U.S. patent number 3,690,302 [Application Number 05/128,076] was granted by the patent office on 1972-09-12 for rotary boilers.
This patent grant is currently assigned to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Invention is credited to Philip J. Rennolds.
United States Patent |
3,690,302 |
Rennolds |
September 12, 1972 |
ROTARY BOILERS
Abstract
A rotary boiler comprising a boiler chamber defined by axially
spaced side walls and radially spaced outer peripheral wall. The
boiler is rotated about its axis at a speed to maintain an annular
body of organic liquid distributed circumferentially about the
inner surface of the peripheral boiler wall with a cylindrical
liquid/vapor interface disposed at a predetermined radius from the
rotation axis. Combustion means is provided outwardly adjacent the
boiler peripheral wall to heat and vaporize the liquid at high
boiling heat fluxes greater than obtainable at ambient gravity. The
boiler peripheral wall is configurated, as by flutes or
corrugations, in the circumferential direction to provide
transversely thereof in the axial direction a total length of wall
heat conduction surface to the liquid that is substantially greater
than the linear axial spacing of the boiler side walls at the
liquid/vapor interface. The greater heat conduction surface of the
peripheral wall reduces the heat flux at the wall and the
temperature difference between the wall and the liquid/vapor
interface to an extent that a compact boiler can be operated at
high overall thermal flux with minimal decomposition of the boiler
fluid.
Inventors: |
Rennolds; Philip J.
(Wilmington, DE) |
Assignee: |
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and
Company (Wilmington, DE)
|
Family
ID: |
22433505 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/128,076 |
Filed: |
March 25, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
122/11 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F22B
27/12 (20130101); F24V 40/00 (20180501); F22B
5/005 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F22B
5/00 (20060101); F22B 27/12 (20060101); F22B
27/00 (20060101); F24J 3/00 (20060101); F22b
005/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;122/10,11,12 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Sprague; Kenneth W.
Claims
I Claim:
1. A rotary boiler comprising,
a generally cylindrical structure having axially spaced apart side
wall portions interconnected by a continuous circumferentially
extending peripheral wall defining a boiler chamber,
means to admit liquid to the boiler chamber,
means to rotationally drive the boiler at a predetermined speed to
dispose and maintain a body of the liquid continuously about the
inner surface of said peripheral wall with a cylindrical
liquid/vapor interface of predetermined radius from the rotation
axis providing high boiling heat fluxes in excess of those
obtainable at ambient gravity,
combustion means adjacent the peripheral wall of the boiler
operable to heat and vaporize the liquid therein,
and means for withdrawing the vapor from the boiler,
the linear axial spacing of the boiler side walls at said
liquid/vapor interface and at said peripheral wall being
approximately the same and said peripheral wall being contoured
transversely and circumferentially of the boiler to provide a
combustion heat conduction peripheral wall having inner and outer
surfaces respectively confronting the liquid and combustion means
having a total length in the axial direction substantially greater
than the linear axial spacing of the boiler side wall portions,
thereby providing at the peripheral wall a heat flux substantially
less than the heat flux at the liquid/vapor interface and a
substantially small temperature difference between the wall and the
liquid/vapor interface while still maintaining high boiling heat
flux at said liquid/vapor interface.
2. A rotary boiler as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the total length of the contoured combustion heat
conduction peripheral wall surface in axial direction is at least
one and one-half times the linear axial spacing of the boiler side
wall portions at the liquid/vapor interface.
3. A rotary boiler as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the total length of the contoured combustion heat
conduction peripheral wall surface in the axial direction is within
the range of from about three to about five times the linear axial
spacing of the boiler side wall portions at the liquid/vapor
interface.
4. A rotary boiler as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the boiler peripheral wall is contoured to provide
transversely thereof a plurality of continuous circumferentially
extending annular surfaces in contact with the boiler liquid
operable to entrain particles of said liquid in paths of movement
having both radial and circumferential directional components at
different accelerations and speeds relative to the boiler rotation
whereby the liquid particles are retained in scrubbing interaction
with said annular surfaces a period of time to insure maximum heat
conduction from the boiler wall to the boiler liquid.
