameter D2 and has a centering and fixing system 87 on the axis of the piston;

the regenerator 9 mentioned above, arranged inside the upper structural part 11 and around the shirt

50.

Below the rod 8 is arranged a piston displacement control system, which is contained in an auxiliary housing 13 which defines a third chamber 23 or auxiliary chamber 23. The auxiliary housing 13 is fixed on a sole 10 belonging to the first housing 11, by means of screws passing through the holes 160.

Optionally, the device may also comprise as a control system a particular self-driving device 4 which will be discussed later. In addition, the second housing 12 comprises an axial bore 12a which receives without play a cylindrical sleeve 17. whose inner cylindrical surface is machined precisely. The bushing is mounted in force in the bore 12a of the lower structural part 12.

In this sleeve 17 is received a linear guide system 3 which accurately guides the rod 8 to guide the piston 7 accurately, preferably without contact with the folder as will be specified later. In the example illustrated, the linear guide system 3 is a cylindrical ball device, preferably of the cylindrical ball-bearing sheath type 31. The balls 31 roll on the sleeve and the sheath 30 moves half as fast as the stem 8.

In an alternative not shown, the linear guide system 3 may comprise plain bearings made of PTFE-type material (Poly-tetrafluoroethylene).

Regarding the sealing function with respect to the movable rod, there is a cylindrical sealing ring 18 fixed in the cylindrical sleeve 17, and distinct from the guide system; this sealing ring 18 surrounds the rod with a radial clearance el between 2 and 20 μιιι, to greatly limit the passage of the gaseous fluid to pass along the movable rod 8 (see Figure 6). Preferably, it will preferably target a radial clearance el between 10 and 15 | im.

Thanks to the precision guidance of the rod, a precision guide of the piston is therefore obtained, because of the rigid attachment of the piston to the rod. Specifically, the piston 7 has an outer edge 73,74 disposed adjacent to the jacket 50 and the outer edge of the piston is guided without friction in the jacket with a functional clearance e2 between the outer edge of the joint and the jacket between 5 | im and 30 | im, preferably close to 10 | im (see Figure 7). The outer edge is preferably obtained integrally from the lower portion 71 of the piston but any other solution could be suitable.

Thanks to this precise geometry, a satisfactory seal is achieved in dynamic mode during reciprocating movements of the piston, the reciprocating frequency of movement is between a few Hertz and a few tens or even hundreds of Hertz.

In addition, this arrangement prevents any wear by friction or contact; we can do without any liquid lubrication so that the device is devoid of liquid lubrication.

Unlike a volumetric compressor, in the present thermal compressor it is the thermal exchanges that move the piston and not the rod and its linkage. Consequently there is very little radial force on the rod and the piston in the present heat compressor, which makes it possible to envisage a precise guidance and a lack of friction as indicated above. This leads to a service life of several tens of thousands of hours without maintenance.

The fluid chosen as working fluid may be any suitable fluid, especially any light gas; it may be ammonia, but the choice can be on CO 2 for environmental reasons.

According to an exemplary implementation of the invention, the temperature of the cold part is around 50 ° C, while the temperature of the hot part is around 650 ° C.

The insulating sleeve 37 is obtained by a plurality of recesses 38 separated by radial walls 39 as illustrated in FIG. 12, this alternation of recesses, the two radial walls being reproduced all around the circumference of the first housing of the upper part of the housing. regenerator 9.

Around the heat insulating sleeve zone, there is disposed a hoop 15 which is intended to reinforce the mechanical strength of the first housing at the zone of lower thermal conductivity. The end of the radial walls 39 is constrained radially inwards by the presence of this hoop 15, which can be mounted with a slight prestressing and therefore the mechanical strength of this intermediate portion of the first housing 11 is satisfactory.

In addition, the first housing 11 includes a first reinforcement flange 11a arranged between the dome-shaped upper portion and the insulating sleeve region and a second reinforcing flange 11b to serve as a flange for attachment to the second housing 12.

The first casing 11 is assembled to the second casing 12 at the level of the interface plane P by means of a plurality of screws which pass respectively through the holes 110 at the bottom of the hot part (collar 11b of the first casing 11) and the holes 112. at the top of the cold room, which can be tapped holes.

The operation of the compressor is ensured by the reciprocating movement of the piston 7, as well as by the action of a suction valve 46a on the inlet 46, of a nonreturn valve 47a of discharge on the outlet 47.

The various steps A, B, C, D described below are shown in FIGS. 1 and 8.

Step A.

The piston, initially at the top, moves downwards and the volume of the first chamber 21 increases while the volume of the second chamber 22 decreases. As a result, the fluid is pushed through the regenerator 9 from the bottom to the top, and warms up as it passes. The pressure Pw increases concomitantly.

Step B.

