WO2023118251A2

WO2023118251A2 - Power converter device

Info

Publication number: WO2023118251A2
Application number: PCT/EP2022/087152
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nicolas Labbe
Original assignee: Valeo Equipements Electriques Moteur
Priority date: 2021-12-21
Filing date: 2022-12-21
Publication date: 2023-06-29
Also published as: FR3131087A1

Description

Energy converter device

[1] The present invention relates to an energy converter device capable of supplying electrical energy.

[2] Currently, to operate the electric motor of an electric-powered vehicle, the energy source must be stored in electrochemical storage batteries or more generally tanks, to be carried in said vehicle.

[3] These storage devices are expensive and bulky.

[4] The invention aims in particular to provide usable electrical energy, in particular for electric mobility, which requires neither having to store all or almost all of the source of useful electrical energy during the operation of the vehicle, nor having to replenish all or part of this stock, in particular by recharging.

[5] The invention also aims to come as close as possible to, or even achieve, carbon neutrality, both for the transport of people or goods, and for the associated electrical energy production.

[6] The subject of the invention is thus an energy converter device capable of supplying electrical energy, in particular arranged to be carried on board a vehicle, in particular a land, air, sea or space vehicle, this device comprising:

- a cell comprising a first material made of graphite grains, rendered to granular superconducting behavior at its interfaces, with the presence of couplings by Josephson junctions at these interfaces between superconducting regions, this superconducting behavior and coupling by Josephson junctions between superconducting regions being manifested for at least one predetermined temperature range, in particular this temperature range including a temperature of 20° Celsius, this cell additionally containing a second semiconductor material mixed with the first material, in particular this second semiconductor material being grains of silicon or carbide silicon, - two electrodes, for example copper, placed in electrical contact with the cell, so as to ensure a passage of electric current through the cell, in particular through the entire cell, when the device is put into operation, converter device energy in which:

- the Josephson junctions of the first material form chains of Josephson junctions connected in series so that the electric current is subject to parametric amplification when it passes through these chains of Josephson junctions connected in series, this current being delivered in pulsed form having , at the start of each pulse, a rising slope chosen sufficiently large to reach for example at least 100 amperes per microsecond at the start of the pulse supplied to the cell,

- pairs of Josephson junctions, each pair being formed of two Josephson junctions connected in parallel forming a loop called JJP loop, of which at least one of the Josephson junctions, or both junctions, belongs to an end of a chain of junctions Josephson connected in series, these loops being able to produce a parametric excitation of the fundamental energy level of the field corresponding to the vacuum in the sense of quantum electrodynamics, so as to generate photons of these excitations,

- the second semiconductor material is capable of converting, by internal photoelectric effect, the energy of the photons generated by the terminal JJP loops, into a source of additional electric current by extraction of electrons in the conduction band of the semiconductor, which provides a excess free electrical charges adding to the electrical current flowing through the cell, this additional current being in turn subject to parametric amplification as it passes through the chains of series-connected Josephson junctions.

[7] From an electrical point of view, each chain of Josephson junctions connected in series, actually present in the granular material, can be likened to a succession of LC (inductance and capacitance) electrical diagrams with variable L (inductance). [8] A Josephson junction is usually assimilated to a non-linear inductance, and the series connection of such junctions being considered as forming a non-linear transmission line (also called NLTL meaning in English “Non-Linear Transmission Line”) capable of parametrically amplifying the electric current passing through it. Thus, along the paths between the electrodes, non-linear transmission lines NLTL are formed at such Josephson junctions operating as traveling wave parametric current amplifiers (also called TWPA, meaning “Travelling wave parametric amplifier”). On this subject, reference can be made to the article “Traveling-wave parametric amplifier based on three-wave mixing in a Josephson metamaterial” by A. Zorin (IEEE, 2017, 16th International Superconductive Electronics Conference, ISEC).

[9] As can be seen by referring to the article “Soliton production with nonlinear homogeneous lines, with ability to amplify voltage” by J. Elizondo (IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 2015), where in voltage amplification electric, this time with non-linear capacitances, it can be obtained with 24 periodic patterns in series an amplification of a factor of approximately 10, from 7 to 75 kV, it is remarkable that an amplification of 22 decibels in current was thus measured by A. Zorin with 300 periodic LC patterns in series with non-linear inductors usually representing Josephson junctions.

[10] For each pair of Josephson junctions that happen to be electrically connected in parallel rather than in series in the material formed, a SQUID arrangement is formed, designating in English a “Superconducting Device Quantum Interference Device”.