5. A rotary boiler as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the contoured peripheral wall comprises at least one pair
of continuous circumferentially extending confronting annular
surface portions disposed at outwardly converging acute angles to
the rotational axis of the boiler.
6. A rotary boiler as claimed in claim 4,
wherein the annular surfaces comprise at least one pair of said
surfaces disposed in confronting outwardly converging relation at
acute angles to the rotational axis of the boiler.
Description
The present invention relates to rotary boilers, and more
particularly to rotary boilers of novel construction particularly
adapted for use in closed-Rankine-cycle engines.
Rotary boilers are known in the art of vapor generation and have
been demonstrated to provide a number of advantages over
conventional boilers. For example, the high centrifugal
acceleration in such a boiler produces a sharp stable interface
between the liquid and vapor during boiling. Such a boiler produces
a high quality vapor with steady flow of both vapor and liquid and
the boiler operates independent of the ambient gravity field and
orientation. Also, the high rotational speeds customarily employed
in rotary boilers permit heat fluxes well above the peak boiling
level for ambient gravity.
A closed-Rankine-cycle engine using external combustion as a source
of heat is capable of providing an excellent low-pollution
replacement for conventional internal combustion engines
customarily used in automotive vehicles. A practical
closed-Rankine-cycle engine for such use must be small and compact
and, therefore, necessarily requires a vaporizer or boiler that is
also compact and is operable with high molecular weight organic
power fluids that can be vaporized with little or no decomposition
of the organic fluid.
It has been determined that rotary boilers using high molecular
weight organic power fluids at high rotational speed can be
operated effectively to provide the high heat flux at the
liquid/vapor interface necessary for the desired structural
compactness of the rotary boiler, for example, as described in the
copending application of William A. Doerner, Ser. No. 12,296, filed
Feb. 18, 1970, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,786.
However, in rotary boilers having a flat cylindrical peripheral
boiler heat conducting wall of sufficiently short axial length to
provide a small compact practical Rankine engine, a high heat flux
is produced at the boiler wall and the temperature difference
between the inner surface of the boiler wall and the boiler
liquid/vapor interface is so great that it would be necessary to
operate the engine either at a very significant reduction in the
overall thermal efficiency of the engine or at an unacceptable high
rate of decomposition of the organic boiler power fluid.
Moreover, since the maximum rate of decomposition of the organic
power fluid must be very low for a practical Rankine engine and
thereby determine the maximum temperature of the boiler peripheral
wall, a large temperature difference between the boiler wall and
the liquid/vapor interface would lead to a lower liquid/vapor
interface temperature which, for a fixed condenser temperature,
would result in a substantial reduction in the thermodynamic
efficiency of the overall engine.
It has been discovered that the foregoing difficulties encountered
in rotary boilers can be overcome by providing a rotary boiler of
relatively short, compact axial length defined by axially spaced
side walls and a circumferentially extending outer peripheral wall
that is suitably configurated, such as fluted or corrugated, in the
direction circumferentially of the boiler to provide in the axial
direction transversely of said peripheral wall a combustion heat
conduction surface of substantially greater extent or length than
the linear axial spacing of the boiler end walls at the
liquid/vapor interface.
In such a rotary boiler operated at rotational speeds to maintain
an annular body of high molecular organic boiler liquid
continuously about the inner surface of the peripheral wall with a
cylindrical liquid/vapor interface at a radius from the rotational
axis that provides boiling heat fluxes in excess of those
obtainable at ambient gravity, the increased extent or length of
the boiler peripheral wall surface provides a greatly reduced heat
flux at the wall that is substantially less than the high heat flux
at the liquid/vapor interface, thereby greatly reducing the
temperature difference between the peripheral wall and the
liquid/vapor interface while still maintaining the high boiling
heat flux at said liquid/vapor interface that is required for a
compact boiler while at the same time providing a very low rate of
decomposition of the organic boiler fluid.
