The present disclosure relates to internal combustion engines such as those for vehicles or stationary power generation. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to internal combustion engines having a ventilation system for diluting un-combusted fumes.
Machinery, for example, agricultural, industrial, construction or other heavy machinery can be propelled by an internal combustion engine(s). Internal combustion engines can be used for other purposes such as for power generation. Internal combustion engines combust a mixture of air and fuel in cylinders and thereby produce drive torque and power. A portion of the combustion gases (termed “blowby”) may escape the combustion chamber past the piston and enter undesirable areas of the engine such as the crankcase. Blowby can contain un-combusted fuel and explosive gases. In rare cases, un-combusted fuel and/or explosive gases can build within the engine such as within the crankcase. The un-combusted fuel and/or explosive gases can result in an explosion if not properly mitigated such as by a relief valve. Crankcase ventilation systems are known in combustion engines to vent blowby gases within the crankcase. For example, United States Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0277733 discloses an example of a crankcase ventilation system. However, United States Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0277733 recycles blowby gases back to the combustion chamber of the engine block such that the blowby gases do not pass from the cylinder head to ambient via dedicated components such as a breather. Additionally, the ventilation system of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0277733 does not direct venting gases into the cylinder head.
In an example according to this disclosure, an internal combustion engine is disclosed. The internal combustion engine can include an engine block defining a combustion cylinder and a crankcase, a piston moveable within the combustion cylinder; a cylinder head coupled to the engine block adjacent to and in fluid communication with the combustion cylinder, and a purge system. The purge system can be in fluid communication with the crankcase. The purge system can supply air to the crankcase and to the cylinder head. The purge system can comprise a valve cover coupled to the cylinder head, a breather coupled to the valve cover, and a fumes disposal line coupled with the breather. The fumes disposal line can transport fumes from the breather and away from the cylinder head.
In another example according to this disclosure, a method of diluting products of combustion with compressed air within an internal combustion engine is disclosed. The method can include directing the compressed air from an intake manifold of the internal combustion engine to a crankcase of the internal combustion engine, passing the compressed air from the crankcase to a plurality of cylinder heads of the internal combustion engine, passing fumes from each of the plurality of cylinder heads through a dedicated one of a plurality of breathers to a collection line with the compressed air and passing the fumes from the plurality of breathers along the collection line to an outlet.
In yet another example according to this disclosure, a purge system for supplying compressed air to an internal combustion engine is disclosed. The system can include an inlet configured to couple with an intake manifold of the internal combustion engine and supply the compressed air from the intake manifold to a crankcase of the internal combustion engine, a valve cover configured to couple to a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine, a breather configured to couple to the valve cover and a fumes disposal line configured to couple with the breather, wherein the fumes disposal line is configured to transport fumes from the breather and away from the cylinder head.
In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document.
Examples according to this disclosure are directed to internal combustion engines, and to systems and methods for supplying air to the internal combustion engine to dilute volatile fumes within the engine. Examples of the present disclosure are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or use. Examples described set forth specific components, devices, and methods, to provide an understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed and that examples may be embodied in many different forms. Thus, the examples provided should not be construed to limit the scope of the claims.
As used herein, a component that is referred to as being “positioned on,” “engaged to,” “connected to” or “coupled to” another component can be directly positioned on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other component without intervening components or can have intervening components so as to be indirectly positioned on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other component. In some cases, this disclosure makes a distinction between components directly positioned on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other component and those that are indirectly positioned on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other component.
In some applications, the internal combustion engines disclosed here are contemplated for use in gas compression. Thus, the internal combustion engines can be used in stationary applications in some examples. In other applications the internal combustion engines disclosed can be used with vehicles and machinery that include those related to various industries, including, as examples, construction, agriculture, forestry, transportation, material handling, waste management, etc.
The engine 100 can include a purge system 102, an engine block 104, a crankcase 106, a combustion cylinder 108, a cylinder head 110, a rocker box 112, a valve cover 114, a breather 116, and a fumes disposal passageway 118. The purge system 102 can include a turbocharger 120, an aftercooler 122, an intake manifold 124 and an inlet passageway 126. The inlet passageway 126 can include a check valve 128 or other valve configured to prevent reverse flow when the pressure within the intake manifold 124 is lower than the pressure within the crankcase 106. However, the check valve 128 is not required in all examples as operational criteria such as loads and boost levels dictate.
