A system includes a waste heat recovery heat exchanger configured to heat a heating fluid stream by exchange with a heat source in a crude oil associated gas processing plant. The system includes an Organic Rankine cycle energy conversion system including a pump, an energy conversion heat exchanger configured to heat the working fluid by exchange with the heated heating fluid stream, a turbine and a generator configured to generate power by expansion of the heated working fluid, a cooling element configured to cool the expanded working fluid after power generation, and an accumulation tank. The heating fluid flows from the accumulation tank, through the waste heat recovery heat exchanger, through the Organic Rankine cycle energy conversion system, and back to the accumulation tank.

A waste heat recovery Rankine cycle system has a first Rankine cycle operated with a first working medium and a second Rankine cycle operated with a second working medium having a lower boiling point than the first working medium, the first Rankine cycle has a second scroll type fluid machine as an expander, a second electric generator, a second condenser, a condensing tank, a second condensing pump, a gas-liquid separation device, a heat exchanger, a low rate regulation valve, and a control device. This structure can drive a generator by a waste heat not only in a first Rankine cycle but also in a second Rankine cycle.

A method for generating power from a heat source includes mixing a refrigerant in a liquid phase with a lubricating oil, heating the mixture to evaporate the refrigerant, mixing the heated mixture with additional refrigerant in a superheated phase, and atomizing the lubricating oil to disperse the lubricating oil within the refrigerant. The atomized lubricating oil and the refrigerant are passed through a decompressor to generate an electrical current. The refrigerant may be an organic material having a boiling point below about 35 C. Related systems and heat engines are also disclosed.

The present invention discloses a magnetohydrodynamics power system which utilizes low temperature heat source. Variable control of the operation of the system, along with determining configurations for specific cases, are made possible by selecting the refrigerant, liquid metal circuit geometry, and by adjusting the system condensing pressure and/or temperature. Adjustable condensing pressure and/or temperature allows the system to react to changing ambient temperature and maximize power output. Adjusting condensing pressure and/or temperature of the system is made possible with a variable condenser pressure controller. The variable condenser pressure controller allows utilization of the physical properties of the refrigerant over a wide range of condensing temperatures/pressures, including pressures in the vacuum range. Meanwhile rare earth permanent magnets in paired Halbach arrays are used in the magnetohydrodynamics generator to augment the magnetic field, and a series electrode connection is made possible to achieve a high voltage output.

The invention relates to a method for increasing the efficiency of a turbomachine, wherein a fluid guided through the turbomachine transfers kinetic energy to the turbomachine. The object of the invention is to increase the efficiency of a turbomachine. This object is achieved in that the fluid or at least one fluid component of the fluid is compressible, and that the flow velocity of the fluid reduced in the turbomachine during the transfer of kinetic energy is increased directly downstream of the turbomachine by a force F.sub.B generated by means of a force field and acting in the direction of flow, by converting potential energy of the fluid into kinetic energy of the fluid to such an extent that the pressure of the fluid, which is reduced in the turbomachine, is thereby increased again to at least 0.1 times the pressure of the fluid upstream of the turbomachine.

The present disclosure provides a solution for a system and a method for converting heat into work. The solution makes use of a nozzle, in which pressurized heat transfer liquid (HTL) and a Liquid-Vapor-Phase-Changing (LVPhC) working fluid is about the same pressure are mixed to form a LVPhC-HTL mixture, which in turn undergoes evaporation and isothermal or quasi-isothermal expansion while flowing in the nozzle that results in acceleration of the mixture. The accelerated mixture is ejected from to thereby rotate a turbine and produce work from the generated kinetic energy. The LVPhC is separated from the mixture and condensed after its ejection from the nozzle and its pressure is elevated back to the working pressure in the nozzle. The present solution exploits the thermodynamic advantages of each phase of the LVPhC.