[11] While these arrangements of Josephson junctions (i.e. tunneling between superconducting regions), in so-called "SQUID" loops, are most often considered as measuring instruments -- in particular interferometers -- extremely sensitive to the magnetic field, we are interested here in quite another of their remarkable dynamic properties, which is to generate photons by extraction from the fundamental energy level of the field corresponding to the vacuum in the sense of quantum electrodynamics, the latter being on average of zero level as for the vacuum in the sense of classical physics, but presenting fluctuations of character exclusively quantum, from which it is then possible to obtain an effect from a parametric excitation, in this case from a SQUID type device operating in microwave mode at the end of a transmission line. This is the dynamic Casimir effect (or DCE effect), as explained with reference either to the article “Observation of the Dynamical Casimir Effect in a superconducting circuit” by C. Wilson and P. Delsing (Nature, 2011), either in the article “Dynamic Casimir Effect in a Josephson metamaterial” by P. Lâhteenmâki and P. Hakonen (PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2012), or in the article “Stimulating uncertainty : Amplifying the quantum vacuum with superconducting circuits” by P. Nation and F. Nori (American Physical Society, Reviews of Modem Physics, 2012). It is important to note that these three articles report experimental results in validation of theories put forward several decades earlier, and that in this context the operating mode by loop of Josephson junctions at the end of the line to generate photons is evaluated as more efficient by several orders of magnitude, compared to the initial provision of principle with moving mirror, for the DCE effect in question. It is, in these publications, a mechanism of parametric excitation which leads to an experimental result of creation of a flow of real photons starting from the vacuum. We can also cite the publication "Parametric resonance", in "Course of theoretical physics" by Lev Landau, Acad. Sc. USSR, pp. 80-81 (volume 1 among 10, Elsevier, 3rd edition, 1976). This last publication refers to a system in which, at equilibrium, at x = 0 (x being for example a position), the system is in unstable equilibrium, and any deviation, even very small, is sufficient for a rapid growth of x and dx/dt (see in particular the solution with terms in exp(+t/T), and not only in exp(-t/T)). This system is non-closed, for which the external action amounts to a temporal variation of at least one or of its parameters x. Thus, in this very general framework, the positions x are by nature generalizable in other state variables such as for example the magnetic flux and the electric charge (of which one can define expressions of energies involving x or x ² ) . These energies are, in general, of non-identically zero level in the initial condition for such a system which is the seat of an amplification, interaction or parametric excitation. The energies are of non-identically zero level in particular, for the energy background relating to the DCE effect, which has been demonstrated experimentally since 2011, that the latter can be achieved by parametric excitation on a background with a fluctuating level of energy, even extremely low.

[12] In conclusion, in the present invention, the JJP loops are not used as these SQUIDs which serve as a measuring instrument but to generate photons as explained above, each of these photons, characterized by a naked frequency, being also carrying a quantum of energy of level equal to the product (hx nu), where h is Planck's constant, approximately equal to 6.626 x10 ^A -34 Joule. second.

[13] The fundamental energy level of the quantum field corresponding to vacuum in the sense of quantum electrodynamics is also called “quantum vacuum”. It exhibits fluctuations which can be subjected to parametric excitation, the energy density of these field fluctuations relative to the vacuum being estimated at the colossal level of 10 ^A 94 g/cm ^A 3, in comparison to the nuclear densities of the order of 10 ^A 14 g/cm ^A 3 in the relativistic framework where the equivalence between mass and energy is established, as explained in the work Geometrodynamics” by J. Wheeler (Academie Press, 1962), himself quoted in chapter “44.3 - Vacuum fluctuations: their prevalence and final dominance” in the work “Gravitation” by C. Misner and J. Wheeler (Princeton University Press, 1973). It should be emphasized that the present invention uses an energy extraction (hx nu) relating to the photons produced by the parametric excitation of a non-identically zero energy level, the latter forming very real particles observed, and not virtual particles such as the pairs of particles and antiparticles of which it is well known that the quantum fluctuations of the vacuum give rise to them in extremely short durations (these virtual particles being non-exploitable) by virtue of the uncertainty relation dealing with time and energy. For example, the concepts of vacuum fluctuations, or zero point energy, of non-identically zero level, are developed in two works, namely "Interaction process between photons and atoms" by Claude Cohen- Tannoudji, pp. 109, 111, 157, 251, 302, 304, 307, 381, 521 and 549, among 628 pages (EDP Sciences, CNRS, 1988, which is the continuation of "Photons and atoms: Introduction to quantum electrodynamics", by the same author and editor, 1987) and "Physique quantique, Tome II" by Michel Le Bellac, pp. 716 and 758, among 1002 (EDP Sciences, CNRS, 2013). Vacuum fluctuations in that they give rise to virtual particle-antiparticle pairs are described in the book "Quantum field theory in a nutshell" by Anthony Zee, pp. 59-60, among 576 (Princeton University Press, 2010). the relationship of time-energy uncertainty, one can refer in particular to the work "Mécanique quantique", by Jean-Louis Basdevant and Jean Dalibard, pp. 367-368, among 520 pages (Editions de l'Ecole Polytechnique, 2004 ).

[14] Concerning the first material which has undergone a treatment (material not in its natural state), the superconducting and Josephson coupling behaviors between superconducting regions are advantageously manifested for at least a predetermined temperature range which has a lower limit equal to - approximately 30° Celsius and/or an upper limit equal to approximately 100° Celsius. Of course, other lower and/or upper bounds can be used.

[15] Thus superconducting behavior and Josephson coupling between superconducting regions occur under easily controllable conditions, in particular being able to occur at room temperature.

[16] The invention makes it possible in particular to avoid having to resort to complex and expensive cooling systems which many superconductors need for their superconducting operation.

[17] The invention thus allows electrical energy to be made available in situ, for example, allows electricity production, carbon neutral, on a vehicle.

[18] According to the invention, the converter device is capable of supplying electrical energy in response to dynamic current stimulation, in a certain frequency range. The current is delivered in pulse form, with a rising edge in absolute value that is sufficiently abrupt for its spectrum to contain sufficient components at sufficiently high frequency, for example at least 100 or 150 amperes per microsecond at the start of the pulse supplied to the cell.

[19] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the first material made to have granular superconducting behavior at its interfaces comprises grains of graphite, preferably having a characteristic size of 10 microns, these graphite grains remaining mixed with pure water after having been stirred beforehand for a predetermined period, for example of the order of 24 hours.

[20] These granular superconducting properties and especially the presence of Josephson couplings at these granular interfaces for graphite is described in the article "Evidence of Josephson-coupled superconducting regions at the interfaces of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite" by A. Ballestar and P Esquinazi (New Journal of Physics, 2013).

