RU2146012C1 - Gas turbine plant - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: heat power engineering; heat regeneration. SUBSTANCE: gas turbine plant includes at least one gas turbine, heat exchanging device for heating compressed gas by heat from heat source, device for delivering heated compressed gas to turbine for expansion of gas and conversion of its energy into kinetic energy in gas turbine, and isothermal gas compressor. The latter is set into operation by pneumatic drive. Compressor is furnished with device forming atomized liquid jet in compression chamber for cooling gas at compression. Liquid is removed from cold compressed gas getting out of compression chamber by means of moisture separator. Rotary compressor or combustion chamber can be used as pneumatic drive. Proposed plant has main line heater furnished with combustion chamber or external heating source. Plant can be provided with second and third gas turbines and device for delivering part of cold compressed gas to blades of gas turbines for cooling the blades to obtain higher temperature at turbine inlet. Additional gas turbines and auxiliary heat exchangers should be smaller than main components of system. Gas turbine plant can be furnished with thermocompressors, closed and open cycle compressor. Heat is supplied to compressors by injecting of hot liquid. Moreover, thermocompressor can be includes into energy generation and gasification cycle. Compressor has pistons and housing of different designs and it can operate as reversible machine. EFFECT: increased efficiency and economy of plant owing to use of compressors of different design versions. 16 cl, 18 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to gas turbine plants designed to recover heat from a heat source.

 The closest analogue to the present invention is a gas turbine installation comprising a gas turbine, heat exchange means for heating the compressed gas with heat from a heat source, means for supplying heated compressed gas from the heat exchange means directly to the turbine for expanding the heated compressed gas without burning so that the gas temperature the output of the gas turbine was lower than the temperature of the heated compressed gas at the inlet of the gas turbine, a gas compressor to produce compressed gas, including conductive gas compression chamber space, destined for compression, a compression piston driving means for driving the piston in the gas compression chamber and valve means for providing suction of compressed gas from the compression chamber (SU 13340 A, 3/31/30).

 A disadvantage of the known installation is that the excess heat of the exhaust gas is irretrievably lost if it is not converted into useful energy.

 The objective of the present invention is to increase the efficiency of the installation due to heat recovery of the exhaust gases.

 The problem is solved due to the fact that the gas turbine installation comprising a gas turbine, heat exchange means for heating the compressed gas with heat from a heat source, means for supplying heated compressed gas from the heat exchange means directly to the turbine for expanding the heated compressed gas without burning so that the gas temperature the output of the gas turbine was lower than the temperature of the heated compressed gas at the inlet of the gas turbine, a gas compressor to produce compressed gas, including a compression chamber for The gas intended for compression, the compression piston, the driving means for driving the piston into the gas compression chamber from the compression chamber, further comprises a means for generating a spray of sprayed liquid in the compression chamber for cooling the gas when it is compressed therein, connecting means associated with the piston of the gas compressor to provide energy to the piston and means for removing liquid from the cold compressed gas discharged directly from the compression chamber, while the gas compressor is isothermal of compression to provide a cold compressed gas.

 The problem is also solved by the fact that the installation comprises an additional gas turbine and means for supplying hot low-pressure exhaust gas from the gas turbine to the heat exchange means for heating the cold compressed gas from the isothermal compressor.

 In addition, the installation may further comprise a main heater for generating high pressure hot gas from a portion of the heated compressed gas coming from the heat exchange means, and means for supplying high pressure hot gas for driving the turbine.

 The problem is also solved due to the fact that the main heater contains a combustion chamber that burns fuel in heated compressed gas and produces flue gas as hot high-pressure gas.

 In addition, the main heater contains an external heat source.

 The problem is also solved due to the fact that the installation contains means for supplying part of the cold compressed gas to the blades of a gas turbine for their cooling.

 The apparatus also comprises a third gas turbine, second heat exchange means for heating a portion of the cold low pressure compressed hot gas exiting said additional gas turbine, and means for supplying heated compressed gas from the second heat exchange means for driving the third gas turbine.

 In addition, the third gas turbine is an air turbine.

 The problem is also solved due to the fact that the installation contains a compressor for supplying hot compressed gas to drive an isothermal compressor.

 The isothermal gas compressor further comprises a second chamber and a second piston indirectly mechanically coupled to the compression piston.

 The compression piston and the second piston can be interconnected by a crankshaft.

 The drive means for driving the piston into the gas compression chamber comprises means for supplying a combustible fuel mixture to the second chamber, whereby its combustion drives the second piston from the second chamber.

 The gas installation further comprises means for supplying compressed gas from the compression chamber to the second chamber.

 The problem is also solved by the fact that the installation includes a heat exchange means placed with the possibility of heating the compressed gas from the compression chamber with gas from the second chamber.

 The installation may include heat transfer means arranged to heat the compressed gas from the compression chamber with heat from the end and / or wall of the second chamber.

 In addition, the means for removing liquid contains a dehumidifier.

The invention is illustrated by drawings, where:
FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an embodiment of a gas turbine plant including an isothermal compressor;
FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of another embodiment of a gas turbine unit combined with an isothermal compressor;
FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of an installation heated by coal or other fuel and combining an isothermal compressor and an air turbine;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a gas turbine installation including both a gas and an air turbine;
FIG. 5 shows a device for storing and storing cold compressed gas;
FIG. 6 shows a device for extracting accumulated compressed gas for generating energy;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating two devices for storing energy;
FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of a thermocompressor and an additional installation for generating energy;
FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of a thermocompressor and an additional installation for generating energy;
FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of a thermocompressor together with an additional installation for generating energy;
FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of a thermocompressor and an additional installation for generating energy;
FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of a thermocompressor and an additional installation for generating energy;
FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a system for extracting steam from an exhaust gas;
FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a closed-cycle gas turbine installation including a thermal compressor;
FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an apparatus for generating energy, including a thermocompressor and a second gas turbine for collecting excess heat;
FIG. 16 depicts closed-loop and open-cycle thermal compressors in which heat is supplied by injecting hot fluid;
FIG. 17 depicts an embodiment of a thermocompressor included in an energy generation and gasification cycle;
FIG. 18 shows an embodiment of a thermocompressor including two alternative energy storage devices:
Gas turbine unit with a combustion chamber and an isothermal compressor
According to FIG. 1, a gas turbine installation, indicated by 1, comprises a gas turbine 2, an isothermal compressor 3, heat exchange means in the form of a heat exchanger 4 for heating cold compressed gas using hot low pressure gas leaving the gas turbine 2, and a main heater 5 for generating high hot gas pressure from the heated compressed gas to drive the gas turbine 2. This gas turbine 2 drives an electricity generator 6. The main heater 5 includes a combustion chamber A combustion gas in a heated, pressurized, causing the combustion product or flue gas is high-pressure hot gas.

 If the isothermal compressor 3 includes a gas compressor, it is usually driven by a gas turbine. For example, in a gas driven compressor, hot compressed gas may be provided by a conventional compressor. This type of isothermal compressor produces a greater mass of cold compressed gas than a conventional compressor for a given input power. However, in a liquid-driven isothermal compressor, the same gas mass will be produced as in a conventional compressor, but less energy is required. Consequently, either the energy from the gas turbine will be used to drive the compressor, or the energy to drive the isothermal compressor will be the same as for a conventional compressor, except that a large mass of gas will be produced for use in starting the gas turbine .

 Since the heat leaving the gas turbine is used to heat the inlet gas, there is no need for a heat recovery steam generator and associated steam turbine, which are necessary in the combined cycle of the gas turbine and steam generator. Since a steam generator is not required, restrictions imposed on the gas turbine unit by the steam generator are excluded. Therefore, the temperature of the heat leaving the gas turbine can be increased above the value corresponding to the steam cycle, and optimized to obtain the best performance of the gas turbine. This may include the use of a gas turbine with more than one stage of combustion (i.e. heating a gas turbine). In addition, a portion of the cooled compressed gas from the isothermal compressor can be used to enhance cooling of the gas turbine blades in order to obtain a higher temperature at the turbine inlet.

 In the cycle, any form of cooling system can be used, for example wet, dry or mixed type tower refrigerators or direct cooling with atmospheric air, or with a mass of water, for example, from the sea, river, etc. In the case where the cold compressed gas is air and the hot high pressure gas is flue gas or combustion products, more heat can be obtained from the flue gas than is necessary for heating cold compressed air (due to the difference in heat capacity of the two gas streams). This excess heat can be used for other purposes, for example, to heat an additional stream of cold compressed air, which then expands (without burning fuel) through one or more air turbines to generate more power, possibly using one or more auxiliary heat exchangers to achieve this.

 Additional gas turbines and auxiliary heat exchangers should be much smaller than the main components of the system, since the flow through this part of the circuit should be only part of the main flow. Alternatively, the additional heat from the flue gas can be used for some other external purposes. In FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a gas turbine installation, indicated at 7, which embodies the first of these alternatives.

Gas turbine installation and auxiliary gas turbines
The gas turbine unit 7 includes a gas turbine 8, which starts the first generator 9, an isothermal compressor 10, a heat exchanger 11, for heating cold compressed air from the compressor with exhaust gases from the gas turbine 8. Most of the heated compressed air is supplied to the combustion chamber for combustion with fuel and flue gas for the gas turbine 8, and part of the heated compressed air is supplied to the inlet of the first additional gas turbine 12, which starts the second generator 13. Outgoing from the first gas turbine 12, air is passed through an air-to-air (air) heat exchanger in the form of a heat exchanger 14 for heating a portion of cold compressed air from an isothermal compressor to drive a second gas turbine 15. In this embodiment of a gas turbine installation, the isothermal compressor 10 is a gas-driven compressor that is driven in motion by a rotary compressor 16, driven by a gas turbine 8.

