Trigeneration system and method

Abstract

A trigeneration system comprising a cooling loop and a heat/power loop connected by a heat exchanger. Energy available at the high side of the cooling loop is transferred from cooling loop to the heat/power loop by the heat exchanger. This energy is put to use by the heat/power loop to efficient produce heat and power. The system can be run transcritical and use environmentally friendly working fluid, such as carbon dioxide.

1 . An apparatus for providing cooling, heat and power, comprising:
 a cooling loop for providing cooling;   a heat/power loop for providing heat and power; and   a heat exchanger connecting the cooling loop to the heat/power loop such that energy from the cooling loop is transferred to the heat/power loop by the heat exchanger.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the cooling loop is a closed loop cooling system comprising:
 cooling loop components;   conduit connecting the cooling loop components; and   cooling working fluid flowing through the conduit and cooling loop components.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the cooling loop components further comprise a suction line heat exchanger for increasing the coefficient of performance of the cooling loop. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the cooling loop components further comprise an expander for increasing the coefficient of performance of the cooling loop. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the cooling loop is configured to run transcritical. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the cooling working fluid further comprises carbon dioxide. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the cooling loop components further comprise:
 a compressor for compressing the cooling working fluid;   an expansion valve for expanding the cooling working fluid; and   an evaporator for absorbing heat from ambient air into the cooling working fluid.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the heat/power loop is a closed loop system comprising:
 heat/power loop components;   conduit connecting the heat/power loop components; and   heat/power working fluid flowing through the conduit and heat/power loop components.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the heat/power loop is configured to run transcritical. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the heat/power working fluid comprises carbon dioxide. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein heat/power loop components further comprise:
 an auxiliary energy heat exchanger for adding auxiliary heat from an external system to the heat/power working fluid.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11  wherein the external system comprises at least one solar collector. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the heat/power loop components further comprise:
 a pump for increasing the enthalpy of the heat/power working fluid;   a turbine for producing power from the heat/power working fluid; and   a condenser and a hot water heat exchanger for heating water from energy extracted from the heat/power working fluid.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the cooling loop is a closed loop cooling system comprising:
 cooling loop components;   conduit connecting the cooling loop components; and   carbon dioxide working fluid flowing through the conduit and cooling loop components; and   
       wherein the heat/power loop is a closed loop system comprising:
 heat/power loop components; 
 conduit connecting the heat/power loop components; and 
 carbon dioxide working fluid flowing through the conduit and heat/power loop components; and 
 
       wherein the heat exchanger further comprises a carbon dioxide to carbon dioxide heat exchanger. 
     
     
         15 . A method for producing cooling, heat, and power, comprising:
 producing cooling by:
 compressing cooling working fluid to produce high pressure/high enthalpy cooling working fluid; 
 rejecting heat from the high pressure/high enthalpy cooling working fluid to produce high pressure/low enthalpy cooling working fluid; 
 expanding the high pressure/low enthalpy cooling working fluid to produce low pressure/low enthalpy cooling working fluid; and 
 absorbing heat from ambient air into the low pressure/low enthalpy cooling working fluid to cool the ambient air; 
 and 
   producing heat and power by:
 increasing pressure of a heat/power working fluid to produce a high pressure/low enthalpy heat/power working fluid; 
 adding the heat rejected from the high pressure/high enthalpy cooling working fluid to the heat/power working fluid to produce a high pressure/high enthalpy heat/power working fluid; 
 using energy from the high pressure/high enthalpy heat/power working fluid to produce power; 
 using additional energy from the heat/power working fluid to heat water to produce heat. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising adding additional energy to the heat/power working fluid from an external system. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the external system comprises at least one solar collector. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the additional energy comprises waste heat generated by the external system.