[21] The Josephson effect at the interfaces of the first material consists in particular of a tunnel effect between two superconducting zones distant from each other by a distance in particular of the order of a nanometer or several nanometers, and superconductivity is a granular superconductivity at the interfaces of graphite grains. Given the sizes of the Josephson junctions and JJP loops present, in a cylindrical volume defined by a diameter of the order of several centimeters and a thickness of the order of several millimeters, these junctions and loops are easily present at millions of copies. This evaluation is to be related to a known "x10 in voltage" amplification with 24 series patterns with nonlinear capacitance (see the article "Soliton production with nonlinear homogeneous lines, with ability to amplify voltage" by J. Elizondo (IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 2015)), and "+22 dB in current" with 300 series patterns with non-linear inductance (see the article

“Traveling-wave parametric amplifier based on three-wave mixing in a Josephson metamaterial” by A. Zorin (IEEE, 2017)). The non-linear processes of parametric amplification having precisely the characteristic of presenting a multiplicative rather than additive cumulation effect, therefore of exponentially growing amplitude, one can reasonably expect within the framework of the invention, an effect significant in terms of current and electric charge due to the fact that one proceeds by millions of elementary patterns linked to non-linear inductance, whereas each individual effect is only quasi infinitesimal. The effect in single parametric current amplification over several orders of magnitude for a single elementary LC pattern with non-linear inductance, at the scale of a macroscopic electrical circuit, being described in particular by the company applicant in the patent FR3077439B1, "Device for the transmission of power without contact by resonant inductive coupling for recharging a motor vehicle". The applicant thus demonstrates that it is possible here to have access to electrical powers of the order of a kiloWatt from elementary mechanisms of the order of a nanoWatt: this, on the one hand, because of the positive feedback in place, therefore self-powered, where the conversion of photon energy (resulting from a parametric excitation) into additional electric current gives rise to a parametric amplification of this current itself in addition; and on the other hand, because of the colossal possibilities proven experimentally for several years, in gain of amplification when these same parametric processes are implemented in non-linear electrodynamics or quantum optics, as exposed for example by N. Forget in his doctoral dissertation "From laser amplifiers to parametric amplifiers: studies of optical parametric amplification (...)" (Ecole Polytechnique, 2005), or by G. Mourou in the article "Exawatt-Zettawatt pulse generation and applications (Optics Communications, Volume 285, Issue 5, pp. 720-724, 2012). A ZettaWatt is worth 10 ^A 21 Watt or a billion billion kiloWatts.

[22] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the excess electrical charge provided by the device allows the quantity of electrical energy recovered at the output of this device to be greater than the quantity of energy entering through the electrodes, over a predetermined operating cycle, this because of the expression of the electrical energy E in question, proportional to Q ² if it is related to a capacitance of value C, Q being the electrical charge conveyed, equal to l time integral of the current i(t) variable over time (we have E = 1/2.Q ² /C, with Q = S(i(t).dt), S being the symbol of the integral).

[23] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the electric current which crosses the cell presents a pseudo-periodic variation, that is to say in damped harmonic oscillation.

[24] According to one aspect of the invention, these current variations have a substantially damped sinusoidal shape. [25] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the outgoing electric current is in the form of pulses having a duration of between 10 and 200 microseconds, for example between 60 and 120 microseconds, being for example approximately 10, 30, 50 or 200 microseconds.

[26] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the outgoing electrical current pulse (ia) has a maximum intensity greater than 100 Amps, or even 1,000 Amps or even 1,500 Amps, in particular an intensity greater than 2 000 amperes, this maximum being able in particular to be between 2500 and 3000 amperes, and in which the outgoing electrical current pulse (ia) has in absolute value a rising slope greater than 100 amperes per microsecond, or even 500 or 1000 amperes per microsecond .

[27] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the electric current entering the cell comes from an electric source external to the cell, for example an electric storage source such as a capacitor, and the electric current leaving of the cell carries an amount of electrical energy greater than the amount of energy carried by the incoming electrical current, for a predetermined cycle.

[28] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the electrical source external to the cell comprises a power capacitor initially charged to a voltage of between 100 Volts and 900 Volts. According to another aspect of the invention, the electrical source external to the cell comprises a controlled current source with a predetermined di/dt slope increase.

[29] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the power relative to the electric current simultaneously under an electric voltage, or non-zero electric potential difference at the terminals of the cell is greater than 10 or 50 kiloWatts. According to one of the aspects of the invention, the power relative to the electric current and to the electric charge conveyed when passing through the cell is greater than the ratio of 1 Joule per 100 microseconds or 2 Joules per 40 microseconds, i.e. i.e. greater than 10 or 50 kiloWatts.

[30] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the device is arranged so that a single external contribution is made to the cell from an external voltage source, such as a battery or a capacitor, or from a source of external current controlled with a predetermined increase in slope, the quantities of energy for the following excitations of the cell all coming from the surpluses provided by the effect of the previous excitations going back to the initial excitation, only to come from a source exterior.

[31] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the cell is connected to a static power switch such as a thyristor or an IGBT transistor, this switch being arranged to control a discharge of a capacitor or an increase in predetermined slope of the current in the cell, with discharge pulses of 10 to 200 microseconds each.

[32] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the device is arranged so that, when starting up this device, the capacitor is recharged only once at the start, its subsequent recharges being maintained, effected by excess current generated by the cell during each discharge, in particular to at least 100 V and at least 100 A simultaneously.

[33] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the capacitor is arranged, in the converter device of the invention, to serve to initiate, supply and recover electrical energy.

[34] According to one of the aspects of the invention, during electrical operation, the first material is placed between the electrodes which are metallic, in particular copper, in particular copper alloy, and porous immersed in distilled water such as that mixed with the first material, or these electrodes are solid, impermeable and separated by an arrangement of the first and second materials in an incorporation into an aqueous gel.

[35] Alternatively, during electrical operation, the first material is incorporated into a fluid based on a highly absorbent hydrophilic polymer.

[36] For example, the first material is based on water-activated graphite, the graphite grains being as much as possible in contact with water in order to retain the properties of the granular superconductor type at its interfaces.

[37] According to one of the aspects of the invention, these grains come in particular from a graphite powder.