With the foregoing in mind, an object of the present invention is
to provide a rotary boiler of novel design and construction useful
for vaporizing liquids, including water and refrigerant liquids,
and particularly suited for use in closed-Rankine-cycle
engines.
Another object of the invention is to provide a rotary boiler of
novel design and construction that is of relatively small, compact
size and can be operated using high molecular weight organic power
fluid to provide high boiling heat fluxes at the liquid/vapor
interface with little or no decomposition of the organic power
fluid.
A further object of the invention is to provide a rotary boiler as
set forth which is operable at high heat flux at the liquid/vapor
interface and at a substantially lower heat flux at the peripheral
boiler wall so that the difference between the temperature at the
boiler wall and the temperature at the liquid/vapor interface is
sufficiently small to enable the rotary boiler to be operated in a
closed-Rankine-cycle engine at maximum overall thermal efficiency
of the engine.
These and other objects of the invention and the various features
and details of the construction and operation thereof are
hereinafter set forth and shown in the accompanying drawings, in
which:
FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken diametrically through a rotary
boiler and stationary combustion chamber embodying the present
invention showing the same schematically in a closed-Rankine-cycle
power generation system including a turbine and a condenser;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2--2, FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view on line 3--3, FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view similar
to FIG. 3 schematically illustrating the radial component of
convection flow of liquid in the boiler;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view on line 5--5, FIG. 1
schematically illustrating the tangential or spiral components of
convection flow of liquid in the boiler;
FIG. 6 is a view generally similar to FIG. 1 showing a modified
construction of a rotary boiler embodying the present
invention;
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 7--7, FIG. 6, and
FIGS. 8,9, 10 and 11, respectively, are enlarged fragmentary
transverse sectional views showing modifications in design and
construction of the outer peripheral wall of the rotary boiler.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and
2 thereof, one embodiment of rotary boiler constructed according to
the present invention comprises a generally cylindrical casing 1
having axially spaced side walls 2 and 3, respectively, and a
continuous circumferentially extending outer peripheral wall 4 of
predetermined cross-sectional configuration and dimensions as
hereinafter more particularly described. Fixedly secured to and
extending coaxially through the casing side walls 2 and 3 is a
shaft member 5 by means of which the boiler casing 1 is rotatably
mounted in bearings 6 and 7. The boiler may be rotationally driven
at the desired speed by means of an electric motor M driving a gear
8 which in turn drives a gear 9 mounted on the shaft 5.
The space enclosed within the circumferential wall 4 and side walls
2 and 3 of the boiler defines a vapor chamber V within the rotating
boiler casing 1. The chamber V is in communication through a
plurality of vapor tubes 10 with an axial passage 11 in the shaft 5
so that the vapor generated in the boiler and collecting in the
chamber V is discharged from the rotating boiler through the vapor
tubes 10, said shaft passage 11 and a conduit 12, for example, to a
suitable expander such as a turbine 13. The vapor tubes 10 function
to transfer rotational energy in the vapors back to the linear exit
system as the vapors leave the boiler through the shaft 5, and the
tubes 10 are disposed in equally spaced relation circumferentially
around the boiler to insure rotational balance when driven by the
motor M.
Liquid is admitted to the boiler at a controlled rate equal to the
rate of vaporization of the liquid. In the illustrated embodiment
the liquid admitted to the boiler is in the form of liquid
condensate, fed through an axial passage 14 in the shaft 5 and a
plurality of feed tubes 15 extending radially from passage 14 to a
point below the surface level of the boiler liquid. Preferably, the
feed tubes 15 are thermally insulated or fabricated of suitable
insulating material since the liquid pressure in said tubes 15
increases with their radius and is therefore relatively lower
adjacent the rotation axis so that excessive heating of the lower
pressure liquid may cause vapor binding within the tubes and
interference with pumping of the liquid.
