Internal combustion engine design and development has long favored reciprocating piston engine configurations over rotary engine configurations, also referred to as Wankel engines after the inventor Felix Wankel. However, as manufacturing and design techniques and material technologies advance, rotary engine designs become more interesting and potentially useful for powering a wide variety of devices and vehicles.
Rotary engines can provide a variety of advantages including, for example, high power-density, low vibration, design simplicity, fewer components, compact size, and low engine weight. However, disadvantages like low fuel efficiency and frequent maintenance requirements have historically plagued the operation of such designs.
Much of the research, development, and commercial application of rotary engines has been directed toward designs that operate on spark-ignition of fuels like gasoline. A multitude of organizations such as the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Army Research Laboratory, the Curtis-Wright Corporation, and the John Deere Company (Deere & Company), among others have also investigated heavy fuel applications of rotary engines, e.g., fuels such as diesel, Jet-A, Jet-A1, JP-5, and JP-8, among others. However, the research and development has thus far failed to produce a viable, compression-ignition, heavy-fuel rotary engine.
A major difficulty encountered with heavy fuel applications is that the compression ratio needed to support compression ignition of the heavy fuel has not been achievable. For example, geometries of the rotor and housing that provide sufficient compression ratios also produce a long, thin combustion chamber which could result in incomplete burning of the fuel, small engine displacement relative to the engine size, heavy mechanical strain on the engine components, and greater component size and strength requirements, and greater engine complexities, among others. Many attempts have been made to produce a rotary engine capable of starting and operating on heavy fuels, but have concluded that such an engine is not practical and requires use of ignition sources, such as spark-plugs glow-plugs, pre-combustion chambers, or other internal and/or external ignition aids. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,816 to Louthan et al. and “A Review of Heavy-Fueled Rotary Engine Combustion Technologies” by Chol-Bum M. Kweon, Army Research Laboratory ARL-TR-5546, May 2011 (hereinafter referred to as Kweon).
Exemplary embodiments are defined by the claims below, not this summary. A high-level overview of various aspects thereof is provided here to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described in the Detailed-Description section below. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. In brief, this disclosure describes, among other things, a rotary engine that starts and operates using compression ignition of heavy fuels without use of another internal or external ignition aid.
The rotary engine comprises a rotary engine of a design commonly referred to as an eccentric, pistonless, or Wankel-type rotary engine having a rotor housing that defines an epitrochoidal-shaped, two-lobed chamber in which a three-sided rotor is disposed to rotate in a planetary motion about an eccentric drive shaft. The epitrochoidal shape of the chamber is configured to provide generally circular, rounded endwalls with parallel, linear sidewalls extending therebetween thereby eliminating an inwardly protruding bump or pinching in of the chamber walls found in known rotary engine housing configurations.
The rotor includes three flanks that meet at three respective apexes. The chamber and the rotor are configured to provide compression ratios sufficient to produce compression-ignition of a heavy fuel, e.g. compression ratios greater than 13:1 or greater than about 15:1 or greater than about 18:1, without the use of an additional ignition source such as a spark-plug or other internal or external ignition aid.
A fuel injection system is provided that includes a plurality of fuel injection nozzles disposed along a wall of the chamber to align with a combustion region formed between the rotor flank and the chamber wall. The fuel injection system is configured to provide fuel injection pressures greater than about 300 pounds per square inch (psi). Air induction systems, such as turbo chargers or super chargers among others, may also be provided to increase pressures within an intake region of the chamber.
The rotor housing further includes a pair of end plates that each couple to and enclose a respective end of the housing. Each of the end plates forms a port that is positioned to align with either an intake chamber or an exhaust chamber formed between the rotor flanks and the wall of the chamber. The end plates are configured to be interchangeable or to allow operation of the rotor in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction such that the port formed in the end plate can be employed as either an intake or an exhaust port.
Apex seals are provided at each apex of the rotor and extend between the apex and the wall of the chamber. The apex seals are disposed in an apex-seal holder comprised of a hardened, wear-resistant material. The holder is removably coupled to the rotor to enable simple removal from the rotor along with the associated apex seals and thus simple replacement of worn apex seals. Side seals are provided on each end face of the rotor extending into contact with the respective end plate and are similarly disposed in side-seal holders that are simply removable and replaceable on the rotor. The apex and side seals may be configured to overlap with a corner seal at or adjacent to the apexes of the rotor to increase sealing between chambers.