[38] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the graphite grains have a characteristic diameter of the order of 10 micrometers. [39] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the cell has at least one dimension greater than 1 cm.

[40] For example, the cell has a thickness of at least 1 mm, in particular at least 5 mm, this thickness being in particular between 1 mm and 100 mm.

[41] For example, the volume of the first material is at least 1 cm3, in particular at least 5 cm3, for example 10 or even 100 cm3.

[42] According to one aspect of the invention, the electrodes are placed on two opposite sides of the cell so that these electrodes are separated by the thickness of the cell.

[43] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the second semiconductor material can be provided in the form of grains.

[44] The present invention finds applications in particular in electrotechnical applications, for example as a source of electrical energy to power the electric propulsion or traction motor of a vehicle, land, air, sea or space. In the case of a land vehicle, it may include any number of wheels, for example two, three, four or more wheels.

[45] Another subject of the invention is a method for converting energy, in particular arranged to be carried on board a vehicle, this method comprising the steps:

- providing a cell comprising a first material rendered with granular superconducting behavior at its interfaces, with the presence of couplings by Josephson junctions at these interfaces between superconducting regions, this superconducting behavior and coupling by Josephson junctions between superconducting regions manifesting itself for at least one range of predetermined temperature, in particular this temperature range including a temperature of 20° Celsius, this cell also containing a second semiconductor material mixed with the first material, in particular this second semiconductor material being grains of silicon or silicon carbide, - ensure a passage of electric current through the cell, in particular through the entire cell, when the device is put into operation, using two electrodes, for example copper, placed in contact with the cell, process in which:

- converting by internal photoelectric effect, using the second semiconductor material, the energy of the photons generated by the terminal JJP loops, into a source of additional electric current by extraction of electrons in the conduction band of the semiconductor, which brings an excess of free electrical charges adding to the electrical current flowing through the cell, this additional current being in turn subject to parametric amplification as it passes through the chains of series-connected Josephson junctions.

[46] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the operation initiating the supply of excess electricity is carried out by applying to the cell an internal electric field by means of an electric voltage at its terminals via its electrodes, in particular greater than 100 Volts, in particular by the discharge of a capacitor, or by an increase in current with a predetermined slope, in particular greater than 100 amperes per microsecond.

[47] According to one of the aspects of the invention, the capacitor is recharged, for example using a battery or a precharging power supply, only once, at the start, its subsequent recharges being maintained, performing by excess current generated by the cell during discharges in particular at at least 100 Volts and at least 100 Amps simultaneously. As a variant, a predetermined external energy supply is made to the cell from a controlled current source with a predetermined increase in slope, the quantities of energy for the following excitations of the cell all coming from the surpluses procured by the effect of the preceding excitations by going back to the initial excitation, only to come from an external source.

[48] According to one aspect of the invention, the first material is made in the manner described below. Ultra pure graphite powder is mixed in distilled water and this mixture is continuously stirred or stirred at room temperature. At the beginning of the preparation, the graphite grains swim on the surface of the water due to their highly hydrophobic property. After approximately one hour, it can be observed that the graphite powder forms a suspension within the water, which is quite homogeneous approximately one hour later. After a new agitation or a new stirring for approximately 22 hours, the powder obtained is recovered by filtration with a clean non-metallic filter and drying is carried out at 100° C. for approximately 8 to 12 hours.

[49] For the manufacture of the first material, it is possible to refer to the article “Can doping graphite trigger room temperature superconductivity? Evidence for granular high-temperature superconductivity in water-treated graphite powder” by T. Scheike, W. Bôhlmann, P. Esquinazi, J. Barzola-Quiquia, A. Ballestar, A. Setzer (Advanced Materials, Volume 24, Issue 43, pp. 5826-5831, 2012).

[50] Other characteristics, details and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly on reading the detailed description given below, and an example of embodiment given by way of indication and not limitation with reference to the appended schematic drawings. , on which ones :

[51] [Fig.1] is a simplified electrical diagram of a converter device according to an example of the invention, [52] [Fig.2] represents, schematically and partially, a cell of the device of the converter according to figure 1,

[53] [Fig.3] represents, schematically and partially, chains of Josephson junctions appearing in the first material of the device of the converter according to figure 1,

[54] [Fig.4] represents the electric current obtained using the converter device in Figure 1,

[55] [Fig.5] represents the excess energy obtained using the converter device in Figure 1,

[56] [Fig.6] is a diagram illustrating the sequence of phenomena at work in the converter device in figure 1 .

[57] There is shown in Figure 1 an energy converter device 1 capable of supplying electrical energy and arranged to be embarked on a land, air, sea or space vehicle, for example an electric car.

[58] As best seen in Figure 2, this device 1 comprises:

- a cell 2 comprising a first material 3 made to have granular superconducting behavior at its interfaces, with the presence of couplings by Josephson junctions 8 at these interfaces between superconducting regions, this superconducting behavior and coupling by Josephson junctions between superconducting regions manifesting itself for at least a predetermined temperature range, in particular this temperature range including a temperature of 20° Celsius, this cell further containing a second semiconductor material 4 mixed with the first material, in particular this second semiconductor material 4 being grains of silicon or silicon carbide ,

- two disc-shaped electrodes 5, for example copper, placed in electrical contact with the cell, so as to ensure a passage of electric current through the entire cell 2 when the device is put into operation.

[59] The Josephson junctions 8 of the first material 3 form chains of series-connected Josephson junctions 7 such that the electric current is subject to parametric amplification when passing through these chains of series-connected Josephson junctions, this current being delivered in the form pulse having, at the start of each pulse, a rising slope chosen sufficiently large to reach for example at least 100 amperes per microsecond at the start of the pulse supplied to the cell. One of these chains 7 is illustrated in the form of an electrical diagram in Figure 3.

