US Patent 8739531 Hybrid power plant with waste heat recovery system

A hybrid power plant includes a waste heat recovery (WHR) system having an expander driven by waste heat from an internal combustion engine. The expander, which is rotary in one example, rotationally drives a first pump and alternator with which the expander may be packaged as a single unit. The first pump circulates a working fluid when the WHR system is in use to charge an electrical storage device. A second pump is employed to circulate the working fluid when the first pump is not in use, for example. The expander can be bypassed to divert the working fluid to a heater core used to heat engine coolant during cold start conditions, for example.