When the pressure Pw exceeds a certain value, the outlet valve 47a opens and the pressure Pw is established at the outlet pressure P2 of the compressed fluid and the fluid is expelled towards the outlet (the inlet valve 46a remains well sure closed during this time). This continues until the bottom dead center of the piston.

Step C.

The piston now moves from bottom to top and the volume of the second chamber increases as the first volume of the chamber decreases. By the fact, the fluid is pushed through the regenerator 9 from the top to the down, and cool down in passing. The pressure Pw decreases concomitantly. The outlet valve 47a closes at the beginning of rise.

Step D.

When the pressure Pw falls below a certain value, the inlet valve 46a opens and the pressure Pw is established at the pressure P1 of the fluid inlet and the fluid is sucked through the inlet 46 (the outlet valve 47a remains of course closed during this time). This continues to the top dead center of the piston. The inlet valve 46a will close from the beginning of the descent of the piston.

The movements of the rod 8 can be controlled by any suitable driving device arranged in the auxiliary chamber 23. In the example illustrated, it is a self-driving device 4 acting on one end of the rod . This self-driving device 4 comprises an inertial flywheel 42, a rod 41 connected to said flywheel by a pivot connection, for example a rolling bearing 43. The connecting rod 41 is connected to the rod by another pivot connection, for example a rolling bearing 44.

In the illustrated example, self-driving device 4 is housed in an auxiliary chamber 23 filled with the gaseous working fluid at a pressure denoted Pa. The sealing ring 18 is interposed between the second chamber 22 and the auxiliary chamber 23 When the device is in operation, the pressure Pa in the auxiliary chamber 23 converges towards an average pressure substantially equal to the half-sum of the minimum pressures P1 and max P2. When the device has been stopped for some time, the pressure in the auxiliary chamber Pa becomes equal to the pressure prevailing in the second chamber 22. In fact, because of the functional clearance between 2 and 20 μιη between the ring 18 and the rod 8, a very small leak does not maintain a pressure differential over the long term, but in dynamic mode, this very small leak does not night not functioning and remains negligible.

When the steering wheel rotates by one turn, the piston sweeps a volume corresponding to the distance between the neutral point and bottom dead point, multiplied by the diameter Dl.

The diameter of the rod D2 is greater than a quarter of the diameter D1 of the piston, so that the pressure exerted on the piston is (Pw-Pa) x D2.

The thermodynamic cycle, as shown in FIG. 8, provides positive work to the self-driving device.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the forces exerted on the piston supply energy to the flywheel during the steps A, B whereas in the step C, D it is the flywheel which provides energy. to the piston train, knowing that the piston must at all times overcome the minimal residual rolling or frictional forces. The balance of work provided by the complete cycle is positive; As a result, the reciprocating displacement of the piston 7 can be self-maintained by said drive system 4.

The self-training work is proportional to the section of the rod and therefore the section of the rod will be chosen so as to generate enough work. For example, a diameter D2 at least equal to a quarter of the diameter D1 of the piston will be chosen.

An electric motor (not shown) is coupled, in the example here by magnetic means, with the flywheel. This engine is used to give an initial pulse to start the cycle. The motor is also used to regulate the steady state cycling speed. The magnetic coupling between the engine and the flywheel avoids any problem of rotating joint and potential leak associated.

Moreover, advantageously according to an optional aspect shown in FIG. double-acting elastic return 45, which operates in parallel with the above-mentioned flywheel assembly. For example, this can be formed by a spring operating in tension and compression and whose equilibrium length is chosen to exert no effort halfway through the cycle.

The elastic return means cyclically stores and restores energy.

Alternatively, one can also have two springs which work in an antagonistic way and whose efforts are balanced at the halfway point of the cycle.

Advantageously, the forces supported by the connecting rod-flywheel are reduced because part of the forces is supported by the elastic return system.

We can thus dimension at the most just the bearings

43.44 which contributes to the optimization of the drive mechanism and the lack of maintenance need.

To minimize heat transfer by conduction, the piston is constructed in two parts, as illustrated in particular in FIG. 11, a base 71 with very precise geometrical characteristics as indicated above (in particular the edge 73) and a head 72 which is made of thermally insulative material or in several stages separated by thermal insulators.

In addition, the rod 8 is cooled by a deflector 14 of the cooled gaseous fluid flow; this device guides the fluid so that the cooled gaseous fluid licks the rod 8 and cools it.

The deflector 14 is in the form of a disc of external diameter D1 with a central orifice of diameter slightly greater than that D2 of the rod (see FIG. 2), so that a passage 14a is thus defined, which forces the working fluid cold to lick the rod 8 so as to cool.

The channels are made in the form of holes obtained by machining in the lower structural part 11, that is to say the first housing or the 'cooler'. Preferably, the first housing and a solid one-piece piece as shown in Figures 3 and 5.

