WO2001048832A1 - Electric power, heat and cold generation system and associated process - Google Patents

Electric power, heat and cold generation system and associated process Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2001048832A1
WO2001048832A1 PCT/EP2000/012079 EP0012079W WO0148832A1 WO 2001048832 A1 WO2001048832 A1 WO 2001048832A1 EP 0012079 W EP0012079 W EP 0012079W WO 0148832 A1 WO0148832 A1 WO 0148832A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
heat
generator
thermophotovoltaic
thermophotovoltaic generator
cold
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2000/012079
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Francesca Nappini
Biagio Passaro
Original Assignee
Abb Research Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Abb Research Ltd filed Critical Abb Research Ltd
Priority to AU21646/01A priority Critical patent/AU2164601A/en
Publication of WO2001048832A1 publication Critical patent/WO2001048832A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F23—COMBUSTION APPARATUS; COMBUSTION PROCESSES
    • F23L—SUPPLYING AIR OR NON-COMBUSTIBLE LIQUIDS OR GASES TO COMBUSTION APPARATUS IN GENERAL ; VALVES OR DAMPERS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR CONTROLLING AIR SUPPLY OR DRAUGHT IN COMBUSTION APPARATUS; INDUCING DRAUGHT IN COMBUSTION APPARATUS; TOPS FOR CHIMNEYS OR VENTILATING SHAFTS; TERMINALS FOR FLUES
    • F23L15/00—Heating of air supplied for combustion
    • F23L15/04—Arrangements of recuperators
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02S—GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES
    • H02S10/00—PV power plants; Combinations of PV energy systems with other systems for the generation of electric power
    • H02S10/30—Thermophotovoltaic systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02S—GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES
    • H02S40/00—Components or accessories in combination with PV modules, not provided for in groups H02S10/00 - H02S30/00
    • H02S40/40—Thermal components
    • H02S40/44—Means to utilise heat energy, e.g. hybrid systems producing warm water and electricity at the same time
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/60—Thermal-PV hybrids
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E20/00—Combustion technologies with mitigation potential
    • Y02E20/34—Indirect CO2mitigation, i.e. by acting on non CO2directly related matters of the process, e.g. pre-heating or heat recovery

