U.S. patent application number 12/357259 was filed with the patent office on 2009-08-20 for regenerative energy system.
Invention is credited to Aloys Wobben.
Application Number | 20090205247 12/357259 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35427701 |
Filed Date | 2009-08-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090205247 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wobben; Aloys |
August 20, 2009 |
REGENERATIVE ENERGY SYSTEM
Abstract
The invention relates to a regenerative energy system comprising
a first energy producer and a second energy producer. The object of
the invention is to improve the environmental compatibility of
electrical island networks. There is disclosed a regenerative
energy system comprising a first energy producer whose energy
production is dependent on the weather and/or the position of the
sun, wherein the first energy producer has a generator, by means of
which electrical energy is produced, which is fed into an
electrical network to which a plurality of consumers are connected,
and a second energy producer which has a generator and an internal
combustion engine connected thereto, wherein the second energy
producer has a tank with fuel which when required can be fed to the
internal combustion engine, wherein an installation is adapted to
produce the fuel from renewable raw materials and the fuel
production installation takes electrical energy for operation
thereof from the first energy producer in particular when the first
energy producer can produce more electrical energy than the
consumers connected to the network consume and/or there is an
energy demand from the network to the first energy producer system,
which allows the feed of energy to a second energy producer.
Inventors: |
Wobben; Aloys; (Aurich,
DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SEED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW GROUP PLLC
701 FIFTH AVE, SUITE 5400
SEATTLE
WA
98104
US
|
Family ID: |
35427701 |
Appl. No.: |
12/357259 |
Filed: |
January 21, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11662966 |
Sep 20, 2007 |
7514808 |
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PCT/EP05/54743 |
Sep 22, 2005 |
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12357259 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
44/639 ;
290/55 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02E 10/56 20130101;
H02J 15/00 20130101; Y02E 10/566 20130101; H02J 2300/40 20200101;
Y02E 70/30 20130101; Y02E 10/72 20130101; Y02E 10/563 20130101;
H02J 2300/24 20200101; H02J 3/383 20130101; H02S 10/12 20141201;
F03D 9/257 20170201; F03D 9/007 20130101; H02J 3/386 20130101; H02J
2300/10 20200101; H02J 3/381 20130101; Y02E 10/76 20130101; Y02E
10/763 20130101; H02J 3/28 20130101; H02J 2300/28 20200101; Y02E
10/766 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
44/639 ;
290/55 |
International
Class: |
B01J 19/00 20060101
B01J019/00; F03D 9/00 20060101 F03D009/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 24, 2004 |
DE |
10 2004 046 701.3 |
Claims
1.-13. (canceled)
14. A regenerative energy system, comprising: a mobile fuel
production press; a first energy producer that produces energy
based on a local weather condition, the first energy producer being
coupleable to the mobile fuel production press to provide
electrical energy to power the mobile fuel production press; a
second energy producer that produces energy based on a local
weather condition, the second energy producer being spaced apart
from the first energy producer, the second energy producer being
coupleable to the mobile fuel production press to provide
electrical energy to power the mobile fuel production press; and a
transportation apparatus configured to transport the mobile fuel
production press between the first energy producer and the second
energy producer and which the fuel production press is mounted on,
the transportation apparatus being coupleable to the mobile fuel
production press to provide energy to power the mobile fuel
production.
15. The regenerative energy system of claim 14, wherein the mobile
fuel production press is alternatively powered by the
transportation apparatus and one of the first and second energy
producers.
16. The regenerative energy system of claim 14, wherein the
transportation apparatus comprises at least one of an electrical
generator and a mechanical drive, the at least one of the
electrical generator and the mechanical drive outputs energy to the
mobile fuel production press to produce fuel from renewable raw
materials while the mobile fuel production press is coupled to at
least one of the first energy producer and the second energy
producer.
17. The regenerative energy system of claim 14, wherein the mobile
fuel production press has a first electrical connection
electrically coupled to the transportation apparatus and a second
electrical connection coupled to one of the first and second energy
producers.
18. The regenerative energy system of claim 14, wherein the local
weather condition includes wind blowing at the location.
19. The regenerative energy system of claim 14, wherein the local
weather condition includes sun light present at the location.
