METHOD OF CONVERTING THE ENERGY OF A GASEOUS WORKING FLUID AND APPARATUS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION THEREOF

The invention relates to the energy sector. A device for converting the energy of a drop in the pressure of a gaseous working fluid comprises a housing, a consumer of the mechanical energy generated, and an expansion turbine with a bladed impeller. A turbine housing includes nozzle passages and return guide passages, gas ducts, connecting pipes for the supply and removal of a heat transfer medium, and connecting pipes for the supply and removal of a working fluid. The return guide passages are situated around the circumference of the impeller with an angular offset along the direction of rotation of the impeller and are interconnected by the gas ducts, forming successive expansion stages. The gas ducts are in the form of bent pipes and are disposed inside the housing of the device, forming a heat exchanger. The repeated expansion of the working fluid is carried out successively on a single impeller with an outlet flow rate from the nozzle channels of each stage within a Mach number range of 0.3-0.5 and with an optimal blade speed to available heat drop ratio of 0.5 in each expansion stage, with different degrees of pressure drop at each expansion stage. The technical result is more efficient energy conversion.