Method for converting thermal energy into useful work
Technical Art
The invention relates to heat power engineering, in particular to
methods that use a working medium for producing useful work from heat of
an external source.
Background Art
10 A method for convesting thermal energy of an external source into
mechanical work is known (RU, 2078253, F03G7106, 20.04.97) that increases
the efficiency of a thermal generating set up to a value close to unity, i.e. up
to coi~~plectoen version of heat into mechanical work.
A method is known (RU, 2162161, F03G7106, 20.01.2001) that
15 provides the highest efficiency of a thermal generating set through complete
conversior~ of the working medium heat generated by an external source into
mechanical work. This method comprises interaction of the working medium
with the thermal energy source, in particular, imparting thermal energy from
the external source to the working rnediu~n flow, expansion of the flow by
20 mechanical work, and performing energy exchange with an additional lowtemperature
thermal energy source, for the purpose of which a part of the
general flow of the working medium having an increased density is used. This
method actually implements the process of energy transmission inside the
system "working medium - additional low-temperature energy source". The
25 method allows achieving the efficiency of thermo-mechanical transformations
close to unity and using low-temperature thermal energy sources. However,
this is possible only due to the application of a special, rather complex system
of recovering thermal energy of the working medium expanded after the
n~echanicawl ork is performed.
A method is laown according to international applicatioll WO
20041046546 (Patent RU, 2213256, F 03G 7/06, 21.1 1.2002) that is most
similar to the one being claimed and that comprises interaction of a working
medium with an additional low-temperature thermal energy source in the
5 form of the positron state of the Dirac's matter, said interaction performed by
bringing the working medium into quantum-mechanical resonance with said
state of matter. The energy transmission according to said method is carried
out inside the system "working medium - positron state of the Dirac's
matter". The method is based on the comprehension of the positron state of
10 the Dirac's matter disclosed in details in the study "The Principles of
Quantum Mechanics by P.A.M, Dirac, Second Edition, Oxford, 1935 [I].
The study asserts that the temperature of the said state of matter is close to -
273"C, which allows considering said state as being close to the ideal lowtemperature
energy source, the so-called "physical vacuum".
15 Exposures of the working medium needed to create quantummechanical
resonance cause polarization processes in the positron state of the
Dirac's matter and generate two material particles, an electron and a positron,
thereby confirming that "the physical vacuun~ is the fifth state of matter".
Further positron and working medium interaction releases energy, including
20 that in the form of heat, which can be converted into useful work.
The mechanism of phase transition of the working medium to the fifth
state of matter during the quantum-mechanical resonance process with
absorption or emission of a substantial amount of energy is disclosed in the
studies "Mechanisms of First-Type Phase Changes in Metals and
25 Semiconductors under the Influence of High Pressure and Electrostatic Field",
G.R. Umarov et al., High Pressure Physics and Engineering, 1990, No. 33 [2]
and "Theory of Phase Transitions and Structure of Solid Solutions", A.G.
Khachaturyan, Moscow, Nauka, 1974 [33.
The above studies point out that in first-type phase transitions there are
phase stability fields, in which fluctuations of the positron state of the
working medium per se cannot lead to spontaneous creation of positrons and
quantum-mechanical resonance with energy generation. The quantum-
5 mechanical resonance occurs in the working medium that is on the verge of
stable state and precedes phase transition, the development of which is
conditioned by overcoming the state of absolute instability.
However, the process of energy release in phase transition of the
working medium overcoming the state of absolute phase instability develops
10 like an avalanche. A short-term energy outbreak occurs, which does not
always serve the task of the creators of the heat engine according to this
method. In some cases a heat engine is required that perfom~sw ork in a stable
manner during a given period of time including a rather long one.
Disclosure of Invention
15 The object of this invention is a method for converting thern~ael nergy
into useful work with efficiency practically corresponding to theoretical
efficiency, during the implementation of which said conversion is carried out
in a stable manner and within a rather long period of lime by means of
initiating phase transition of the working medium on the verge of overcoming
20 the line of absolute phase instability.
