| Brayton cycle device and exhaust heat energy recovery device for internal combustion engine -> Monitor Keywords |
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Brayton cycle device and exhaust heat energy recovery device for internal combustion engineRelated Patent Categories: Power Plants, Fluid Motor Means Driven By Waste Heat Or By Exhaust Energy From Internal Combustion EngineBrayton cycle device and exhaust heat energy recovery device for internal combustion engine description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070277522, Brayton cycle device and exhaust heat energy recovery device for internal combustion engine. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE [0001] This is a 371 national phase application of PCT/JP2005/001299 filed 25 Jan. 2005, claiming priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-044967 filed 20 Feb. 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to an apparatus realizing a Brayton cycle and an apparatus for recovering exhaust heat energy of an internal combustion engine using a Brayton cycle. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] To improve the fuel efficiency of an internal combustion engine, an apparatus for recovering exhaust energy that is discharged from the engine after fuel is burned has been used. For example, a Rankine cycle apparatus is mounted on a vehicle together with an internal combustion engine. A vaporizer arranged in the Rankine cycle apparatus generates high-temperature high-pressure vapor by heating water, which is contained in the apparatus, using exhaust heat energy. An expander generates power using the vapor (refer for example to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-120281). [0004] As other techniques for recovering exhaust energy, combining an engine that uses heat, such as a Stirling engine, with an internal combustion engine (refer for example to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-99003) or directly drawing exhaust into a scroll expander (refer for example to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-138933) have been proposed. [0005] However, the apparatus described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-120281 needs a vaporizer, an expander, a condenser, and a pump, which functions with a working fluid. This inevitably increases the volume and the weight of the apparatus. Thus, even if the apparatus efficiently recovers the exhaust heat energy, the drive energy of the apparatus or the weight of the vehicle may become excessive. In this case, the improvement in engine fuel efficiency would become subtle. The same problem occurs to the technique using a heat engine, such as a Stirling engine, which is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-99003. [0006] Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-138933 describes a technique for drawing exhaust into a scroll expander. This inevitably increases the exhaust back pressure of the internal combustion engine and lowers the engine output. In this case, there may be no improvement in the engine fuel efficiency as a whole. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide an exhaust heat energy recovery apparatus for an internal combustion engine for recovering the exhaust heat energy efficiently without increasing the exhaust back pressure of the internal combustion engine. It is another object to provide a Brayton cycle apparatus applicable to such an exhaust heat energy recovery apparatus. [0008] The means for achieving the above objects and its advantages will now be described. [0009] The present invention provides a Brayton cycle apparatus. The Brayton cycle apparatus includes a scroll compressor, a scroll expander that operates in cooperation with an orbiting action of the scroll compressor, and a heating device for heating a compressed working fluid that is fed from the scroll compressor to the scroll expander. [0010] Unlike a gas turbine Brayton cycle apparatus of the prior art, this Brayton cycle apparatus uses the scroll compressor and the scroll expander and simplifies its structure. The simplified structure downsizes the apparatus. In the Brayton cycle apparatus, the working fluid is moved, compressed, and expanded inside the compressor and the expander in partitioned and sealed spaces. Thus, the efficiency of conversion from heat energy to kinetic energy is high. [0011] Further, the heating device heats the working fluid by heat transfer to drive the Brayton cycle apparatus of the present invention. Thus, the pressure of the energy source itself causes no problem, and the back pressure of the energy source including the exhaust is unaffected. [0012] In this manner, the Brayton cycle apparatus of the present invention efficiently converts heat energy to kinetic energy without increasing the back pressure of the energy source. Thus, even when the Brayton cycle apparatus of the present invention is applied to, for example, an internal combustion engine, the apparatus recovers the exhaust heat energy efficiently without increasing the exhaust back pressure. [0013] Preferably, an orbital compression scroll of the scroll compressor and an orbital expansion scroll of the scroll expander are arranged at opposite sides of an orbital partitioning wall. The orbital compression scroll of the orbital partitioning wall comes in contact with a compressor case in which a fixed compression scroll is formed in a slidable manner or faces the compressor case with a narrow space between them. As a result, the orbital compression scroll is combined with the fixed compression scroll to form the scroll compressor. The orbital expansion scroll on the orbital partitioning wall comes in contact with an expander case in which a fixed expansion scroll is formed in a slidable manner or faces the expander case with a narrow space between them. As a result, the orbital expansion scroll is combined with the fixed expansion scroll to form the scroll expander. [0014] The scroll compressor and the scroll expander are formed in this manner so that the Brayton cycle apparatus is further simplified and downsized. [0015] Preferably, the scroll compressor releases heat transferred from the scroll expander to the orbital partitioning wall into the atmosphere via the compressor case. [0016] The scroll compressor comes in contact with the scroll expander through the orbital partitioning wall. Thus, the compressor case at a low-temperature side receives heat of the orbital partitioning wall transferred from the scroll expander at a high-temperature side and releases the heat into the atmosphere. The heat releasing effect of the compressor case prevents the orbital partitioning wall from being heated to a high temperature. As a result, the orbital partitioning wall is prevented from being deformed by heat, and the dimensional accuracy of the orbital partitioning wall is maintained. This prevents the working fluid from leaking, and prevents the friction coefficient during orbiting of the orbital partitioning wall from becoming large. This maintains high energy conversion efficiency. [0017] As a result, the orbital partitioning wall or the compressor case in particular may be made of a lightweight material with a low heat resistance. This contributes to further decreasing the weight of the apparatus. [0018] Preferably, the scroll expander guides the working fluid introduced into a heat absorption chamber defined in the expander case before the introduced working fluid expands so that the working fluid that is being expanded is heated by a wall of the heat absorption chamber. [0019] The scroll expander with this structure enables the working fluid that is being expanded in the scroll expander to be heated by the heat of the working fluid prior to compression. This enables the Brayton cycle apparatus to convert heat energy to kinetic energy more efficiently without complicating the structure of the apparatus. [0020] Preferably, the scroll compressor uses atmospheric gas as the working fluid and compresses the atmospheric gas, and the scroll expander releases the expanded working fluid into the atmosphere. Continue reading about Brayton cycle device and exhaust heat energy recovery device for internal combustion engine... Full patent description for Brayton cycle device and exhaust heat energy recovery device for internal combustion engine Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Brayton cycle device and exhaust heat energy recovery device for internal combustion engine patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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