The invention relates to a method for operating an internal combustion engine and to an internal combustion engine that operates in accordance with such a method.
The independent patent claims emanate from WO2009/083182. In this publication an internal combustion engine is described, which is illustrated in
The cylinders, which are preferably formed within a common cylinder housing 28, are sealed from above by a cylinder head 30, which includes an end wall 32 in an area overlapping the two cylinders 20 and 22; the end wall 32 encloses portions of the cylinders 20 and 22 from above and encloses a flow-through cylinder 33 formed in the cylinder head 30 from below.
A compression chamber 34, not labeled in
A flow-through piston 40 is movable in the flow-through cylinder 33; the flow-through piston 40 delimits a flow-through chamber 42.
A fresh air and/or fresh charge intake manifold 44 is formed in the cylinder head 30; a fresh charge intake valve 46 operates in the manifold 44 and controls the connection between the fresh charge intake manifold 44 and the compression chamber 34. The term “fresh charge” comprises the substances “pure fresh air” and “fresh air with fuel and/or residual gas added into it”.
An exhaust manifold 48 is also formed in the cylinder head 30; an exhaust valve 50 operates in the exhaust manifold 48 and controls the connection between the power chamber 36 and the exhaust manifold 48.
A flow-through opening, which connects the compression chamber 34 with the flow-through chamber 42, is formed in the end wall 32; a flow-through valve 52 operates in the flow-through opening and opens when moved away from the compression chamber. A shaft of the flow-through valve 52 is movably guided in the flow-through piston 40 in a sealed manner, wherein the flow-through valve 52 is movable into the flow-through piston 40 against the force of a spring 53 and is movable out of the flow-through piston 40 preferably with a restricted stroke.
An intake valve 54 operates in another opening of the end wall 32, which opening connects the flow-through chamber 42 with the power chamber 36; the shaft of the intake valve 54 is movably guided through the flow-through piston 40 in a sealed manner.
A fresh charge intake cam 56, an exhaust cam 58 and an intake cam 60 serve to actuate the valves 46, 50, 54, respectively. The flow-through piston 40 is actuated by a flow-through cam 62.
The cams are formed in an appropriate manner on one or more cam shafts that are preferably driven by the crankshaft 10 at the same rotational speed as the rotational speed of the crankshaft.
The function of the internal combustion engine is explained in detail in the above-mentioned WO2009/083182. The essential advantage, which is achieved with the described internal combustion engine relative to conventional internal combustions engines, is that the fresh charge is compressed by the compression piston 16 in the compression cylinder 20 outside the hot power cylinder 22 and pushed over into the flow-through chamber 42, where it is first further compressed by the flow-through piston 40 and then pushed through the open intake valve 54 into the power chamber 36, and is combusted there, after or during the supply of fuel by the fuel injection valve 38. Alternatively or additionally, fuel can be added to the fresh charge already upstream from the intake valve 54 in the fresh charge intake manifold 44 or in the compression chamber 34 or in the flow-through chamber 42, so that the combustible mixture is “injected” through the open intake valve 54 into the power chamber 36 and combusted there while undergoing spark ignition or self-ignition. The compression of the fresh charge outside the power chamber improves the efficiency of the internal combustion engine. The addition of fuel to the fresh charge upstream from the intake valve 54 leads to an excellent mixture preparation, which in turn is a prerequisite for a complete and substantially pollution-free combustion.
For certain fuels, if they are added to the fresh charge upstream from the intake valve 54, the risk exists of a self-ignition already in the flow-through chamber due to the high final compression temperature occurring there.
An internal combustion engine having external multi-stage compression is described in CH 96 539 A. In a compression cylinder, fresh air is compressed in a compression chamber by a compression piston formed in one-piece with a flow-through piston, and is pushed over through a flow-through valve, which is formed as a simple check valve, into a cooled buffer chamber inside a cooler; the cooled, compressed fresh charge from the cooler arrives in a flow-through chamber through a further check valve during a downward movement of the flow-through piston, which is fixedly connected with the compression piston, wherein the maximum volumes of the compression chamber and of the flow-through chamber are approximately equal, and the size of the buffer volume is similar to the maximum volume of the flow-through chamber. During an upstroke of the flow-through piston, the fresh air is pushed over by an intake valve of the power cylinder from the flow-through chamber into the power chamber through a further check valve, which borders the flow-through chamber, and a line 10.
