258results about "Emergency supply" patented technology

A grid-connected power system includes a primary power source, a back-up power source, a DC / AC inverter and a DC / DC converter. Direct current from the primary power source is supplied to the DC / AC inverter to obtain an alternating current output supplied to a utility grid when power from the utility grid is available to power a load. The output of the inverter is supplied to a selected portion of the load when power from the utility grid is unavailable to the load. Direct current from the back-up power source is supplied to the inverter through a DC / DC converter when power from the utility grid is unavailable to the load. The DC / DC converter converts the voltage of direct current from the back-up power source to direct current having a voltage compatible with the voltage of the primary power source and the inverter. The back-up power source may be charged by the primary power source or by the utility grid. Methods of providing back-up power include converting the voltage of direct current from a back-up power source to direct current of converted voltage and supplying the direct current of converted voltage to a DC / AC inverter.

An energy optimization method and control apparatus may be used in a single building or a group of buildings to optimize utility-supplied and renewable sources in order to minimize the total energy cost. Simultaneously, it may also produce and store energy, such as electricity or hydrogen, that can be used to fuel vehicles, provide a means for independent production of household energy needs, or both. Various factors, such as the production of thermal energy and electricity from the renewable sources, the current store of stored energy, the current and expected thermal and electricity requirements of the building (based on a profile), the current and expected electricity loads of the equipment used to process stored energy, the expected thermal and electricity generating capacity of the renewable sources and other factors can be used to determine the mix of renewable-based and utility-based energy that minimizes the total energy cost.

A fuel cell system is described for providing primary and / or auxiliary / backup power to one or more loads selected from the group comprising: lawn & garden equipment; radios; telephone; targeting equipment; battery rechargers; laptops; communications devices; sensors; night vision equipment; camping equipment; stoves; lanterns; lights; vehicles; cars; recreational vehicles; trucks; boats; ferries; motorcycles; motorized scooters; forklifts; golf carts; lawnmowers; industrial carts; passenger carts (airport); luggage handling equipment (airports); airplanes; lighter than air crafts; blimps; dirigibles; hovercrafts; trains; locomotives; submarines (manned and unmanned); torpedoes; security systems; electrical energy storage devices for solar-based, tidal-based, hydro-based, wind-based, and other renewable energy source; equipment for which a primary and / or backup power source is necessary or desirable to enable the equipment to function for its intended purpose, military-usable variants of above, and suitable combinations of any two or more thereof. The system provides power to the one or more loads upon the occurrence of a power outage condition, which includes a disruption or discontinuation in the delivery of primary power (i.e., power from a system-external primary source, namely, a source other than the fuel cell system) to, or power demand condition by, the one or more loads. A controller senses outage of primary power to, or demand for primary power by, the one or more loads, and, responsive thereto, operatively engages one or more fuel cells to provide power to the one or more loads.

An integrated power production system including a fossil fuel power plant for processing fossil based fuel such as coal or natural gas arranged in tandem with a carbonate fuel cell having an anode and a cathode section. The flue gas of the power plant serves exclusively as the inlet gas for the cathode section of the fuel cell. Anode exhaust gas leaving the anode section of the fuel cell is subjected to processing including sequestration of the carbon dioxide in the exhaust gas.

An energy storage and recovery system includes a renewable power source, a hydrogen generation device in electrical communication with the renewable power source, a hydrogen storage device in fluid communication with the hydrogen generation device, a hydrogen fueled electricity generator in fluid communication with the hydrogen storage device, and a pressure regulator interposed between and in fluid communication with the hydrogen fueled electricity generator and the hydrogen storage device. The pressure regulator is set at an operating pressure of the hydrogen fueled electricity generator.