The liquid condensate is supplied to the shaft passage 14 by a pipe
16 from a condenser 17 having its inlet connected by a conduit 18
to the exhaust of the turbine 13. As in the case of the vapor tubes
10, the feed tubes 15 are equally spaced circumferentially around
the boiler for rotational balance. The radial vapor tubes 10 and
feed tubes 15 are desirable in a boiler of the present type to
control radial flow of the liquid and vapor fluids for proper and
efficient operation of the boiler for the reasons set forth in the
aforesaid copending application of William A. Doerner, Ser. No.
12,296, filed Feb. 18, 1970, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,786. However,
means other than the tubes 10 and 15, such as baffles, to insure
rotation of the boiler liquid with the boiler, can be employed.
The rotary boiler is driven by the motor M at a predetermined speed
of rotation calculated to create the centrifugal force necessary to
dispose and maintain the selected boiler liquid uniformly
distributed circumferentially about and in contact with the inner
surface of the outer peripheral wall 4 of the boiler, with a
liquid/vapor interface, designated x in FIG. 1, that is highly
stable and is essentially cylindrical and concentric with the axis
of rotation of the boiler. Essentially, the liquid/vapor interface
x is disposed at a predetermined radius from the rotation axis of
the boiler to provide high boiling heat fluxes in excess of those
obtainable at ambient gravity and also to provide the desired
boiler (vapor) pressure correlated to the radial length of the
liquid leg in the feed tubes 15.
In order to provide a rotary boiler of sufficiently small compact
size for practical use in a closed-Rankine-cycle engine, the
diameter of the outer peripheral wall 4 of the boiler and the axial
spacing of the end walls 2 and 3 must be as small as possible and
at the same time provide at the speed of rotation a liquid/vapor
interface x of sufficient axial length and radius to produce the
high boiling heat fluxes and desired boiler (vapor) pressure
previously described.
However, there has not been available heretofore an efficient
rotary boiler for use with high molecular weight organic power
fluids in closed-Rankine-cycle engines because, as previously
described, in the usual rotary boiler construction having the
customary flat cylindrical peripheral wall of the same linear axial
length as the liquid/vapor interface, the heat flux at the
peripheral wall is high and the temperature difference between the
said wall and the liquid/vapor interface is so great that the
engine can only be operated either at very low overall thermal
efficiency or at a very high rate of decomposition of the organic
boiler power fluid.
According to the present invention it has been discovered that by
forming or constructing the boiler peripheral wall 4 to provide the
axial direction transversely of the wall 4 a combustion heat
conduction surface to the liquid having a total length
substantially greater than the linear axial spacing of the boiler
side walls 2 and 3 at the liquid/vapor interface a substantially
lower heat flux is produced at the boiler wall 4 which results in a
significantly large decrease in the temperature difference between
the boiler wall 4 and the liquid/vapor interface. Unexpectedly,
this temperature difference is significantly less than would be
predicted merely from the increase in the area of the fluted or
corrugated peripheral boiler wall 4 over the area of a similar
boiler with a conventional flat cylindrical peripheral wall. By
reason of this construction with its attendant results the required
high heat flux can be maintained at the liquid/vapor interface and
it is possible to operate the boiler at maximum overall engine
efficiency with very little or no decomposition of the organic
boiler fluid.
The required increase or extended axial length of combuation heat
conduction surface of the peripheral boiler wall can be provided by
forming or constructing the peripheral wall 4 in a manner to
include circumferentially therein, for example, a plurality of
parallel continuous flutes or corrugations 20, as shown in FIG. 1.
