Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
116 words
A combustion engine plant including a combustion engine (1), a supercharger (2b), air feed means comprising first air feeding means (3) for supplying air to the supercharger (2b) and second air feeding means (4) for supplying supercharged air from the supercharger to the combustion engine (1), heat source means, and heat recovery means for recovering heat from the plant, characterised in that the heat recovery means includes transfer means (6,8,9,10) for transferring low-value heat recovered from said heat source means to the first air feeding means (3) thereby increasing the temperature of the feed air entering the supercharger (2b) for providing greater amounts of high-temperature heat recoverable from the feed air compressed in the supercharger (2b).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
54 words
A plant according to claim 1, characterised in that the heat source means comprises residual heat present in the feed air in the second air feeding means (4) after it has been compressed in said supercharger (2b) and after the high-temperature heat contained in the compressed feed air has been recovered for utility use.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
60 words
A plant according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that it includes a machine (7) driven by the engine (1) and heat exchange medium flow means (12-15) for cooling the machine (7) and in that the heat source means comprises the heat exchange medium of the heat exchange medium flow means after extraction of heat from the machine (7).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
A plant according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the heat source means comprises heat recovered from any cooling system of the engine (1).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
A plant according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the heat source means comprises a plurality of separate heat sources.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
A plant according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the engine (1) is a reciprocating internal combustion engine, preferably a diesel engine (1).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
28 words
A plant according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the power of the engine (1) is at least 0.5 MW, preferably at least 5 MW.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
A plant according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the temperature of the residual low-value heat of the compressed feed air is at the most 85°C, preferably at the most 70°C.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
A plant according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the temperature of the low-value heat is higher than 40°C.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
40 words
A supercharged combustion engine arrangement including an engine and a supercharger for supercharging feed air supplied to the engine, characterised in that the arrangement is provided with means (10) for preheating the feed air (3) upstream of the supercharger (2b).
Claim 11
Independent Claim
47 words
A method of improving the efficiency of a combustion engine plant comprising supercharging air prior to feeding it to the combustion engine, characterised in that the feed air is preheated before it is supercharged using heat from at least one heat source of the combustion engine plant.