20. A mobile regenerative energy system, comprising: a vehicle
having a power source; and a fuel production press carried by the
vehicle, the fuel production press being coupled to the power
source to produce fuel from renewable raw materials using power
from the power source while the fuel production press is coupled to
an energy producer having energy production dependent on a local
weather condition.
21. The regenerative energy system of claim 20, further comprising:
an energy producer configured to produce energy based on a local
weather condition and coupled to the fuel production press, the
energy producer configured to produce electrical energy that is fed
into an electrical network for delivering the electrical energy to
a plurality of consumers and to produce electrical energy that is
delivered to the fuel production press based on energy consumption
of the plurality of consumers.
22. The regenerative energy system of claim 21, wherein the fuel
production press is alternatively powered by the power source of
the vehicle and the energy producer.
23. The regenerative energy system of claim 20, further comprising:
a first energy producer that produces energy based on local weather
to power the fuel production press carried by the vehicle; and a
second energy producer that produces energy based on local weather
to power the fuel production press carried by the vehicle; wherein
the vehicle is movable to transport the fuel production press
between the first energy producer and the second energy
producer.
24. The regenerative energy system of claim 20, wherein the vehicle
includes an engine that receives fuel from the fuel production
press and that powers the fuel production press using the fuel from
the fuel production press.
25. The regenerative energy system of claim 20, further comprising
a filtering device that receives fuel from the fuel production
press and delivers the fuel from the fuel production press to the
vehicle.
26. The regenerative energy system of claim 20, wherein the vehicle
comprises a power take-off drive shaft coupleable to the fuel
production press by a power take-off connection.
27. The regenerative energy system of claim 20, wherein the vehicle
includes a tank for receiving and holding fuel outputted by the
fuel production press.
28. The regenerative energy system of claim 20, wherein the vehicle
is a truck or a tractor.
29. The regenerative energy system of claim 20, wherein the power
source includes an internal combustion engine coupled to the fuel
production press.
30. The regenerative energy system of claim 20, wherein the fuel
production press is a rape press that extracts rape seed oil from
rape seeds.
31. A regenerative energy system, comprising: a transportation
apparatus; a mobile press mounted on the transportation apparatus,
the mobile press being adapted to extract fuel from renewable raw
materials and including a discharge for outputting the extracted
fuel from the renewable raw materials, the mobile press being
concurrently coupleable to the transportation apparatus and another
electrical energy source that produces energy based on a local
weather condition; and a tank coupled to the discharge to receive
and hold the extracted fuel outputted from the discharge.
32. The regenerative energy system of claim 31, wherein the
transportation apparatus includes at least one of a truck, a
tractor, and a trailer.
33. The regenerative energy system of claim 31, wherein the
transportation apparatus includes a trailer carrying the mobile
press and the tank.
34. The regenerative energy system of claim 31, wherein the tank is
a stationary tank.
35. The regenerative energy system of claim 31, wherein the mobile
press further includes a waste discharge for outputting pressing
waste.
36. An energy production apparatus, comprising: a fuel production
installation capable of generating fuel from an agricultural
product; a holding tank coupled to the fuel production installation
for holding the fuel generated by the fuel production installation;
an internal combustion engine coupled to the tank to receive the
fuel from the tank to power the internal combustion engine to
generate energy; a weather based energy producer that produces
energy based on local weather conditions, the weather based energy
producer being coupleable to the fuel production installation to
power the fuel production installation to convert the agricultural
product into fuel; and an electrical generator being powered by the
internal combustion engine.
37. The energy production apparatus of claim 36, wherein the fuel
production installation includes a transportation vehicle and a
fuel production press, the fuel production press coupled to the
transportation vehicle and capable of generating the fuel from the
agricultural product.
