Patent Application
20120144800
This invention relates to systems and methods for improving fuel efficiency in a combustion engine.
Automobile engines convert fuel into energy using an internal combustion engine powered by gasoline, propane, or diesel fuel. Over the years, the carbon-dioxide from combustion engines has led to the global warming and poor air quality. Moreover, oil has been steadily increasing in price due to the dwindling worldwide supply. Because of the sheer number of combustion engines in use today, even a small improvement in fuel efficiency would provide a significant environmental and financial benefits.
Devices and methods for improving fuel efficiency are disclosed herein. According to aspects illustrated herein, there is provided a device for improving fuel efficiency of a combustion engine. The device may include a housing for attachment to an exhaust pipe of a combustion engine and having a pathway extending therethrough. The device may further include a wound body disposed at a distal portion of the housing and designed to permit fluid from the exhaust pipe flowing along the housing to flow through the wound body. In addition, the device may include a barrier positioned within the pathway downstream from the wound body so as to generate a sufficient back pressure along the exhaust pipe to enhance piston stroke efficiency in the combustion system, resulting in an increase in fuel efficiency of the combustion engine.
In other aspects, there is provided a method for improving fuel efficiency of a combustion engine. The method includes a step of directing a flow of exhaust gases from an exhaust pipe of a combustion system along a flowpath Next, a barrier may be disposed in the flowpath of the exhaust gases and a sufficient back pressure may be allowed to be generated back along the flowpath and exhaust pipe to enhance piston stroke efficiency in the combustion system, resulting in an increase in fuel efficiency of the combustion engine.
The presently disclosed embodiments will be further explained with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like structures are referred to by like numerals throughout the several views. The drawings shown are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the presently disclosed embodiments.
a-1b illustrate embodiments of a device for improving fuel consumption of the present disclosure.
a-2b illustrates an embodiment of a wound body of a device for improving fuel consumption of the present disclosure in operation.
While the above-identified drawings set forth presently disclosed embodiments, other embodiments are also contemplated, as noted in the discussion. This disclosure presents illustrative embodiments by way of representation and not limitation. Numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art which fall within the scope and spirit of the principles of the presently disclosed embodiments.
According to aspects illustrated herein, there is provided a device to be affixed to an exhaust outlet of a combustion engine in order to improve fuel efficiency of the combustion engine. The device may be connected to an exhaust outlet of a combustion engine to, among other things, aid in generating and maintaining a back-pressure in the exhaust system sufficient to enhance the operational efficiency of the combustion engine and to improve its fuel efficiency.
Referring to
In reference to
The device 100 also includes a wound body 106 disposed at a distal portion 108 of the housing 102 and designed to permit exhaust fluid 110 from the exhaust outlet 116 of a combustion engine (not shown) and along the pathway 104 to flow through wound body 106. In an embodiment, the wound body 106 may be complimentary disposed in the distal portion 108 of the housing 102. The term “complimentary disposed” refers to the placement of the wound body 106 having substantially the same cross-section as the cross-section of the housing 102. In an embodiment, the wound body 106 may be provided with an outer cross-sectional perimeter that may be at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90% or at least 95% of the inner cross-sectional perimeter of the housing 102. In an embodiment, a wound body may be dimensioned so as to fill at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90% or at least 95% of the pathway 104 through the housing 102. By way of a non-limiting example, both the housing 102 and the wound body 106 may be cylindrical, i.e. both have a circular cross-section, and the outer circumference of the wound body 106 may be at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90% or at least 95% of the inner circumference of the housing 102, that is, the outer diameter of wound body 106 is at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90% or at least 95% of the inner diameter of the housing 102.
In an embodiment, the wound body 106 may include a series of overlapping layers 201-205, as shown in
In one embodiment, the wound body 106 may be made of one or more metals or of any other materials capable of withstanding the heat and pressure generated from the exhaust fluid 110 from the exhaust outlet 116. In an embodiment, a wound body 106 may be constructed by winding two metal fabrics around a central point. For example, a wired mesh or a similar material may be disposed between the layers 201-205 formed from metal fabric. The presence of the wired mesh may help ensure that there is sufficient spacing between the layers 201-205 of the wound body 106 to permit exhaust fluid to flow through the wound body 106 and out of the housing 102. If desired, the speed and volume of flow through the wound body may be regulated by varying the spacing between the layers 201-205, the materials forming the wound body 106, coating of the layers 201-205, or combinations thereof. Being formed by winding one or more materials around a central axis, the wound body 106 may be permitted to move from a first position, in which centrally-located layers 201-204 are flush with the height of an outer loop 205 as shown in
As will be described in more detail below, in operation, a combustion engine emits fluid in waves, resulting in periods of high pressure and low pressure. As the pressure and volume of the exhaust fluid can vary due to the cycle of the combustion engine, the layers 201-205 of the wound body 106 may move relative to one another thereby varying the spacing between the layers 201-205 for the exhaust fluid to flow through the wound body 106 and out of the housing 102. In reference to
In an embodiment, it may be desirable to minimize movement of the wound body 106 within the housing 102. To that end, in an embodiment, the housing 102 may be provided with a distal portion 108 that may be measurably wider than the rest of the housing 102 so that there is a slight constriction at a juncture between the distal portion 108 and the remainder of the housing 102. The wound body 106, in such an embodiment may be provided with a profile slightly wider than the profile of the rest of the housing 102, but slightly narrower than the profile of the distal portion 108 of the housing 102. In such embodiments, the wound body 106 may still move from the first position into the second position, with the centrally-located layers 201-204 extending away from the distal tip 120 of the housing 102 toward a middle portion 122 of the housing 102, while the wound body 106 remains within the distal portion 108 of the housing 102. It will of course be understood that other means for achieving the above-specified goal may be used.