Illustrative embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, and wherein:
The subject matter of select exemplary embodiments is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. But the description itself is not intended to necessarily limit the scope of claims. Rather, the claimed subject matter might be embodied in other ways to include different components, steps, or combinations thereof similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described. The terms “about”, “approximately”, or “substantially” as used herein denote deviations from the exact value by +/−10%, preferably by +/−5% and/or deviations in the form of changes that are insignificant to the function.
With reference to
The rotary engine 10 comprises a housing 12, a pair of end plates 14, 16, a rotor 18, and a drive shaft 19. The rotary engine 10 is described herein with respect to a single housing 12 and rotor 18, however it is foreseen that the rotary engine 10 may comprise multiple housings 12 and rotors 18 arranged to operate together. For example, in one embodiment a plurality of housings 12 and rotors 18 are disposed in series along the length of a single drive shaft 19 and are operated together to drive the drive shaft 19.
As depicted in
The end plates 14, 16 couple to opposite faces of the housing 12 and enclose the chamber 22 therebetween. An intake port 30 and an exhaust port 32 are provided by the end plates 14 and/or 16; both the intake port 30 and the exhaust port 32 may be provided by the same end plate 14 or 16, or one port 30, 32 can be provided in each of the end plates 14 and 16. In one embodiment, the end plates 14 and 16 are identical and are thus interchangeable and their respective ports 30, 32 take an intake or exhaust function based on their position within the engine 10. In another embodiment, the placement and configuration of the intake port 30 and the exhaust port 32 in the end plates 14, 16 is such that the rotor 18 can be operated to rotate in either clockwise or counter-clockwise direction with the ports 30 and 32 functioning for either intake or exhaust depending on the direction of rotation. One or both of the end plates 14, 16 may be configured to couple between two housings 12, as depicted in
The rotor 18 comprises a generally planar component having three equal sides or flanks 34, respective pairs of which meet at respective apexes 36, as depicted in
With reference to
As depicted in
A corner seal 46 is provided at or adjacent each apex 36 and protrudes from each end face 48, 50 of the rotor 18 in the direction of the thickness of the rotor 18. Each corner seal 46 overlaps or intersects the respective apex seal 36 and secondary apex seal 44.
The apex seals 38 and 44 and the corner seals 46 are coupled to the rotor 18 via a respective apex seal mounting block 52 which is removably disposed in a cutout 54 in the rotor 18 at a respective apex 36. The mounting block 52 is comprised of a material having a hardness that is greater than that of the body or remainder of the rotor 18 and that has greater wear resistance than, for example, the flanks 34 of the rotor 18. For example, the rotor 18 may be constructed from an aluminum alloy while the mounting blocks 52 are constructed from a high-strength, wear-resistant steel alloy. The mounting blocks 52 are coupled to the rotor 18 via a plurality of fasteners 56, such as bolts, screws, or the like. The cutout 54 and the mounting block 52 may also be formed with one or more complimentary surface features, such as mating flanges and slots, that engage or interlock to increase the strength of the coupling therebetween.
End faces 48, 50 of the rotor 18 are provided at opposite ends of the rotor thickness and lie in proximity to the respective end plates 14, 16. Side seals 58 are provided on each end face 48, 50 to seal between the respective end faces 48, 50 and end plates 14, 16. The side seals 58 extend along the end faces 48, 50 spaced apart from and generally following the contour of the flanks 34. Preferably, a pair of side seals 58 are provided spaced apart along the end faces 48, 50 and extending parallel to one another, however, any number of side seals 58 may be employed. The side seal 58 overlap and/or intersect the corner seals 46 at each apex 36. The side seals 58 may be biased to protrude from the end faces 48, 50 and into sliding contact with the respective end plate 14, 16.
The side seals 58 are disposed in side seal mounting blocks 60 which are removably coupled within a trough 62 formed in the end faces 48, 50 of the rotor 18, as depicted in
One or more fuel injectors 64 are installed on the housing 12 in communication with each of the fuel injection ports 28. The fuel injectors 64 are configured to provide a heavy fuel into the chamber at high pressures and may employ a common rail-type high-pressure manifold. In one embodiment, the heavy fuel is provided at a pressure between about 300 pounds per square inch (psi) and greater than about 30,000 psi, or at about 15,000 psi, or about 26,000 psi.