38. The energy production apparatus of claim 36, wherein the
electrical generator is alternatively powered by the internal
combustion engine, the weather based energy producer, and the fuel
outputted by the fuel production installation.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/662,966, filed Sep. 20, 2007, now issued as
U.S. Pat. No. 7,514,808, which is a 371 of International
Application No. PCT/EP2005/054743, filed Sep. 22, 2005, which
claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2004 046 701.3,
filed Sep. 24, 2004, which applications are incorporated herein by
reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The invention relates to a regenerative energy system
comprising a first energy producer and a second energy
producer.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Basically electrical island networks are admittedly already
known, in which, as in DE 100 44 096.7 or 102 10 099.3, a
regenerative energy producer, for example a wind park, is provided,
and there is also an internal combustion engine as a second energy
producer, but there the internal combustion engine takes its fuel
from an external source, for example from normal diesel production
in which for example petroleum or diesel is produced from a fossil
fuel.
[0006] As further state of the art attention is directed at this
juncture generally to the following publications: DE 201 13 372 U1,
DE 197 57 619 A1 and to the work by Wolfgang Loser `Erster
energieautarker Bauernhof in Osterreich`.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] One object of the invention is to improve the environmental
compatibility of electrical island networks.
[0008] That object is attained by a regenerative energy system
having a first and a second energy producer as set forth in the
claims appended hereto.
[0009] In contrast to the previously proposed solutions, the
invention proposes a regenerative energy system which takes the
energy for operation either directly from nature, that is to say it
uses the wind or the sun, and processes agriculturally renewable
raw materials, for example rape, hemp, sunflower, preferably
respective indigenous kinds of oil plants or the like, in order in
that way to obtain a suitable fuel, for example rape seed oil,
linseed oil, sunflower oil, ethanol from corn or sugar producing
plants, biogas or the like, which is consumed by the internal
combustion engine and by means of which the internal combustion
engine if required then drives a generator so that electrical
energy can be fed into the network when more energy is required by
the network than can be produced and delivered by the first energy
producer.
[0010] As both the first energy producer and also the second energy
producer are fed from regenerative energy sources, it is possible
for the first time to talk of a true regenerative energy system
which in addition also has the particular advantage that the raw
material for the second energy producer, that is to say for example
rape, can be cultivated in the area around the first energy
producer, that is to say on the surrounding agricultural surfaces,
and thus the transport distances and energy costs for providing the
raw material for the second energy producer are extremely low.
[0011] If the installation for processing the renewable raw
material for the fuel is a rape mill, that requires electrical
energy for example for pressing and extracting the rape seed oil
from the rape seeds in order for example to operate the rape press
and possibly pumps or the conveyor devices or other units or the
like. The electrical energy for that purpose is either taken from
the network or directly from the first energy producer so that it
then produces electrical energy which is not available to the other
consumers in the network itself.
[0012] It is precisely at times of a low load in a network, for
example during the nighttime hours, with at the same time high wind
speeds, that the situation can involve an over-provision of
regenerative, namely wind energy. If that is then used for
operating the presses, oil production is always still effected with
regenerative energy in spite of the energy taken from the network.
Accordingly the over-provision of wind energy can also be used in
an extremely appropriate fashion both from the point of view of the
operator and also in environmentally friendly terms.
[0013] The provision of the regenerative energy system according to
the invention in an island network is particularly preferred so
that the electrical energy production, with a maximum possible
proportion thereof, corresponds to all demands of regenerative
energy production and a particular advantage in that respect is
that such production also complies with the provisions of the
German REL (Renewable Energy Law) and thus all electrical energy
which is fed into the network can also be paid for in accordance
with the REL.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[0014] The invention is described hereinafter by means of an
embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] FIG. 1 shows as a first energy producer 1 a wind power
installation which can also be representative of an entire wind
park. The individual component parts of the wind power installation
are not further described herein. The energy produced by the
generator (not shown) of the wind power installation is rectified
with a rectifier (20) and fed into a DC bus 2 (DC intermediate
circuit) which is terminated at its output with a converter device
3 which converts the direct current into an alternating current
(three-phase current) and that alternating current is fed into the
network 5 by a transformer (not shown).
[0016] In addition a mill 6 is in the form of an installation for
processing renewable raw materials originating from agricultural
production. The mill 6 takes the electrical energy for its own
operation from the producer line of the wind power installation 1
and thus directly from the wind power installation 1 or from the
network 5.