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a high-efficiency system for the generation of electric power, heat and cold. More particularly, the invention relates to a system for generating electric power, heat and cold which is within the field of co-generation systems.
  • thermophotovoltaic generators converts the radiation emitted by a heat source into an electric current with the aid of a photovoltaic junction.
  • the heat source is commonly constituted of a flame produced by fossil fuels.
  • the mechanism for converting radiation into electric current is shown schematically in Figure 1. Air/fuel 1 are introduced in an air/fume exchanger 2 and the energy of the fuel is released in the form of heat inside a combustion chamber 3, inside which there is a burner 4.
  • a portion of this energy is converted into radiation by the emitter 5, which accommodates the combustion chamber 3. Another portion of this energy is instead recovered in order to preheat the combustion air, while the remaining part is released as sensible heat in the exhaust fumes 6.
  • the emitter can be of the type with a broad emission spectrum, such as silicon carbide, or of the selective type, such as rare earth oxides, and in this case it has the characteristic that it emits in a narrow frequency band.
  • Radiant energy, designated by the reference numeral 7 is finally converted by a photovoltaic cell 8 into a direct current. The energy radiation that is lower than the so-called "energy bandgap" of the junction of the photovoltaic 8 cannot be converted into electricity.
  • an optical filter 9 is introduced which is arranged in front of the photovoltaic cell, between the cell 8 and the emitter 5, and reflects towards the emitter 5 the radiation that cannot be converted, thus avoiding an unnecessary overheating of the photovoltaic 8. If selective emitters are used, the filter 9 can be eliminated.
  • Solar radiation can be seen as a black-body emission at 6000 K, which is well- suited for silicon-based junctions (energy bandgap of 1.1 eV), since most of the radiation has an energy which is higher than the energy bandgap.
  • thermophotovoltaic applications the emission temperatures are the combustion temperatures ( 1000-2000°C) and it is therefore necessary to adopt junctions with a bandgap of less than 0.8 eV.
  • various junctions for thermophotovoltaic applications based on GaSb, InGaAs, InGaAsP et cetera have been developed.
  • thermophotovoltaic systems have been developed, all with relatively low electric power levels (under 1 kW). Most of these applications are designed only for producing electric power, and the only thermophotovoltaic co-generation systems are substantially stoves for heating an enclosed space, in which a small thermophotovoltaic generator for producing a few hundred watts is integrated.
  • small co-generation systems up to 100 kW
  • co-generation systems based on fuel cells.
  • thermophotovoltaic technology The drawbacks of known types of co-generation systems, using thermophotovoltaic technology, are due to the fact that systems based on thermophotovoltaic technology are small (under 1 kWe) and have an excessively low ratio of electricity to generated heat with respect to the desirable values. With regard to co-generation systems, which do not use thermophotovoltaic technology, the following drawbacks may be noticed, according to the type of system. Co-generation systems, which use internal-combustion engines, entail a general complexity of the apparatus, a high level of released pollutants, especially in terms of NOx, a high level of noise pollution, the need for skilled personnel for maintenance, low reliability due to the wear of the moving parts, and the exclusive use of high-cost fuels such as gas and gas oils, with consequent operating expenses.
  • an object of the present invention is to provide a system for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold which has a high overall energy efficiency, higher than the one obtainable with known types of co- generation system.
  • an object of the present invention is to provide a system for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold which allows to use low-cost fuels, such as fuel oil and coal.
  • the present invention provides a system for the generation of electric power, heat and cold, characterized in that it comprises at least one thermophotovoltaic generator suitable to generate electricity, at least one heat exchanger suitable to receive in input the exhaust fumes of said thermophotovoltaic generator and to produce heat at high temperature, and at least one absorber connected to said heat exchanger and suitable to generate cold.
  • FIG. 1 is a general block diagram of a thermophotovoltaic generator of the known type
  • Figure 2 is a block diagram of the integrated energy generation system according to the present invention