The nlethod comprises interaction of the working medium with an
energy source and interaction of the working medium with an additional lowtemperature
energy source in the form of the positron state of the Dirac's
matter by means of bringing the working medium into quantum-mechanical
25 resonance with said state. The quantum-mechanical resonance is initiated by
changing at least one of the thermodynamic parameters of the working
medium. At the same time, the value of spontaneous fluctuations of the
variable parameter in the vicinity of the line of absolute instability in the state
diagram of the working medium is predetermined, and the change step is set
for the thermodynamic parameter to be lower than the value of said
fluctuations. In a particular embodiment, the change step of the
thermodynamic parameter is adjusted by introducing feedback for at least one
of the thermodynamic parameters of the working medium. Therefore, the
5 quantum-mechanical resonance is substantially initiated by means of
spontaneous fluctuations of the thermodynamic parameters of the working
medium.
The essence of the claimed method can be explained with the help of a
state diagram of ternary alloy InSb - TlSb illustrated in Fig. 1 and
10 representing conditions under which different phases of the working medium
can coexist.
The state diagram of the working medium of any conlposition and any
state of aggregation can be constructed using computation by adequate
software products and based on the known dependence of chemical potentials
I5 of all working mediurn components on temperature, pressure and composition
of the phases. The state diagram can also be constructed experimentally with
the use of data provided by thermal, microstmctural or X-ray diffraction
methods.
In the phase diagram illustrated in Fig. 1, BR in the equilibrium line of
20 phases I and I1 in coordinates P and T (pressure and temperature of the
working medium, respectively) or T and C (temperature and chemical
composition); BD line is the line of absolute instability of phase I with respect
to phase 11; AB line is the line of absolute instability of phase I1 with respect
to phase I. If the system is under conditions corresponding to point a, phase I1
25 nuclei cannot exist because when the system returns to equilibrium
conditions, fluctuational reaching of the BD line brings the nucleus across
AB. The same pertains to conditions corresponding to point y - here, phase I
nuclei cannot exist. There may be phase nuclei under conditions of P; in this
case, the relative quantity of phases in their coexistence region ABD (absolute
instability triangle) is inversely proportional to the distance of point P from
AB and BD. Therefore, in the phase coexistence region a nucleus can be
generated not of any phase, but only of those phases which are
correspondingly interconnected by lines of absolute instability.
5 Apparently, useful energy release becomes an irreversible process
when the line of absolute instability is overcome. Reaching the quantummechanical
resonance is thus advisably performed with accuracy of a small
vicinity of the line of absolute instability, which is possible at very small
increments of thermodynamic parameter values of the working tnedium,
10 namely those that do not exceed the values of the spontaneous fluctuations of
said parameter near the line of absolute instability.
According to the laws of thermodynamics and statistical physics, any
heat engine provides possibility for adjusting only time-averaged
thermodynamic parameter values of the working medium. Statistical physics
15 describes instantar~eous values that deterliline fluctuations (deviations from
mean) by the following formula:
and for ideal gases:
where: -
A v2 - root-mean-square fluctuations of the working
medium volume;
~ C O- probability density of mean-square fluctuations of
the working n~ediunv~o lun~e
V - instantaneous medium volume
Vo - average medium volume at given T and P
N - number of ideal gas particles within the volun~e
The above formula demonstrates the quantitative characteristic of
fluctuations in the volume of the substance forming the working medium. For
5 a solid body, the formula has a qualitative character.
For example, for an ideal gas, N = 6. I and V = 22 liters at T equal to
room temperature and P equal to 1 atmosphere. Therefore, the root-meansquare
value of fluctuations is (V.G. Levich "Theoretical Physics. V. 2.