[0017] The mill has a silo 7 in which harvested agricultural
product are disposed. In one example, the product is rape, in
another it is corn, within others it includes sugar cane, sugar
beats or any other agricultural product. Turning now to the example
of rape in the rape silo 7 is fed when required to a rape press in
the rape mill 6 so that in operation of the rape press rape seed
oil 8 on the one hand and rape waste 9 on the other hand is
produced. The rape seed oil 8 if required can be filtered or
cleaned (filter and cleaning stage are not shown) and can then be
fed directly to an internal combustion engine 10 so that the engine
10 is operated with rape seed oil. The engine is coupled to a
generator 11 which is driven by the engine 10 (if necessary a
clutch C can also be provided between the engine and the generator)
so that electrical energy can also be fed into the network 5
directly or by way of a feed into the DC intermediate circuit.
[0018] The rape waste 9 can be automatically fed to a biogas
installation 12 which produces biogas 13 from the rape waste--and
if necessary other biological degradation products in agriculture,
for example liquid manure, dung or the like. That biogas can be
accommodated by a tank 14 and can be fed from that tank directly
either to the first engine 10 or a further internal combustion
engine 14, wherein that further engine 14 can either be coupled to
its own generator (not shown) or to the generator 11 in order also
to drive the latter in order then to produce electrical energy
which is fed to the network, by way of the biogas operation alone
or together with combustion of the rape seed oil.
[0019] A large number of variants of the invention is possible and
preferably the rape seed oil tank or the biogas tank is so designed
that electrical energy can constantly be afforded for the network,
with the highest possible level of certainty, more specifically
even when the wind power installations cannot produce energy for a
prolonged period of time, due to a feeble wind. At any event the
fuel reserves for the rape seed oil and/or biogas should be so
designed that network operation is certainly to be possible over 7
to 14 days even without the first energy producer 1.
[0020] Insofar as the foregoing description refers to a rape mill,
it should be pointed out that naturally other agricultural
cultivatable and renewable raw materials can also be used such as
for example linseed (hemp), sunflower seeds or other oil-bearing
agricultural crops, wherein those crops usually also have a shell
which in turn can be fed as waste to a biogas installation.
[0021] In regard to the design of the regenerative energy system
according to the invention the rated power output of the second
energy producer is at least approximately in the region of from 10
to 40% of the rated power output of the first energy producer,
preferably approximately in the region of from 20 to 35% of the
rated power output of the energy producer and at a maximum in the
region of the rated power output of the first energy producer.
[0022] The rated power output of the first energy producer is
approximately in the range between 50 and 250 MW (or above),
preferably approximately in the range of 80 to 150 MW (or below).
In the case of a single wind power installation the rated power
output can also be in the range of some hundred kW to some MW.
[0023] It will be appreciated that it is also possible for the
further electrical interim storage means described and disclosed in
above-mentioned patent applications DE 100 44 096.7 and 102 10
099.3 to be also incorporated into the energy supply system, that
is to say for example for chemical or electrical or mechanical
interim storage means to be connected to the DC intermediate
circuit in such a way that if necessary it is also possible to have
recourse to the energy stored in those storage means in order on
the one hand to be able to implement a sufficient feed of energy
into the network or on the other hand also to operate the rape
mill.
[0024] Furthermore it is possible not only for the rape seed oil
alone to be fed to an internal combustion engine as described, but
additionally thereto or also purely as an alternative thereto, it
is possible to feed the biogas produced to the internal combustion
engine. If only the biogas is fed to the internal combustion engine
and thus used for electrical energy production, the rape seed oil
produced can be further used separately, for example fed to a
biodiesel production. On the other hand, when preferably the rape
seed oil is used for the internal combustion engine and thus for
electrical energy production, the biogas produced can also be fed
to a thermal power coupling in order for example to supply houses
or agricultural production installations with heat.