  • Figure 3 is a general block diagram of a thermophotovoltaic generator according to an embodiment of the present invention, suitable for use in the system shown in Figure 2;
  • FIG 4 is a schematic view of an innovative method for generating electricity, heat and cold.
  • the integrated energy generation system according to the invention generally designated by the reference numeral 100, uses one or more thermophotovoltaic generators 10 for the integrated production of electric power, heat and cold.
  • thermophotovoltaic generators 10 for the integrated production of electric power, heat and cold.
  • intercl angeable burners to be used according to the type of fuel to burn.
  • so-called "flameless" techniques are used.
  • the system for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold 100 comprises at least one thermophotovoltaic generator 10 which is coupled to a device for recovering heat from the spent fumes 6 for producing high-temperature heat, designated by the reference numeral 15.
  • the device for recovering heat from the spent fumes 6 is conveniently constituted by a heat exchanger 16, which is connected to an absorber 17 which is capable of emitting cold 18.
  • the expression "high-temperature heat” 15 is used to reference heat at a temperature between 90 and 120°C.
  • the photovoltaic cell 8 of the thermophotovoltaic generator 10 therefore allows producing electricity 19 and medium-temperature heat 20 (at a temperature between 45 and 80°C) by means of a device for recovering heat from the cooling of the photovoltaic cell 8.
  • the photovoltaic cell 8 is cooled by means of cooling water, and a heat recovery device utilizes the heat contained in said cooling water to generate medium-temperature heat 20.
  • the heat of the fumes 6 that arrives from the combustion chamber 3 of the thermophotovoltaic generator 10 is partly recovered in order to preheat the combustion air, and the remainder is used to produce heat at high temperature by virtue of the heat exchanger 16.
  • the system according to the invention furthermore has a device for reducing and monitoring emissions (of the fumes 6), not shown in the figures.
  • FIG 3 is a block diagram, substantially similar to Figure 1 , of a thermophotovoltaic generator 10, which has a burner 4.
  • the burner 4 is interchangeable according to the type of fuel used; furthermore, differently from Figure 1, it also has a radiation concentration device 21, arranged between the photovoltaic cell 8 and the filter 9 and suitable to concentrate the thermal radiation onto a smaller surface. In this manner, it is possible to reduce the sensitive area, required for conversion to electric power and, therefore, the end costs of the generator. Further, it is possible to increase the power density of the radiation, thus increasing the conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic junction of the photovoltaic cell 8.
  • the photovoltaic cell is provided with a cooling circuit which allows to recover the radiant energy that is not converted into electricity.
  • photovoltaic cells 8 of the Quantum Well Solar Cell (QWSC) type are used, this entails an operating temperature of approximately 80°C, which is ideal in order to obtain heat recovery with water at medium-high temperature.
  • QWSC Quantum Well Solar Cell
  • burner 4 in the case of gas-fired combustion it is possible to use burners of the regenerative flameless type. These burners have the particularity that they recover up to 85% of energy from the combustion fumes, thus helping to increase the electrical efficiency of the generator.
  • thermophotovoltaic generators thermal recovery from fumes is no more than 70% and since this factor is closely correlated to the conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic cell 8, the ability to increase it means an increase in the overall electrical efficiency of the generator. Furthermore, flameless burners, by having no flame, entail a reduction in NOx emissions of up to 90% and the absence of noise inherently linked to combustion. Thanks to the system 100, according to the present invention, it is possible to implement an innovative method for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold. This method, schematically shown in Figure 4 and designated by the reference numeral 200, comprises the steps of:
  • step 201 - generating, by means of one or more photovoltaic generators, electricity (step 201); and - recovering (step 202) the exhaust fumes generated in step 201;
  • the step 201 can comprise the step 204, which consists in generating medium-temperature heat by using the heat removed from the photovoltaic generator by means of a cooling circuit.
  • the step 201 also comprises the step 205 of placing radiation concentrating means inside the photovoltaic generator in order to increase radiation efficiency.
  • thermophotovoltaic generator with the possibility to use low-cost or alternative fuels, with low levels of acoustic emissions and reduced maintenance with a long operating life of the system.