The wall 4 is fabricated of any suitable heat conductive metal such
as, for example, steel, copper, aluminum and the like, and the
number of the flutes or corrugations 20 and the configuration and
dimensions thereof are selected and predetermined to provide a
total axial direction length of heat conductive peripheral wall
surface with respect to the linear axial length of the liquid/vapor
interface sufficient to enable the boiler to be operated at maximum
overall thermal efficiency of the closed-Rankine-cycle engine with
minimal decomposition of the organic power fluid.
More particularly, it has been determined that the total axial
direction length of the peripheral wall heat comductive surface to
liquid provided by the present invention should be at least one and
one-half times the linear axial spacing of the boiler side wall
portions 2 and 3 at the liquid/vapor interface (i.e., the linear
axial length of the interface x in FIG. 1) and preferably, for best
results, should be in the range of from about 3 to about 5 times
the linear axial spacing of the boiler end walls 2 and 3 at the
interface x or the axial length of said interface. These
specifications relate to "smooth" inner surfaces of the wall 4 and
the results are obtainable apart from the additional benefits that
can be obtainable by increasing surface roughness, that is, the
"boiling chip effects", which can be achieved by methods known in
the art such as sand blasting the boiler inner wall surface or by
bonding metal powder or porous substances thereto.
The annular body of liquid in the boiler may be heated to the
required boiling temperature to vaporize the same, for example, by
the combustion of a suitable fuel-air mixture in a stationary
combustion box 21 that circumscribes the rotatable boiling casing
1. Fuel for combustion is discharged into said combustion box 21
from a nozzle 22 at the required rate and pressure, and air for
mixture with the fuel is discharged into the combustion box through
a plurality of ports 23 in the peripheral wall 24. A hood structure
25 defines a plenum chamber 26 into which the air is supplied
through a duct 27 at the pressure and volume required for efficient
combustion of the fuel to heat the liquid in the boiler casing to
the desired temperature. The residual combustion gases are
discharged through an exhaust duct 28 and a stationary transverse
baffle 29 having projecting portions 30 for complementary
interfitting cooperation with the flutes or corrugations 20 of the
boiler peripheral wall 4 is mounted intermediate the fuel nozzle 22
and outlet duct 28 to control recirculation of the combustion
gases.
For a typical example, a rotary boiler constructed in accordance
with the invention comprises a metal peripheral boiler wall 4 of
0.031 inch thickness having circumferential flutes or corrugations
20 therein. The inner and outer diameters of the inner corrugated
surface are 6 inches and 6 15/16 inches, respectively, and the
pitch or distance in a direction parallel to the axis of symmetry
between similar points on adjacent corrugations is 0.335 inch. The
radii at the peaks of the several corrugations 20 are 0.031 inch
inside and 0.062 inch outside, respectively, and the linear axial
spacing of the boiler side wall portions 2 and 3 at the
liquid/vapor interface is 1.34 inches.
In the boiler described, the peripheral wall 4 having the flutes or
corrugations 20 provides in the axial direction of the boiler a
total surface length of the peripheral wall 4 that is 3.16 times
the linear axial spacing of the boiler side wall portions.
In operation, the described rotary boiler provides a substantially
low heat flux at the peripheral wall 4 and produces very much
smaller temperature differences between the wall 4 and the
liquid/vapor interface with high boiling heat fluxes at said
interface as compared to a similar rotary boiler having a flat or
axially plane peripheral wall surface. For example, in operation of
the described boiler at 4500 r.p.m. at a boiler pressure of 55 psia
and heated at a rate providing a heat flux at the boiler wall 4 of
47,200 Btu/hr ft.sup.2, the average temperature difference between
wall 4 and liquid/vapor interface was 58.degree. F. A similar flat
peripheral wall boiler with the same linear axial spacing of the
boiler side wall portions would have 1/3.16 of the boiler area and
would therefore require a heat flux of 149,000 Btu/hr ft.sup.2 to
provide the same total heat input to the fluid.
By comparison, in a similar boiler having a flat peripheral wall
operated under the same conditions but with a heat flux at the
boiler wall of 149,000 Btu/hr ft.sup.2, the temperature difference
between the wall and liquid vapor interface was 83.degree. F.
