Patent Application
20080127954
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to internal combustion engines, and in particular, to a mixing chamber positioned between the fuel reservoirs and the internal combustion chamber, the mixing chamber for the mixing of alternative fuels such as diesel, bio-diesel, and ethynol, gasoline and ethynol and the like prior to introduction into the internal combustion chamber.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Initially there were two types of internal combustion engines, those that ran on gasoline, and those that ran on diesel fuel. With the advent of increased fuel prices, fuel scarcities, and environmental concerns, the primary fuels for motor vehicles have been changing, either voluntarily or by government decree. In most locales in the United States, ethynol is a mandatory additive to gasoline during the summer months for environmental concerns. Ethynol is increasing being considered as an alternative to gasoline because of high oil prices. Bio-diesel has become popular with certain environmentalists and is now used in a mixture with regular diesel. Still further, other alternative fuels are being developed for both the gasoline powered engine and the diesel powered engine.
It is anticipated that eventually both gasoline and diesel engines will run on a variety of fuels and alternate fuels and that the best performance that would be achieved from these engines would be their being fueled by a mixture of alternative fuels in percentages which would give the optimum performance for the engine based on the fuels being used. Therefore, there is a need for an inline mixing chamber having few or no moving parts which would allow the mixing of alternative fuels prior to their introduction or injection into the combustion chamber of either the gasoline or diesel engine.
The Applicant herein has addressed considerable time and energy to the novel improvement of internal combustion engines, and in particular, to the development of rotary valves for such engines which improve the efficiency of the engines, improve the emissions of the engine, and allow the engine to operate on a variety of different fuels not suitable for poppet valve engines because of the heat generated. The patents developed as a result of Applicant's endeavors include the following, which are hereby incorporated by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,261; U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,527; U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,232; U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,558; U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,576; U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,814; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,361,739; 5,601,405; U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,676; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,666,458; 6,718,933; U.S. Pat. No. 6,779,504; U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,516; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,511.
An object of the present invention is to provide for a novel mixing chamber having few or no moving parts which is capable of mixing a plurality of fuels and alternate fuels in a homogenious mixture prior to their introduction or injection into the combustion chamber of either a gasoline internal combustion engine, or a diesel engine combined with natural gas and/or propane.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel mixing chamber which is light weight, yet which can withstand the pressures of the homogenious mixing of the disparate alternative fuels prior to their introduction into the combustion chamber.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide for a novel mixing chamber in which the velocity of the alternative fuels introduced into the mixing chamber accomplish the homogenious mixing without the need for moving parts.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide for a novel mixing chamber in which sensors would automatically control the quantity of each alternative fuel introduced into the mixing chamber based upon engine performance and exhaust emission sensors.
A mixing chamber for dissimilar or alternate fuels for use in an internal combustion engine, the mixing chamber comprising a centrifugal mixing chamber having a plurality of pressurized alternative fuel intake conduits tangentially arranged with said mixing chamber to feed a plurality of alternative fuels centrifugally into said mixing chamber for mixing, the mixing chamber having a outlet conduit for directing a mixture of the alternative fuels to the cylinders of the internal combustion engine, the mixing chamber having a feedback mechanism for controlling the quantity of alternative fuels introduced into the mixing chamber.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent, particularly when taken in light of the following illustrations wherein:
Communicating with the interior 20 of the mixing chamber 10 are a plurality of the fuel conduits 22, 24, and 26. Each of these fuel lines is in communication with a source of fuel or alternative fuel 28, 30, and 32, such as diesel, biodiesel, ethanol or the like. These fuels are stored in fuel chambers as described with respect to
The fuel conduits 22, 24, and 26 are tangentially positioned with respect to the inner circumferential wall 34 of the mixing chamber 10. In this configuration, when the fuel or alternative fuel, under pressure is introduced by means of the conduit lines 22, 24 or 26, it swirls within the mixing chamber 10 causing the pressure of the individual fuel or alternative fuel lines to generate a laminar flow and laminar mixing between the disparite fuels within the mixing chamber 10.
In steady state of operation, a mixture of the fuels or alternative fuels introduced into the mixing chamber 10 are drawn off by means of an exit conduit 40 formed in either the bottom wall 14 or the top removable wall 16 of mixing chamber 10. Exit conduit 40 is in communication with an injection system 50 of the internal combustion engine 52 as more fully described in
In the preferred embodiment, the pressurized introduction of the fuel or alternative fuel into the cylindrical mixing chamber 10 would result in a homogeneous mixing of the fuel/alternative fuel, into a homogeneous mixture for subsequent introduction into the injectors of an internal combustion engine. In an alternative embodiment, a plurality of baffle members 48 may further be positioned within mixing chamber 10 to assist in the homogeneous mixing of the fuel/alternative fuel constituents into a homogeneous mixture for introduction into the injectors of an internal combustion engine.
It will be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art that the design of the mixing chamber 10 can be modified with a number of pressurized inlet conduits depending on the number or quantity of fuel/alternative fuel mixtures which are desired to be mixed within the mixing chamber 10 prior to introduction into the internal combustion engine. The embodiment illustrated in
While the present invention has been described with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications or changes can be achieved without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore it is manifestly intended that the invention be limited only by the scope of the claims and the equivalence thereof.