Abstract

A system for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold, which has the particularity that it comprises at least one thermophotovoltaic generator which is suitable to generate electricity, at least one heat exchanger which is suitable to receive in input the exhaust fumes of the thermophotovoltaic generator and to produce heat at high temperature, and at least one absorber which is connected to the heat exchanger and is suitable to generate cold.

Description

ELECTRIC POWER, HEAT AND COLD GENERATION SYSTEM AND
ASSOCIATED PROCESS
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a high-efficiency system for the generation of electric power, heat and cold. More particularly, the invention relates to a system for generating electric power, heat and cold which is within the field of co-generation systems. It is known the use of thermophotovoltaic generators in the state of the art. A thermophotovoltaic generator converts the radiation emitted by a heat source into an electric current with the aid of a photovoltaic junction. The heat source is commonly constituted of a flame produced by fossil fuels. The mechanism for converting radiation into electric current is shown schematically in Figure 1. Air/fuel 1 are introduced in an air/fume exchanger 2 and the energy of the fuel is released in the form of heat inside a combustion chamber 3, inside which there is a burner 4. A portion of this energy is converted into radiation by the emitter 5, which accommodates the combustion chamber 3. Another portion of this energy is instead recovered in order to preheat the combustion air, while the remaining part is released as sensible heat in the exhaust fumes 6. The emitter can be of the type with a broad emission spectrum, such as silicon carbide, or of the selective type, such as rare earth oxides, and in this case it has the characteristic that it emits in a narrow frequency band. Radiant energy, designated by the reference numeral 7, is finally converted by a photovoltaic cell 8 into a direct current. The energy radiation that is lower than the so-called "energy bandgap" of the junction of the photovoltaic 8 cannot be converted into electricity. In order to increase the efficiency of the system and reduce the heating of the photovoltaic cell, an optical filter 9 is introduced which is arranged in front of the photovoltaic cell, between the cell 8 and the emitter 5, and reflects towards the emitter 5 the radiation that cannot be converted, thus avoiding an unnecessary overheating of the photovoltaic 8. If selective emitters are used, the filter 9 can be eliminated. Solar radiation can be seen as a black-body emission at 6000 K, which is well- suited for silicon-based junctions (energy bandgap of 1.1 eV), since most of the radiation has an energy which is higher than the energy bandgap. In thermophotovoltaic applications, the emission temperatures are the combustion temperatures ( 1000-2000°C) and it is therefore necessary to adopt junctions with a bandgap of less than 0.8 eV. In recent years, various junctions for thermophotovoltaic applications based on GaSb, InGaAs, InGaAsP et cetera have been developed.
In recent years, various thermophotovoltaic systems have been developed, all with relatively low electric power levels (under 1 kW). Most of these applications are designed only for producing electric power, and the only thermophotovoltaic co-generation systems are substantially stoves for heating an enclosed space, in which a small thermophotovoltaic generator for producing a few hundred watts is integrated. As regards currently commercially available small co-generation systems (up to 100 kW), there are systems based on internal-combustion engines or systems based on microturbines. The former have long reached a degree of technological and commercial maturity, while the latter have been marketed only recently. There are also co-generation systems based on fuel cells.
The drawbacks of known types of co-generation systems, using thermophotovoltaic technology, are due to the fact that systems based on thermophotovoltaic technology are small (under 1 kWe) and have an excessively low ratio of electricity to generated heat with respect to the desirable values. With regard to co-generation systems, which do not use thermophotovoltaic technology, the following drawbacks may be noticed, according to the type of system. Co-generation systems, which use internal-combustion engines, entail a general complexity of the apparatus, a high level of released pollutants, especially in terms of NOx, a high level of noise pollution, the need for skilled personnel for maintenance, low reliability due to the wear of the moving parts, and the exclusive use of high-cost fuels such as gas and gas oils, with consequent operating expenses. As regards instead conventional co-generation systems based on microturbines, they have the drawback that they must operate at nominal load, on penalty of a loss of efficiency of the system. Furthermore, they too require skilled personnel for maintenance, produce a high level of noise pollution, and use only high-cost fuels such as gas and gas oil. Finally, as regards conventional co-generation systems based on fuel cells, they have the drawback that they have to use a fuel which is even more expensive than gas and gas oils, such as hydrogen, with consequent operating costs. Therefore, tha aim of the present invention is to provide a system for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold which has a high overall energy efficiency, higher than the one obtainable with known types of co- generation system. Within the scope of this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a system for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold which allows to use low-cost fuels, such as fuel oil and coal.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold which allows to use alternative fuels such as bio-masses, RDF, et cetera. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for the integrated generation of power, heat and cold which allows to ensure an extremely low level of noise pollution and chemical pollution and does not require the intervention of skilled personnel for maintenance. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for the integrated generation of power, heat and cold which is highly reliable, relatively simple to manufacture and at competitive costs. Thus, the present invention provides a system for the generation of electric power, heat and cold, characterized in that it comprises at least one thermophotovoltaic generator suitable to generate electricity, at least one heat exchanger suitable to receive in input the exhaust fumes of said thermophotovoltaic generator and to produce heat at high temperature, and at least one absorber connected to said heat exchanger and suitable to generate cold.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of preferred but not exclusive embodiments of the integrated energy generation system according to the present invention, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a general block diagram of a thermophotovoltaic generator of the known type;