[60] The cross symbol schematizes a Josephson junction.

[61] Pairs of Josephson junctions are formed, each pair being formed of two Josephson junctions 8 connected in parallel forming a loop 9 called J JP loop, of which at least one of the Josephson junctions, or both junctions, belongs to a termination of a chain 7 of Josephson junctions connected in series operating in NLTL, these loops 9 being capable of producing parametric excitation of the fundamental energy level of the field corresponding to vacuum in the sense of quantum electrodynamics, so as to generate photons of these excitements.

[62] The second semiconductor material 4, here formed of grains of silicon or silicon carbide, is capable of converting, by internal photoelectric effect, the energy of the photons generated by the terminal JJP loops, into a source of additional electric current by extraction of electrons in the conduction band of the semiconductor, which brings an excess of free electric charges adding to the electric current which crosses the cell 2, this additional current being in its turn subject to parametric amplification when it passes through the chains of Josephson junctions connected in series.

[63] The first material 3 is manufactured in the manner described below. Ultra pure graphite powder is mixed in distilled water and this mixture is continuously stirred or stirred at room temperature. At the beginning of the preparation, the graphite grains swim on the surface of the water due to their highly hydrophobic property. After approximately one hour, it can be observed that the graphite powder forms a suspension within the water, which is quite homogeneous approximately one hour later. After a new agitation or a new stirring for approximately 22 hours, the powder obtained is recovered by filtration with a clean non-metallic filter and drying is carried out at 100° C. for approximately 8 to 12 hours.

[64] For the manufacture of the first material 3, it is possible to refer to the article “Can doping graphite trigger room temperature superconductivity? Evidence for granular high-temperature superconductivity in water-treated graphite powder” by T. Scheike, W. Bôhlmann, P. Esquinazi, J. Barzola-Quiquia, A. Ballestar, A. Setzer (Advanced Materials, Volume 24, Issue 43, pp. 5826-5831, 2012).

[65] From an electrical point of view, each chain 7 of Josephson junctions 8 connected in series can be likened to a succession of LC (inductance and capacitance) electrical diagrams with variable L (inductance), as shown in Figure 3.

[66] As regards the first material 3, the superconducting behavior advantageously manifests itself for at least a predetermined temperature range which has a lower limit equal to approximately -30° Celsius and an upper limit equal to approximately 100° Celsius. Preferably, the device according to the invention is capable of operating at ambient temperature, for example at 20°.

[67] The invention makes it possible in particular to avoid having to resort to complex and expensive cooling systems which many superconductors need for their superconducting operation.

[68] The first material 3 with granular superconducting behavior at its interfaces comprises graphite grains having a characteristic size of 10 microns, these graphite grains being mixed with pure water.

[69] The Josephson effect at the interfaces of the first material 3 consists in particular of a tunnel effect between two superconducting zones distant from each other by a distance in particular of the order of a nanometer or several nanometers.

[70] Cell 2 is connected to a switch 10, here a static power switch such as a thyristor or an IGBT transistor, this switch 10 being arranged to control the discharge of a capacitor 11 in cell 2 with pulses discharge from 10 to 200 microseconds each.

[71] An inductor 17 represents the fact that the entire current making circuit is in a closed loop, therefore characterized by an inductance, even low, as here, not exceeding a few microhenry. A resistor 18 represents the fact that a conductive loop traversed by a current is characterized by a resistance, even low, as here, of the order of a few milli-Ohms. A capacitor 11 is useful in that it makes it possible to carry out a capacitive discharge, following an initial charge of the latter.

[72] The device 1 is arranged so that a single external supply is made to the cell from an external voltage source, such as a battery or a capacitor, or from an external current source controlled at a predetermined increase in slope, the quantities of energy for the following excitations of the cell all coming from the surpluses procured by the effect of the preceding excitations going back to the initial excitation, the only one coming from an external source.

[73] The device 1 is arranged so that, when starting up this device, the capacitor 11 is recharged only once at the start, its subsequent recharges being maintained, taking place by excess current generated by the cell during each discharge, in particular to at least 100 V and at least 100 A simultaneously.

[74] The capacitor 11 is arranged, in the converter device 1 of the invention, to serve to initiate, supply and recover electrical energy.

[75] During electrical operation, the first material 3 is placed between the electrodes 5 which are metallic, in particular copper, and porous immersed in distilled water like that mixed with the first material 3, or these electrodes are solid, impermeable and separated by an arrangement of the first and second materials 3 and 4 in an incorporation into an aqueous gel.

[76] The disc-shaped electrodes 5 each cover one face 14 of this cell 2.

[77] The first material 3 is based on water-activated graphite, the graphite grains being in contact with water as much as possible in order to retain the properties of the granular superconductor type at its interfaces.

[78] These grains come in particular from a graphite powder.

[79] Graphite grains have a characteristic diameter of around 10 micrometers.

[80] Cell 2 has at least one dimension greater than 1 cm.

[81] For example, cell 2 has a thickness of at least 1 mm, in particular at least 5 mm, this thickness being in particular between 1 mm and 100 mm. [82] For example, the volume of the first material is at least 1 cm3, in particular at least 5 cm3, for example 10 or even 100 cm3.

[83] The electrodes 5 are placed on two opposite faces 14 of the cell so that these electrodes are separated by the thickness of the cell, as shown in Figure 2.

[84] The second semiconductor material 4, for example silicon or silicon carbide, can be provided in the form of grains.

[85] Figure 4 illustrates, by curve 25, the variation of the electric current ia which crosses the active cell during a pulse regime.

[86] The ordinate of the graph in Figure 4 is the intensity of the electric current in amperes, and the abscissa is the time in seconds.

[87] The current curve ia has a substantially damped sinusoidal shape.

[88] Each current pulse lasts, in the example described, 50 microseconds.