[0025] As is also shown in FIG. 1, there is also a control 16, by
means of which the individual parts of the overall energy system
can be appropriately controlled. The control can also detect the
consumption in the network and if necessary, by way of control of
the inverter, feed the desired components of reactive power into
the network. In addition, by monitoring the network consumption on
the one hand and also the producer capacity of the first energy
producer 1 on the other hand, decisions can also be taken by the
control system as to the extent to which production by way of the
internal combustion engine, that is to say the second energy
producer, is switched on, and/or the rape press is set in
operation, in order in particular when the producer power of the
first energy producer is greater than the consumption in the
network, to feed that `excess` producer output power to the rape
mill and thus also to have a further greater controlled consumption
on the entire consumer side, that is to say also the consumer
network, wherein that controlled consumer, that is to say the rape
mill and the units connected thereto, are not just passive
consumers but are also capable of producing fuel themselves which
then if necessary is in turn converted into energy in the internal
combustion engines, which energy can then be fed to the network by
the generator 11.
[0026] The control 16 can also decide whether `excess` electrical
energy on the producer side is consumed straightaway in the rape
mill or is firstly put into intermediate storage in other
electrical storage means provided, for example the electrochemical
storage means, electrical storage means (capacitors) or mechanical
storage means (flywheels), which is appropriate in particular when
the `excess` amount on the producer side is only somewhat above
that which is required on the consumer side. The control system can
also provide that, when the rape mill is in operation and then the
consumption in the network rises, firstly energy from the
intermediate storage means is also used to continue to keep the
rape mill running in order in that way to prevent a possibly
short-term shut-down of the rape mill.
[0027] Furthermore the control system can provide that, when larger
consumers connected to the network signal a current and/or future
consumption (energy demand) (that can also be done by electronic
control signals which are transmitted over the network to the
energy producer system according to the invention), the internal
combustion engines are brought into operation in good time in order
to anticipate a possible network problem due to the greatly
increasing consumption.
[0028] The control system also ensures that overall documentation
about the start-up of the individual installations and parts of the
entire regenerative energy system is implemented and in particular
the control system can provide that, upon the failure of individual
components, for example a wind power installation because of
maintenance, other parts of the installation, for example internal
combustion engines, `replace` those failed parts of the
installation so that on the consumer side the failure of a
subsystem does not lead to network problems.
[0029] The invention further includes the following attractive
alternative:
[0030] A regenerative energy system comprising: [0031] a first
energy producer whose energy production is dependent on the weather
and/or the position of the sun, wherein the first energy producer
has a generator, by means of which electrical energy is produced,
which is fed into an electrical network to which a plurality of
consumers are connected, and [0032] a second energy producer which
has a generator and an internal combustion engine connected
thereto, wherein the second energy producer has a tank with fuel
which when required can be fed to the internal combustion engine,
wherein an installation is adapted to produce the fuel from
renewable raw materials and said fuel production installation is
electrically directly connected to the first energy producer,
wherein the connection is preferably given to a DC voltage
intermediate circuit of the energy system and/or a part of the
first energy producer in which there is an AC voltage at the output
side, and that the fuel production installation takes electrical
energy for operation thereof from the first energy producer in
particular when
[0033] a) the current power of the first energy producer exceeds a
given value, for example more than 60-80% of the rated power output
of the first energy producer and/or
[0034] b) the first energy producer can produce more electrical
energy than the consumers connected to the network consume
and/or
[0035] c) the fuel in the tank of the second energy producer falls
below a given filling level, for example less than 20% of the
reference filling level and/or
[0036] d) the second energy producer has a given consumption of
fuel, for example X liters per hour.
[0037] The FIGURE shows that the rape mill 6 is electrically
connected to the DC voltage intermediate circuit at the output side
of the rectifier 20. It will be appreciated that that electrical
connection can also be effected by the first energy producer by the
connection being at the output side of the inverter 3 or the output
side of the generator 1, that is to say the electrical connection
is to part of the first energy producer in which AC voltage is
carried.
[0038] A particular advantage in this respect is that the energy
made available by the first energy producer for the rape mill does
not at all first pass into the network and is thus also not paid
for at the network side, as however the network remunerations are
generally less than the costs which must be incurred to purchase
current from the network, this solution is also economically
particularly advantageous.
[0039] Even if this is not shown, it should also be pointed out
that the rape seed oil produced is usually filtered a plurality of
times in order to assume a high level of purity and that in
particular also the electrical energy for such filters and cleaning
stages can be branched directly from the first energy producer
system.
[0040] Finally it should also be pointed out that in particular the
rape seed oil tank can also have a fuelling point so that the
operator of the overall system can also use that rape seed oil
himself, for example in a tractor or truck or can also sell or
dispose of it in some other fashion.