Figure 2 is a block diagram of the integrated energy generation system according to the present invention; and Figure 3 is a general block diagram of a thermophotovoltaic generator according to an embodiment of the present invention, suitable for use in the system shown in Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a schematic view of an innovative method for generating electricity, heat and cold. With reference to the above cited figures, the integrated energy generation system according to the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 100, uses one or more thermophotovoltaic generators 10 for the integrated production of electric power, heat and cold. In order to improve the combustion system, in the thermophotovoltaic generators there are intercl angeable burners to be used according to the type of fuel to burn. In the particular case of the combustion of gas, so-called "flameless" techniques are used. In particular, therefore, the system for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold 100 comprises at least one thermophotovoltaic generator 10 which is coupled to a device for recovering heat from the spent fumes 6 for producing high-temperature heat, designated by the reference numeral 15. The device for recovering heat from the spent fumes 6 is conveniently constituted by a heat exchanger 16, which is connected to an absorber 17 which is capable of emitting cold 18.
The expression "high-temperature heat" 15 is used to reference heat at a temperature between 90 and 120°C. The photovoltaic cell 8 of the thermophotovoltaic generator 10 therefore allows producing electricity 19 and medium-temperature heat 20 (at a temperature between 45 and 80°C) by means of a device for recovering heat from the cooling of the photovoltaic cell 8. Essentially, the photovoltaic cell 8 is cooled by means of cooling water, and a heat recovery device utilizes the heat contained in said cooling water to generate medium-temperature heat 20. The heat of the fumes 6 that arrives from the combustion chamber 3 of the thermophotovoltaic generator 10 is partly recovered in order to preheat the combustion air, and the remainder is used to produce heat at high temperature by virtue of the heat exchanger 16. The system according to the invention furthermore has a device for reducing and monitoring emissions (of the fumes 6), not shown in the figures.
Figure 3 is a block diagram, substantially similar to Figure 1 , of a thermophotovoltaic generator 10, which has a burner 4. The burner 4 is interchangeable according to the type of fuel used; furthermore, differently from Figure 1, it also has a radiation concentration device 21, arranged between the photovoltaic cell 8 and the filter 9 and suitable to concentrate the thermal radiation onto a smaller surface. In this manner, it is possible to reduce the sensitive area, required for conversion to electric power and, therefore, the end costs of the generator. Further, it is possible to increase the power density of the radiation, thus increasing the conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic junction of the photovoltaic cell 8.
As mentioned, the photovoltaic cell is provided with a cooling circuit which allows to recover the radiant energy that is not converted into electricity. If photovoltaic cells 8 of the Quantum Well Solar Cell (QWSC) type are used, this entails an operating temperature of approximately 80°C, which is ideal in order to obtain heat recovery with water at medium-high temperature. As regards the burner 4, in the case of gas-fired combustion it is possible to use burners of the regenerative flameless type. These burners have the particularity that they recover up to 85% of energy from the combustion fumes, thus helping to increase the electrical efficiency of the generator. In conventional combustion systems used by thermophotovoltaic generators, thermal recovery from fumes is no more than 70% and since this factor is closely correlated to the conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic cell 8, the ability to increase it means an increase in the overall electrical efficiency of the generator. Furthermore, flameless burners, by having no flame, entail a reduction in NOx emissions of up to 90% and the absence of noise inherently linked to combustion. Thanks to the system 100, according to the present invention, it is possible to implement an innovative method for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold. This method, schematically shown in Figure 4 and designated by the reference numeral 200, comprises the steps of:
- generating, by means of one or more photovoltaic generators, electricity (step 201); and - recovering (step 202) the exhaust fumes generated in step 201; and
- performing the generation of cold by means of at least one heat pump of the absorption type, using the residues produced in the step for the conversion of the exhaust fumes of the photovoltaic generator into high-temperature heat (reference 203).
Advantageously, the step 201 can comprise the step 204, which consists in generating medium-temperature heat by using the heat removed from the photovoltaic generator by means of a cooling circuit. In another embodiment, the step 201 also comprises the step 205 of placing radiation concentrating means inside the photovoltaic generator in order to increase radiation efficiency.
In practice it has been found that the system for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold according to the present invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects, since it allows to produce electric power, heat and cold simultaneously and with high efficiency. It furthermore allows to increase the electrical efficiency of the thermophotovoltaic generator, with the possibility to use low-cost or alternative fuels, with low levels of acoustic emissions and reduced maintenance with a long operating life of the system.