Referring again to
With reference now to
Beginning initially with an intake phase of the rotary engine 10 operation, the rotor 18 is positioned such that the intake port 30 in the end plate 14 is open to the space 40, as depicted in
When initiating operation or starting the rotary engine 10, the drive shaft 19 is rotated to drive initial rotation of the rotor 18. Conversely, after operation of the rotary engine 10 is initiated, the combustion process of the rotor 18 drives the rotation of the drive shaft 19 as described below. The initial rotation of the drive shaft 19 may be provided by a second gasoline or heavy-fuel rotary or reciprocating engine, an electric motor, or a hand-operated mechanism, among others. However, the initial combustion within the rotary engine 10 is produced by compression-ignition of a heavy-fuel within the rotary engine 10 alone and without a secondary ignition source or aid.
The intake air may be drawn into the space 40 by movement of the rotor 18 or one or more compression systems, air injection systems, or other aids may be associated with the rotary engine 10 to compress and or force additional air into the space 40 through the intake port 30. For example, one or more turbo-charger or super-charger systems among other compression systems can be employed. The compression systems may be driven by the rotary engine 10 or may be driven or powered by a separate power source which may include a second rotary engine, a gasoline or heavy-fuel piston engine, an electric motor, or the like. In one embodiment, a second intake port 30′ (
As the rotor 18 continues its rotation, the space 40 enters a compression phase in which the volume of the space 40 is decreased thereby compressing the air contained therein. Compression continues until reaching a minimum volume, Vmin, of the space 40, as depicted in
Compression of the fuel-air mixture in the space 40 generates heat and pressure sufficient to cause the fuel injected therein to ignite under compression-ignition without the use of a secondary ignition source such as a spark from a spark-plug or a high temperature surface such as a glow-plug. The ratio between the maximum volume and the minimum volume, e.g., the compression ratio provided is greater than about 13:1 which is known to be able to support compression-ignition. Preferably, the compression ratio is greater than about 15:1, or greater than ratios of about 18:1, 20:1, 25:1, or 30:1, among other ratios within or greater than these ranges. Although, particular compression ratio values are provided herein, it is to be understood that all ratios greater that 13:1, e.g. 15:1, 17:1, etc. are within the scope of this disclosure.
Such compression ratios are obtained, at least in part, by the configuration of the interior wall 20 of the chamber 22 and the corresponding configuration of the flanks 34 of the rotor 18. As discussed previously above, the interior wall 20 includes side portions 26 that are linear. Additionally, the flanks 34 of the rotor 18 are substantially continuous smooth surfaces that extend between the apexes 36. As such, the volume between the interior wall 20 and the flank 34 is minimized and thus the compression ratio is maximized. In contrast, known designs provide side portions of the chamber that bow or pinch inward and flanks of the rotors include recesses, troughs, or similar depressions that extend into the body of the rotor. These features limit the ability of the volume of the space to be minimized and thus the air therein to be compressed. Such known designs thus cannot achieve high-pressures or compression ratios sufficient to support true compression-ignition of heavy-fuels without the use of a secondary ignition source or aid.
Combustion of the heavy-fuel and air mixture in the space 40 moves the space 40 through an expansion phase, as depicted in
Many different arrangements of the various components depicted, as well as components not shown, are possible without departing from the scope of the claims below. Embodiments of the technology have been described with the intent to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to readers of this disclosure after and because of reading it. Alternative means of implementing the aforementioned can be completed without departing from the scope of the claims below. Identification of structures as being configured to perform a particular function in this disclosure and in the claims below is intended to be inclusive of structures and arrangements or designs thereof that are within the scope of this disclosure and readily identifiable by one of skill in the art and that can perform the particular function in a similar way. Certain features and sub-combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations and are contemplated within the scope of the claims.
The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/043,771, filed Jul. 24, 2018, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20210363912 A1 | Nov 2021 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16043771 | Jul 2018 | US |
Child | 17135087 | US |