Statistical Physics Electromagnetic Processes in Matter", Amsterdam: North-
10 Holland Publ., 1970 [4]). Fluctuations of physical quantities describing the
state of a systetn are evidently small and may be neglected. However, the
author of the quantitative theory of phase transitions, US physicist Kenneth
Wilson, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for creating the theory for critical
phenomena in connection with phase transitions, has demonstrated that a
15 complex nonlinear medium in the vicinity of a critical point is subjected to
fluctuations of different scales, from atomic dimensions to characteristic
dimensions of the entire system ("Theory for Critical Phenomena in
Connection with Phase Transitions", Nobel Lectures in Physics 1981-1990,
edited by Gosta Ekspond, ISBN: 978-981-02-0728-1 [5]). The values of
20 "gigantic" fluctuations of each of the thermodynamic parameters in the
vicinity of the line of absolute instability may exceed the above-mentioned
theoretical values by several orders, and their effect upon the properties of the
medium becomes a determining factor.
In a number of experiments conducted by the authors of this invention,
25 the range of values of "gigantic" thermodynamic parameter fluctuations of the
working medium was estimated as 10.'. . .lo.'.
It is this property of fluctuations that enables using them to initiate
quantum-mechanical resonance and carry out phase transitions of the working
medium with performance of useful work.
Thc state of absolutc phasc instability is intrinsic to any state of
aggregation of a substance forming the working medium, i.e. phase transition
conditions are valid for solid, liquid, gaseous substances and plasma.
Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention
5 The claimed method may be implemented, for example, in a heat
engine in which the working medium (hereinafter called the substrate) may
be, for example, InSb-T1Sb alloy in the state of interaction with a thermal
energy source.
The hnctional diagram of a heat engine simulating set is given in Fig.
10 1.
It comprises a target object - substrate 1 positioned in a thermostat 2
with a temperature and pressure controller, an apparatus 3 i~lonitoring the
state of the substrate (temperature, pressure, chemical and spectral
composition, external fields, thermal capacity, thermal and electrical
15 conductivities) with high accuracy, and an autoruatic cotltrol system 4 for
controlling the variable parameter, which includes sensors of the value of the
parameter being measured or of its change rate, and a data-processing device
5. The target object is a substrate in the form of the above-mentioned InSb-
TlSb alloy in a state close to phase transition. Near the dielectric-metal phase
20 transition, the state of the substrate is determined by proportions of its
constituent elements selected according to a technique described in the study
"Structural Stability and Trends in Band Structures of Covalent-Ionic
Compounds", Altshuler A.M., Vekilov Y.K., Umarov G.R., PfLs. Stat., sol
(B) - 1975 - 69, NO. 2 -pp. 661-670 [6].
25 A phase diagram of states in the vicinities of the triple point is
constructed for the selected substrate composition. The value of fluctuations
in the vicinity of the line of absolute instability is determined by calculations
or experimentally. The temperature of the substrate, as one of the
thermodynamic parameters, is set to be close to the point of the expected
phase transition in compliance with the state diagram. Fluctuations of the
basic thermodynamic parameters of the substrate as a system can be
calculated by formulae derived and justified in publication: L.D. Landau,
E.M. Lifshitz "Course of Theoretical Physics, Statistical Physics", Vol. 5 (3rd
5 ed), Butterworth-Heinemann, ISBN: 978-0-750-63372-7 [7].
-
As' = kc,
The parameters are designated in the formulae as follows:
V - volume of the substrate, p - pressure, T - temperature, C, -
thermal capacity at a constant volume, C, - thermal capacity at a constant
pressure, S - entropy, k - Boltzmann constant.
The values of fluctuations can be determined experimentally with the
15 help of the method of photometric diagnostics of phase transition based on
changes in the optical properties of the substrate. The method comprises
sensing the brightness spectra of external source light reflected from the
substrate surface and subjecting the spectra to comparative computer analysis.
A database is formed according to the analysis results, which includes the
20 dependence of the spectral brightness density on the values of one of the
thermodynamic parameters (temperature in the given example), and boundary
values of the parameter are determined at the beginning of phase transition.