Claims

1. A system for the generation of electric power, heat and cold, characterized in that it comprises at least one thermophotovoltaic generator which is suitable to generate electricity, at least one heat exchanger which is suitable to receive in input the exhaust fumes of said thermophotovoltaic generator and to produce heat at high temperature, and at least one absorber which is connected to said heat exchanger and is suitable to generate cold.
2. The system according to claim 1 , characterized in that said at least one absorber comprises an absorption-type heat pump.
3. The system according to one or more of previous claims, characterized in that said at least one thermophotovoltaic generator comprises a cooling circuit for one or more photovoltaic cells of said generator, a device for recovering heat from the heat removed by said cooling circuit being provided in order to produce heat at medium temperature.
4. The system according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said at least one thermophotovoltaic generator receives air/fuel in input.
5. The system according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said at least one thermophotovoltaic generator comprises a burner which is interchangeable according to the type of fuel used in said generator.
6. The system according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said at least one thermophotovoltaic generator comprises a burner of the flameless type.
7. The system according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said at least one thermophotovoltaic generator comprises means for concentrating thermal radiation emitted by emitter means of said generator, said concentrator means being interposed between said emitter means and one or more photovoltaic cells of said generator.
8. The system according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that it comprises a fume i eduction and monitoring device.
9. A method for the integrated generation of electric power, heat and cold, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:
- generating electricity by means of at least one thermophotovoltaic generator; - recovering the exhaust fumes of said at least one photovoltaic generator in order to produce heat at high temperature;
- generating cold by means of at least one absorption-type heat pump, using the residues of the step for converting the exhaust fumes of said thermophotovoltaic generator into high-temperature heat.
10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that said step that consists in generating electricity by means of at least one thermophotovoltaic generator comprises a step for generating medium-temperature heat by using the heat removed from said thermophotovoltaic generator by means of a cooling circuit.
1 1. The method according to one or more of claims from 9 to 10, characterized in that said step that consists in generating electricity by means of at least one thermophotovoltaic generator comprises the placement of radiation concentrating means inside said thermophotovoltaic generator in order to increase conversion efficiency.
12. A thermophotovoltaic generator for converting heat into electricity, comprising emitter means which are suitable to emit heat radiation at one or more photovoltaic cells, in order to generate electricity, characterized in that it comprises concentrator means which are interposed between said emitter means and said one or more photovoltaic cells, in order to increase the efficiency of the conversion of heat radiation into electricity.
13. The thermophotovoltaic generator according to claim 12, characterized in that said emitter means comprise a combustion chamber which internally accommodates a burner which is interchangeable according to the type of fuel used in said generator.
14. The thermophotovoltaic generator according to claim 13, characterized in that said burner is a burner of the flameless type.
PCT/EP2000/012079 1999-12-28 2000-11-29 Electric power, heat and cold generation system and associated process WO2001048832A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU21646/01A AU2164601A (en) 1999-12-28 2000-11-29 Electric power, heat and cold generation system and associated process

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ITMI99A002726 1999-12-28
IT1999MI002726A IT1314330B1 (en) 1999-12-28 1999-12-28 INTEGRATED ELECTRICITY, HEAT AND COLD GENERATION SYSTEM AND RELATED PROCEDURE

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2001048832A1 true WO2001048832A1 (en) 2001-07-05

Family

ID=11384206

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/EP2000/012079 WO2001048832A1 (en) 1999-12-28 2000-11-29 Electric power, heat and cold generation system and associated process

Country Status (3)

Country Link
AU (1) AU2164601A (en)
IT (1) IT1314330B1 (en)
WO (1) WO2001048832A1 (en)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN102214707A (en) * 2011-05-20 2011-10-12 南京航空航天大学 Burnt luminous energy unitization device and method
WO2014086945A1 (en) * 2012-12-05 2014-06-12 Triangle Resource Holding (Switzerland) Ag Combustion, heat-exchange and emitter device
WO2016135538A1 (en) * 2015-02-27 2016-09-01 Blue Foundation S.R.L. Electric oven

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4580530A (en) * 1983-04-11 1986-04-08 Olrik Henrik G Method in the operation of a firing plant, and a firing plant for performing the method
US5092767A (en) * 1990-10-18 1992-03-03 Dehlsen James G P Reversing linear flow TPV process and apparatus
US5356487A (en) * 1983-07-25 1994-10-18 Quantum Group, Inc. Thermally amplified and stimulated emission radiator fiber matrix burner
US5383976A (en) * 1992-06-30 1995-01-24 Jx Crystals, Inc. Compact DC/AC electric power generator using convective liquid cooled low bandgap thermophotovoltaic cell strings and regenerative hydrocarbon burner
US5593509A (en) * 1995-03-17 1997-01-14 Lockheed Idaho Technologies Company Portable thermo-photovoltaic power source
WO1999008296A2 (en) * 1997-05-19 1999-02-18 Mcdermott Technology, Inc. Burner/emitter/recuperator design for a thermophotovoltaic electric generator