An internal combustion engine having an external two-stage piston compressor and a power cylinder is described in DE 24 10 948. A cooler is provided between the exhaust valve of the first compression stage and the intake valve of the second compression stage, which forms a buffer volume for the fresh air compressed in the first compression stage. The fresh air compressed in the second compression stage is guided through an exhaust gas heat exchanger, in which the compressed fresh air is heated by the exhaust gas flowing out of the power cylinder and subsequently arrives in the power cylinder through an intake valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,090 describes a piston internal combustion engine having two exhaust gas turbochargers, which both supply the internal combustion engine with fresh air at high exhaust gas flows and/or at high load. At only a low load and small exhaust gas flow, one of the exhaust gas turbochargers is switched off to increase the charging pressure.
An internal combustion engine with an exhaust gas turbocharger is described in the article by Kramer, W.; Indirekte Ladeluftkühlung bei Diesel- and Ottomotoren, MTZ, 02/2006, pp. 104-109, in which the charging air compressed in the exhaust gas turbocharger flows through and then is guided to the intake of the internal combustion engine.
The object underlying the invention is to further develop the above-described method and the above-described internal combustion engine in such a way that the risk of a self-ignition of the mixture upstream of the intake valve 54 is reduced.
The part of the object of the invention relating to the method is achieved with the features of claim 1.
Dependent claims 2 and 3 are directed to advantageous embodiments of the inventive method.
The part of the object of the invention relating to the internal combustion engine is achieved with the features of claim 4.
Claims 5 to 10 are directed to advantageous embodiments of the inventive internal combustion engine.
The invention will be explained in an exemplary manner in the following with the assistance of schematic drawings and with further details.
In the Figures:
The internal combustion engine according to
A substantial difference between the internal combustion engine according to
The flow-through chambers 80, 82, flow-through pistons 84, 86, flow-through passages 92, 94, as well as the push-out passage 96 and the valves disposed in the passages form a flow-through apparatus. The structure of the flow-through passages 92 and 94 will be explained in more detail with the assistance of
The flow-through passage 92 is formed by a through-opening 98, which leads through a wall of the cylinder head 30 and connects the compression chamber 34 with the flow-through chamber 80. A cooler 100 is utilized in the through-opening 98; heat exchanger channels 102 of the cooler 100 form the actual fluid passage between the compression chamber 34 and the flow-through chamber 80. The edge of the through-opening 98 facing the flow-through chamber 80 forms a valve seat 104 for the valve plate of a check valve 106; the check valve 106 opens against the force of a not-illustrated closing spring when the pressure in the flow-through chamber 80 is less than in the compression chamber 34.
The flow-through passage 94 is similar to the flow-through passage 92 in its basic structure, and has a through-opening 108 in a wall of the cylinder head 30, which wall separates the flow-through chambers 80 and 82. A cooler 110 is utilized in the through-opening 108; heat exchanger channels 112 of the cooler 110 form the fluid passage between the flow-through chambers. The edge of the through-opening 108 facing towards the flow-through chamber 82 forms a valve seat for the plate of a check valve 116; the check valve 116 opens against the force of a not-illustrated closing spring when the pressure in the flow-through chamber 82 is lower than the pressure in the flow-through chamber 80.
The not-illustrated closing springs associated with the check valves 106 and 116 are known with regard to their structure and their arrangement, and can for example be coil springs surrounding the shaft of the respective valve member, which coil springs are integrated into the cooler and are supported between the cooler and a collar of the shaft. The closing springs are designed such that the biasing force, with which the respective valve member is urged against its seat, is relatively small, so that even a small pressure differential acting on the closed valve member in its opening direction leads to a valve-opening.
The construction of the flow-through passage 92 is advantageously such that the minimum volume of the compression chamber in the top dead point of the compression piston 16 is small; advantageously it is less than 15%, even more advantageously less than 1%, of the maximum volume of the compression chamber in the bottom dead point of the compression piston.
In the closed state of the check valve 106, the upper side of the valve member of the check valve 106 is flush with an edge region of the base of the flow-through chamber 80, which edge region optionally surrounds the base of the flow-through chamber 80, so that the flow-through piston 84 in its bottom dead point (in
The valve member of the check valve 116 is formed such that, in the closed state, it extends flush with the inner wall of the flow-through chamber 82, so that practically no residual volume is present here. The piston ring or rings of the flow-through piston 86 are disposed such that they do not traverse the check valve 116. In the top dead point of the flow-through piston 86 (the position of the flow-through piston 86 illustrated in
The illustration of
The function of the internal combustion engine according to
The curves indicate the following:
Curve I (dotted): Stroke of the fresh air intake valve 46
Curve II (dashed): Stroke of the flow-through piston 84 (cold flow-through piston); stroke corresponds to the volume of the flow-through chamber 80;
Curve III (dash-dotted): Stroke of the flow-through piston 86 (hot flow-through piston); stroke corresponds to the volume of the flow-through chamber 82;
Curve IV (crosses): Stroke of the intake valve 54 (hot flow-through valve);
Curve V (solid): Stroke of the exhaust valve 50.
Assuming that the compression piston 16 (cold piston) is located at a crank angle of 270° in its top dead point, in which the volume of the compression chamber 34 is nearly zero, and with the fresh charge intake valve 46 closed, the entire compressed fresh charge has been pushed over into the flow-through chamber 80 through the flow-through passage 92 while undergoing cooling. The flow-through piston 84 (cold flow-through piston) is located in the top dead point of the compression piston 16 approximately in its maximally raised position according to
The flow-through piston 84 begins its downward movement and compresses the fresh charge located in the flow-through chamber 80. At a crank angle of approximately 330°, the flow-through piston 86 (hot flow-through piston) begins its upward movement, so that the fresh charge compressed in the flow-through chamber 80 flows through the flow-through passage 94, while undergoing cooling, over into the increasing-in-volume flow-through chamber 82 (hot flow-through chamber) with the check valve 116 open. At a crank angle of approximately 80°, the flow-through piston 84 has moved into its lowermost position, so that practically the entire compressed fresh charge is in the flow-through chamber 82, whose flow-through piston 86 is in its uppermost position; the flow-through piston 86 remains in the uppermost position from a crank angle of approximately 90° to approximately 160° as a result of an appropriate contouring of the flow-through cam 90. Starting from a crank angle of approximately 160°, the flow-through piston 86 moves with a steep slope to its bottom dead point, wherein at a crank angle of approximately 180° the intake valve 54 (hot flow-through valve) opens and the maximally compressed fresh charge is pushed out through the push-out passage 96 into the power chamber 36. Shortly before a crank angle of 220°, the volume of the flow-through chamber 82 is minimal. Shortly thereafter, the intake valve 54 closes so that, during downward movement of the power piston 18 (hot piston), the compressed fresh charge pushed into the power chamber 36 combusts while generating power. Before the power piston 18 reaches its bottom dead point, at a crank angle of approximately 350° the exhaust valve 50 begins to open, and closes at a crank angle of approximately 100°, so that residual gas remaining in the power chamber 36 is further compressed by power piston 18.
The opening of the fresh charge intake valve 46 already begins at a crank angle of 300° so that, with the upward movement of the compression piston 16, fresh air or fresh charge flows into the compression chamber 34, and the described cycle begins anew.
The exemplarily described control timings can be changed, as long as the basic principle of the described internal combustion engine is maintained, namely pushing over compressed fresh charge from the compression chamber 34 into the flow-through chamber 80 while undergoing cooling during the flow through the flow-through passage 92, pushing-over of the fresh charge located in the flow-through chamber 80 into the flow-through chamber 82 while undergoing cooling in the flow-through passage 94 and pushing-out of the fresh charge located in the flow-through chamber 82 while undergoing further compression through the push-out passage 96, with intake valve 54 open, into the power chamber 36 and/or the combustion chamber.
In particular if fuel is already added to the fresh charge in the fresh charge intake manifold 44 or in the compression chamber 34, it is advantageous if the flow-through piston 86 moves upwards with a steep slope, and the maximally compressed fresh charge, which is held below its self-ignition temperature due to the intermediate coolings through the coolers 100 and 110, is rapidly “injected” into the power chamber 36 and ignited there while undergoing further heating. When using diesel fuel, a complete and soot-free combustion is achieved.
The described engine can also be operated with spark ignition and/or direct injection into the power chamber 36.
Appropriate constructions will be readily apparent to the skilled person for the construction of the flow-through passages 92 and 94 as well as of the push-out passage 96, with which small residual volumes and, in the flow-through channels, a high cooling efficiency are achieved.
Instead of one flow-through passage 92 having a cooler 100 and a check valve 106, a plurality of flow-through passages having coolers and check valves can be used, and/or the flow through a cooler can be blocked or permitted using a plurality of check valves.
Instead of the one flow-through passage 94, a plurality of flow-through passages can be formed between the flow-through chambers 80 and 82.
The movement of the flow-through piston 86 is, as evident from
The time progression of the pushing-out or blowing-in of the compressed fresh charge out of the flow-through chamber 82 into the power chamber 36 (combustion chamber) essentially determines the progression of the combustion. Therefore, the pushing-out function is relatively steep. The pushing-out (blowing-in) begins preferably between approximately 10° to approximately 0° before the top dead point of the power piston 18 (hot piston) and ends preferably between approximately 30° and 40° after the top dead point of the power piston 18. In order to achieve this, the flow-through piston 86 remains in its top dead point and its bottom dead point over relatively long periods of time, so that distinct plateaus result.
The phase shift between the compression piston 16 and the power piston 18 is preferably selected such that the highest possible compensation of the second engine order in the engine results. Preferred values are 90° or 270° lag of the power piston 18 (hot piston). At a value of 90°, however, the time windows for the flow-through from the compressor side (cold side) to the power side (hot side) are very small, so that a lag of the power piston 18 of 270° is preferred. The excitations of the first order arising due to this arrangement can be compensated by appropriate compensating masses on the cam shafts, since the described engine preferably operates with two cam shafts rotating in opposite directions at the rotational speed of the crankshaft.
Since the upward movement of the flow-through piston 84 is coupled to the movement of the compression piston 16 for process-related reasons, and the pushing-out movement of the flow-through piston 86 is coupled to the power piston 18, the dwell phase (plateau length) in the movement of the flow-through piston 86 results from the selection of the phase shift between the movement of the power piston 18 and the movement of the compression piston 16.
In a simplified modification, only one flow-through chamber similar to the flow-through chamber 42 of the embodiment according to
The coolers 100 and 110 can be integrated into a cooling system, with which other portions of the internal combustion engine are cooled, or can be flowed-through by a coolant which is cooled in a separate circulation of ambient air.
An internal combustion engine having two flow-through chambers disposed in series was described with the assistance of
The maximum volume of the flow-through chamber 80 bordering the compression chamber 34 is for example between 5% and 15%, that is e.g. 10%, of the maximum volume of the compression chamber 34. Each additional flow-through chamber following a flow-through chamber has, for example, a maximum volume that is for example 30% to 50%, e.g. 40%, of the maximum volume of the preceding flow-through chamber.
The invention was described above with the example of an internal-combustion engine having a compression cylinder and a power cylinder. A plurality of compression cylinder/power cylinder units could respectively be provided, which for example are connected with a common crankshaft. It is also possible to associate a plurality of compression cylinders with one power cylinder.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2010 032 055.2 | Jul 2010 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2011/003417 | 7/8/2011 | WO | 00 | 1/22/2013 |