[89] The pulsed current regime, observed here by measurement on a bench, is the result of a capacitive discharge through the active cell 2, such that it becomes accounted for more electrical charge carried Q at the end of the pulse process of 50 microseconds, than electrical charge stored in capacitor 11 prior to discharge, this capacitor 11 being well insulated after having been charged by an external power supply 19 by actuating switch 10 which is for example a thyristor.

[90] The power relative to the electric current simultaneously under an electric voltage, or non-zero electric potential difference at the terminals of the cell (2) is greater than 10 or 50 kiloWatts. According to one of the aspects of the invention, the power relative to the electric current and to the electric charge conveyed when passing through the cell is greater than the ratio of 1 Joule per 100 microseconds or 2 Joules per 40 microseconds, i.e. i.e. greater than 10 or 50 kiloWatts.

[91] Conventionally, this power is evaluated via the energy, the latter being calculated via that of the charge Q, itself being calculated by measuring the area bounded by the curve of current measured as a function of time.

[92] A curve 26 has been added in FIG. 4 which shows the current obtained by the circuit of FIG. 1, from which cell 2 is removed. [93] Thus curve 26 corresponds to a classic RLC circuit in which the capacitance is discharged into the inductance L and the resistance R.

[94] Cell 2 added in series presents an additional static resistance level, the latter being of the same order as the resistance level of circuit 1 without cell 2, that is to say between 10 and 15 milliOhms. Thus the effect of the presence or absence of cell 2 in circuit 1 cannot in any way be confused with a measurement uncertainty on the resistance of the circuit since this amounts to varying from simple to double in static resistance.

[95] Quite surprisingly, the addition of cell 2 does not have the effect of causing the maximum current to drop, as one might expect (due to the addition of a resistor), nor cause the entire current signal to drop by dissipation by the Joule effect Ri ² .

[96] This is visible on curve 25 which, on the contrary, shows a current peak greater than the current peak of curve 26, this difference between peaks being here of the order of 440 amperes. It is also visible another quite remarkable experimental fact, in that around 550 Amps for t = 3.5 microseconds, in the presence of cell 2 added to circuit 1, the same voltage condition applied by the same capacitor being discharged gives rise to a break in slope, or an angular point, on the evolution of the current. Thus between 550 amps at t = 3.5 microseconds and the current peak (where the derivative of the latter cancels out), the characterization of the transient state of the device indicates that everything happens as if a negative inductance term had suddenly been introduced. . This while between the current peak and the cancellation of the current around t = 50 microseconds, the overall level of inductance which characterizes the transient state becomes identical to that of circuit 1 without added cell 2.

[97] In addition, a supply of excess energy is observed as collected by the electrode of capacitor 11, opposite the electrode which supplied the initial charge. This, as visible by simple comparison of the areas between the curves 25 and 26 before and after their intersection around t=40 microseconds, without the need to perform any post-processing calculation of the measurement signals. Thus we observe that, starting from the transient regime 26, adding the cell 2 first causes an overrun by the regime 25, substantially greater than the catch-up which follows it, when it is the regime 26 which exceeds the regime 25 after t = 40 microseconds. The area evaluated between curves of time evolution of currents i25(t) and i26(t) providing by definition the difference in electric charge carried Qd, with Qd = S(i25(t) - i26(t).dt.

[98] In Figure 5, the curve 40 schematizes the energy provided by the discharge of the capacitor 11, it is a sort of reference axis which situates the hypothesis of an absence of any loss of energy between the initial condition at t = 0 before discharge, and the end of the measured transient state. On this graph, the y-axis on the right represents the energy in Joules linked to the electrical charges in play (while the y-axis on the left represents, as in figure 4, the intensity of the current in Amps).

[99] As can be seen in FIG. 5 with reference to curve 42, more energy 1/2.Q ² /C is counted and returned after the discharge process through cell 2 than before this start. dump. This cell 2 thus happens to be active in the sense of supplying energy when it is suitably excited: an excess appears (here of 2 Joules per pulse of 50 microseconds), compared to what can be supplied via the electrodes 5 connected to the electrodes of the condenser in their state of before starting by current impulse with temporal increase of sufficient level. In this case where the excess is 2 Joules per 50 microsecond pulse, for an input energy of 17.6 Joules (input energy represented by the dotted line C.Uo ² /2 in FIG. 5), we concludes with a COP performance coefficient of (17.6+2)/17.6=1.11, greater than 1. This reflects a positive energy balance. It is noted that the coefficient of performance COP is usually used for heat pumps, and having values greater than 1.

[100] With reference to figure 5, it is visible that for the regime i(t) measured with cell 2, the accounting of the only losses Ri ² due to the resistance R of the circuit, this without adding the measured static resistance of the cell 2 (which is of the same order as that of the circuit before the addition of the cell), leads to a deficit of 2 Joules, instead of an excess of 2 Joules when we add cell 2, and this under conditions identical capacitive discharge and measurement. This same deficit of 2 Joules due to the losses Ri ² , directly by measurement of the discharge rate without cell 2, is also found in post-processing of the corresponding measurement. We conclude that the intrinsic effect of the introduction of a suitably excited cell 2, under these same test conditions, amounts to supplying, when introduced into the device, 4 Joules in 50 microseconds.

[101] The phenomena at work to obtain the surplus are summarized below.

[102] Along paths between the electrodes, are formed, in fact, non-linear transmission lines (NLTL) with Josephson junctions operating in parametric current amplifiers with traveling wave (TWPA), by millions of patterns.

[103] When, for such a line, a JJP loop operating in the microwave regime is located at the end, it is then conducive to the generation of photons by parametric excitation producing the dynamic Casimir effect DCE, it is that is to say a production from the fluctuations of the vacuum in the sense of quantum electrodynamics (QED, for “Quantum Electrodynamics”), and which is excited parametrically.

