US 11,725,544 B1
Hydrogen-oxygen fueled powerplant with water and heat recovery
Neil J. Terwilliger, Cheshire, CT (US); Walter A. Ledwith, Jr., Marlborough, CT (US); Joseph B. Staubach, Colchester, CT (US); and David L. Ma, Avon, CT (US)
Assigned to Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Farmington, CT (US)
Filed by Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Farmington, CT (US)
Filed on Feb. 11, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/670,043.
Int. Cl. F01K 25/00 (2006.01); F01K 27/02 (2006.01); F01K 15/02 (2006.01); F01K 7/16 (2006.01); F01K 7/12 (2006.01)
CPC F01K 25/005 (2013.01) [F01K 7/12 (2013.01); F01K 7/16 (2013.01); F01K 15/02 (2013.01); F01K 27/02 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A powerplant, comprising:
an engine comprising an engine combustor, an engine turbine, a flowpath and a fluid delivery system, the flowpath extending out of the engine combustor and through the engine turbine, the fluid delivery system including a hydrogen reservoir and an oxygen reservoir, the hydrogen reservoir configured to store fluid hydrogen as liquid hydrogen, the oxygen reservoir configured to store fluid oxygen as liquid oxygen, and the fluid delivery system configured to provide the fluid hydrogen and the fluid oxygen for combustion within the engine combustor to produce combustion products within the flowpath;
a water recovery system configured to extract water from the combustion products, the water recovery system configured to provide the water to a component of the powerplant, and the water recovery system including a condenser and an evaporator;
the condenser arranged with the flowpath, the water recovery system configured to extract the water from the combustion products using the condenser, and the water extracted from the combustion products comprising liquid water;
the evaporator arranged with the flowpath, and the evaporator configured to vaporize at least some of the liquid water directed by the water recovery system towards the component into steam;
a steam turbine fluidly coupled between the evaporator and the component, the steam turbine including a steam turbine rotor configured to be rotatably driven by the steam; and
a heat exchanger system configured to transfer heat energy from the combustion products to at least one of the fluid hydrogen or the fluid oxygen, wherein the heat exchanger system is fluidly coupled along the flowpath between the engine turbine and the evaporator.