Patent Application
20250163836
The present disclosure relates to internal combustion engines such as those for vehicles or stationary power generation. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to heating and/or cooling boost air of a crankcase ventilation system for the internal combustion engine.
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. Internal combustion engines typically include a crankcase to provide a housing for a crankshaft of the engine. A portion of the combustion gases (termed “blow-by”) may escape the combustion chamber past the piston and enter undesirable areas of the engine such as the crankcase. Crankcase ventilation systems exist. These systems can utilize filtration to reduce methane footprint, reduce particulate matter levels and reduce loss of oil. Additionally, crankcase ventilation systems are known in internal combustion engines to vent blow-by gases within the crankcase. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,493, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019178609 and United States Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0066495 disclose examples of crankcase ventilation systems. However, this patent and these patent applications do not provide for heating and/or cooling of engine boost air in the manner disclosed herein.
In an example according to this disclosure, an internal combustion engine optionally including: a crankcase having a blow-by gas passing therethrough; a source of a boost air; a jacket containing a water; an oil separating apparatus in fluid communication with the boost air and the blow-by gas and having a coalescing filter to separate oil from the blow-by gas; and a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the boost air, wherein the heat exchanger is in fluid communication with the jacket to receive the water, wherein the water is passed in a heat transfer relationship with the boost air in the heat exchanger to achieve a desired temperature range for the boost air passing to the oil separating apparatus.
In another example according to this disclosure, an engine system optionally including: a crankcase of an engine having a blow-by gas passing therethrough; a source of a boost air; a jacket containing a water; an oil separating apparatus in fluid communication with the boost air and the blow-by gas and having a coalescing filter to separate oil from the blow-by gas; and a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the boost air, wherein the heat exchanger is in fluid communication with the jacket to receive the water, wherein the water is passed in a heat transfer relationship with the boost air in the heat exchanger to achieve a desired temperature range for the boost air passing to the oil separating apparatus.
In yet another example according to this disclosure, a method of maintaining a blow-by gas from a crankcase of an engine within a desired temperature range when passing through an oil separating apparatus is disclosed. The method optionally including: passing the blow-by gas from the crankcase to the oil separating apparatus; supplying a water from a jacket to a heat exchanger, wherein within the heat exchanger the water is in a heat transfer relationship with a boost air passing through the heat exchanger and heats or cools the boost air to a desired temperature range; passing the boost air at the desired temperature range to the oil separating apparatus; separating oil from the blow-by gas with the oil separating apparatus; passing the blow-by gas after leaving the oil separating apparatus to a charged air system; and returning the water to the jacket after passing through the heat exchanger.
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 crankcase ventilation systems for supplying filtered blow-by gas to the internal combustion engine to separate oil from blow-by and re-ingest the blow-by into a charged air system. 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, systems 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, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “having,” including,” or other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, relative terms, such as, for example, “about,” “substantially,” “generally,” and “approximately” are used to indicate a possible variation of ±15% in a stated value.
According to some embodiments such as the embodiment of
The internal combustion engine 100 or 100A can be used in stationary applications as discussed above but also 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.
Referring now again to
A motive air for the ventilation system 102 can be at boost pressure. The motive air can be routed to the oil separating apparatus 114 (as further discussed and illustrated) or to a crankcase ventilation device and can then be routed to the first turbocharger 116. The passages 118A, 118B, 118C, 118D, 118E and 118F allow for fluid communication between various components of the engine 100. Thus, the passage 118A fluidly connects the one or more breathers 110 with the oil separating apparatus 114. The passage 118B fluidly connects to the engine 100 downstream of or at the aftercooler 106 and fluidly communicates with the heat exchanger 112. The passage 118C fluidly connects the heat exchanger 112 to the oil separating apparatus 114. The passages 118D and 118E fluidly connect the jacket 108 with the heat exchanger 112. The passage 118F fluidly connects the oil separating apparatus 114 with the first turbocharger 116. Although not illustrated in
In the example of
Components of the ventilation system 102 such as the oil separating apparatus 114 and the heat exchanger 112 can be mounted to the engine 100. However, it is contemplated that such components may be separate from the engine 100 (e.g., not mounted thereto other than via passages 118A, 118B, 118C, 118D, 118E and 118F). The ventilation system 102 or some components thereof can be part of the original manufacture of the engine 100 or can be a retrofitted system that is added to the engine 100 during maintenance, upgrade or the like. The ventilation system 102 can be in fluid communication with the crankcase 104 such as via the passages 118A and additional passages or components not specifically shown. Although not illustrated, the ventilation system 102 can be configured to supply ambient air or air from a pressurized source to the crankcase 104.
The engine 100 can employ various components most not specifically illustrated. The engine 100 can include the aftercooler 106 for reducing the temperature of air utilized by systems of the engine 100 during operation. The aftercooler 106 can be downstream of and in fluid communication to receive relatively warmer air from the second turbocharger 120 (or other component such as a compressor), for example. The jacket 108 can be a source of liquid such as water used to cool various components of the engine 100 during operation. The water can additionally be used during engine startup according to some examples. This water can typically be about 100 degrees Celsius, for example. A pump (not shown) or other flow generating device can be used to pass the water from the jacket 108 to the heat exchanger 112 along the passage 118C and return the water to the jacket 108 from the heat exchanger 112 along the passage 118D.
Apparatuses such as the one or more breathers 110 can couple directly or indirectly to the engine block, and can be in fluid communication with the crankcase 104. Each of the one or more breathers 110 can comprise a mechanism that separates some of the oil droplets and oil mist from the blow-by gas in order to prevent some the oil droplets and oil mist contained in the blow-by gas from being taken out of the crankcase 104 along the flow of the blow-by gas. By way of example, the one or more breathers 110 can include one or more separation mechanisms such as an oil separation valve, splasher plate, serpentine passage, mesh or other obstruction. The one or more breathers 110 can be an outlet allowing passage of fumes, blow-by constituents and/or aerosolized oil to the passage 118A and/or atmosphere or another location such as away from the engine 100.
During engine startup and/or during extended engine idle, the boost air can be undesirably cold for general use by the ventilation system 102. This is especially the case when the engine 100 is operating in a cold environment. In particular, undesirably cold boost air can be insufficient to maintain the blow-by gas above the dew point temperature. If the blow-by gas falls below the dew point temperature for the blow-by gas, there is a risk of condensation/freezing of the water vapor, forming emulsion or ice in one or more of the various components discussed above including the oil separating apparatus 114 and within the engine 100 itself. Condensation/freezing can lead to high pressure within the crankcase 104 and engine shutdown. As such, it is desirable that the boost air is warmed by the ventilation system 102 for use particularly in the oil separating apparatus 114 where the boost air is combined with the blow-by gas.
The heat exchanger 112 can be a liquid-to-air heat exchanger such as a jacket heat exchanger, for example. The heat exchanger 112 can be configured to receive the boost air along passage 118B. Additionally, the heat exchanger 112 can be configured to receive the water from the jacket 108 along passage 118C. The heat exchanger 112 can be configured such that the water is passed in a heat transfer relationship with the boost air in the heat exchanger 112 to achieve a desired temperature range for the boost air passing to the oil separating apparatus 114. The desired temperature range can be between about 70 degrees Celsius and about 90 degrees Celsius, for example.
The ventilation system 102 can use the oil separating apparatus 114 or devices to filter oil (e.g., oil mist) from the blow-by gas to reduce volatile content in the blow-by gas. The oil separating apparatus 114 can contain a filter media such as a coalescing filter, desiccant, combinations thereof or other media. The blow-by gas can initially pass into a central passage or entry cavity of the oil separating apparatus 114. The filter media is configured to separate a portion of the oil contained in the blow-by gas. The filter media can have a construction known in the art. As an example, the filter media can be constructed using a single or multi-layer synthetic coalescing filter media wound around a core, or pleated. As an example, the filter media can be a layered but highly compressed metal mesh that is used as a first stage in separating moisture and oil from the blow-by gas. As oil entrained blow-by gas encounters this randomly woven maze, large water and oil droplets coalesce. In operation, the oil separating apparatus 114 can utilize the pressurized boost air (generally at intake manifold pressure) to offset restriction through the oil separating apparatus 114. Additionally, the boost air (heated or cooled to the desired temperature range within the heat exchanger 112) can be utilized to warm or cool the blow-by gas within the oil separating apparatus 114 to maintain a desired temperature range for the blow-by gas. This desired temperature range for the blow-by gas can be above a dew point temperature of the blow-by gas and below a temperature at which one or more components of the oil separating apparatus 114 become inoperable.
The first turbocharger 116 can be in fluid communication with the oil separating apparatus 114 to receive the filtered blow-by gas and the boost air. The first turbocharger 116 can be used to draw or pull the blow-by gas through the oil separating apparatus 114. The motive device 116 can pass the filtered blow-by gas and the boost air back to a charged air system (e.g., an aftercooler, manifold, combustion) to be routed again through the ventilation system 102. The first turbocharger 116 can be device configured to compress air and pass the compressed air to an ATAAC (
In operation, the engine 100 can be configured to combust fuel to generate power. While typically efficient, a small portion of the blow-by gases may escape the combustion chamber past the piston and enter undesirable areas of the engine such as the crankcase 104. The air the ventilation systems 102, 102A and 102B uses acts to ventilate the crankcase 104 and other components. This ventilation can include use of the oil separating apparatus 114 to filter oil to remove the oil from the blow-by gas.
Oil separating apparatuses containing coalescing filters are known, however, these have disadvantages. These devices typically lack cold climate capability. For example, in a cold climate water vapor can condense out and/or freeze within the oil separating apparatus or other components of the engine 100. This condensed and/or frozen water vapor can restrict flow of blow-by gas, which can lead to unwanted pressure spikes within the engine.
The present application recognizes a construction for the ventilation system(s) 102, 102A, 102B that utilizes the heat exchanger 112, 112A to cool, maintain, and/or warm boost air that is then passed to and utilized to warm or cool the blow-by gas within the oil separating apparatus 114. This can allow the blow-by gas to achieve the desired temperature range including in the oil separating apparatus 114. As an example, the boost air can be pre-heated in the heat exchanger 112 using the jacket water during engine startup and heated during engine operation (including idling) prior to entering the oil separating apparatus 114. This improves operation of the oil separating apparatus 114 in cold climate as condensed water vapor, emulsions and/or frozen water vapor that restricts flow can be avoided. Thus, the design of the ventilation systems 102, 102A and 102B can have improved temperature robustness. Thus, the present ventilation systems 102, 102A and 102B can be configured to reduce or prevent water condensate, emulsion and/or freezing. Additionally, use of the water at a desired temperature (typically about 100 degrees Celsius) for heat exchange can eliminate the need for various control systems for the boost air, which can save cost and reduce system complexity. The temperature of the water is desirable as it will not raise the boost air to an undesirably high temperature that could lead to temperature degradation amongst the polymer and elastomer components of the oil separating apparatus 114, for example.
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.