[104] All of the terminal NLTL, TWPA, and JJP string pieces are excited by the application of an electrical pulse in hundreds of Volts or Amps per microprobe, with a front sufficiently abrupt for the frequency content of the pulse includes harmonics up to high levels, which make them suitable for exciting series-connected Josephson Junction chains and JJP loops at frequencies related to their parametric amplification.

[105] Semiconductor grains such as SiC for example, capable of withstanding high voltage, are added to the water/activated graphite mixture, and give rise to an extraction of electrons located in their conduction band, this under the action of photon energy generated from parametric vacuum excitation, as a result of the internal photoelectric effect.

[106] These additional free electrons are added to the current which already crosses the medium consisting of paste containing (water - grains of graphite - grains of SiC) of cell 2.

[107] Thus, a positive feedback loop is set up and activated, with:

- a supply of current with a sufficient increase in time during ignition (step 100 of FIG. 6) which can be carried out in particular by discharging a capacitor, - a parametric amplification of current through the multiple chains of Josephson junctions arranged in NLTL lines (step 101 of FIG. 6) with TWPA effect if the initial current supply has been made with a sufficient increase in time,

- a generation of photons at the JJP loop terminations of the Josephson junction chains (step 102) which results from step (101),

- and which gives rise to an extraction of free electrons (step 103) delivered in a current of additional intensity (step 104) established under the potential difference previously existing between the two electrodes,

- this additional current being itself parametrically amplified in step 101

- and so on, starting from this step 101, to achieve device operation which is self-powered for a period of a few tens of microseconds, that is to say with continuous amplification during this period, until until its limit corresponding to the cancellation of the increase in current is reached, that is to say the reaching of the peak current level.

[108] Hence, at the end of an individual electric pulse, there appears a surplus of electrons leaving (counted in the total charge Qs) towards a capacitor electrode, compared to the quantity of electrons entering (charge total Qe) and, consequently, an energy surplus for Qs ² /(2.C) compared to the energy Qe ² /(2.C).

[109] This excess can reach a few Joules for a pulse of a few kilo-Amperes kA for a few tens of microseconds.

[110] Hence, then, comes the possibility, via electronic circuit control, of linking these individual pulses into pulse trains, the same unit excess of the order of a few Joules for a few tens of microseconds, amounting to expressing, in steady state, a usable excess power, of the order of a few tens of kiloWatts, for a desired duration, for example seconds, minutes or hours.

[111] The present invention serves as a source of electrical energy to power the electric propulsion or traction motor of a land, air, sea or space vehicle. [112] In summary, in the invention, the energy produced by means of the energy converter device, as explained above by experimental results, comes from a significant flux of photons, which are very real, created by the parametric excitation of vacuum fluctuations in the sense of quantum electrodynamics, as confirmed by the article

“Observation of the Dynamical Casimir Effect in a superconducting circuit” by C. Wilson and P. Delsing (Nature, 2011) which describes the experimental observation of the creation of a significant flux of photons. From the article "Dynamic Casimir Effect in a Josephson metamaterial" by P. Lâhteenmâki and P. Hakonen (PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2012), it can be understood that the substantial photon flux created and observed cannot be linked to thermal fluctuations, but does come under a specific point of quantum field theory (in other words, quantum electrodynamics).

[113] Finally, the notion of parametric excitation, general in non-linear physics and invoked here in quantum electrodynamics, relates to exciting particular modes of a system already having a non-zero energy level at the start; and after a certain time, the result is the manifestation of a very strongly amplified level (for the pre-existing energy level, not that of the pump), and usable. Thus, precisely in these terms and this parametric amplification framework as specified by publications of experimental results such as the article "Dynamic Casimir Effect in a Josephson metamaterial" by P. Lâhteenmâki and P. Hakonen (PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2012), and the article “Stimulating uncertainty: Amplifying the quantum vacuum with superconducting circuits” by P. Nation and F. Nori (American Physical Society, Reviews of Modern Physics, 2012) mentioned above, it is clear that implicitly, the energy of the flow of photons produced by the dynamic Casimir effect DCE is counted by an addition, and is not included in the contribution where the test circuits are supplied with energy, thermal and electric.

[114] The energy converter device according to the invention should not be considered in isolation from the surrounding vacuum in the quantum electrodynamic sense, being well known that even at the atomic level, the inter-constituent distances are such that there is proportionally much more vacuum than matter.

Claims

25 Claims

[Claim 1] Energy converter device (1) capable of supplying electrical energy, in particular arranged to be carried on board a vehicle, in particular a land, air, sea or space vehicle, this device comprising:

- a cell (2) comprising a first material (3) made of graphite grains, rendered to granular superconducting behavior at its interfaces, with the presence of couplings by Josephson junctions at these interfaces between superconducting regions, this superconducting behavior and coupling by junctions Josephson between superconducting regions occurring for at least a predetermined temperature range, in particular this temperature range including a temperature of 20° Celsius, this cell further containing a second semiconductor material (4) mixed with the first material, in particular this second semiconductor material being grains of silicon or silicon carbide,

- two electrodes (5), for example copper, placed in electrical contact with the cell, so as to ensure passage of electric current through the entire cell when the device is put into operation, energy converter device in which:

- the Josephson junctions (8) of the first material form chains of Josephson junctions connected in series so that the electric current is subject to parametric amplification when it passes through these chains of Josephson junctions connected in series, this current being delivered under pulse form having, at the start of each pulse, a rising slope chosen sufficiently large to reach, for example, at least 100 amperes per microsecond at the start of the pulse supplied to the cell,

- pairs (9) of Josephson junctions, each pair being formed of two Josephson junctions connected in parallel forming a loop called JJP loop, including at least one of the Josephson junctions, or both junctions, belongs to a termination of a chain of Josephson junctions connected in series, these loops being able to produce a parametric excitation of the fundamental energy level of the field corresponding to the vacuum in the sense of quantum electrodynamics, so as to generate photons of these excitements,

- the second semiconductor material (4) is capable of converting, by internal photoelectric effect, the energy of the photons generated by the terminal JJP loops, into a source of additional electric current by extraction of electrons in the conduction band of the semiconductor, which brings an excess of free electric charges adding to the electric current which passes through the cell (2), this additional current being in turn subject to parametric amplification when it passes through the chains of Josephson junctions connected in series.