In the example of
The purge system 102 can include connected passageways (some specifically illustrated and referenced in
The purge system 102 can include passages/lines and other components such as those shown in
From the aftercooler 122, the air can pass to the intake manifold 124. The intake manifold 124 can be in fluid communication with the aftercooler 122. The intake manifold 124 can be configured to pass a first portion of the compressed air comprising an intake air (designated “IA” in
As shown in
The engine block 104 can comprise a housing and can form the crankcase 106, combustion cylinder 108, the one or more internal passages 130A and other features not specifically illustrated in
The cylinder head 110 can be coupled to the engine block 104 adjacent the piston and the combustion cylinder 108. The cylinder head 110 can define a part of a combustion chamber (along with the combustion cylinder 108), an intake air passageway, an outlet passageway for products of combustion, valve(s) housing, other passageways, etc. as known in the art.
The rocker box 112 can be positioned on the cylinder head 110 such that the cylinder head 110 can be positioned between the rocker box 112 and the engine block 104 including the combustion cylinder 108. The rocker box 112 can be part of or can be directly or indirectly coupled to the cylinder head 110 as an additional component. Thus, the rocker box 112 can be configured to couple to the cylinder head 110 according to some examples. Although illustrated as a separate component in
The rocker box 112 can include components of the inlet and/or outlet valves, passageways, and other features as known in the art. The valve cover 114 can couple directly or indirectly to the rocker box 112. Thus, the valve cover 114 can be configured to couple to the cylinder head 110 (via the rocker box 112 if the rocker box 112 is a separate component as with the example of
The breather 116 can couple directly or indirectly to the valve cover 114. Therefore, the breather 116 can be configured to couple to the valve cover 114. The breather 116 can comprise a mechanism that separates the oil droplets and oil mist from the blowby gas in order to prevent the oil droplets and oil mist contained in the blowby gas from being taken out along the flow of the blowby gas. By way of example, the breather 116 can include one or more separation mechanisms such as an oil separation valve, splasher plate, serpentine passage, mesh or other obstruction. The breather 116 can differ from those in typical use in that it can have an outlet/connection (shown subsequently) that is configured to couple with the fumes disposal passageway 118. The fumes disposal passageway can be configured to couple with the breather 116 and can be configured with an outlet 132 allowing passage of fumes 134 to atmosphere or another location such as away from the engine 100.
Each of the plurality of cylinder heads 110A, 110B, 110C, 110D, 110E, 110F, 110G and 110H can be coupled (directly or indirectly) to an associated one of the plurality of valve covers 114A, 114B, 114C, 114D, 114E, 114F, 114G and 114H and one of the plurality of breathers 116A, 116B, 116C, 116D, 116E, 116F, 116G and 116H.
The purge system 102 can include a plurality of passageways in fluid communication (illustrated with dashed lines) extending in parallel between and/or through the plurality of components described above. The passageways allow for passage of the fumes through these components to the fumes disposal passageway 118 and the outlet 132. As again illustrated in
As shown in
In operation, the engine 100 can be configured to combust fuel to generate power. While typically efficient, a small portion of the blowby gases may escape the combustion chamber past the piston and enter undesirable areas of the engine such as the crankcase 106. The present disclosure contemplate the purge system 102 can be in fluid communication with the crankcase 106 such as via the inlet passageway 126 from the intake manifold 124. The purge system 102 can be configured to supply air to the crankcase 106 from the intake manifold and through the engine block 104 or through other components (not shown) to the cylinder head 110. The air the purge system 102 supplies can act to ventilate the crankcase 106 and other components such as the cylinder head 110, the rocker box 112, etc. This ventilation can dilute fumes (un-combusted fuel, explosive gases and/or volatiles) below the lower explosive limit so as to prevent or reduce the likelihood of an explosion within the engine 100.
The inventors also determined that the location of the outlet 132 can be a factor in reducing the fuel percentage by volume within the rocker box 112 below the lower explosive limit (shown as LEL in
The above detailed description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure should, therefore, be determined with references to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
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