In general,
Accordingly, the device 100 may further include a barrier 112 positioned within the pathway 104 downstream from the wound body 106 to impart a substantially plug, i.e. uniform, flow to the fluid flowing out of the housing 102. The barrier 112 may function to control and balance the volume of fluid flowing out of the housing 102 and to generate and maintain a pre-determined back-pressure in the exhaust system. The terms “plug flow” and “uniform flow” refer to the type of flow where velocity is constant and the channel length is the same for all streamlines 400, as shown in
In other embodiments, there may be multiple open passages through which the rate of flow may be higher than through the wound body 106. For example, there may be a space between the outer surface of the wound body 106 and the inner wall of the housing 102 due to the difference in size between them, or there may be multiple open passages through the wound body 106. In such embodiments, a single barrier or multiple barriers 112 may be used to ensure that the fluid flows out of the housing 102 in a substantially uniform manner.
The barrier 112, in an embodiment, may be made from any material capable of withstanding the heat and pressure generated from the exhaust outlet 116, including, but not limited to, metals, such as, aluminum, steel, stainless steel, aluminized steel, ceramic, or textile or a combination thereof. In an embodiment, the barrier 112 may be made from a solid impermeable material. the barrier may be impermeable in order to block the flow rate through the passage 126. In an embodiment, the barrier 112 may be made by blocking, or making less permeable, a section or sections of the perforated screen 124 aligned with one or more open passages through which the exhaust fluid 110 may by-pass the wound body 106.
Alternatively, the barrier 112 may be permeable. In one embodiment the barrier 112 may be from a filter material to filtrate the exhaust fluid in addition to preventing the exhaust fluid from by-passing the wound body 106. The barrier, in an embodiment, may be permeable in order to decrease the flow rate through the passage 126 without completely blocking it. To the extent that the flow through the passage 126 can be sufficiently decreased by a permeable barrier 112, a substantially uniform flow can be imparted, thereby enhancing the operational efficiency and to improving the fuel efficiency of the combustion engine.
In an embodiment, the size and the permeability of the barrier 112 are selected, so as to ensure that fluid flows out of the housing 102 in a substantial plug manner as well as to ensure that a pre-determined back-pressure is generated and maintained in the exhaust system. As the permeability of the barrier 112 increases, the ratio between the area of the barrier 112 to the area of the perforated screen 124 and between the area of the barrier to the area of a passage through the wound body 106 also increases. That is as the permeability of the barrier 112 increase, so does the need to increase the size of the barrier 112 to balance the flow of fluid out of the housing 102, thereby generating a pre-determined back-pressure in the exhaust system sufficient to improve the fuel efficiency of the combustion engine. By way of a non-limiting example, the barrier 112 is made from a solid material and the area of the barrier 112 may be about 22% of the area of the perforated screen 124 and/or about 250% of the passage 304.
In another aspect, there is provided a method for improving fuel efficiency of a combustion engine. Initially, a housing is affixed to an exhaust outlet of the combustion engine, the filter housing defining a pathway extending therethrough. Next, a wound body is disposed at a distal portion of the housing, in such a manner as to permit fluid within the pathway to flow through the wound body. Thereafter, a barrier can be situated within the pathway downstream from the wound body to impart a substantially plug flow to the fluid exiting the housing.
The housing 102 may be attached to an exhaust system of a combustion engine, either permanently or removably, in a variety of ways using a variety of attachment devices known in the art. The efficacy of the methods of the present disclosure does not depend on the positioning of the housing 102 inside the exhaust system, and thus the housing 102 may be installed in any part of the exhaust system. In an embodiment, the housing 102 may be removably attached adjacent to the exhaust outlet 116.
In operation, a combustion engine emits gas creating explosions. As shown, for example, in
A barrier 112 placed distally of the wound body 106 to control free flow of fluid 114 out of the housing 102 may impart a substantially plug flow in the axial direction to fluid 114 flowing out of the housing 102, as shown in
It may be desirable to maintain a sufficient back pressure in the housing 102 as well as in the exhaust system. As described above, the back-pressure inside the housing 102 may be regulated by varying design parameters for the wound body 106 and/or the barrier 112. Alternatively or additionally, the perforated screen 124 may be made more or less restrictive as desired. In yet other embodiments, the housing 102 may include a pressure relief valve to relief pressure in the housing 102 as desired. In some instances, the back pressure inside the housing and the exhaust system may become too significant due to the volume and flow rate of the exhaust fluid, thereby compromising the fuel efficiency of the combustion engine. The pressure relief valve in the housing 102 may operate to return the back-pressure in the housing to the back-pressure sufficient to optimize the fuel efficiency of the combustion engine.
In an embodiment, in a device 500 of the present disclosure as shown in
In an embodiment, a device 500 of the present disclosure may comprise two radial filters: a first radial filter 512a and a second radial filter 512b. In an embodiment, the first radial filter 512a may be made by wrapping a filter fabric in a metal mesh. Suitable materials for the filter fabric include, but are not limited to, an aramid, a meta-aramid, a polyamide, a polyphenylene sulfide, a p-phenylene-1,3,4-oxadiazole, polytetrafluoroethylene, and basalt. Suitable materials for the metal mesh include, but are not limited to, aluminum, zinc, copper, iron. The first radial filter 512a may have the same shape as the housing and may extend longitudinally along the walls of the housing for the entire length of the housing. The second radial filter 512b may be made from the same or different fabric as the one utilized in the first filter and may have the same or different shape than the shape of the first filter. A portion of the inlet gas may be allowed to by-pass the second radial filter 512b as its sides may not be secured together, a portion of the inlet gas may pass through the walls of the second filter, and finally, a portion of the inlet gas proceed axially through the second filter to the wound body. The second radial filter 512b may have any shape, but is preferably formed to ensure uniform distribution of exhaust fluid over the wound body. In an embodiment, the second radial filter 512b may be made by forming a filter material into a cone.
The present disclosure is described in the following Examples, which are set forth to aid in the understanding of the disclosure, and should not be construed to limit in any way the scope of the disclosure as defined in the claims which follow thereafter. The following examples are put forth so as to provide those of ordinary skill in the art with a complete disclosure and description of how to make and use the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of what the inventors regard as their invention nor are they intended to represent that the experiments below are all or the only experiments performed. Efforts have been made to ensure accuracy with respect to numbers used (e.g. amounts, temperature, etc.) but some experimental errors and deviations should be accounted for.
The device of the present disclosure was provided with 1) a radial filter with air permeability of 15 cfm was used in place of the regular filter with air permeability of 25±5 cfm; 2) the hole in the filter bobbin was plugged; and 3) a barrier disk was placed downstream from the filter bobbin in alignment with the hole through the filter bobbin. The results of the tests of such device are presented in Table 1 below:
As can be seen from the results, the device having a barrier and or plug resulted in the increase in fuel efficiency over no device and devices having an open hole through the wound body.
Three vehicles were tested with and without the devices of the present disclosure according to the European Elementary Urban Cycle and Extra Urban Cycle test protocols. The vehicles were as follows: A01—Cherry (Tiggo) with 53,607 km; A02—Honda (Fit) with 22,702 km; A03—Chevrolet (Epica) with 137,235 km. Exhaust emissions of HC, CO and NOx were collected and analyzed on a grams per kilometer basis for each test phase. The test data is presented below:
As can be seen from tables 2 and 3, the addition of the device of the present disclosure resulted in the reduced emissions of HC, CO and NOx.
Fuel economy was measured on a liter per 100 kilometer basis for each test phase. The vehicles were as follows: A01—Cherry (Tiggo) with 53,607 km; A02—Honda (Fit) with 22,702 km; A03—Chevrolet (Epica) with 137,235 km. The test data is presented below:
The comparison of the fuel efficiency data from tests without the device (Average 1) and the tests with the device (Average 2) is presented in Table 5 below:
The data in Table 5 shows that the device of the present disclosure improved fuel economy of all three vehicles in a range from 0.3 to 0.7 liters per kilometer with an average of 0.5 liters per kilometer which corresponds to a 7% increase in average fuel economy for the three vehicles tested in this program.
All patents, patent applications, and published references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. It will be appreciated that several of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or application. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art.
The present application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/420,071 filed Dec. 6, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for the teachings therein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61420071 | Dec 2010 | US |
