Internal-combustion engines – Combustion chamber means having fuel injection only – Injecting diverse fuels or different states of same fuel
Patent
1994-11-07
1996-08-20
Argenbright, Tony M.
Internal-combustion engines
Combustion chamber means having fuel injection only
Injecting diverse fuels or different states of same fuel
123DIG12, 123531, 123533, F02M 4300, F02M 4304, F02M 2510, F02D 1908
Patent
active
055469027
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to the combustion process of an internal combustion engine and particularly to the enhancement of that process to reduce the level of exhaust emissions and/or improve combustion stability and/or otherwise enhance the combustion process.
All major industrial countries currently have regulations relating to the level of exhaust emissions from motor vehicles, particularly passenger type vehicles. The controlling authorities are progressively reducing the permitted level of emissions thereby increasing the demand for greater control of the combustion process of internal combustion engines. The regulations regarding the control of exhaust emissions apply a test procedure wherein engine operation at low to medium load is typically a significant factor and unfortunately these areas of operation of the engine present a substantial difficulty in control of the combustion process.
In the low to medium range of operation of an engine, the rate of fuel consumption is such that the distribution of fuel within the air charge in the combustion chamber is preferably of a stratified nature so that a sufficiently rich mixture exists in the vicinity of the ignition device to provide reliable initiation of combustion. The creation of the stratified fuel distribution is particularly difficult to achieve where the fuel is introduced into the air charge prior to the air charge entering the combustion chamber, particularly as the fuel must be delivered into the air charge at a time related to the engine cycle to ensure that all of the fuel reaches the combustion chamber before the inlet port is closed. Thus there is a substantial time interval for the fuel to disperse in the air charge both in the air intake system and in the combustion chamber before and after closing of the inlet port.
Some degree of success has been achieved in establishing a stratified charge by the use of a fuel injector to deliver the fuel into the air charge at a location only a relatively short distance upstream from the inlet port. This permits relatively late injection of the fuel and restricts the time available for dispersion of the fuel within the air charge. Further improvement has been obtained by the injection of the fuel directly into the combustion chamber. However, this introduces the further problem that the fuel must be injected at a near sonic velocity to achieve the necessary degree of atomisation of the fuel. Moreover, the high velocity also results in a significant dispersion of the fuel within the combustion chamber.
It has also been proposed to introduce an ignition enhancing substance together with the fuel/air charge to assist in the promotion of initial ignition of the fuel. Hydrogen is the preferred enhancing substance to be used in this procedure, but, due to its high rate of dispersion, approximately 10 times faster than oxygen, relatively large quantities of hydrogen are consumed, particularly where the fuel and hydrogen are introduced into the air charge prior to the delivery thereof to the combustion chamber. Also, as it is desirable for practical reasons to produce the hydrogen within the vehicle rather than merely to supply a reservoir of pre-produced hydrogen, the large consumption of hydrogen necessitates a substantial "on-board" hydrogen generating capacity which both consumes energy, occupies space in and adds weight to the vehicle.
It is also known that the introduction of other selected substances into the fuel/air charge in the combustion chamber of an engine can be beneficial to the management of the combustion process. Furthermore, it is also known that the effectiveness of some of these substances is related to the location of the substance within the fuel/air mixture such as its location relative to the combustion chamber walls, the fuel entry to the combustion chamber, the spark plug or like igniter, or the exhaust port. Thus, the ability to supply these substances to a particular location within the combustion chamber under particular engine operating conditions not only contributes to the
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Bell Gregory B.
Gildersleeve Lyle A.
Malss Stephen R.
Paluch John W. D.
Schlunke Christopher K.
Argenbright Tony M.
Orbital Engine Company (Australia) Pty. Limited
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