The cold channels 26 of the gaseous working fluid are formed at this point by bores 16 extend parallel to the axial direction X and are arranged circumferentially next to each other around the second chamber. Said bores 16 comprise small-diameter bores 67 and larger-diameter bores 66 in the diametrical connection zones of the inlet 46 and the outlet 47.

In addition, the first auxiliary cold channels 51 conducting the coupling fluid of the cold source extend parallel to the axial direction and are arranged in a square opposite the holes 160 of the sole 10; in addition, other second auxiliary cold channels 52 extend along Y1 perpendicular to the axial direction and serve as a collector to the first auxiliary cold channels 51 by connecting thereto (see FIG. 5); furthermore other second auxiliary cold channels 53 extend along Y2 perpendicular to X and Y1.

The first auxiliary cold channels 51 and the second auxiliary cold channels 52 are also formed by holes through the massive part formed by the first casing 11.

In addition, the cold room comprises a lower groove 55 of diameter greater than the diameter D of the piston which serves as a collector for the cold channels 26 (holes 16) for communicating said cold channels 26 with the bottom 65 of the second chamber 22, ( see Figures 2 and 3).

Moreover, according to an alternative solution shown in FIG. 9, all the first auxiliary cold channels 57, 58 are obtained by bores perpendicular to the axial direction. A first series 57 of holes are arranged along Y2 one above the other and pass through the circle on which the holes 16 are arranged; a second series 58 of holes are also arranged one above the other along Yl, cross at right angles the holes 57 of the first series with fluid communication, and also pass through the circle on which the holes 16 are arranged. variant presents certain interests concerning the industrial manufacture of such a massive piece and its machining.

It should be noted that the check valves 46a, 47a can be of any type commonly used in compressors and are not necessarily arranged near the inlet and outlet 46,47.

It should be noted that the arrangement of the device could be reversed, namely the cold part at the top and the hot part at the bottom, but it is understood that the disposition according to the vertical makes it possible to eliminate the effects of gravity with respect to the radial direction of the device and in particular with respect to the guide of the rod and the piston guide and the elimination of friction

It should be noted that to increase the compression ratio, it is possible to have several compression devices as described previously in series.

It should be noted that the boundary between the first housing and the second housing could be located at a different position.

The insulating sleeve 37 could be formed by a specific piece interposed between the first and second casings.

Claims

A device for thermal compression of a gaseous fluid, comprising:

an inlet (46) of gaseous fluid to be compressed and an outlet (47) of compressed gaseous fluid,

a working enclosure (2) containing a gaseous fluid,

a first chamber (21), thermally coupled to a hot source (6) adapted to supply calories to the gaseous fluid,

a second chamber (22) thermally coupled to a cold source (5) for transferring calories from the gaseous fluid to the cold source,

a piston (7) movably mounted in a cylindrical jacket in an axial direction (X) and separating the first chamber (21) and the second chamber (22) inside said working chamber, the piston being displaced by a rod (8) integral with the piston,

a regenerative exchanger (9) and communication channels communicating fluidly the first and second chambers,

in which the rod is arranged in a cylindrical sleeve (17) integral with the chamber, and the rod is guided in axial translation by a linear guide system (3) in order to guide the piston without contact with respect to the jacket,

characterized in that a cylindrical sealing ring (18) fixed in the cylindrical sleeve surrounds the rod with a radial clearance (el) of between 2 and 20 μηι, to strongly limit the passage of gaseous fluid along the movable rod to and from an auxiliary chamber (23).

The compression device according to claim 1, wherein the piston has an outer edge (73) disposed adjacent the jacket (50) and the edge outside the piston is guided without friction in the folder with a functional clearance (e2) between the outer edge and the sleeve between 5μηι and 30μιη, preferably close to 10 | im.

3. Compression device according to one of claims 1-2, wherein the linear guide system (3) is a cylindrical ball device.

4. A compression device according to one of claims 1-2, wherein the linear guide system (3) comprises plain bearings of PTFE type material.

5. Compression device according to one of claims 1-4, characterized in that it is devoid of liquid lubrication.

6. Compression device according to one of claims 1-5, wherein the rod is cooled by a deflection device (14) of the cooled gaseous fluid stream.

7. Compression device according to one of claims 1-6, wherein the rod has a diameter (D2) greater than a quarter of the diameter (Dl) of the piston.

8. Compression device according to one of claims 1-7, further comprising a self-driving device (4) acting on one end of the rod and comprising a connecting rod connected to the rod and an inertial flywheel connected to the rod.

9. A compression device according to claim 8, wherein the self-driving device (4) is disposed in the auxiliary chamber (23) filled with the gaseous fluid, the sealing ring (18) being interposed between the second chamber and the auxiliary chamber.

10. Thermal system comprising a heat transfer circuit and at least one compressor according to one of the preceding claims.