[Claim 2] Converter device according to claim 1, in which the first material (3) with granular superconducting behavior at its interfaces comprises graphite grains having a characteristic size of 10 microns, these graphite grains remaining mixed with water pure after having been stirred beforehand for a predetermined period, for example of the order of 24 hours.

[Claim 3] Converter device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the excess electrical charges provided by the device (1) allows the quantity of electrical energy recovered at the output of this device to be greater than the quantity of energy entering through the electrodes (5) into the device, over a predetermined operating cycle.

[Claim 4] Converter device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the electric current which passes through the cell (2) has a damped periodic variation.

[Claim 5] Device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the outgoing electric current is in the form of pulses having a duration of between 10 and 200 microseconds, for example between 60 and 120 microseconds, being for example of approximately 10, 30, 50 or 200 microseconds.

[Claim 6] Device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the outgoing electrical current pulse (ia) has a maximum intensity greater than 100 Amps, or even 1,000 Amps or even 1,500 Amps, in particular an intensity greater than 2,000 amperes, this maximum possibly being between 2,500 and 3,000 amperes, and in which the outgoing electrical current pulse (ia) has, in absolute value, a rising slope greater than 100 amperes per microsecond, or even 500 or 1000 amperes per microsecond.

[Claim 7] Device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the electric current entering the cell comes from an electric source external to the cell, for example an electric storage source such as a capacitor (11), and the electric current leaving the cell (2) carries a greater quantity of electric energy than the quantity of energy carried by the incoming electric current, for a predetermined cycle.

[Claim 8] Device according to one of the preceding claims, arranged so that a single external supply is made to the cell (2) from an external voltage source, such as a battery or a capacitor, or from a current source controlled with a predetermined increase in slope, the quantities of energy for the following excitations of the cell all coming from the surpluses provided by the effect of the previous excitations going back to the initial excitation, the only one coming from an external source .

[Claim 9] Device according to the preceding claim, in which the cell (2) is connected to a static power switch such as a thyristor (10) or an IGBT transistor, this switch being arranged to control a discharge of a capacitor or a predetermined slope increase of the current in the cell, with discharge pulses of 10 to 200 microseconds each.

[Claim 10] Device according to the preceding claim, arranged so that, when starting up this device, the capacitor (11) is recharged only once at the start, its subsequent recharges being maintained, 28 taking place by excess current generated by the cell during each discharge, in particular at least 100 V and at least 100 A simultaneously.

[Claim 11] Device according to one of the preceding claims, in which, during electrical operation, the first material (3) is placed between the electrodes which are metallic, in particular copper, and porous immersed in distilled water as that mixed with the first material, or these electrodes are solid, impermeable and separated by an arrangement of the first and second materials (3, 4) in an incorporation into an aqueous gel.

[Claim 12] Device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the cell (2) has at least one dimension greater than 1 cm.

[Claim 13] Process for converting energy, in particular arranged to be carried on board a vehicle, this process comprising the steps:

- providing a cell (2) comprising a first material (3) made of graphite grains, rendered to granular superconducting behavior at its interfaces, with the presence of couplings by Josephson junctions at these interfaces between superconducting regions, this superconducting behavior and coupling by Josephson junctions between superconducting regions occurring for at least a predetermined temperature range, in particular this temperature range including a temperature of 20° Celsius, this cell also containing a second semiconductor material (4) mixed with the first material, in particular this second material semiconductor being grains of silicon or silicon carbide,

- ensure a passage of electric current through the entire cell when the device is put into operation, using two electrodes, for example copper, placed in contact with the cell, process in which:

- the Josephson junctions (8) of the first material form chains of Josephson junctions connected in series so that the electric current is subject to parametric amplification when it passes through these chains of Josephson junctions connected in series, this current being 29 delivered in pulse form having, at the start of each pulse, a rising slope chosen sufficiently large to reach, for example, at least 100 amperes per microsecond at the start of the pulse supplied to the cell,

- pairs (9) of Josephson junctions, each pair being formed of two Josephson junctions connected in parallel forming a loop called JJP loop, of which at least one of the Josephson junctions, or both junctions, belongs to a termination of a chain of Josephson junctions connected in series, these loops being capable of producing a parametric excitation of the fundamental energy level of the field corresponding to the vacuum in the sense of quantum electrodynamics, so as to generate photons of these excitations,

- converting by internal photoelectric effect, using the second semiconductor material (4), the energy of the photons generated by the terminal JJP loops, into a source of additional electric current by extraction of electrons in the conduction band of the semiconductor , which brings an excess of free electric charges adding to the electric current which passes through the cell (2), this additional current being in turn subject to parametric amplification when it passes through the chains of Josephson junctions connected in series.

[Claim 14] Method according to the preceding claim, in which the operation initiating the supply of excess electricity is carried out by applying to the cell an internal electric field by means of an electric voltage at its terminals via its electrodes , in particular greater than 100 Volts, in particular by the discharge of a capacitor, or by an increase in current of predetermined slope, in particular greater than 100 amperes per microsecond.

[Claim 15] A method according to claim 13, in which a predetermined external energy supply is made to the cell (2) from a controlled current source with a predetermined slope increase, the quantities of energy for the following excitations of the cell all coming from the surpluses procured by the effect of the preceding excitations in 30 going back to the initial excitation, only to come from an external source.