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A thermal heat capture, storage, and exchange arrangement, includes at least one thermal exchange and storage (TXES) array, with each TXES array including one or more TXES elements that receive a fluid flow of a heat source fluid and a working fluid, with the TXES elements providing for a transfer o

A thermal heat capture, storage, and exchange arrangement, includes at least one thermal exchange and storage (TXES) array, with each TXES array including one or more TXES elements that receive a fluid flow of a heat source fluid and a working fluid, with the TXES elements providing for a transfer of thermal energy between the heat source fluid and the TXES elements. A manifold system provides the working fluid to an input of the TXES elements and receives the working fluid from an output of the TXES elements. At least one heat engine operable with the TXES array extracts heat from the TXES array and converts it to mechanical energy, with the heat engine being selectively connected to the manifold system of a TXES array to pass the working fluid through the TXES elements, such that a transfer of thermal energy between the working fluid and the TXES elements occurs.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A thermal heat capture, storage, and exchange arrangement, comprising: at least one thermal exchange and storage (TXES) array, each of the at least one TXES arrays comprising: a plurality of TXES elements each configured to receive a fluid flow therethrough of each of a heat source fluid and a wo

1. A thermal heat capture, storage, and exchange arrangement, comprising: at least one thermal exchange and storage (TXES) array, each of the at least one TXES arrays comprising: a plurality of TXES elements each configured to receive a fluid flow therethrough of each of a heat source fluid and a working fluid, with each of the plurality of TXES elements providing for a transfer of thermal energy between the heat source fluid and the TXES elements; anda manifold system connected to the plurality of TXES elements via piping so as to provide the working fluid to an input of the plurality of TXES elements and receive the working fluid from an output of the plurality of TXES elements;at least one heat engine operable with the at least one TXES array to extract heat from the at least one TXES array and convert it to mechanical energy, each of the at least one heat engines being selectively connected to the manifold system of a respective TXES array to pass the working fluid through one or more of the plurality of TXES elements of the respective TXES array, such that a transfer of thermal energy between the working fluid and the one or more respective TXES elements occurs;a valve system included in the piping connecting the manifold system and the plurality of TXES elements to control a mass flow of the working fluid through the plurality of TXES elements of the at least one TXES array;a plurality of sensors arranged in the thermal heat capture, storage, and exchange arrangement to acquire at least one of temperature and pressure readings from one or more of the heat source fluid, the plurality of TXES elements, and the working fluid; anda process controller configured to: identify optimal operating parameters of each heat engine of the at least one heat engine;receive the at least one of the temperature and pressure readings from the plurality of sensors; andcontrol, based on the identified optimal operating parameters of each heat engine and the received at least one of the temperature and pressure readings, operation of the valve system to fluidly connect a desired heat engine of the at least one heat engine to one or more optimal TXES elements of the at least one TXES array to pass the working fluid from the desired heat engine therethrough to extract heat;wherein the plurality of TXES elements comprises TXES elements having differing thermal exchange and thermal storage characteristics, such that the thermal exchange and thermal storage characteristics of at least one TXES element are different than the thermal exchange and thermal storage characteristics of at least one other TXES element. 2. The arrangement of claim 1 further comprising a process controller configured to: selectively control a flow of the heat source fluid to each of the at least one TXES arrays and to the plurality of TXES elements of each respective TXES array; andselectively control a flow of the working fluid of each respective heat engine to each of the at least one TXES arrays and to the plurality of TXES elements of each respective TXES array. 3. The arrangement of claim 1 where each of the plurality of TXES elements comprises: a matrix material substrate;one or more flue tubes or passageways formed or positioned in the matrix material substrate and configured to receive the heated source fluid therein; andone or more working fluid tubes positioned in the matrix material substrate separate from the one or more flue tubes or passageways, the one or more working fluid tubes configured to receive the working fluid therein from the heat engine;wherein the transfer of thermal energy between the heated source fluid and the working fluid occurs via the matrix material substrate. 4. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein the matrix material substrates comprises one of a mixture of cement binder and aggregate and a mixture of a binder and a phase change material. 5. The arrangement of claim 4 wherein one or more of the working fluid tubes comprises a helical-shaped tube provided in the matrix material. 6. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein the one or more working fluid tubes comprises at least a first helical-shaped working fluid tube and a second helical-shaped working fluid tube, with the first helical-shaped working fluid tube and the second helical-shaped working fluid tube being arranged in one of a intertwined arrangement, a nested arrangement, a co-linear and non- co-axial arrangement, or a co-linear and non-overlapping arrangement. 7. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein the matrix material substrate is formed into a block-shaped element, with a scallop formed at each of corners of the block-shaped element; and wherein scallops of the block-shaped elements of a plurality of adjacent TXES elements in a respective TXES array collectively form a passageway to receive the heated source fluid therein. 8. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the at least one TXES array comprises a plurality of TXES arrays and the at least one heat engine comprises a plurality of heat engines including a first heat engine and a second heat engine. 9. The arrangement of claim 8 where the first heat engine has differing characteristics from the second heat engine, the differing characteristics comprising at least one of a engine process, maximum pressure operating limit, and an available flow rate. 10. The arrangement of claim 8 where the working fluid of the first heat engine is different from the working fluid of the second heat engine. 11. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the at least one heat engine is further operable to provide thermal energy to the at least one TXES array via the working fluid. 12. A thermal heat capture, storage, and exchange arrangement, comprising: at least one modular thermal exchange and storage (TXES) array, each of the at least one modular TXES arrays comprising one or more TXES elements that each includes: a matrix material substrate;one or more flue tubes or passageways formed or positioned in the matrix material substrate to provide for a flow of a heated source fluid through the TXES element, the heated source fluid provided from a heat source; andone or more working fluid tubes positioned in the matrix material substrate separate from the one or more flue tubes or passageways to provide for a flow of a working fluid through the TXES element;one or more heat engines operable with the at least one TXES array to extract heat from the at least one TXES array and convert it to mechanical energy, the one or more heat engines providing the working fluid to the at least one modular TXES array;a valve system positioned in piping and ducting connecting the heat source to the at least one modular TXES array and connecting the one or more heat engines to the at least one modular TXES array, the valve system selectively controlling the flow of the heated source fluid to the at least one modular TXES array and the one or more TXES elements thereof and selectively controlling the flow of the working fluid to the at least one modular TXES array and the one or more TXES elements thereof;a plurality of sensors arranged in the thermal heat capture, storage, and exchange arrangement to acquire at least one of temperature and pressure readings from one or more of the heated source fluid, the one or more TXES elements, and the working fluid; anda process controller configured to: receive the at least one of the temperature and pressure readings from the plurality of sensors; andcontrol, based on the received at least one of the temperature and pressure readings, operation of the valve system to adjust fluid paths and flows of the heat source fluid and the working fluid, such that a maximum amount of heat from the heated source fluid is transferred to the thermal heat capture, storage, and exchange arrangement;wherein the plurality of sensors comprise temperature sensors embedded within and/or mounted on each of the one or more TXES elements to measure a thermal profile and temperature gradient within each of the one or more TXES elements; andwherein the process controller controls operation of the valve system also based on the thermal profile and temperature gradient of the one or more TXES elements. 13. The arrangement of claim 12 wherein the at least one modular TXES array comprises a plurality of modular TXES arrays including at least a first modular TXES array and a second modular TXES array, the first and second modular TXES arrays being arranged in series such that the first modular TXES array receives the heated source fluid at a first temperature and the second modular TXES array receives the heated source fluid at a second temperature. 14. The arrangement of claim 13 wherein the one or more heat engines comprises a first heat engine and a second heat engine, with the first and second heat engines having differing operational characteristics or different working fluids therein. 15. The arrangement of claim 14 wherein the first heat engine is fluidly connected to the first modular TXES array to provide working fluid thereto and the second heat engine is fluidly connected to the second modular TXES array to provide working fluid thereto, with the first heat engine having operational characteristics or a working fluid suitable for use with the first modular TXES array that receives heated source fluid at the first temperature and the second heat engine having operational characteristics or a working fluid suitable for use with the second modular TXES array that receives heated source fluid at the second temperature. 16. The arrangement of claim 12 wherein the one or more flue tubes or passageways and the one or more working fluid tubes in a respective TXES element are arranged so that the heated source fluid flows through the TXES element from a hot end to a cold end thereof and the working fluid flows through the TXES element either from the cold end to the hot end when enthalpy is being added to the working fluid or from the hot end to the cold end when the working fluid is giving up enthalpy. 17. The arrangement of claim 12 wherein each of the one or more working fluid tubes in a respective TXES element comprises a helical-shaped tube. 18. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the process controller is configured to control operation of the valve system to fluidly connect a desired heat engine to one or more optimal TXES elements based on the thermal exchange and thermal storage characteristics of each of the plurality of TXES elements.