A boosting-charge power supply apparatus and a boosting-charge power supply method are capable of supplying electric power for boosting charge to a variety of mobile bodies using a single apparatus and supplying high-quality electric power to the mobile bodies.A boosting-charge power supply apparatus 10 which supplies electric power for boosting charge to a mobile body having a boosting-charge control function includes: a rectifier 11 for supplying DC power; a first power storing means 15 for storing DC power from the rectifier 11 and outputting pure DC power; a charging circuit 20 which sends pure DC power from the first power storing means 15 directly to a vehicle 50 including a second power storing means 85 for storing DC power from the first power storing means 15; and a power-supply controlling means 12 for stopping the rectifier 11 from supplying electric power to the first power storing means 15 while the first power storing means 15 is supplying electric power to charge the second power storing means 85. Control is executed in such a way that pure DC power supplied from the first power storing means 15 becomes electric power suitable for charging conditions of the second power storing means 85 on the vehicle 50 side, thereby enabling the same boosting-charge power supply apparatus 10 to supply electric power and give a boosting charge to a different type of vehicle. Further, the vehicle 50 can be supplied with high-quality electric power equivalent to pure DC power, thereby almost saving considering a noise, a surge or the like in designing electric circuits of the vehicle 50, so that the electric circuits of the vehicle 50 can be more easily designed.

This invention aims to improve the reliability of an electronic control system which drives an actuator on conveyance operation based on an electrical signal to make adjustments such as acceleration / deceleration and movement direction of a conveyance, by achieving a power unit for conveyances having a power source with no need of charge and with little performance deterioration, thereby allowing for practical application of high-performance conveyances. The present invention relates to a power unit for conveyance comprising a main power source and a stand-by power source, which is characterized in that a thermal battery is provided as the stand-by power source, and a conveyance which is provided with an electronic control system and the power unit for conveyance of the present invention, is constituted so that electric power for operating the electronic control system is supplied to the electronic control system from the power unit for conveyances. By employing a thermal battery as the stand-by power source as thus, the stand-by power source does not require to be charged and the long-term reliability of the stand-by power source is also ensured.

A control system (20) for a power converter (22) designed to convert DC power from a source (30) such as a battery, flywheel or fuel cell into AC power. The control system includes an impedance current regulator (106) for providing an impedance current signal to a summing unit (110) where it may be combined with real and reactive current command signals provided from respective sources (62, 64). The resultant current signal provided by the summing unit is provided to a voltage correction unit (112) that uses the resultant current signal in developing a correction voltage signal provided to the power converter. The correction voltage signal contains information used by the power converter in adjusting the real and reactive currents in its output AC power based on the ability of the AC power network to accept changes in current. Multiple power converters having the control system of the present invention may be connected in parallel to a single AC load or multiple AC loads, without the need for a separate control system interconnecting the power converters. The control system may be advantageously incorporated into a distributed generation network and in uninterruptible power systems, whether or not such systems are included in a distributed generation network.

A renewable electric power system includes a high temperature superconducting wind turbine using high temperature superconducting yttrium-barium-copper oxide for the rotor and stator windings as well as a superconducting bearing. Power from the turbine is stored in a high temperature superconducting magnetic storage system that also uses HTS YBCO. Also included is a regenerative solid oxide fuel cell / electrolyzer with steam turbine cogeneration. The system operates on a managed day / night cycle. During daytime, the energy produced by the wind turbines and fuel cells is transmitted to the grid. During nocturnal hours, the wind turbine is used to provide low cost electricity to the reversible fuel cells operating in the electrolysis mode producing hydrogen and oxygen that is stored for later use. Alternatively, the fuel cells can remain in electrolysis mode producing hydrogen and oxygen for the market. A modified interactive system generates power on a continuous twenty-four hour cycle.

A method and apparatus for providing a source of power, comprising: a solid oxide fuel cell system and a thermo photovoltaic device. The solid oxide fuel cell system provides a first source of power, wherein the solid oxide fuel cell system produces heat waste when the solid oxide fuel cell is providing the first source of power. The thermo photovoltaic device provides a second source of power and the thermo photovoltaic device provides the second source of power from the heat waste of the solid oxide fuel cell system which is further heated by a combustor in order to provide the second source of power.

A hybrid welding device including a fuel cell and an energy storage device that cooperate to power a welding operation and / or an auxiliary operation are provided. In some embodiments, the hybrid welding device may also include an engine coupled to a generator that is configured to supplement the power provided by the fuel cell and / or the energy storage device. The hybrid welding device may be adapted to provide power for a welding operation and / or an auxiliary operation when operated as a standalone unit and / or when connected to a primary source of utility power.