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4580530A (en) * 1983-04-11 1986-04-08 Olrik Henrik G Method in the operation of a firing plant, and a firing plant for performing the method
US5356487A (en) * 1983-07-25 1994-10-18 Quantum Group, Inc. Thermally amplified and stimulated emission radiator fiber matrix burner
US5092767A (en) * 1990-10-18 1992-03-03 Dehlsen James G P Reversing linear flow TPV process and apparatus
US5383976A (en) * 1992-06-30 1995-01-24 Jx Crystals, Inc. Compact DC/AC electric power generator using convective liquid cooled low bandgap thermophotovoltaic cell strings and regenerative hydrocarbon burner
US5593509A (en) * 1995-03-17 1997-01-14 Lockheed Idaho Technologies Company Portable thermo-photovoltaic power source
WO1999008296A2 (en) * 1997-05-19 1999-02-18 Mcdermott Technology, Inc. Burner/emitter/recuperator design for a thermophotovoltaic electric generator

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN102214707A (en) * 2011-05-20 2011-10-12 南京航空航天大学 Burnt luminous energy unitization device and method
WO2014086945A1 (en) * 2012-12-05 2014-06-12 Triangle Resource Holding (Switzerland) Ag Combustion, heat-exchange and emitter device
CN104937723A (en) * 2012-12-05 2015-09-23 三角资源控股(瑞士)公司 Combustion, heat-exchange and emitter device
WO2016135538A1 (en) * 2015-02-27 2016-09-01 Blue Foundation S.R.L. Electric oven

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ITMI992726A1 (en) 2001-06-28
AU2164601A (en) 2001-07-09
IT1314330B1 (en) 2002-12-09
ITMI992726A0 (en) 1999-12-28

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
RU2004137497A (en) HYBRID ENERGY SYSTEM FOR CONTINUOUS RELIABLE POWER SUPPLY IN REMOTE PLACES
CN105804872A (en) Steam reinjection type gas turbine power generation method and device based on solar energy and waste heat recovery
JP4121739B2 (en) Hydrogen generation system and method using nuclear reactor
JPS63316486A (en) Thermoelectric and photoelectric generation device
CN111780081A (en) 700 ℃ boiler heating surface arrangement device for preventing reheated steam temperature from failing to reach standard
JP2007214523A (en) Tpv combined power generating apparatus
KR101029572B1 (en) Thermophotovoltaic generator using combustion in porous media of ceramic fiber
JPH0894050A (en) Exhaust heat utilizing generator
RU2122642C1 (en) Combined-cycle steam power plant
US20210257959A1 (en) Combined heating and power modules and devices
CN112412562B (en) Photo-thermal cascade power generation system and method with combined cycle coupling of thermophotovoltaic and external combustion type fuel gas and steam
CN113237060A (en) Be applicable to zero carbon emission of coal-fired thermal power boiler hydrogen fuel of active service transformation system
CN108843406A (en) A kind of flue gas reheat formula dish-style photo-thermal and gas combustion-gas vapor combined cycle system
WO2001048832A1 (en) Electric power, heat and cold generation system and associated process
CN1151574C (en) Combined electric generator system integrating fuel battery of carbonate with turbine
CN212615037U (en) Thermal photovoltaic battery system utilizing waste heat
US20210257958A1 (en) Combined heating and power modules and devices
CN212719661U (en) Novel heating surface arrangement structure of single-reheating 700 ℃ ultra-supercritical boiler
CN104482547B (en) A kind of alkali metal thermo-electric direct conversion device with industrial waste gas as thermal source
CN111779575A (en) Waste heat utilization's thermophotovoltaic battery system
CN108661869B (en) A kind of solar energy-natural gas fuel cell multi-mode combined cycle generating unit
CN202659431U (en) Solar energy-fuel gas complementary type generating device
CN201383775Y (en) Power generation device and cooker
JP2000106001A (en) Operation method of thermal excitation luminescence, thermal excitation luminescent device, and thermal photovoltaic power generating device
CN218324982U (en) Thermal power plant stability control system

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AE AG AL AM AU AZ BA BB BG BR BY BZ CA CN CR CU CZ DM DZ EE GD GE HR HU ID IL IN IS KP KR LC LK LT LV MA MG MK MN MX NO NZ PL RO SG SI SK TR TT UA UG US UZ VN YU ZA ZW

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): GH GM KE LS MW MZ SD SL SZ TZ UG ZW AM AZ BY KG KZ MD RU TJ TM AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LU MC NL PT SE TR BF BJ CF CG CI CM GA GN GW ML MR NE SN TD TG

121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
DFPE Request for preliminary examination filed prior to expiration of 19th month from priority date (pct application filed before 20040101)
122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase