Combination internal combustion and steam engine

Details Combination internal combustion and steam engine Combination internal combustion and steam engine

1998-04-30

2000-08-01

Yuen, Henry C.

Internal-combustion engines

Water and hydrocarbon

60620, 60622, F02B 4702, F02G 300

Patent

active

060951001

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to internal combustion engines.
Internal combustion engines which are most commonly in use, include a number of reciprocating pistons which operate in cylinders under an Otto cycle to draw in a charge of air or air/fuel mixture and compress same for ignition, either by means of an applied spark or by compression ignition. Whilst many other non-reciprocating engine designs have been developed or proposed, in general such alternate designs have not proved particularly advantageous over conventional reciprocating engines which remain in predominant use in the motor vehicle industry and other industries.
In current internal combustion engines, however, much of the heat energy is wasted, either by being exhausted to atmosphere, by radiating heat energy from the engine block or by transferring heat into the radiator cooling system.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to provide an alternate form of internal combustion engine which alleviates the abovementioned disadvantage of existing internal combustion engines.
In one aspect the present invention provides an engine assembly including: effecting useful work in the form of output shaft power; the form of output shaft power; gases from said combustion chamber means may be exhausted to said expansion chamber means, and heating, with the exhaust gases introduced into said expansion chamber means.
The fluid may be introduced into the spent combustion gases either in the expansion chamber means or prior to entry into the expansion chamber means and is preferably introduced as a liquid and more preferably as water. The fluid may be simultaneously introduced into the exhaust gases in the combustion chamber means and the expansion chamber means where the expansion chamber means has a swept volume which is much greater than the swept volume of the combustion chamber means and suitably twice the swept volume of the combustion chamber means.
In a preferred embodiment the engine is adapted to operate at an elevated temperature above 250.degree. C. and more preferably above 300.degree. C. and liquid in the form of a coolant such as water is introduced into the combustion chamber means in order to cool the working parts in the combustion chamber means, such as the piston crown in the working chamber of a reciprocating engine.
It is also preferred that flow control means be provided to ensure that the expanding gas in the expansion chamber means does not flow back into the combustion chamber means. This is preferably achieved by forming the expansion chamber means with a greater swept volume than the swept volume of the combustion chamber means, or by or in addition, providing non-return valve means in the outlet from said combustion clamber means. The flow control means may include a control on the amount of said fluid introduced to the expansion chamber means.
The non-return valve may be of any suitable form such as a poppet valve, a barrel or sleeve valve or a flap valve, for example. It may be of the type which is operated by back pressure or it may be controlled by operating means operated in accordance with sensed or mechanical conditions in the engine or a combination of these methods. Preferably the non-return valve in an engine having poppet valves controlling the gas flows to and from the combustion chamber is a floating valve formed as a sliding collar about the stem of exhaust valve and associated with a seat opposing the exhaust valve seat.
The engine may be of any suitable form such as a rotary engine or a radial engine, however it is preferred that the engine be in the form of a four-cycle reciprocating engine having two cylinder assemblies arranged as independent combustion chambers and at least one further cylinder forming the expansion chamber adapted to alternately receive spent exhaust gases from the combustion chambers.
More suitably the engine is formed as an in-line multi cylinder engine wherein the end cylinder assemblies form the combustion chamber means and the inner cylinders form

REFERENCES:
patent: 892790 (1908-07-01), Williams
patent: 2791881 (1957-05-01), Denker
patent: 3918263 (1975-11-01), Swingle
patent: 4976226 (1990-12-01), Herman
patent: 5012772 (1991-05-01), Nakamura

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