Gas turbine unit and isothermal compressor
Instead of a main heater 17 containing a combustion chamber, the installation may contain an external heating source, which may be a coal or oil burning furnace, heat obtained from chemical or industrial processes, a nuclear reactor or a solar furnace. In FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a gas turbine installation containing a gas turbine 18, while the main heater 19 in the installation is a carbon-burning furnace. The device is similar to that shown in FIG. 1, except that the cold compressed air from the isothermal compressor 20 is heated by the exhaust air from the gas turbine and the heated air from the heat exchanger is heated by the main heater 19 and then expanded in the gas turbine. Such a device should be used in cases where it is undesirable to pass combustion products from the combustion chamber through the turbine. A very similar circuit should be used for heat sources (for example, industrial, chemical, solar nuclear, geothermal), where there are no combustion products. A significant difference should be that the carbon-burning furnace must be replaced with another type of heat exchanger.

 As for the gas turbine installation shown in FIG. 1, an external heating cycle may include heating steps during the expansion of air in a turbine. A feature of any open or closed external heating cycle that does not have combustion products as a working fluid is that the heat capacity of the exhaust gas from the turbine is essentially the same as the heat capacity of the intake gas. Therefore, there is no excess heat, which otherwise should have been due to the difference in heat capacity of the two gas flows, and therefore, there are no additional turbines in this part of the circuit. In FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of a gas turbine installation, indicated at 21, which includes both a gas turbine 22 driving the first generator 23 and a gas turbine 24 driving the second generator 25. The heat of the exhaust gas from the gas turbine 22 is extracted by heating a cold compressed source air, which then expands in the volume of the gas turbine 24. Since the gas turbine is used in the final low-temperature stage of the energy generation cycle, this cycle is referred to as an air ballast cycle.

Air ballast gas turbine
According to FIG. 4, hot compressed air from the first rotary compressor 26 is supplied to the combustion chamber 27 for combustion with fuel. The flue gas is then fed to the inlet of the gas turbine 22, which drives the first generator 23. Hot compressed air from the second conventional rotary compressor 28 is supplied to an isothermal compressor 29, which may be a gas driven compressor. The cold compressed air from the isothermal compressor 29 is directed to a heat exchanger 30, in which the compressed air is heated by the hot exhaust gas from the gas turbine 22. The hot compressed air from the heat exchanger 30 is supplied to the inlet of the gas turbine 24, which drives the second generator 25.

 Although the air ballast cycle with isothermal compressor 29 may not be as efficient as the cycle shown in FIG. 1 and 2, a significant advantage of this cycle is that the gas turbine used in the cycle can be one of those currently used in existing gas turbine plants. Therefore, this option eliminates the costly improvement of the gas turbine and also eliminates capital investment in steam generators used with CCST.

The method of energy storage and extraction
An isothermal compressor can be used to store energy in the form of compressed gas, such as air. There are already schemes for energy storage in the form of compressed gas, but the use of conventional compressors means that a significant proportion of the energy is dissipated in the form of heat and cannot be extracted and disposed of. If the air is isothermally compressed, less energy is consumed during the compression process, and a large fraction of the initial energy can be extracted and disposed of. Cold compressed air can be stored in appropriate large enclosed chambers or cavities that can withstand the applied pressure without excessive leakage. For example, disused mines or oil wells may be used for these purposes. Spent offshore or offshore oil wells should have the advantage that the sea will provide natural external sealing that will slow leakage.

Typically, in order to operate an isothermal compressor as an isothermal expander, the cooled compressed gas from the storage ring is introduced into the compression chamber and its expansion is possible, in which the piston extends from the chamber. When the gas expands, liquid is sprayed in the chamber to maintain a constant gas temperature or to increase the gas temperature. The compression energy (and thermal) of the gas is converted into kinetic energy, which is transmitted either to the second piston for compressing the gas body in the second chamber, or to the same piston for compressing the gas on its return to the compression chamber. The gas is compressed adiabatically, so that its temperature rises to the operating temperature of the turbine, for example, about 300 ^o C for an air turbine.

 In FIG. 5 shows the energy storage scheme in more detail, in which the stored energy is extracted by operating an isothermal compressor operating in reverse mode as an expander or expander. According to FIG. 5, the energy storage unit comprises an isothermal compressor 31 driven by a rotary compressor 32, which in turn is driven by a motor 33. The compressor 31 includes an upper chamber 34 located vertically above the lower chamber 35, and a solid piston 36 that freely oscillates vertically up and down in and out of each camera. The lower chamber 35 accommodates a sealed volume of gas and serves as an adiabatic bounce chamber to drive the piston back into the compression chamber 34. In the upper chamber 34, an inlet 37 for hot compression of air, adjustable by a valve 38, is provided for inlet of hot compressed air into the chamber from the rotary compressor 32. An air inlet 39, controlled by a valve 40, is provided for introducing additional mass of low pressure air into the upper chamber 34 while the piston 38 is moving out. A compressed air outlet 41, controlled by a valve 42, is provided to permit the release of compressed gas from the chamber. The compressed air outlet 41 is connected through a dehumidifier 43 to a large cavity, for example an unused shaft, for accumulating and storing cooled compressed gas (air). The upper chamber 34 is connected to a spray liquid spraying means made in the form of a spray injection hole 44 through which liquid from the injection pump 45 is sprayed into the chamber 34. The liquid is supplied by the injection spray pump 45 from an appropriate source, for example, a reservoir, a river, and t .P. or storage tank 46, and then returns from the liquid removal means in the form of a dehumidifier 43 to a water storage tank or tank 46. The spray liquid displaced from the compression chamber after compression is usually at a temperature above ambient temperature and the heat of this liquid can be stored and stored for later use during energy recovery. In this case, it is preferable to insulate the water storage to prevent heat leakage from the water storage to the environment.

 In FIG. 6 shows another possible scheme for extracting energy from stored compressed air, including an isothermal expander, indicated at 47.

 The isothermal expander has an upper chamber 48 located vertically above the lower chamber 49, and a solid piston 50 freely oscillating in a vertical plane to and from each chamber. In the upper chamber 48, a chilled compressed gas inlet 51 is provided, located at the top of the chamber and controlled by a valve 52, which is connected to the compressed gas storage 53. In the upper chamber 48, a spray injection hole 54 is also provided, connected to the water storage 55 through a spray injection pump 56. In the wall of the upper chamber 43 at some distance from the top there is a gas outlet 57 connected to a water separator 58. In the lower chamber 49 there is a gas inlet 59 valve 60 to allow air to be drawn into the chamber and the compressed gas outlet 61, controlled by a valve 62 connected to the inlet of the air turbine 63. The gas inlet and outlet are located in the chamber walls at some distance from the base of the lower chamber. Gas turbine 63 drives generator 64.

 The typical operating cycle of the energy recovery apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is carried out as follows, starting when the piston 50 is in the maximum raised position in the upper chamber 48. At this point, the lower chamber 49 contains a fresh volume of air to be compressed, and both the inlet 60 and the outlet 62 are locked. When the piston 50 stops briefly at the top of its stroke, the compressed gas inlet valve 52 opens to allow a fresh portion of the cooled compressed air from the air storage 53 to enter the upper chamber 48 through the gas inlet 51. Then, the compressed air expands, causing the piston 50 to move in a downward direction. direction. At the same time, warm water from the water storage 55 is injected into the upper chamber 48 in the form of water dust. Water dust transfers heat to compressed air when it expands to prevent air cooling, so this expansion can be close to isothermal. When the piston 50 enters the lower chamber 49, the air in the lower chamber adiabatically compresses, and when the air pressure reaches the desired value, the gas exhaust valve 62 opens and hot compressed air flows from the lower chamber 49 and expands in the air turbine 63. When the piston 50 passes the gas the inlet and outlet openings 59 and 61, the residual air trapped in the chamber below the gas inlet and outlet openings adiabatically compresses and serves to temporarily store the remaining energy of the piston in order to return the piston the upper point of its stroke in the upper chamber. The piston briefly stops above the base of the lower chamber and then moves upward when trapped hot compressed air expands. When the piston reverses direction, the gas exhaust valve 65 in the upper chamber 48 opens and the expanded air, together with the water dust, is forced out of the chamber through the dehumidifier 58. The water dust is separated from the air and returned to the water storage 55, and the air from the dehumidifier is forced out into the atmosphere. When the piston 50 moves in an upward direction and passes the air inlet 59 in the lower chamber, the air inlet valve 60 opens and a fresh portion of air is sucked into the compression chamber 49 for the next cycle. The upward movement of the piston 50 is stopped by an air cushion of residual air trapped in the upper chamber 48 when the piston passes through the gas outlet 57. Finally, the piston 50 reaches its top stroke in the upper chamber for a cycle.

 Although in each of FIG. Figures 5 and 6 show one water storage, for an optimal storage method, it is necessary to have one or more heat-insulated storage tanks containing cold water for an isothermal expander, and one or more heat-insulated tanks for warm water, which is designed for an isothermal compressor. In the next cycle of accumulation and extraction, cold water will be used for isothermal compression and warm water will be used for isothermal expansion.

 Described above and shown in FIG. 5 and 6, the energy storage and extraction scheme does not require any fuel or external heat sources in the energy extraction process. An isothermal compressor and an isothermal expander can be the same unit, modified when it is necessary for one of its functions (either as a compressor or as an expander), or can be made in the form of two separate units or units, one specifically for gas compression isothermal for energy storage, and the other for gas expansion isothermally for energy extraction. Although isothermal expansion for energy extraction requires heat to prevent cooling of the air when it expands, this heat can be provided by a source of water at ambient temperature. If a heat source with a temperature above ambient is available or is available (for example, from industrial or industrial processes or from cooling systems of existing power plants or power plants), then it is possible to return more electricity than was originally accumulated.

 An alternative attempt to accumulate energy is to use a cycle similar to that described previously and shown in FIG. 1-3, but with equipment for the accumulation and storage of cold compressed air. With low energy requirements, excess energy is used to seal the cavity. With high energy requirements, cold air is sucked out of the cavity, and the maximum power is distributed to the consumer.

