EP0050959B1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Improved lubricating system for organic fluid power plant
Assignee: Ormat Industries Ltd
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Filing: 1981-10-21
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Granted: 1986-06-11
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Expires: 2001-10-21
Abstract
No abstract record available.
Inventors
- 👤 Lucien Bronicki
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 19:59
CPC Classifications
F; F01; F01K; F01K25/00; F01K7/00; F01K7/16; F01D; F01D25/00; F01D25/18; F01D25/22; F16; F16N; F16N39/00; F16N39/02
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
163 words
A closed Rankine cycle power plant comprising a boiler (11) for converting liquid working fluid into hot vapour, a pipe (18) connecting the boiler (11) to a hermetically sealed canister (19) for conveying hot vapour from the boiler (11) to the canister (19), a prime mover (12) contained within the canister (19) and responsive to hot vapour in the pipe (18) for producing power and heat depleted vapour; an exhaust pipe (33) connecting the canister (19) to a condenser (14) for conveying the heat depleted vapour from the canister (19) to the condenser (14) which converts the vapour into condensate; a condensate return pipe (38) for returning condensate from the condenser (14) to the boiler (11); and a lubrication system (44, 45) to lubricate the bearings (25) of the prime mover (12) with condensate, characterized in that the viscosity of the condensate used to lubricate the bearings is increased to a level greater than the viscosity of the condensate returned to the boiler.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
163 words
A closed Rankine cycle power plant comprising a boiler (11) for converting liquid working fluid into hot vapour, a pipe (18) connecting the boiler (11) to a hermetically sealed canister (19) for conveying hot vapour from the boiler (11) to the canister (19), a prime mover (12) contained within the canister (19) and responsive to hot vapour in the pipe (18) for producing power and heat depleted vapour; an exhaust pipe (33) connecting the canister (19) to a condenser (14) for conveying the heat depleted vapour from the canister (19) to the condenser (14) which converts the vapour into condensate; a condensate return pipe (38) for returning condensate from the condenser (14) to the boiler (11); and a lubrication system (44, 45) to lubricate the bearings (25) of the prime mover (12) with condensate, characterized in that the viscosity of the condensate used to lubricate the bearings is increased to a level greater than the viscosity of the condensate returned to the boiler.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
A closed Rankine cycle power plant according to claim 1 characterised in that the viscosity of the condensate used to lubricate the bearings is increased by cooling such condensate to a temperature below the temperature of the condenser.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
44 words
A closed Rankine cycle power plant according to claim 2 characterised in that the prime mover (13) is in a sealed canister (19) having a sump (39) for collecting liquid working fluid which is delivered to the bearings (25, 30) through a cooler (42).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
81 words
A closed Rankine cycle power plant according to claim 3 wherein the prime mover (13) is coupled to a generator (26) through a gear box (27, 28), characterised in that the prime mover (13), a generator (26) and gearbox (27, 28) are mounted in a sealed canister (19) having a sump (39) for collecting liquid working fluid, and liquid working fluid is delivered from the sump (39) to the bearings (25, 30) and the gearbox (27, 28) through a cooler (42).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
A closed Rankine cycle power plant according to claim 4, characterised in that condensate from the condenser is delivered to the generator (26) for cooling the stator windings (32) thereof.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
42 words
A closed Rankine cycle power plant according to claim 4, characterised by a level sensor (46) in the sump (39), and means (36) responsive to the level sensor for adding condensate to the sump (32) when the level is below a threshold.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
30 words
A closed Rankine cycle power plant according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that the working fluid is an organic fluid having a molecular weight greater than 40.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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