Moreover, the same flat peripheral wall boiler operated under the
same conditions but heated at a much lower rate to provide a heat
flux at the peripheral boiler wall of 47,200 Btu/hr ft.sup.2 still
produced a temperature difference of as much as 75.degree. F.
between the peripheral wall and the liquid/vapor interface.
The results obtained in the foregoing and additional operations of
contoured wall boilers of the invention in comparison with similar
flat wall boilers are set forth in the following Table I:
TABLE I
Boiler operated at 4500 r.p.m. in the following examples.
Boiler Boiler Heat Flux, Btu/hr ft.sup.2 Average Wall Pressure
Equal Length Actual Temp. Diff. Type psia Flat Wall Boiler Wall
.degree.F.
__________________________________________________________________________
Boiler liquid = Bistrifluoromethylbenzyl alcohol Corrugated 55
149,000 47,200 58 Flat 55 149,000 149,000 83 Flat 55 47,200 47,200
75 Boiler liquid = Benzene Corrugated 14.7 368,000 116,500 66 Flat
14.7 368,000 368,000 111 Flat 14.7 116,500 116,500 80 Corrugated
14.7 272,000 86,000 66 Flat 14.7 272,000 272,000 100 Flat 14.7
86,100 86,100 77
__________________________________________________________________________
The unexpected benefits and advantages provided by the present
invention are believed to result from a novel scrubbing interaction
between the particles of the boiler liquid and the
circumferentially extending annular surfaces provided by the flutes
or corrugations of the peripheral boiler wall 4. Thus, as
schematically illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawings, the
particles of boiler liquid within the rotating boiler travel in
paths or trajectories comprising both radial and tangential
directions at different accelerations and speeds as indicated by
the arrows in said FIGS. r4 and 5.
For example, it is believed that a liquid particle moving inwardly
from the peripheral wall 4 toward the liquid/vapor interface will
be accelerated and travel in the direction of boiler rotation at a
speed greater than the speed of the boiler as indicated by the
arrow A in FIG. 5, whereas a liquid particle moving away from the
liquid/vapor interface toward the peripheral wall 4 will be
decelerated from the greater speed of the liquid at the
liquid/vapor interface to substantially the speed of the peripheral
wall near its outer radius as indicated by the arrow B.
As the result of this in and out circumferential movement of the
liquid particles with the accompanying changes in their speed of
travel as accelerated and decelerated within the body of boiler
liquid, it is believed that the individual liquid particles, for a
boiler operating at high speed, will make a number of revolutions
within the rotating body of liquid in the boiler before they arrive
at the liquid/vapor interface and are converted into vapor at the
desired boiler (vapor) pressure. By this action the liquid
particles are retained in scrubbing interaction with the inner
surface of the peripheral wall 4 a period of time to insure maximum
heat convection from the wall 4 to the boiler liquid.
Still other benefits and advantages provided by the present
invention arise from the reduced thickness of the corrugated boiler
wall. For the same boiler wall stress, the corrugated boiler wall
is much thinner than a flat wall boiler of equal axial length
providing the same heat flux at the liquid/vapor interface. The
thinner metal wall of the corrugated boiler, operating at a
fraction of the peripheral wall heat flux of a flat wall boiler,
requires a greatly reduced thermal gradient through the metal wall
to conduct the necessary heat flux through the wall. The difference
in thermal gradient between a corrugated and flat wall boiler is
still greater for the case where the flat wall boiler is provided
with fins on its external periphery to promote heat transfer from
the combustion heating gases. The reduction in thermal gradient in
the boiler wall for a corrugated boiler reduces the average wall
temperature and thus makes possible the use of cheap alloys. That
is, expensive alloys normally used in high temperature Rankine
cycle engine boilers are not required. Furthermore, the lower
temperature of the external surface of the corrugated boiler wall
significantly increases heat transfer from the hot combustion gases
due to the greater temperature difference between the hot gases and
the boiler wall thereby improving burner efficiency. A further
advantage of the thinner metal wall of the configurated boiler is
its faster response to increased heat input.
A modified construction of a rotary boiler embodying the present
invention is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawings. Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 7, the rotary boiler shown is a wheel-like structure
comprising an annular casing 1a having axially spaced side walls 2a
and 3a, respectively, and a continuous circumferentially extending
outer peripheral wall 4a provided with circumferentially extending
parallel continuous flutes or corrugations 20a therein constructed
and arranged as previously described. The annular casing 1a is
supported concentrically from a shaft 5a by a plurality of vapor
tubes 10a. The shaft 5a is rotatably mounted in bearings 6a and 7a
and the boiler may be rotationally driven at the desired speed by
means of an electric motor M' driving a gear 8a which in turn
drives a gear 9a mounted on the shaft 5a.
The space within the peripheral wall 4a and side walls 2a and 3a of
the casing 1a defines a vapor chamber V' that is in communication
through the vapor tubes 10a with an axial passage 11a in the shaft
5a so that vapor generated in the boiler and collecting in the
chamber V' is discharged inwardly through the vapor tubes 10a and
shaft passage 11a to a suitable expander as previously
described.
Liquid is admitted to the boiler, for example, in the form of
liquid condensate from an axial passage 14a in the shaft 5a by
means of a plurality of feed tubes 15a that extend radially outward
within the vapor tubes 10a to a point below the surface level of
the boiler liquid. The vapor tubes 10a and feed tubes 15a are
equally spaced circumferentially with respect to the shaft 5a and
boiler casing 1a to impart rotational balance to the boiler.
The rotary boiler is driven by the motor M' at a predetermined
speed of rotation to dispose and maintain the selected boiler
liquid uniformly distributed circumferentially about the inner
surface of the peripheral wall 4a of the boiler with a cylindrical
liquid/vapor interface designated x' in FIG. 6. In operation of the
boiler in the manner previously described with reference to FIGS.
1-5 of the drawings, the flutes or corrugations 20a in the boiler
peripheral wall 4a provide a substantially low heat flux at the
peripheral wall 4a and very much smaller temperature differences
between said wall 4a and the liquid/vapor interface x' with high
boiling heat flux at said interface as compared to a similar rotary
boiler having a flat or axial plane peripheral wall surface.
The design and construction of the boiler peripheral wall is not
limited to the particular configuration and arrangement provided by
the flutes or corrugations 20 and 20a in the walls 4 and 4a shown
in FIGS. 1 and 6, respectively, of the drawings. Various other
configurations and constructions may be employed, for example, as
shown in FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11, the arrangements of FIGS. 8 and 10
being preferred over FIGS. 9 and 11, so long as the peripheral wall
configuration employed provides the increased or extended total
axial length of heat conduction to liquid surface of the wall 4a to
produce the desired low heat flux at the peripheral wall and the
small temperature difference between the wall and liquid/vapor
interface required for operation of the boiler at the desired high
boiling heat flux at the liquid/vapor interface with minimal
decomposition of the boiler fluid.
From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention
provides a rotary boiler that may be constructed in relatively
small, compact size having high strength characteristics. Such a
boiler is especially suited for use with high molecular weight
organic power fluids and provides high heat fluxes at the
liquid/vapor interface with minimal decomposition of the power
fluid and substantially lower heat fluxes at the peripheral boiler
wall. Thus, the resulting temperature difference between the boiler
wall and the liquid/vapor interface is sufficiently small to enable
operation of the rotary boiler in a closed-Rankine-cycle engine at
maximum overall thermal efficiency of the engine with fast response
to increased heat input.
While certain embodiments of the present invention have been
illustrated and described, it is not intended to limit the
invention to such disclosures and changes and modifications may be
made and incorporated as desired within the scope of the
claims.
* * * * *