Apparatus and process for the conversion of heat to electricity

Claim 1

A PROCESS OF CONVERTING HEAT TO ELECTRICITY BY A CLOSED CONTINUOUS THERMODYNAMIC-ELECTROCHEMICAL CYCLE, COMPRISING APPLYING HEAT WITHIN A TEMPERATURE RANGE OF 1700 TO 2500 DEGREES KELVIN AT PRESSURES UP TO APPROXIMATELY ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE TO A WORKING FLUID COMPOSED OF COMPONENTS SEPARABLE BY DISSOCIATION IN ORDER TO AT LEAST PARTIALLY DISSOCIATE THE WORKING FLUID INTO SAID SEPARABLE COMPONENTS, PHYSICALLY SEPARATING THE SAID COMPONENTS FROM ONE ANOTHER BY MEANS OF DIFFUSION THROUGH A POROUS HIGH-TEMPERATURE MEMBRANE, COOLING THE THUS SEPARATED COMPONENTS TO INCREASE THE FRACTION OF THE ENERGY AVAILABLE FOR CONVERSION TO ELECTRICITY IN A FUEL CELL AND FURTHER COOLING THE SAID COMPONENT TO CONDENSE THE ENTRAINED WATER VAPOR THEREOF INTO WATER AND TO MAINTAIN THE TEMPERATURE BALANCE OF THE SYSTEM AND TO REJECT WASTE HEAT, SUBSEQUENTLY CONDUCTING THE THUS-COOLED SEPARATED COMPONENTS INTO AN ELECTROCHEMICAL FUEL CELL CONTAINING AN ELECTROLYTE, RECOMBINING THE THUS CONDUCTED COMPONENTS WITHIN THE FUEL CELL TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY WHILE DISSOLVING THE REACTION PRODUCTS OF THE SAID COMPONENTS IN THE ELECTROLYTE OF THE FUEL CELL, CONDUCTING AWAY FROM THE FUEL CELL TO AN EXTERNAL CIRCUIT THE ELECTRICITY LIBERATED DURING THE RECOMBINATION OF SAID COMPONENTS, SUBSEQUENTLY WITHDRAWING THE THUS DILUTED ELECTROLYTE FROM THE FUEL CELL AT A REDUCED PRESSURE CAUSING THE WORKING FLUID THEREIN TO SEPARATE THEREFROM BY EVAPORATION, RETURNING THE THUS CONCENTRATED ELECTROLYTE TO THE FUEL CELL, RETURNING THE WORKING FLUID SEPARATED FROM THE DILUTED ELECTROLYTE TO THE PLACE OF DISSOCIATION FOR REDISSOCIATION BY THE FURTHER APPLICATION OF HEAT THERETO, AND APPLYING A PORTION OF THE HEAT EXTRACTED FROM THE THUS DISSOCIATED AND SEPARATE COMPONENTS TO THE WORKING FLUID RETURNING TO THE PLACE OF DISSOCIATION WHEREBY TO CONTINUOUSLY RECYCLE THE WORKING FLUID IN A CLOSED CYCLIC PROCESS WHILE IS NOT DEPENDENT UPON AN INDEFINITE SUPPLY OF A CONSUMABLE WORKING FLUID.