Waste heat recovery hybrid power drive

Abstract

A system includes an internal combustion engine; a waste heat recovery system in fluid communication with the internal combustion engine, the waste heat recovery system including an energy conversion system, wherein the waste heat recovery system is structured to extract heat energy from the engine, and wherein the energy conversion system is structured to generate power from the extracted heat energy; a gear box operatively coupled to an output of the energy conversion system; and an alternator operatively coupled to the gear box and the internal combustion engine, wherein the alternator consumes a first portion of the generated power to produce electrical energy while a remaining portion of the generated power is absorbed by the internal combustion engine via a front end accessory drive system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle, comprising:
 an internal combustion engine;   a waste heat recovery system in fluid communication with the internal combustion engine, the waste heat recovery system including an energy conversion system, wherein the waste heat recovery system is structured to extract heat energy from the engine, and wherein the energy conversion system is structured to generate power from the extracted heat energy;   a gear box operatively coupled to an output of the energy conversion system; and   an alternator operatively coupled to the gear box and the internal combustion engine, wherein the alternator consumes a first portion of the generated power to produce electrical energy while a remaining portion of the generated power is absorbed by the internal combustion engine via a front end accessory drive system.   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the energy conversion system includes a waste heat recovery expander and the output is a shaft of the waste heat recovery expander. 
     
     
         3 . The vehicle of  claim 2 , further comprising a shaft coupling, wherein the shaft coupling selectively couples to the shaft of the waste heat recovery expander and to a shaft of the alternator. 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle of  claim 3 , wherein the gear box is structured to substantially match a speed of rotation of the shaft of the waste heat recovery expander to an operating shaft speed for the shaft of the alternator. 
     
     
         5 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , further comprising an electric power system, the electric power system structured to selectively power the vehicle in at least one of combination with and separate from the engine, wherein the electric power system includes at least one of a variable energy dissipation device, one or more energy storage devices, and an electric motor. 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle of  claim 5 , wherein the alternator is structured to selectively charge the one or more energy storage devices via the produced electrical energy. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the alternator is a part of the front end accessory drive system, wherein the alternator includes a pulley structured to selectively power one or more accessories in the front end accessory drive system. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle of  claim 7 , wherein the pulley is coupled to a clutch configured to selectively couple the pulley to the internal combustion engine, wherein the clutch is configured to selectively couple and decouple the pulley from the engine to at least partly control an operating shaft speed of a shaft of the alternator. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle of  claim 8 , wherein the clutch is configured to control the operating shaft speed of the shaft of the alternator to substantially match a rotational speed for a shaft of a waste haste recovery expander included in the energy conversion system. 
     
     
         10 . The vehicle of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more accessories include a power steering pump, an air conditioning compressor, and a water pump. 
     
     
         11 . A system, comprising:
 an internal combustion engine;   a waste heat recovery system having a working fluid circuit, a fluid management system positioned along the working fluid circuit that utilizes a working fluid, a heat exchange system positioned along the working fluid circuit, and a feedpump positioned along the working fluid circuit and structured to move the working fluid through the working fluid circuit;   an energy conversion system positioned along the working fluid circuit downstream from the heat exchange system and upstream from the fluid management system, wherein the energy conversion system is structured to generate power from heat energy extracted from the engine via the waste heat recovery system;   a gear box operatively coupled to an output of the energy conversion system;   a coupling structured to selectively receive the output of the energy conversion system; and   an alternator operatively coupled to the coupling and the internal combustion engine, wherein the alternator consumes a first portion of the generated power to produce electrical energy while a remaining portion of the generated power is absorbed by the internal combustion engine via a front end accessory drive system.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the energy conversion system includes a waste heat recovery expander and the output is a shaft of the waste heat recovery expander. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the coupling is structured as a shaft coupling, wherein the shaft coupling selectively couples to the shaft of the waste heat recovery expander and a shaft of the alternator. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the gear box is structured to substantially match a speed of rotation of the shaft of the expander to an operating shaft speed for the shaft of the alternator. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the alternator is configured to substantially match a speed of rotation for the shaft of the alternator to a rotational speed of the shaft of the expander. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising an electric power system, the electric power system operable either with or separate from the engine, wherein the electric power system includes one or more energy storage devices and an electric motor. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the alternator is structured to selectively charge the one or more energy storage devices via the produced electrical energy. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) circuit, wherein the heat exchange system further includes an EGR boiler/superheater and a recuperator. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the fluid management system includes a condenser, a receiver, and a sub-cooler. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the fluid management system includes a valve module, wherein the valve module selectively facilitates provision of the working fluid to four flow paths in the waste heat recovery system. 
     
     
         21 . A method, comprising:
 providing an internal combustion engine;   providing a waste heat recovery system in fluid communication with the internal combustion engine, the waste heat recovery system including an energy conversion system, wherein the waste heat recovery system is structured to extract heat energy from the engine, and wherein the energy conversion system is structured to generate power from the extracted heat energy; and   providing an alternator operatively coupled to the energy conversion system and the internal combustion engine, wherein the alternator consumes a first portion of the generated power to produce electrical energy while a remaining portion of the generated power is absorbed by the internal combustion engine via a front end accessory drive system.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising providing a gear box and a coupling, wherein the energy conversion system is coupled to the gear box, which is coupled to the coupling, which is coupled to the alternator. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the energy conversion system includes a waste heat recovery expander having a shaft, wherein the shaft is received by the gear box.