A powerplant is provided for an aircraft. This powerplant includes an engine and an energy recovery system. The engine includes an engine combustor, an engine turbine, a flowpath and a fluid delivery system. The flowpath extends out of the engine combustor and through the engine turbine. The fluid delivery system is configured to provide fluid hydrogen and fluid oxygen for combustion within the engine combustor to produce combustion products within the flowpath. The energy recovery system includes an energy recovery system condenser, an energy recovery system pump, an energy recovery system evaporator and an energy recovery system turbine. The energy recovery system pump is configured to pump liquid water from the energy recovery system condenser to the energy recovery system evaporator. The energy recovery system evaporator is configured to transfer heat from the combustion products into the liquid water to evaporate at least some of the liquid water into water vapor to drive the energy recovery system turbine.

A system including: (i) a pumped-heat energy storage system (“PHES system”), wherein the PHES system is operable in a charge mode to convert electricity into stored thermal energy in a hot thermal storage (“HTS”) medium; (ii) an electric heater in thermal contact with the hot HTS medium, wherein the electric heater is operable to heat the hot HTS medium above a temperature achievable by transferring heat from a working fluid to a warm HTS medium in a thermodynamic cycle.

In a method for operating a combustor of an embodiment, before ignition in the combustor, a mixed gas containing oxygen is circulated through the combustor as a circulating gas. Then, in an operating time from the time of ignition in the combustor to the time of a rated load of a turbine, from the time of ignition until reaching stable combustion conditions allowing stable combustion, a combustion gas in which a controller controls a flow rate of a fuel supplied from a fuel supply part and a flow rate of an oxidant supplied from an oxidant supply part to maintain the same oxygen concentration as an oxygen concentration in the mixed gas is circulated as the circulating gas.

A thermal power station and method for generating includes (a) at least one thermal energy storage having a housing, a storage chamber and a fluid inlet port fluidically connected to the storage chamber and a fluid outlet port connected to the storage chamber, and (b) a Brayton cycle heat engine including gas turbine, a cooler and a compressor connected with each other by a closed cycle containing a second working fluid, (c) the Brayton cycle heat engine further includes a control unit arranged for operating the Brayton cycle heat engine according to a Brayton cycle, (d) the gas turbine is thermally coupled to the at least one thermal energy storage by a first heat exchanger and a first working fluid, the first working fluid being different, and (e) the gas turbine is connected to a generator for producing electrical power by the thermal energy from the thermal energy storage.

The disclosure provides a powerplant for an aircraft comprising: at least two gas turbine engines, and at least one closed-cycle arrangement for recuperating heat from the at least two gas turbine engines and supplying power to at least one power-demanding system, wherein the closed-cycle arrangement comprises: a closed circuit channeling a working fluid subjected to a thermodynamic cycle; at least one pre-cooler configured to transfer heat from the working fluid to a heat sink; the heat sink in thermal communication with the pre-cooler, the heat sink being a fuel tank and/or an airframe surface; at least one pumping element configured to move the working fluid through the closed circuit; at least two primary heat exchangers, each one configured to transfer heat from a respective gas turbine engine to the working fluid; at least one expanding element configured to drive a gearbox and an output shaft by the expansion of the working fluid; wherein the output shaft driven by the expanding element is connected to at least one electrical generator configured to generate electrical power; a power conversion system configured to receive the generated electrical power by the electrical generator and to accommodate and supply it to the at least one power-demanding system; wherein the closed-cycle arrangement is adapted to be partially housed within the airframe structure of the aircraft, so that at least the pumping element, the expanding element, the electrical generator, and the power conversion system are housed in said airframe structure.

The disclosure provides a powerplant for an aircraft comprising: at least two gas turbine engines, and at least one closed-cycle arrangement for recuperating heat from the at least two gas turbine engines and supplying power to at least one power-demanding system, wherein the closed-cycle arrangement comprises: a closed circuit channeling a working fluid subjected to a thermodynamic cycle; at least one pre-cooler configured to transfer heat from the working fluid to a heat sink; the heat sink in thermal communication with the pre-cooler, the heat sink being a fuel tank and/or an airframe surface; at least one pumping element configured to move the working fluid through the closed circuit; at least two primary heat exchangers, each one configured to transfer heat from a respective gas turbine engine to the working fluid; at least one expanding element configured to drive a gearbox and an output shaft by the expansion of the working fluid; wherein the output shaft driven by the expanding element is connected to at least one electrical generator configured to generate electrical power; a power conversion system configured to receive the generated electrical power by the electrical generator and to accommodate and supply it to the at least one power-demanding system; wherein the closed-cycle arrangement is adapted to be partially housed within the airframe structure of the aircraft, so that at least the pumping element, the expanding element, the electrical generator, and the power conversion system are housed in said airframe structure.

A system including: (i) a pumped-heat energy storage system (“PHES system”), wherein the PHES system is operable in a charge mode to convert electricity into stored thermal energy in a hot thermal storage (“HTS”) medium; (ii) an electric heater in thermal contact with the hot HTS medium, wherein the electric heater is operable to heat the hot HTS medium above a temperature achievable by transferring heat from a working fluid to a warm HTS medium in a thermodynamic cycle.

Waste heat management systems are described. The waste heat management systems include a turbine engine having a compressor section, a combustor section, a turbine section, and a nozzle. The compressor section, the combustor section, the turbine section, and the nozzle define a core flow path that expels through the nozzle. The waste heat management systems also include an auxiliary power unit (APU) system and a waste heat recovery system operably connected to the APU system. The APU system is integrated into a working fluid flow path of the waste heat recovery system.

Gas turbine engines are described. The gas turbine engines include a compressor section, a combustor section, a turbine section, and a nozzle, wherein the compressor section, the combustor section, the turbine section, and the nozzle define a core flow path that expels through the nozzle. A waste heat recovery system is operably connected to the gas turbine engine, the waste heat recovery system having a working fluid. An auxiliary cooling system is configured to provide cooling to a working fluid of the waste heat recovery system.

A power generation system includes a combustion system, a turbocharger, and a heat recovery system. The combustion system is configured to combust a fuel with a flow of air. The combustion system is further configured to generate an exhaust stream. The turbocharger is configured to compress a flow of compressed air and to channel the flow of compressed air to the combustion system. The combustion system is configured to combust the fuel with the flow of compressed air and an additional flow of air. The heat recovery system is configured to recover heat from the exhaust stream and to drive the turbocharger. The heat recovery system uses a supercritical working fluid to absorb heat from the exhaust stream and to drive the turbocharger.