DEVICE FOR EXTRACTING THERMAL ENERGY FROM AMBIENT AIR FOR GENERATING ELECTRIC ENERGY AND PRODUCING FRESH WATER Russian patent published in 2003 - IPC

FIELD: power engineering. SUBSTANCE: invention is designed for producing electric energy and fresh water using heat of ambient air and liquid nitrogen, being waste product of industrial production of oxygen, as cooling agent. Proposed device contains liquid nitrogen evaporator with heater, compressor for nitrogen gas, heater of gaseous nitrogen by ambient air heat, turbine or stage of turbines operating on heated nitrogen, pipelines connecting design members. Pipeline from evaporator to compressor is made heat-insulated, and pipeline from compressor to turbine or stage of turbines, non-heat insulated. Heater for heating compressed nitrogen by heat of ambient air is made in form of two parallel alternately connected heaters with coils for condensing water in form of dew or ice periodically melted by electric heaters. For additional cooling of gaseous nitrogen getting out of turning or turbine stage cooler is provided made in form of coil dipped in liquid nitrogen. Method of producing electric energy and fresh water conclude consists in the following operations: evaporated nitrogen at temperature of 85-100 K is first subjected to 50-20 fold compression, and its temperature is raised to temperature lower than ambient temperature and then temperature of gaseous nitrogen is raised by heat of ambient air in heaters at constant pressure to temperature of ambient medium air. Condensation of steam from air in form of dew or ice is provided, ice being periodically melted by electric heaters. Then gaseous nitrogen is directed to turbine or stage of turbines to provide rotation of electric generator and generation of energy, and cooled gas is directed into coil arranged in liquid nitrogen to reduce temperature of initial state at constant initial pressure. EFFECT: improved efficiency of generation of electric energy and production of fresh water. 3 cl, 2 dwg