SBIR Phase I: Thermal Engine with Metastable Power Extraction Step (TEMPES)

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发出最终生产具有亚稳态功率提取步骤（TEMPES）的高效热机所需的关键测量方法。TEMPES热力动力循环主要用于低温发电和废热回收。TEMPES发动机的基本工作原理是一个封闭的2循环气缸活塞组件，使用创新的热力学动力循环将工作流体中的热能转换为机械能。从热能到功的转换方法是通过在热力学循环的一部分中形成亚稳态非平衡态来完成的。与热力学平衡的状态不同，亚稳态包含固定状态所需的时间成分和历史。亚稳态的形成和状态轨迹之前已经在我们的实验室中得到了证明，为理论TEMPES功率循环的初步分析提供了一种手段。获得的研究工作将通过生产更接近于最终发电封闭循环配置的实验装置来扩展这一知识基础。这种实验配置将允许详细描述亚稳态以及这些状态形成和崩溃回平衡热力学状态的机制。该项目的广泛影响/商业潜力与大量低品位废热有关，这些废热可以转化为有用的能源。TEMPES技术可以成为使用低品位废热作为主要能源的可扩展发电系统的核心。低品位废热的回收每年可以从工业废热源、集中太阳能发电厂、地热发电厂和废水处理设施中回收数万亿btu，并将这些能量转化为有用的工作。350℃低温功率转换技术可用于废热回收发电、太阳能槽式发电和地热发电，可用于消费级和大型电网能源应用。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop critical measurements necessary for eventually producing a high efficiency Thermal Engine with Metastable Power Extraction Step (TEMPES). The TEMPES thermodynamic power cycle is designed primarily for low-temperature power generation and waste heat recovery. The basic operating principle of the TEMPES engine is a closed 2-cycle cylinder piston assembly that converts heat energy in a working fluid to mechanical energy using an innovative thermodynamic power cycle. The method of conversion from heat energy to work is accomplished via formation of metastable non-equilibrium states in a portion of the thermodynamic cycle. Unlike states that are thermodynamically equilibrated, metastable states incorporate a temporal component and history required for fixing the state. Metastable state formation and state trajectories have been previously demonstrated in our lab providing a means for conducting a preliminary analysis of a theoretical TEMPES power cycle. The awarded research work will expand this knowledge base by producing an experimental set-up more closely tailored to closed cycle configurations for ultimate power generation. This experimental configuration will allow detailed characterizations of metastable states and the mechanisms by which these states form and collapse back into equilibrated thermodynamics states.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is related to the vast supply of low grade waste heat that could be converted into useful energy. The TEMPES technology can be the core of a scalable electricity generation system using low-grade waste heat as its primary energy source. Recovery of low-grade waste heat can potentially reclaim trillions of BTUs annually from industrial waste heat sources, concentrating solar plants, geothermal plants, and waste-water treatment facilities and convert this energy back into useful work. Low temperature power conversion technology at temperatures 350 C is enabling for waste heat recovery power generation, solar trough power generation, and geothermal power generation at both consumer level and large grid scale energy applications.