 In FIG. 7 illustrates one of the possible energy storage and extraction schemes equipped with an isothermal compressor and a gas turbine, described with reference to FIG. 1. Components of the gas turbine plant of FIG. 7 are exactly the same as the components in FIG. 1. In FIG. 7 depicts two alternative energy storage schemes, one of which includes the storage of thermal energy, for example, in the form of ice, and the other, which includes the storage of energy in the form of cold compressed air, as described above. In the latter scheme, the output of the isothermal compressor is connected to a large cavity in which compressed air is accumulated and stored. During periods of low energy demand, more isothermal air is produced than is necessary to drive the gas turbine unit, and this air accumulates. During periods of high energy demand, the amount of isothermal air produced by the installation decreases, and air is taken from the storage cavity. The attractiveness of an energy storage system with an isothermal compressor compared to conventional compressed air storage systems is that since the air is compressed at the same temperature as it is stored, no energy is consumed to produce excess heat that would otherwise be lost.

 Depicted in FIG. 7, the second energy storage circuit includes a refrigeration (or refrigeration) system 66 connected to an ice / water storage tank. Water from the storage tank 67 may be supplied to an isothermal compressor 68 for use in spraying during the compression process. The choice of a thermal ice / water storage system is attractive when there is a large difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures. Usually at night, when the ambient temperature is lower, but the energy requirement is also low, the unit can be operated at full capacity, and the excess energy is used to actuate the refrigerator (refrigeration) system 66 to freeze water and store it in the form of ice. During this time, the external spray water cooling system must be completely disposed of 67.

 In the daytime, when the energy requirement is high, the spray water cooling system 67 must be replaced or replenished by cooling when the ice melts.

 Many different manufacturing processes are known that involve the compression of gases, including air, on a large scale. Examples of these processes are freezing and liquefaction. They are often used as a way to separate and purify gases. Compression processes are energy intensive. An isothermal compressor reduces energy consumption and can be used to freeze and / or liquefy a large number of gases.

Thermal compressors
Combustion driven compressor
In FIG. 8 shows a variant of a gas compressor fed with thermal energy, which is designed as a component of a power power plant. According to FIG. 8, the compressor, indicated at 68, comprises a gas compressor 69 driven by hot compressed gas and a combustion compressor 70 driven by burning fuel. The isothermal compressor 69 is gas driven.

 The combustion compressor 70 comprises an upper chamber or compartment 71 located above the lower compartment 72, with each compartment being cylindrically symmetrical. The diameter of the upper compartment 71 is smaller than the diameter of the lower compartment, and the compartments are located on one straight line coaxially to each other. The combustion chamber 73 is formed in the upper compartment 71 and has a hot compressed gas inlet 74 adjustable by a valve 75, a fuel inlet 76 and a flue gas outlet 77 controlled by a valve 78. A hot compressed gas inlet 74 is connected to an outlet 79 for compressed gas of an isothermal compressor 69 with a gas drive through a gas-air heat exchanger 80, which heats the cooled compressed gas or air from the isothermal compressor 69 with flue gases from the combustion chamber 73. That the compression compressor 70 further comprises an adiabatic compression chamber 81 formed in the upper part of the lower compartment 72, a gas inlet 82 controlled by a valve 83 and a compressed gas outlet 84 controlled by a valve 85 and connected to a gas turbine 86, which drives the generator 87. An adiabatic compression / expansion or bounce chamber 88 is formed in the lower part of the lower compartment 72. The combustion compressor 70 has a massive solid piston 89 including an upper part 90, the size of which corresponds to the diameter of the upper compartment 71, and the lower part 91, the size of which corresponds to the diameter of the lower compartment 72. The adiabatic bounce chamber 88 encloses a sealed volume of air or other gas to provide a means of converting the downward kinetic energy of the piston into upward kinetic energy, whereby return stroke.

 Around the walls of the combustion chamber 73 is made a cooling casing 93. A cooling casing 93 is also made around the head of the combustion chamber, in which the gas inlet and outlet valves are located, in order to circulate the cooling medium for cooling the walls of the combustion chamber. Typically, a portion of the cooled compressed air from the isothermal compressor 69 is used as the cooling medium directed to the cooling casing 93 after removing moisture from the compressed gas in the dehumidifier 94. The cooling casing has an outlet 95 that is connected to a supply pipe connecting the compressed gas outlet 84 in an adiabatic compression chamber 81 with a gas turbine 86. Thus, the cooled compressed gas directed into the cooling casing draws heat from the walls of the combustion chamber, and this energy is It is converted into mechanical energy by expanding the hot compressed gas leaving the cooling casing into an air turbine 86.

The isothermal gas compressor 69 is driven by a portion of the hot compressed gas produced by the combustion compressor 70 in the adiabatic compression chamber 81. The function of the gas compressor 69 is to produce a large amount of cooled compressed air or other oxidizing agent with a temperature, for example, of the order of 40 ^° C. The compressor 69 produces significantly a greater mass of compressed air than is required to bring it into action. The cooled compressed air from the isothermal compressor 69 is heated and used to drive the combustion compressor 70. The function of the combustion compressor 70 is to produce large quantities of hot compressed gas, which can then be used to drive the turbine to generate electricity. As mentioned above, a portion of the hot compressed air produced by the combustion compressor is used to drive the isothermal compressor 69. The cold compressed air outlet 79 of the isothermal compressor is connected to the inlet 74 for the hot compressed air of the combustion compressor 70 through a moisture separator 94 and a gas heat exchanger air 80. The flue gas exhaust port 77 of the combustion compressor is connected to a gas-air heat exchanger 80 so that heat from the hot flue gas coming from the combustion chamber 79, is transferred to the cooled compressed air from the isothermal compressor 69. The outlet for hot compressed air 84 of the combustion compressor is connected to the inlet 96 for hot compressed air of the isothermal compressor 69.

 A typical duty cycle of the compressor of FIG. 8, as will be described later, begins at the point in time when the piston 97 is at the top of its stroke in the isothermal compression chamber 98 of the isothermal compressor 69. All gas inlet and outlet valves of the isothermal compression chamber are locked.

When the piston 97 momentarily stops, the hot compressed air inlet valve 99 opens to let the hot compressed air in from the combustion compressor 70 into the chamber 98 through the hot compressed gas inlet 96. It moves the piston 97 downward from its highest position out of the chamber 98. When the piston reaches a predetermined position, the compressed gas inlet valve 99 closes and the air adiabatically expands while continuing to move the piston in a downward direction. When the air pressure in the chamber 98 drops to a certain predetermined value, the gas inlet valve 100 opens and additional relatively low pressure air (i.e. atmospheric air) is sucked into the chamber 98 as the piston 97 continues to move out of the chamber. At this stage, piston 97 continues its downward movement due to its large inertia. When the piston moves down, it compresses the gas in the adiabatic bounce chamber 101 below, this compression is carried out adiabatically. Ultimately, all of the kinetic energy of the piston is converted into gas energy in the bounce chamber 101, and the piston stops momentarily. At this point, the gas inlet valve 100 in the isothermal compression chamber is locked. The piston then reverses direction as the gas in the bounce chamber 101 begins to expand, moving the piston up. The piston 97 moves back into the isothermal compression chamber, compressing the air contained therein, which includes the mass of cooled expanded air introduced previously through the opening 96 from the combustion compressor 70 and the additional mass of relatively low pressure introduced through the opening 102. The initial compression is adiabatic. but when the air reaches the temperature necessary to spray the liquid, liquid is injected into the compression chamber 98 through the liquid injection port 103. The diameter of the droplets forming water dust is usually about 0.4 mm, which provides a large surface area for heat transfer, so that the air temperature is kept lower than about 40 ^o C. In the absence of spraying, the temperature will reach more than 300 ^o C. When the air pressure in the compression chamber 98 reaches the required value, the exhaust valve 104 for compressed gas opens and the cooled compressed air together with the atomized liquid is sucked out of the chamber through the gas outlet 79. A mixture of cooled air and water hydrochloric dust is passed through a drier 94, where dust is separated and the water returned through the return conduit 105 to cooling system 106, where it is cooled before re-use in the spray. Before the piston 97 reaches the top of its stroke, the compressed gas exhaust valve 104 may open and the stored kinetic energy of the piston can be partially absorbed by the compressible residual gas at the top of the chamber 98. When the piston 97 momentarily stops in the chamber 98, the inlet valve 99 the hot compressed gas is opened, and a fresh portion of the hot compressed air from the combustion compressor 70 is introduced into the chamber 98 through the inlet 96 of the hot compressed gas. Then the piston begins to move in the downward direction due to the expansion of the compressed air, and the cycle repeats.

The cooled compressed gas from the compression chamber 98 of the isothermal compressor 69, passing through the moisture separator 94, is then passed through a gas-air heat exchanger 80, in which it is heated by exhaust gases from the combustion compressor from a temperature of about 40 ^° C to a temperature of about 850 ^° C and above. This temperature is determined by the restrictions for the materials from which the gas-air 80 heat exchanger and the pipeline from the heat exchanger to the combustion compressor are made.

Let us now return to the combustion compressor 70. When the piston 89 stops briefly at the top of its stroke in the combustion chamber 73, the hot compressed gas inlet valve 75 opens and a predetermined mass of heated air from the gas-air heat exchanger 80 is introduced into the chamber 73 through the hot inlet 74 compressed gas. The air inlet valve 75 is then locked and a predetermined mass of fuel is injected into the chamber 73 through the fuel inlet 76. The fuel is ignited (forced) and fuel is burned, moving the piston 89 downward from the combustion chamber 73, whereby kinetic energy is supplied to the piston. Fuel is added so that the gas pressure remains approximately constant during fuel injection. When the required amount of fuel is injected, its injection stops, and the flue gases expand adiabatically from a pressure of about 20 or 30 bar to close to atmospheric pressure. During the combustion phase at constant pressure, cooled compressed air is injected into the cooling jacket 93 around the combustion chamber 73 to cool the walls of the combustion chamber. When the piston 89 moves downward from its highest position, atmospheric air is sucked into the adiabatic compression chamber through the gas inlet 82. At the same time, the piston slides into the adiabatic bounce chamber 88 and begins to compress the sealed volume of gas. After the compressed gas inlet valve 75 is closed and fuel injection into the combustion chamber is stopped, the flue gases adiabatically expand and continue to transmit kinetic energy to the piston 97. This energy is absorbed by the gas in the adiabatic bounce chamber 88, and ultimately the piston stops briefly, this moment, the gas inlet valve 83 in the adiabatic compression chamber 81 is locked. Then the gas in the adiabatic bounce chamber 88 begins to expand adiabatically and moves the piston upward both into the adiabatic compression chamber 81 and into the combustion chamber 73. When the piston moves into the combustion chamber 73, hot flue gases are expelled from the combustion chamber through the exhaust gas outlet 77. When the piston moves up into the compression chamber 81, it adiabatically compresses the air introduced previously, so that the heat of compression increases the temperature of the air during this compression to a temperature above 300 ^o C.

 During the combustion phase at constant pressure, cooled air is injected into the cooling jacket 93 around the walls of the combustion chamber to cool the walls of the chamber.

When the piston 89 moves down from its highest position, atmospheric air is sucked into the adiabatic compression chamber 81 through the gas inlet 82. At the same time, the piston slides into the adiabatic bounce chamber 88 and begins to compress the sealed volume of gas. After locking the compressed gas inlet valve 75 and stopping fuel injection into the combustion chamber 73, the flue gases adiabatically expand and continue to transmit kinetic energy to the piston 97. This energy is absorbed by the gas in the adiabatic bounce chamber 88 and finally the piston stops momentarily, at that moment the gas inlet the valve 83 in the adiabatic compression chamber is locked. Then, the gas in the adiabatic bounce chamber 88 begins to expand, moving the piston in an upward direction to both the adiabatic compression chamber 81 and the combustion chamber 73. When the piston enters the combustion chamber 73, hot flue gases are expelled from the combustion chamber through the exhaust gas outlet 77. When the piston moves up into the compression chamber 81, it adiabatically compresses the air introduced into the chamber earlier, so that the heat of compression increases the temperature of the air during this process to a temperature of the order above 300 ^o C. When the air in the chamber 81 of the adiabatic compression reaches the required pressure, t .e. inlet working pressure i.e. the inlet working air pressure in the air turbine, which can be from 20 to 30 bar, the hot compressed gas exhaust valve 85 opens and the hot compressed gas leaves the compression chamber 81 through the gas outlet 84. The piston 89 continues to move to its top point of travel, and then the exhaust valve 85 of the hot compressed gas is locked. Most of the hot compressed air is used to drive the main gas turbine 86, but part of the compressed air is used to drive the isothermal compressor 69.

 Since more heat can be obtained from the exhaust gases from the combustion compressor 70 than is necessary to heat the isothermally compressed air required to drive the combustion compressor 70, the excess heat is used to heat additional air from the isothermal compressor 69, and this heated compressed air is passed directly into a gas turbine 86, in which it expands to produce additional energy.

 To maximize the extraction of energy from hot exhaust gases, the thermocompressor should be designed so that the temperature and pressure of the compressed air leaving the gas-air heat exchanger 80 match or almost match the temperature and pressure of the compressed air from the adiabatic compression chamber 81. This is possible due to the design of a compressor with a high compression ratio (for example, from 25 to 40). The optimal compression ratio is determined by the ratio of the absolute combustion temperature to the absolute temperature of the exhaust gases when they exit the combustion chamber. In this case, it is customary to extract all excess heat in one expansion by simply adding excess air from the gas-air heat exchanger to the gas turbine inlet. When extracting heat in this way, mainly, the need for a separate small gas turbine and associated generator is eliminated, which will reduce the capital investment in the installation. The heat of the exhaust gas, which is not required to heat the cooled compressed gas required for combustion, will usually be a small fraction (about 12%) of the total useful heat of the exhaust gas. However, in order to maximize the efficiency of a power plant, it is important to extract all excess heat from any particular process. It is clear that the excess exhaust or exhaust heat from the combustion chamber can be extracted in various ways, and that a suitable method will depend on the design parameters (such as the compression ratio of the gas, the temperature of the air entering the combustion chamber and the combustion temperature) of the individual compressor. For example, in some applications, it may be useful to introduce more than one auxiliary air or gas turbine and associated heat exchangers and power generators.

 To start the compressor 68 from a standstill, an external means is needed to provide initial energy for starting the movement of the piston, this can be done by providing a relatively small axial compressor to produce hot compressed air to start the isothermal compressor. When an isothermal compressor produces chilled compressed air, it can be used to start the combustion compressor. Although the operation of an isothermal compressor depends on the combustion compressor and vice versa, the mutual phase between the duty cycle of the isothermal compressor and the duty cycle of the combustion compressor is completely arbitrary. Also, the operating frequency of an isothermal compressor may differ from the operating frequency of a combustion compressor. Usually there should be a finite time interval between the outlet of the cooled compressed air from the isothermal compressor and the injection of heated compressed air into the combustion compressor, and there should also be a finite time interval between the exit of the hot compressed air from the furnace compressor and the injection of hot compressed air into the isothermal compressor. Therefore, the system must have a constant finite period, which can vary depending on the characteristics of the components, for example, the length of the piping system used for the passage of compressed gas between the compressors.

Combustion driven compressor
Solid Piston - Asymmetric
In another embodiment of the thermocompressor, both processes, and the adiabatic and isothermal compression processes can be directly triggered by burning fuel through a single massive piston. A chamber on one side of the piston can serve as a combustion chamber in which a mixture of fuel and air or another oxidizer is ignited, producing high-temperature flue gas to communicate kinetic energy to the piston. The chamber on the other side of the piston contains the gas to be compressed, which can then be used to drive the turbine. Since flue gas typically has a much higher temperature than gas from a rotary compressor, much more energy will be communicated to the piston, allowing the gas to expand completely, allowing more gas to be compressed in the compression chamber. The air or other oxidizing agent used to burn the fuel may itself be compressed in a portion of the compression chamber. Air / oxidizer can be cooled during the compression process using liquid atomization to minimize compression work. Advantageously, the heat exchanger can preheat at least a portion of the cooled compressed gas with hot exhaust gas from the combustion chamber, and a portion of this heated gas can be introduced into the combustion chamber for combustion with suitable fuel.

Part of the gas in the compression chamber can be adiabatically compressed and supplied directly to drive the turbine. The compressed gas may, for example, be air for driving a gas turbine that operates at a relatively low temperature and the gas leaving it is very close to the ambient temperature. Therefore, the combination of a gas compressor driven by a furnace eye with an exceptionally high temperature makes it possible to convert thermal energy into compression energy of a large volume of compressed air, and a gas turbine driven by compressed air that removes heat at relatively low temperatures can be considered thermal machine, the operation of which is close to the ideal Carnot cycle which has an efficiency η, defined by η = 1 - t ₁ / t ₂ where t ₁ - temperature at cat swarm heat is removed, and t ₂ - the temperature at which heat is absorbed.

 The piston can move up and down or alternatively back and forth in the horizontal plane. An embodiment in which a solid piston can oscillate vertically up and down between adjacent upper compression chambers and a lower combustion chamber is shown in FIG. 9 as a component of a power plant.

 According to FIG. 9, the thermocompressor comprises an isothermal compression chamber 107 and an adjacent adiabatic compression chamber 108, both located above the combustion chamber 109. The compression chambers 107 and 108 are separated by a vertical partition 110, which extends downward from the top of each chamber. The piston 111 containing the solid material has a slit or slot 112 formed therein, which extends from the top 113 of the piston 111 downward to accommodate the vertical baffle so that the piston can freely move up and down into and out of the isothermal and adiabatic chambers 107 and 108 compression. The combustion chamber 109 has a hot compressed air inlet 114 adjustable by a hot compressed air inlet valve 115 for injecting hot compressed air, a fuel injection hole 116 and an exhaust gas outlet 117 regulated by an exhaust gas exhaust valve 118 to allow the discharge of hot exhaust or flue gas from chamber 109. The combustion chamber is surrounded by a cooling casing 119, through which cooled air can circulate to cool the walls 120 of the combustion chamber 109. Each of the cells Isothermal and adiabatic compression has an air inlet 121, 122, regulated by a valve 123, 124, to ensure air intake into each chamber and a compressed air outlet 125, 126, regulated by a compressed air exhaust valve 127, 128 to ensure the release of compressed air from each cameras. The isothermal compression chamber 107 also has an injection hole 129 for spraying liquid to inject a cooled water stream. Water dust is injected by means of a pump 130, which draws the spray liquid from the cooling system 131. The compressed air outlet 125 of the isothermal compression chamber 107 is connected to a moisture separator 132, in which the sprayed liquid in the compressed air is separated. The compressed air outlet 120 of the adiabatic compression chamber 108 is connected to the inlet of the main gas turbine 133, which, together with the second gas turbine 134, drives an electricity generator 135.

 The cooled compressed air from the water separator 132 is guided in three ways. Part of the air is passed into a gas-air heat exchanger 136, in which it is heated by the heat of the exhaust gas from the combustion chamber 109. A portion of the cooled compressed air from the dehumidifier 132 is passed into the cooling casing 119 of the combustion chamber 109 to cool the walls 120 of the combustion chamber. Another portion of the cooled compressed air from the moisture separator 132 is passed to an air-to-air heat exchanger 137, in which it is heated by exhaust air from the second gas turbine 134 to supply the main gas turbine 133 with the main stream of hot compressed air from the adiabatic compression chamber 108.

 According to FIG. 9, an additional gas turbine 134 and an air-air heat exchanger 137 are installed to maximize the extraction of heat and hot gases leaving the combustion chamber 109. Typically, the exhaust gases contain more heat than is necessary to heat the incoming compressed combustible air. Excess heat is used to heat more compressed air that is discharged to a second smaller gas turbine 134, which operates at higher inlet temperatures than the main gas turbine 133. The air at the outlet of the second gas turbine 134 is still hot enough to further extract heat. This heat is transferred to a small heat exchanger 137 to separate a stream of chilled compressed air. The system can be designed so that the resulting hot compressed air has sufficient temperature and pressure to expand in the main air turbine, and this stream can be added to the main stream of adiabatically compressed air.

 According to FIG. 10, a compressor powered by thermal energy comprises essentially two compartments arranged vertically one above the other. A combustion chamber 138 is formed in the upper part of the upper compartment 139 and an adiabatic compression chamber 140 is formed in the lower part of the upper compartment 139. An isothermal compression chamber 141 is formed in the upper part of the lower compartment 142, and an adiabatic compression / expansion chamber 143 is formed in the lower part of the lower compartment 142.

 The combustion chamber 138 has a hot compressed air inlet 143 adjustable by a valve 144 for injecting hot compressed air into the chamber, a fuel injection hole 145 for injecting fuel into the chamber, and an exhaust gas outlet 146 regulated by valve 147 to allow exhaust gas to be forced out of the chamber combustion 138. The compressed air inlet 143 and the exhaust gas outlet 146 are connected to the same side of the gas-air heat exchanger 148.

 The adiabatic compression chamber 149 and the isothermal compression chamber 141 each have an air inlet 150, 151 adjustable by a valve 152, 153 to provide suction into each chamber 149, 141, and a compressed air outlet 154, 155 controlled by a valve 156, 157 to provide the release of compressed air from each chamber. The isothermal compression chamber 141 also has a plurality of injection holes 158 in the form of nozzles for spraying liquid to inject the sprayed liquid into the chamber. Spray nozzles are positioned to provide uniform spraying throughout the volume. The outlet 155 of the compressed air of the isothermal compression chamber is connected to a moisture separator 159, which separates water dust that has fallen into the compressed air. A dehumidifier 159 is connected to the injection hole 158 for spraying liquid through the cooling system 160 and the injection spray pump 161. The cooling system 160 cools the spray liquid from the dehumidifier before reuse in the spray. Pump 161 provides continuous circulation of fluid from the dehumidifier 159 to the isothermal compression chamber. A collector tank 162 is provided that accommodates a reserve fluid to compensate for fluid loss in the circuit. The compressed air outlet 154 in the adiabatic compression chamber 149 is connected to the inlet of the main gas turbine 163, which drives the generator 164. The hot compressed air from the compressor expands in the turbine 163 to produce mechanical energy to generate electricity. Part of the cooled compressed air from the moisture separator is directed to a gas-air heat exchanger 148, in which it is heated by the heat of the exhaust gases from the combustion chamber. Some of the heated air is then sent to the combustion chamber 138 for combustion. However, usually more heat is obtained from the exhaust gas than is needed to heat the cooled compressed air required for combustion. To extract excess heat, the compressor is designed to produce more compressed air than is actually required to start combustion. A portion of this excess compressed air is passed to a gas-air heat exchanger 148 to absorb excess heat from the exhaust gases and then sent to a second gas turbine 165, in which it expands to produce useful mechanical energy.

 The temperature of the exhaust air from the second gas turbine 165 is much higher than the ambient temperature, and the heat of the exhaust air can be extracted by transferring heat from a portion of the cooled compressed air leaving the moisture separator 159 to the air-air heat exchanger 166. The heated compressed air is then sent to the main a gas turbine 163, in which it expands with hot compressed air from an adiabatic compression chamber 149.

 The adiabatic compression / expansion chamber 143 holds a mass of gas, such as air, which is alternately compressed and expanded during compressor operation. The gas acts as a spring, the purpose of which is to convert the kinetic energy of the piston in one direction to the kinetic energy of the piston in the opposite direction. Gas provides a means by which the piston returns to the top of its stroke to complete the compressor’s duty cycle. Therefore, this chamber does not need gas inlets and outlets regulated by valves that open and close during the normal compressor duty cycle. However, a means to recover any gas leaking from the chamber is necessary. The piston 167, containing solid material, has upper, middle and lower parts and freely oscillates linearly and vertically. The upper part 168 of the piston corresponds in size to the diameter of the upper compartment 139 and freely moves up and down between the vertical extremities of the compartment to and from both chambers, and the combustion chamber 138 and the adiabatic compression chamber 149. The lower part 169 of the piston corresponds in size to the diameter of the lower compartment 142 and freely moves up and down between the vertical extremities of the compartment in and from both chambers, and the adiabatic expansion / compression chamber 143, and the isothermal compression chamber 141. The upper and lower piston parts 168, 169 are connected together and vertically spaced from each other by the middle part 170, which includes a shaft whose diameter is less than the diameter of the upper and lower compartments. A bore seal 172 is provided in the bore 171, which seals the shaft to prevent air from passing through the bore 171 between the adiabatic compression chamber 149 and the isothermal compression chamber 141. The bore seal 172 is designed to allow the shaft to slide freely in any direction through the bore 171. Seals are provided. 173, 174 between the piston and the walls of the chambers to prevent gas leakage from one chamber to another.

 In this embodiment, when the piston top 168 is at its highest level in the combustion chamber, the free volume inside the adiabatic compression chamber 149 and the adiabatic compression / expansion chamber 143 is maximum, while the free annular volume in the isothermal compression chamber 141 is minimal. On the contrary, when the upper part of the piston 168 is at its lowest level, the free volume of both chambers and the combustion chamber and the isothermal compression chamber is maximum, and the free volume in the adiabatic compression chamber 149 and in the adiabatic compression / expansion chamber 143 is minimal. Therefore, this version of the combustion process directly starts and drives the adiabatic compression process, inducing air into the isothermal compression chamber and adiabatic gas compression in the adiabatic compression / expansion chamber. The adiabatic expansion of gas in the adiabatic expansion / compression chamber 143 drives an isothermal compression process, inducing air into the adiabatic compression chamber 149, and expelling the exhaust gas from the combustion chamber 138.

 As with any embodiment described above, in which cooling of the walls of the chambers is desired, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, a cooling jacket may be arranged around the walls of the combustion chamber through which cooling fluid can circulate to absorb heat from the walls of the chamber. The cooling fluid may include a fraction of the cooled compressed gas produced in the isothermal compression chamber. Many holes can be made in the walls of the combustion chamber to ensure that compressed air (or other gas) eventually passes into the combustion chamber and expands with the flue gases. However, even after the cooling medium has absorbed heat from the walls of the combustion chamber, it is still quite cold compared to the temperature of the flue gases. Therefore, the introduction of relatively cooled gas into the combustion chambers can cause a loss in system efficiency (for example, due to a relatively large change in entropy). Thus, the method of evaporative cooling is not among the most effective methods of heat removal from the walls of the combustion chamber.

 Alternatively, the cooling fluid may circulate around the walls of the combustion chamber to absorb heat, and then may be passed to another part of the system in which the absorbed heat can be released in a portion of the cycle whose temperature is more consistent with the temperature of the heated cooling fluid. For example, if the cooling fluid is isothermally compressed, air from the isothermal compression chamber and part of the compressed air can be circulated around the walls of the combustion chamber, and then the heated compressed air can be directed to an air turbine whose inlet temperature corresponds to the temperature of the heated compressed air.

 An embodiment including this method of selecting losses from the walls of the combustion chamber is depicted in FIG. 11. The embodiment of FIG. 11, in many aspects similar to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 10, and similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals. According to FIG. 11, the upper compartment 175 is surrounded by a cooling jacket 176 to provide cooling to the walls of the combustion chamber 179 and possibly the adiabatic compression chamber 180. A dehumidifier 181 is connected to the cooled side of the gas-air heat exchanger 182 via a chilled compressed gas supply pipe 183. A cooling jacket 176 is connected to a main supply pipe 183 via a cooling medium supply pipe 184. The cooling fluid supply pipe 184 is connected to the cooling jacket near the lower end the upper compartment 175, where the temperature of the walls of the combustion chamber is relatively cold. The cooling jacket 176 extends to the top of the combustion chamber and is arranged so that cooling air can flow around the top of the combustion chamber, in which both the hot compressed gas inlet valve 185 and the exhaust gas exhaust valve 186 are located. The outlet 187 of the hot compressed gas in the adiabatic compression chamber 180 is connected to the inlet of the gas turbine 188 by a gas supply line 189. The outlet of the cooling medium in the cooling case 176 is connected to the gas supply line 189 via the supply line 190. The outlet of the cooling medium of the cooling case is located at the top of the chamber combustion where the temperature is highest. This arrangement of the outlet of the cooling medium ensures that the compressed air leaving the cooling jacket absorbs enough heat so that the temperature of the compressed air matches the temperature of the hot compressed air leaving the adiabatic compression chamber 180. The embodiment of FIG. 11 is designed so that one gas turbine 188 is driven, eliminating the need for a second gas turbine and associated heat exchanger included in the power plant shown in FIG. 10. In the embodiment of FIG. 11, the cooled compressed gas used to extract the heat of the exhaust gas from the gas-air heat exchanger 182 passes directly to the inlet of the gas turbine 188 through the gas supply pipe 191. This aspect of the embodiment of FIG. 11 has already been described for the embodiment of FIG. 8.

 An embodiment of a symmetric thermocompressor including vertically divided chambers is shown in FIG. 12, in conjunction with a power plant similar to that shown in FIG. 9 and 10. Referring to FIG. 12, the compressor includes a U-shaped conduit 192 partially filled with fluid forming a fluid piston 193. The conduits 194 and 195 are linear and extend vertically upward. The compartment 196, 197 is made adjacent to the top of each branch 194, 195, the upper part of which serves as a combustion chamber 198, 199 and the lower part of which serves as an adiabatic compression chamber 200, 201. A lower compartment 202, 203 is formed in each branch 194, 195 under each upper compartment 196, 197. The lower compartments serve as isothermal compression chambers 204, 205. The adiabatic compression chamber in each branch is located between the combustion chamber and the isothermal compression chamber to reduce as much as it is possible a temperature gradient along the length of the branch and, therefore, to minimize thermal conductivity from the combustion chamber to the isothermal compression chamber. A solid piston 206, 207, having a higher density than the liquid piston 193, is located in each branch 194, 195 of the pipeline 192 and includes three parts: upper, middle and lower. The lower part of each piston 206, 207 corresponds to the diameter of the branch 194, 195 of the pipe 192, and is supported under the liquid piston 193 and moves freely up and down into and out of the isothermal compression chamber 204, 205. The seals 208 are adjacent to the lower edge of the pistons to prevent leakage between piston and chamber walls. The upper part 209, 210 of the solid piston 206 and 207 corresponds in size to the diameter of the upper compartment 196, 197 and freely moves vertically between the upper and lower ends of the upper compartment 196, 197. The upper and lower parts of the solid piston 206, 207 are connected to each other and vertically separated from each other in the middle part 211, 212 in the form of a shaft, the diameter of which is smaller than the diameter of the upper and lower parts. The middle part 211, 212 passes from the upper to the lower compartment through an opening 213, 214, made in the partition 215, 216, which separates the upper and lower compartments. Between the bore 213, 214 and the shaft, a sliding seal 217, 218 is provided to prevent gas leakage between the isothermal and adiabatic compression chambers.

 When each solid piston is at its lowest level in the corresponding branch of the pipeline, the free volume in the combustion and isothermal compression chambers is fully expanded and maximum. At the same time, the free volume inside the adiabatic compression chamber is minimal, the upper part of the piston is at the lowest boundary or the limit of its movement in the upper compartment. On the contrary, when each solid piston is at its highest level, the free volume inside the combustion and isothermal compression chambers is minimal, while the free volume inside the adiabatic compression chamber is maximum, the upper part of the piston is at the upper limit of its movement in the upper compartment. Each combustion chamber 198, 199 has a compressed gas inlet regulated by a valve 219, 220 for introducing heated compressed air or other oxidizing gas into the chamber; a fuel injection hole 221, 222 for injecting fuel into the chamber; and an exhaust gas outlet regulated by a valve 223, 224 to expel the hot exhaust gas from the combustion chamber. Each adiabatic compression chamber 200, 201 has a gas inlet regulated by valve 225, 226 to allow gas to be sucked into the chamber and a compressed gas outlet regulated by valve 227, 228 to allow adiabatically compressed gas to be drawn out of the chamber. Each isothermal compression chamber 204, 205 includes a gas inlet regulated by valve 229, 230 to allow gas to be sucked into the chamber, a compressed gas outlet regulated by valve 231, 232 to allow the isothermally compressed gas to be drawn out of the chamber. Each isothermal compression chamber also has a plurality of injection nozzles 232 located along an annular volume to ensure uniform atomization of the liquid in each chamber during the compression process.

 In the duty cycle of the compressor of FIG. 12, the combustion process in one branch simultaneously starts the adiabatic compression process in the same branch and the isothermal compression process in the other branch.

 In alternative embodiments, liquid and solid pistons may be replaced with a single solid piston. In this case, a U-shaped pipeline, the main function of which is to move the fluid and convert the downward movement of one part of the piston into the upward movement of the other part, and vice versa, is not needed. The piston can move linearly, and the combustion chambers can be located one below the other, or both chambers can be located in the same horizontal plane with a solid piston oscillating between them. Compression chambers can be located in the same way.

 In any embodiment of a gas compressor having a solid piston, there is a possibility that the piston may block its mileage and cause damage to one end of the chamber as a result of an impact or push. To prevent this possibility, sensors and control mechanisms may be provided that actuate valves for injecting gas into the chamber. In addition, it may be desirable to design a solid piston so that it can soften or moderate the effect of such a shock. For example, the end or piston head can be made folding or telescopic so that the shock energy is absorbed. This can be achieved by making the end of the piston in the form of a crumpled or shrinking zone. Alternatively, the end of the piston may be telescopically folding inward upon impact. The folding or retractable end of the piston should be as light as possible so that the kinetic energy of this part is minimized.

 In all embodiments depicted in FIG. 8-12, heat is supplied to the compressor supplied with thermal energy due to internal combustion of the fuel. However, other heat sources, such as nuclear, solar, chemical and industrial processes, can also be used, and options using these alternative sources will be described in more detail below. To distinguish between compressors using external and internal heat sources, hereinafter they will be referred to as compressors with external heating and compressors of internal combustion, respectively. FIG. 8-12 illustrate internal combustion compressors together with nodes of a circuit suitable for generating electricity including at least one air turbine. Such systems are referred to as ICCAT (Internal Combustion Compressor and Air Turbine).

 Fuel for ICCAT systems can be gaseous, liquid, and solid. In the case of solid fuels, such as coal, it is necessary either to gasify the fuel or grind it to fine particles (the so-called pulverized or powdery fuel), as is done at existing coal-burning power stations. Another alternative may be the presence of a fluidized-bed combustion chamber, as in some modern power plants and power plants, or the use of combustion chambers with grate-mounted grates, as was done in the past. For some fuels, it is necessary to provide means for removing particles and sulfur dioxide from the exhaust gases and from the compressor itself. For most fuels, measures are needed to control the emission of nitrogen oxides, either by controlling combustion processes or by treating off-gas.

The flue gas from the combustion chamber usually contains a certain amount of water vapor. Water vapor is produced in the combustion process itself due to the presence of hydrogen in the fuel. The amount of water vapor produced depends on the fuel burned. For example, natural gas or methane (CH ₄ ) produces more water vapor than coal.

 In FIG. 13 schematically shows a device for condensing water vapor from an exhaust gas. The illustrated device can simply be added to a high-temperature gas-air heat exchanger from the chilled exhaust gas outlet side shown in any of FIG. 8-12. However, the device can also be used in other systems where it is desirable to remove water from the exhaust or other gas.

 According to FIG. 13, a low-temperature gas-gas heat exchanger 233 is connected to the exhaust side of the exhaust gas of the high-temperature gas-air heat exchanger 234, which serves to heat isothermally compressed air with the exhaust gas from the compressor combustion chamber. The refrigerator 235 is connected to the gas-gas heat exchanger 233 so that the exhaust gas from the heat exchanger 233 passes through the refrigerator 235 and returns to the low-temperature gas-gas heat exchanger 233. A fan 236 is provided for drawing air through the refrigerator to cool the exhaust gas. The fan can be located in front of or after the refrigerator during the process.

To illustrate the operation of the device for extracting water, let us assume that the various points of the device have certain temperatures, although in practice these temperatures may differ significantly from those allowed here. The exhaust gas (exhaust) from the combustion chamber passes through a high-temperature gas-air heat exchanger 234, in which it is cooled to approximately 60 ^° C by isothermally compressed air from an isothermal compression chamber having a temperature of about 40 ^° C. The exhaust gas from the heat exchanger 234 is passed through a low-temperature heat exchanger 233, in which it is further cooled to about 35 ^° C. by the cooled off-gas returning from the refrigerator 235. Then, the off-gas is sent to the refrigerator, where it is cooled before a temperature of about 25 ^° C. with a stream of atmospheric air with an initial temperature of about 15 ^° C. and then returned to the gas-gas heat exchanger 233. Water condensed from the exhaust gas by cooling it in the gas-gas heat exchanger 233 is removed before the exhaust gas is passed into the refrigerator 235 and water condensed as a result of additional cooling in the refrigerator 235 is removed after this step and before the exhaust gas returns to the gas-gas heat exchanger 233. The cooled exhaust al returns to the gas-gas heat exchanger 233 to recover some of the recovered heat. Dry exhaust gas, the temperature of which increases in the gas-gas heat exchanger to about 50 ^o C, is then displaced into the atmosphere. Heating the exhaust gas eliminates the formation of an unsightly steam sultan above the exhaust pipe and also increases the lift of the exhaust exhaust gas, contributing to its dispersion in the atmosphere.

Although the refrigerator 235 shown in FIG. 13 uses air to cool flue gases, other cooling methods are also possible, for example, water from a lake, river, tower refrigerator or sea. If the fuel is natural gas, water can be extracted at a relatively high temperature, since the flue gases produced by its combustion have a dew point of about 60 ^o C.

 In FIG. 14 schematically shows one embodiment of a compressor with external heating. Compressor 237 comprises an isothermal compression chamber producing cooled compressed gas and an adiabatic compression chamber producing hot compressed gas. In this aspect, the compressor may be similar to the compressor with the internal firebox of FIG. 8-12. However, in the compressor with external heating, the combustion chamber is replaced by an expansion chamber into which very hot compressed gas is injected without fuel. A very hot compressed gas expands and cools without burning, transferring kinetic energy to a piston or other means of accumulating kinetic energy. Hot exhaust gas is displaced from the expansion chamber and fed to a gas-gas heat exchanger 238 to heat the cooled compressed gas discharged from the isothermal compression chamber. This heated gas is supplied to the process heat exchanger 239, in which the gas is heated to its final temperature by the heat generated by the thermal process itself. Very hot gas from the process heat exchanger 239 is supplied to the compressor expansion chamber with external heating to drive the piston. In this embodiment, energy is extracted from the compressor with external heating by compressing a certain amount of gas adiabatically and expanding this gas in a gas turbine 240 to drive an electricity generator 241.

 If heat for the thermocompressor is provided by an external heat exchanger, the working gas can circulate in a closed cycle. An advantage of a closed-loop system is that the working gas pressure can be increased to provide higher performance for a given installation size, and also that a different gas can be selected to improve heat transfer, rather than air.

 In FIG. 14 also shows a closed-loop system with the necessary modifications to the open-loop system, indicated by a dashed line. The cooled exhaust gas discharged from the gas-gas heat exchanger combines with the cooled low pressure exhaust gas from the main air turbine 240, and this gas is introduced into the compressor compression chambers, part of this gas is adiabatically compressed to drive the main gas turbine 240, and part of it isothermally compressed, heated in a gas-gas heat exchanger 238, passes into a process heat exchanger 239 for heating with heat from some external heat process, and then it is injected as a very hot gas into Yeru extensions for driving the compressor. The heat capacity of the exhaust gas from the compressor with external heating 237 is the same as the heat capacity of the intake air from the isothermal compression chamber. Therefore, there is no excess heat in the exhaust gas of the compressor, as opposed to the situation with the compressor with an internal firebox. In this case, a second gas turbine and a second heat exchanger are not required. However, external process heat can be obtained in a significant temperature range and in these circumstances, two or more gas turbines can be used. For example, if the external heat exchanger is a furnace burning fuel, then depending on the temperature of the exhaust gas, an excess of heat can be obtained. In FIG. 15 depicts one embodiment of a compressor with external heating, in which the excess heat of the exhaust gas from the removed firebox is converted into useful energy. The power plant shown in FIG. 15 includes a furnace 241, which serves as a main heater for heating compressed air, driving an external heated compressor 242. A fan 243 supplies air to the furnace 241 through a main gas-air heat exchanger 244. A gas-air heat exchanger 244 preheats the inlet to the furnace 241 air with part of the exhaust gas discharged from the furnace. The power plant further includes a second gas turbine 245 driving a second generator 246, and a second gas-air heat exchanger 247. A part of the isothermally compressed air from the compressor is supplied to a second gas-air heat exchanger 247, which heats this air with a part of the exhaust gas from the furnace 241 The heated compressed air is then supplied as intake air to the second gas turbine 245 to generate additional energy. The working temperature of the second gas turbine is much higher than the working temperature of the main gas turbine 248, and therefore the exhaust air from the second gas turbine 245 will have a significant amount of heat. A second air-to-air heat exchanger 249 is provided to extract this heat by heating an additional portion of isothermally compressed air from an external heating compressor 242, which is then added to the adiabatically compressed air stream to drive the main gas turbine 249. Depending on the composition of the gas leaving the furnace means can further be added to clean the off-gas 250 before discharging the off-gas to the atmosphere. The second gas turbine can also be used if the external heat source is non-combustion of the fuel, and the production process, waste heat flows or some other heat source. The specific device will depend on the heat source and on how it is matched to the compressor circuit with external heating.

Hot air injection compressor 16
In FIG. 16 depicts a compressor variant with external heating, in which heat is transferred and transferred by the liquid better than gas in an external heat exchanger. The heat-fed compressor has many similar elements to the internal combustion compressor described with reference to FIG. 10. Therefore, the description of these elements, including the solid piston, the adiabatic and isothermal compression chambers, and the lower bounce or drop chamber together with the water extraction system, the gas turbine, and the combustion compressor generator equally apply to the heat-powered compressor shown in FIG. 16. The main difference between these compressors relates to the function of the upper chamber and to the method by which heat is transferred to the upper chamber, which will be described below.

 The upper chamber 251 of the externally heated compressor has a compressed gas inlet regulated by a valve 252, an exhaust gas outlet regulated by a valve 253 and a spray hole 254. The inlet of the hot compressed gas is connected to the outlet of the compressed gas in the isothermal compression chamber 255 through a dehumidifier 256 and a gas-gas heat exchanger 257. A hole for injecting liquid by a spray located at the top of the expansion chamber 251 is connected to the outlet of the sprayed liquid of the dehumidifier 258 through a process heat exchanger 259 and a second injection pump 260 for spraying liquid.

 Now we describe a method of driving a compressor, starting from the moment when the piston 261 is at the top of its stroke in the expansion chamber 251. When the piston stops at its maximum lift point, the gas inlet valve 252 opens and heated compressed gas is introduced into the expansion chamber 251 through the gas inlet. At the same time, hot liquid from the process heat exchanger 262 is injected into the expansion chamber 251 by the injection spray pump 260. The heated compressed gas is further heated by the sprayed liquid and expands by moving the liquid piston down. Heat is transferred from the injected droplets to the gas as the gas continues to expand so that the gas temperature is maintained during the entire expansion process. When the piston reaches its lowest point in the expansion chamber 251 and reverses direction, the exhaust gas outlet valve 253 opens and the low pressure exhaust gas, together with the atomized liquid, is expelled from the expansion chamber through the gas outlet and flows through a water separator 258, in which the atomized liquid is removed. The low pressure off-gas then flows through a gas-gas heat exchanger 257, in which the compressed gas from the isothermal compression chamber 255 is heated before being introduced into the expansion chamber 251. The sprayed liquid separated in the water separator 258 is returned to the process heat exchanger 259, in which it is heated before being reused in the spray.

 In an open-loop system in which air is gas, the exhaust air leaving the gas-gas heat exchanger 257 is displaced into the atmosphere. In a closed-loop system, the gas exiting the gas-gas heat exchanger 257 is directed to the isothermal compression chamber 255 for compression. In this way, the gas can be continuously recycled in a closed loop. In addition, in an open-loop system, air is displaced from the turbine 263, and in a closed-loop system, gas is directed back to the adiabatic compression chamber 264. In the latter case, the gas used to drive the turbine 263 is also continuously recycled. Therefore, the compressor with external heating can operate either in an open cycle or in a closed cycle, as shown by the dashed line. From FIG. 16 that the gas that passes through the adiabatic compression chamber and the turbine is not mixed with the gas in the rest of the system. Therefore, it is possible to have different gases in these two circuits, and of course, one circuit can be an open cycle, while the other is a closed cycle.

 The use of an injected liquid as a heat transfer medium is advantageous since an external gas-gas heat exchanger 257 can be more compact and more efficient. Another advantage of using a liquid is that heat can be continuously supplied to the injected gas throughout the expansion period, which improves thermodynamic efficiency. The use of a fluid as a heat transfer medium limits the maximum temperature of the heat source to those temperatures that suitable fluids can accept. Preferably, the fluid used should have acceptable physical and chemical properties, be non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and relatively inexpensive.

 A hot liquid injection heated compressor may be suitable for generating energy from low temperature heat sources, such as solar energy, geothermal energy, or low temperature waste heat. In the case of closed-loop operation, some additional cooling of the gas after it leaves the turbine may be necessary to maintain a constant temperature.

 Advantageously, a compressor powered by thermal energy can operate using a wide range of different fuels, including natural gas, light and heavy oils, coal, biomass, or household waste. Various schemes for using combustible fuels will be described below.

 Natural gas and light oils are suitable for direct injection and combustion inside a heated combustion chamber. Alternatively, these fuels can be burned in a combustion chamber that is remote but secured to a heated chamber. Typically, the fuel can ignite spontaneously depending on the temperature of the intake air and / or the pressure in the chamber, which, for example, occurs in diesel engines. The combustion products are essentially particulate free and contain very little sulfur dioxide, although a certain amount of nitrogen oxides (NOX) is present in them. NOX emission can be limited by either catalytic or non-catalytic reduction of ammonia. Many schemes are known for burning heavy oils, orimulsions, or coal.

 As for the ICCAT system, heavy oils and orimulsion can be crushed and sprayed into small droplets by heating, and then injected into the expansion chamber at the desired interval, and burned by internal combustion. Droplets can ignite at high air temperature from the heat exchanger and quickly burn out. If necessary, an ignition system may be used, which, for example, may include injecting another fuel to initiate a combustion process. Coal can also be injected into the combustion chamber in the form of fine dust (pulverized fuel), which is transported into the combustion chamber through a pipe in a stream of air or other suitable transport medium. It is important to ensure that there is no risk of premature explosion of coal dust in the conveying medium. This may or may not lead to the choice of a different medium, rather than air, for transporting coal dust.

 In another embodiment, the heavy oil, orimulsion, or coal may be gasified using air or oxygen in suitable gasification plants. Liquid fuel i.e. an orimulsion or heavy oil is easier to handle during the gasification process than coal, since there is no need for mills for grinding fuel or an appropriate gaseous transport medium.

 In another embodiment, to produce hot flue gases entering the expansion chamber under the control of high temperature valves, remote pressure furnaces can be used to burn heavy oils, coal or gasified fuels.

 In the EHCAT system, an orimulsion, heavy oil or coal can be burned in the main heater to heat the medium for a heat-fed compressor. The main heater may include a non-pressurized furnace, which can burn fuel in heated atmospheric air, and may further include a heat exchanger through which a working medium is passed, which may be heated compressed air from a heat-fed compressor. The heated compressed air is heated by the heat of the furnace and then injected as very hot air into the expansion chamber to drive the piston. If the fuel is gasified, sulfur should preferably be removed before the combustion step. Removing sulfur after gasification, but before burning it is beneficial, because the volume of gas will be much less. It is also more convenient to extract sulfur in the elementary form, and not in the form of gypsum, which means that the mass of the resulting product will be much less. On the other hand, if the fuel is non-gasified, the exhaust gas from the combustion process must be desulfurized before being released to the atmosphere. Where possible, direct combustion of fuel in the combustion chamber of a heat-fed compressor is usually preferred to the use of an external firebox, regardless of whether the fuel is gasified or not. The flue gases produced by gasified fuels are usually better than those obtained from direct combustion of solid or heavy liquid fuels. However, the choice between these two methods is very dependent on relative cost and environmental acceptability.

 Biomass and household waste can also be used as fuel if they are cooked in an appropriate, suitable form. Although it is usually not practical to grind household waste and most types of biomass to submillimeter particles, as is the case with pulverized coal, biomass can be burned in appropriately designed systems with an internal fire if the particles are small enough to provide a significant degree of burnout. Alternatively, biomass may be gasified. For example, in one embodiment, the biomass can be gasified in a portable device in a fixed bed or in a fluidized bed, where gasification can be carried out as a continuous process. It is desirable to maximize the chemical energy of the gasification product and minimize the heat production at the gasification stage. The heat of gasification can be transferred by means of a heat exchanger to isothermally compressed gas and then expanded to increase the output power of the system. Gas must be burned in the ICCAT system in the same way as when using natural gas in it.

Gasification gas compressor
As mentioned above, gasified fuels, such as coal, heavy oils, orimulsion or biomass, may be attractive for use in combustion compressors. In FIG. 17 illustrates one embodiment of a compressor with an internal firebox and a gas turbine for a combined gasification power cycle. According to FIG. 17, the thermocompressor together with the liquid atomization recovery system and the cooling system described previously with reference to FIG. 10 and 11, has a massive solid piston moving reciprocating in a vertical plane.

 The gasification unit includes an air separator block 265 connected to the outlet of the dehumidifier 266 to receive part of the cooled compressed air produced by the combustion compressor 267. The air separator block produces both compressed nitrogen and compressed oxygen. The air separator unit 235 supplies compressed oxygen to a gasifier 268, in which oxygen is used to convert pulverized coal (or other fuel) into a raw fuel gas that contains carbon monoxide and hydrogen among other gases. Under the gasifier 268 attached tank 269 for collecting slag obtained during the gasification process. Around the gasifier 268 and the collector slag tank 269 is located a cooling casing 270 to circulate the cooling medium around the walls of the gasifier in order to allow the heat generated by the gasification process to be removed. In this embodiment, compressed (pressurized) nitrogen produced in the air separator block 265 serves as a cooling medium and the nitrogen outlet from the air separator block 265 is connected to the lower part of the cooling casing 270. The outlet of the hot compressed nitrogen is made near the top of the gasifier cooling casing and connected directly to the inlet of the gas turbine 271. Thus, the heat from the gasifier can be taken in a form that can be converted into useful energy in a known way. The raw fuel gas outlet of the gasifier 268 is connected to a gas-air heat exchanger 272, in which the raw gases are processed to remove ash. The treated gas from the ash cyclone 273 is sent to the sulfur removal unit 274 through a crude gas-purified gas heat exchanger 275, in which the raw gas is cooled before being introduced into the sulfur removal unit 274, and the purified gas leaves the sulfur removal unit. The purified fuel gas leaving the raw gas-purified gas heat exchanger 275 is sent to the combustion chamber of the combustion compressor 267 through the fuel injection hole 276 for combustion in the combustion chamber 277. A portion of the isothermally compressed air obtained in the combustion compressor can be used to supplement the compressed nitrogen for heat recovery from the gasification process, if necessary.

 It is assumed that this gasification scheme provides significantly higher productivity than modern designs as a result of the following factors. Since the compressed air required for the air separator unit for combustion and cooling is isothermally compressed, less compression work is required. The heat of gasification is removed in such a way that it is used at higher temperatures than is usually possible in modern designs of unified gasification power plants. In addition, the use of gasified fuels in ICCAT combustion chambers increases the efficiency of converting purified fuel gas into electricity.

 Alternatively, the gasification cycle can be performed without air separation by using isothermally compressed air in the gasification process and to remove heat to the heat exchanger after the gasifier 268 during the process. However, the conversion of fuel to fuel gas is less efficient if air is used, and it is very important to heat isothermally compressed air before introducing it into the gasifier.

The main advantage of using oxygen in the gasification process is that higher temperatures make it possible to provide a more complete conversion of carbon fuel to carbon monoxide. Higher gasification temperatures can also provide a more efficient conversion of heat into mechanical energy and electrical energy through the process of removing heat from the gasifier to an air turbine. In another embodiment, it may be useful to use oxygen rather than air in the combustion process. This will limit the number of NOX formations to the amount due to nitrogen in the fuel. For combustion products from burning coal in the air, the dew point for water condensation is about 38 ^o C, which provides very little possibility of condensation of this water and the extraction of any latent heat. In the case of burning coal in oxygen, the dew point is about 67 ^° C., and there is a good opportunity to use latent heat to heat a certain amount of compressed nitrogen from an air separator, for example, in an air turbine. In addition, in the case of burning coal in oxygen with the removal of contaminants such as sulfur, with condensed water, the combustion products consist almost entirely of carbon monoxide. If we take into account the need to remove carbon dioxide for environmental reasons, this gas is in an acceptable form.

 In FIG. 18 shows an embodiment of a combined energy generation and storage facility that facilitates energy storage either in the form of compressed gas or in the form of ice. In this embodiment, the compressed gas is air, and the compressor is an internal combustion compressor.

 The combustion compressor 278 produces cooled compressed air, at least a portion of which is supplied to a gas-air heat exchanger 279, in which it is heated by hot exhaust gas from the compressor before being injected into the combustion chamber. Energy is extracted from the compressor by adiabatically compressed atmospheric air and compressed air expanding in a gas turbine 280 driving a power generator 281. Burner compressor 278 includes means for controlling the ratio of gas compressed adiabatically and isothermally. If the combustion compressor has the form described above with reference to FIG. 10 or 11, the amount of adiabatically compressed gas can be adjusted simply by adjusting the timing of the adiabatic air outlet valve. If it closes early, less air goes into the gas turbine and a large fraction of the available energy can be used for isothermal compression. To increase the air flow into the gas turbine, the reverse of the adiabatic exhaust valve can be adjusted. To maintain the same stroke of the piston, it is necessary to reduce the mass of gas in the discharge chamber, which can be achieved relatively easily, for example, by introducing a valve into the discharge chamber that regulates the release or intake of gas from or into the chamber.

 During the period of low consumption, a greater proportion of isothermally compressed air is produced than is necessary to drive the combustion compressor, and excess cold compressed air is directed to the large cavity 282 in which it accumulates. Then, during periods of high consumption, most of the energy available in the combustion compressor 278 is used to adiabatically compress the gas that drives the gas turbine 280. The isothermally compressed air required for combustion is provided by both the combustion compressor and the large cavity 282. Generation unit and energy storage also includes an ice / water storage tank 283 and a refrigeration system that cools or freezes the stored water. As described above, heat transferred to the water dust during isothermal compression is usually extracted from the compressor by means of a cooling system. During periods of low consumption, the refrigeration system 284 cools the water in the heat storage tank 283, preferably to temperatures below the freezing point of the water, so that ice forms. When the energy consumption is high, the refrigeration system can be turned off to maximize the useful output power, the cooling of the water dust is partly due to the external cooling system and partly due to the melting of the accumulated ice. The maximum consumption should usually be in the afternoon, and if the ambient temperatures are high, ice can be melted to provide an isothermal compressor with cold water. The external cooling system of unit 285, which must remove heat at high ambient temperatures, may not be used or may be used to reduce performance at this time. The attractiveness of this system is that ice can accumulate at night when energy consumption is low and ambient temperatures are also low. In this case, the compressor can be operated at full capacity, excess energy can be used to freeze water and produce ice. This gives a double advantage, since not only energy is accumulated to release it during the period of maximum consumption, but the overall thermal efficiency of the system can be increased by lowering the temperature of cold water dust during the period of maximum consumption.

 The dashed line in FIG. 18 shows that the individual components of an energy storage unit or cooling unit can only be used partly. The method of accumulation of compressed air and the method of accumulation of ice-water are independent of each other. An installation may include either one storage system, or both.

 The features that are described for specific options may be included in other options. In addition, the principles of various duty cycles, including various ways of driving a gas compressor, described for specific options, can be applied to other options. Professionals understand the described modifications of the options and their work cycles.

Claims (16)

 1. A gas turbine plant designed to recover heat from a heat source, comprising a gas turbine, heat exchange means for heating the compressed gas with heat from a heat source, means for supplying heated compressed gas from the heat exchange means directly to the turbine to expand the heated compressed gas without burning in this way that the gas temperature at the outlet of the gas turbine was lower than the temperature of the heated compressed gas at the inlet of the gas turbine, a gas compressor to produce compressed g for, comprising a compression chamber for placing the gas to be compressed, a compression piston, actuating means for driving the piston into the gas compression chamber and valve means for suctioning the compressed gas from the compression chamber, characterized in that it includes means for forming a spray jet fluid in the compression chamber to cool the gas when it is compressed in it, connecting means associated with the piston of the gas compressor to provide energy to the piston, and means for removing liquid from the cold of the compressed gas discharged directly from the compression chamber, the gas compressor configured to obtain isothermal compression cold compressed gas.  2. The gas turbine installation according to claim 1, characterized in that it contains an additional gas turbine and means for supplying hot low-pressure exhaust gas from the gas turbine to a heat exchange means for heating cold compressed gas from an isothermal compressor.  3. The gas turbine installation according to claim 2, characterized in that it further comprises a main heater for generating high pressure hot gas from a portion of the heated compressed gas coming from the heat exchange means, and means for supplying high pressure hot gas to drive the turbine.  4. Gas turbine installation according to claim 3, characterized in that the main heater contains a combustion chamber that burns fuel in a heated compressed gas and produces flue gas as hot high pressure gas.  5. Gas turbine installation according to claim 3, characterized in that the main heater contains an external heating source.  6. Gas turbine installation according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that it comprises means for supplying part of the cold compressed gas to the blades of a gas turbine for cooling them.  7. Gas turbine installation according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that it comprises a third gas turbine, a second heat exchange means for heating part of the cold compressed from low pressure hot gas exiting said additional gas turbine, and means for supplying a heated compressed from a second heat exchange means for driving a third gas turbine.  8. The gas turbine installation according to claim 7, characterized in that the third gas turbine is an air turbine.  9. A gas turbine installation according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises a compressor for supplying hot compressed gas to drive an isothermal compressor.  10. Gas turbine installation according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the isothermal gas compressor further comprises a second chamber and a second piston, indirectly mechanically connected to the compression piston.  11. The gas turbine installation of claim 10, characterized in that it includes a crankshaft for connecting the compression piston and the second piston to each other.  12. Gas turbine installation according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the drive means comprises means for supplying a combustible fuel mixture to the second chamber, whereby its combustion drives the second piston from the second chamber.  13. Gas turbine installation according to any one of paragraphs.10 to 12, characterized in that it further comprises means for supplying compressed gas from the compression chamber to the second chamber.  14. Gas turbine installation according to any one of paragraphs.10 to 13, characterized in that it includes a heat exchange means placed with the possibility of heating the compressed gas from the compression chamber with gas from the second chamber.  15. Gas turbine installation according to any one of paragraphs.10 to 13, characterized in that it includes a heat exchange means placed with the possibility of heating the compressed gas from the compression chamber with heat from the end and / or wall of the second chamber.  16. Gas turbine installation according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the means for removing liquid contains a moisture separator. Priority on points:
03/10/93 according to claims 1, 10, 11, 15;
05/29/92 according to claims 2 - 9, 16;
06/29/92 according to paragraphs 12-14.

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