A fuel cell power plant (9) provides DC power to an inverter (12) which provides power to three-phase power lines (16) which are connectable to a power grid (18) by switches (17), and which are connected to a critical customer load (30). An energy storage device (40) provides DC power to a bidirectional DC / AC converter (36) which is connectable through switches (34) to said three-phase power lines or to said power grid. A diode (45) may passively provide fuel cell power plant energy directly to the energy storage device so as to charge it, or bypass the primary DC / AC inverter in the event that it fails. Lapses in power caused by the inverter shutting down due to perturbations on the grid are avoided by power supplied by the converter using energy from the energy storage device.

A power conversion system includes a power generating apparatus, an auxiliary generation device that consumes power, an auxiliary-devised power source, a secondary battery device chargeable and dischargeable with power generated by the power generating apparatus, a bilateral DC / AC inverter that causes the power generating apparatus to cooperate with a commercial AC power source, and a switch unit provided between the commercial AC power source and the bilateral DC / AC inverter, DC terminals of the bilateral DC / AC inverter and an input of the auxiliary-devised power source, when the power generating apparatus generates no power, the switch unit is opened, the bilateral DC / AC inverter is stopped, and the voltage supplied from the secondary battery device to the auxiliary-devised power source is lower than that supplied from the secondary battery device to the auxiliary-devised power source when the power generating apparatus generates power.

A water purification system includes a fuel cell stack, a steam generator, and a water purification unit. The fuel cell stack is adapted to provide heat to the steam generator and the steam generator is adapted to provide steam to the water purification unit.

This invention is a multi-port power converter where all ports are coupled through different windings of a high frequency transformer. Two or more, and typically all, ports have synchronized switching elements to allow the use of a high frequency transformer. This concept and type of converter is known. This invention mitigates a number of limitations in the present art and adds new capabilities that will allow applications to be served that would otherwise not have been practical. A novel circuit topology for a four-quadrant AC port is disclosed. A novel circuit topology for a unidirectional DC port with voltage boost capabilities is disclosed. A novel circuit topology for a unidirectional DC port with voltage buck capabilities is disclosed. A novel circuit for a high efficiency, high frequency, bi-directional, AC semiconductor switch is also disclosed.

An A / C-D / C-F / C power system is provided that includes a portable power unit that can accept electricity from a number of alternative sources including an AC power source, a DC power source, a battery, and a direct oxidation fuel cell. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the fuel cell is used to either recharge a battery, or to power an application device, when the AC source and / or the DC source are unavailable. The A / C-D / C-F / C system of the present invention also includes signal processing and signal conditioning circuitry in a power combiner and conditioner, which condition the voltage signal to deliver power to the application device in a manner that is consistent with device requirements.

A fuel cell stand-by energy supply system is provided for supplying electrical power to a device operated by power from an electrical utility in the event of a power failure. The system is comprised of a microcontroller which is connected to a detector capable of detecting power failure. The microcontroller monitors this detector and one or more conditions of the device to which electrical power is fed. The microcontroller operates a fuel cell switch to connect the fuel cell d.c. supply directly to the d.c. device or to a voltage conditioning circuit to produce an operative a.c. supply which is connected to the device to continue operation thereof during the power failure. The microcontroller monitors and manages the load in relation to the fuel cell power. The microcontroller also performs an autodiagnostic of the fuel cell.

The present invention includes a power system that is designed to provide reliable electrical power to a facility, and specifically to a telecommunications facility. The system includes a number of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) adapted to provide DC power. The system is configured so that the PEMs receive fuel from a header that is supplied by a number of hydrogen generators. Storage tanks are also included to provide hydrogen to the header if the hydrogen generators fail. The hydrogen generators receive electricity initially from an array of photovoltaic panels. If the photovoltaic panels fail then AC power from a commercial utility is provided to the hydrogen generators. Finally, the system includes a number of super capacitors that are operable to maintain power during the time required to change between power sources.