[0041] A further advantageous configuration of the invention can
also provide that the rape mill or rape press, that is to say the
device for producing the oil, is in the form of a mobile device,
for example a fixed installation on a vehicle, for example a truck
or the like. That has the advantage that then if necessary such a
rape press can also be introduced into the regenerative energy
system according to the invention when oil is to be produced and
when sufficient oil has been produced and that oil is in the tank
or the rape supplies, that is to say the supplies from which only
oil from agricultural production can be obtained at all, are
exhausted, the mobile rape press can be incorporated into another
regenerative energy system according to the invention. That
solution has the advantage that a rape press does not have to be
fixedly provided for each regenerative energy system according to
the invention, but a mobile rape press can also be successively
incorporated at various regenerative energy systems, which makes
the capital investment in such a rape press appear considerably
more worthwhile. It will be appreciated that such a mobile rape
press then also has all electrical connections in order also to be
able to be electrically incorporated into the regenerative energy
system according to the invention as described hereinbefore.
[0042] Insofar as a mobile rape press is not yet known, the
subject-matter of the present application is also such a mobile
rape press as such. This involves a rape press which either can be
electrically operated and takes the electrical energy for operation
thereof from the first energy system and/or the vehicle has a
generator or drive with which the press can be operated so that
this mobile rape press can be used everywhere even if the
connection to a first regenerative energy system is not available.
The generator or drive on the vehicle can again be driven by an
engine which in turn uses diesel or also rape seed oil itself.
[0043] Preferably such a vehicle with a press also has the filter
device for filtering the extracted rape seed oil.
[0044] It should also be mentioned once again that rape seed oil in
the present application stands not only for rape seed oil alone as
such but also represents any other oil which can be produced from
agricultural production, for example sunflower oil or the like.
[0045] The mobile rape press can be carried by a vehicle trailer.
Then not just a part of the press can be mounted on that vehicle
trailer, but also if necessary the further parts for filtering or
further treating the extracted rape seed oil. For the energy supply
for the rape press--as described above--it can be provided that the
press is supplied with electrical energy by way of an electrical
connection. Additionally or alternatively thereto it can also be
provided that a diesel generator or diesel drive is mounted on the
trailer, which provides the energy necessary for the press, whether
it is in the form of current or whether it is driven by way of a
direct drive by a diesel engine on the press. A further possibility
in regard to the drive for the press can also provide that the
press itself has a power take-off connection or the like which can
be connected to the drive of a tractor, for example to the power
take-off drive shaft thereof, so that the press can then be driven
to extract the rape seed oil by means of an agricultural vehicle,
that is to say for example a tractor. If the rape press is provided
with such a connection for a power take-off drive of a tractor, it
is also particularly advantageous if a power take-off shaft linkage
of appropriate length is also provided on the vehicle so that the
tractor only has to drive up to the press and can then be connected
to the press itself by way of the power take-off shaft linkage.
[0046] A particularly advantageous configuration of the invention
then involves a mobile device for the extraction of fuel, for
example oil, from agricultural materials such as for example rape
or sunflower seeds, wherein the rape press is mounted on a mobile
base, for example a vehicle or a vehicle trailer, and if necessary
is fixed thereto, wherein provided for the rape press is a drive
which is either arranged together with the rape press on the
vehicle and/or the drive for the rape press is provided separately
from the vehicle and such an external drive can be connected to the
rape press by way of a suitable connection, for example a power
take-off shaft connection. Such a mobile rape press according to
the invention also has the connections for receiving or accepting
pressed material and finally also a first discharge for the
extracted oils or a further discharge for the pressing waste, for
example rape waste. The trailer of the press can also be equipped
with a tank for receiving the extracted oil. It is however also
possible to provide a further trailer to which the extracted oil is
fed, in a tank mounted thereon. It is however also possible for the
extracted oil to be pumped directly into a stationary tank, and
then it can be fed from that tank to the second regenerative energy
system.
[0047] All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application
publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign
patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this
specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet, are
incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.
[0048] From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although
specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein
for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made
without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended
claims.
* * * * *