Measurements are taken at different points of time, and the mean squared
deviation of the thermodynamic parameter value from the nominal value is
25 used as a variable characterizing the fluctuation level. The quantummechanical
resonance with heat release can also be detected experimentally
from abrupt changcs in thcrmal or clcctric conductivitics of thc substratc.
These phenomena accompany the occurrence of the quantum-mechanical
resonance as of a state preceding phase transition in the substrate.
At fixed atmospheric pressure and temperature values within
5 instrumental tolerances, the phase state of the substrate correspondents to
point F in the phase diagram (Fig. 1). When an estimated value of the variable
parameter (temperature in this case) is achieved at a step not exceeding a
predetermined value of fluctuations, phase transition is initiated in a small
volume of the substrate. Further changes in the fluctuating volume of the
10 substrate, which increases as the phase (point F) approximates the state of
absolute instability (BD line), may be used as well as temperature fluctuations
to perform feedback for the adjustable parameter, which in this case is
temperature.
The equation of state known from statistical physics (for an ideal gas):
PV = RT,
where: P, V, T -parameters of the working medium
R - gas constant,
demonstrates that when the value of one parameter fluctuates, fluctuations of
the other parameters occur inevitably, and thus the feedback may be formed
20 as well by using pressure changes of the substrate that accompany phase
transformation, or generated quanta of external fields.
The above-mentioned regulation of the variable parameter change step
provides smooth approaching of the phase transition state by the substrate
with initiation of quantum-mechanical resonance and avoiding its avalanche-
25 type development.
The phase transition process can be initiated by changing another
thermodynamic parameter - pressure. In this case, the above-mentioned target
object may be positioned under a press, while the pressure change step
required for smooth overcoming of the line of absolute instability is also
determined by the method described above.
Precise adjustment of the thermodynamic parameter (temperature in
this case) in the vicinity of the line of absolute phase instability can be
5 provided by introducing feedback for the adjustable parameter with the help
of a control signal proportional to the predetermined root-mean-square value
of fluctuations of the variable parameter itself and of accompanying
fluctuations of the other thermodynamic parameters of the working medium.
For any thermodynamic parameter, fluctuations of this order converted
10 into electrical fluctuations can be measured both by the oscillographic method
and by gauges of electromagnetic and electrodynamics systems.
Thus, the claimed method converts tlletmal energy into useful work
with the efficiency close to the theoretical one, using in-depth processes in the
working medium without application of highly technical energy recovery
15 systems, stabilizes operation of a heat engine in time, and expands the range
of useful work obtained through its implementation.
Implementation of the claimed method may produce the following
effects as collateral ones:
- nuclear transmutation of substance
20 - possible energy transmission to specified distances
- creation of gravitational propulsion, which confirms the connection between
electromagnetic and gravitational interactions.
Industrial Applicability
The claimed method can be used in the industry that requires
25 significant power consumptions during long periods of time, for example, in
non-ferrous metal industry, where 80% of the product cost is the cost of the
power consumption with simultaneous cooling of hot shops in hazardous
production facilities. The method can also be used to create a highly efficient
energy source in the transport sector, and in a number of other industries
mentioned above.

Claims
1. The method for converting thermal energy into useful work
comprising interaction of the working medium with an energy source and
5 interaction of the working medium with an additional low-temperature energy
source in the form of the positron state of the Dirac's matter by means of
bringing the working medium into quantum-mechanical resonance with said
state, wherein the quantum-mechanical resonance is initiated by changing at
least one of the thermodynamic parameters of the working medium, while the
10 value of spontaneous fluctuations of the variable parameter in the vicinity of
the line of absolute instability in the state diagram is predetermined, and the
change step for the thermodynamic parameter is set to be lower than the
predetermined value of said fluctuations.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the change step of the
15 them~odynan~picar ameter is adjusted by introducing feedback for at least one
of the thermodynamic parameters of the working medium.
Daj@ this 02"~D ay of April 2014
Of Anannd And Anand Advocates
Agents for the Applicant