CA1124598A - Combustion control system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure System for controlling the flow of water vapour or other non-combustible fluid into an internal combustion engine includes a chamber in.
which there is established a vortex which impedes flow of the fluid. The vortex chamber has an axial inlet for air, exhaust gas and the further fluid and the chamber has a tangential inlet for crankcase gases.

Description

3 ~escription 4 The present invention relates to a control system for an internal combustion engine generally of the ki~d dis-6 closed in US Patent No~ 4,183,338 issued 15th January 1980.
8 Fluids, such as water or water vapor, hav~ hereto-9 fore bee~ added to the induction system of an internal com-bustion system. Ho~ever, the prior art did not obtain the 1~ full benefits which can be obtained by proper regulation of ~2 the amount and condition of added fluid, along with a proper 13 amount of associated heat energy, turbulence~ and with PCY
14 gases and air, at all conditions of engine operation.
16 The engine needs different~mounts of fluid at vary-17 ing conditions of operation of the engine. The engin~ls need 18 for fluid at any particular condition of operation is dependent 19 on the amount and condition of f1uid which will produce the best engine operation at that condition. The best engine operation in-~1 cludes obtaining complete lean, clean combustion with the lowest 22 emissions of HC, C0 and NOX and best fuel economy without detona-23 tion, pre-ignition, or after-fire (dies~ling) plus highest power 24 at full-throttl~. The engine's need for fluid varies widely from no fluid at all under certain conditions of operation to amounts 26 of fluid flow in the same order of magnitude of fuel flow at 27 other conditions of engine operation. For example, the engine's 28 need for fluid is zero at engine shut-off as no liquid can be 29 permitted to flow into the engine when the engine is shu~ off.
If the liquid flvw into the engine were to be permitted at 31 shut-of, corrosion and or liquid lock could occur.

33 At normal, steady,state, low-speed idle, only a trace 34 amount of 1uid, or no fluid at all, is required to ~i~e opti-mum low idle emissions.

37 Increasing quantities of ~luid proportionate to power 38 are required as engine power is increased at each steady,state 39 point.

2 ~~ 8 1 Under dynamic conditions, such as, for example, 2 acceleration at high BMEP, an extra amount of fluid is re-

3 quired over and ~bove operation at a steady-sta~e condition;

4 and, in the case where the fluid is steam, the steam should be of a lower quality, that is, with a certain percentage of 6 water droplets carried with the steam (in order ~o give ma~-7 imum combustion cooling) to keep nitrous oxide emissions with-8 in satisfactory limits.
9 .
~n dec~leration, less fluid is required a~ each point 11 in the deceleration than would be desired for operation at a 12 steady-state at any point (zero fluid at zero throttle decel-13 eration).

The engine's need for fluid is also determined by 16 limiting the 1uld to an amount that will not hur~ the com-17 bustion. For instance, in decelPration, if fluid is not 18 limited, too much fluid can be introduced and cause the com-l9 bustion to be poor. This wlll produce incomplete combustion and will cool the flame sufficiently that undesirable amounts ~1 o~ HC and C0 will be produced Engine efficiency can ~e ser-22 iously impaired. Hydrocarbon deposits also increzse.
~3 2h On acceleration, the engine's need for fluid is de-pendent on introducing the right amoun~ of fluid to absorb 26 excess heat, by i~s high specific heat plus latent heat of 27 evaporization of liquid droplets included (water droplets in 28 the case of steam) plus heat of dissociation; excess engine 29 heat generation would otherwise go toward producing high com-bustion and surface peak temperatures and peak pressures at 31 about top dead center. However, the heat absorption still must 32 be done without introduciTlg too much fluid so as to impair co~-33 bustion with the undesirable ef~ects noted above. By introduc-34 ing the right amo~mt of additional 1uid, the energy is absorb-ed as energy in steam (in the case where the fluid is water) 36 which is given back during the latter part of the cycle as ex-37 pansion of the steam. This adds smoothly a~ favorable crank 38 angle to ~he p~wer st.oke alld ~orque of ~he engine. ~he right L5~13 ,. . .
1 amount of additional 1uid at this point, therefore~ prevents 2 hot spots and smooths the pressure and temperature and energy - 3 conversion.
4 ~
Also~ the righ~ amount of fluid needs to be intro-6 duced to provide for engine cleanliness. The right amount of 7 fluid will provide both clean combustion and removal of engine 8 deposits.
9 ' Further, it is needed to inject the right amount of 11 fluid and heat in order to heat and thereby to vaporize the 12 fuel to give equal fuel-air rati.o distribution and mass dis-13 tributi~n among the cylinders. This gives maximum economy 14 and lowest emissions.
16 Extra charge density can be provided by introducing 17 1uid droplets in the fuel-air mixture charge at full throttle 18 or high power operation. The fluid droplets, if introduced in-19 to the cylinder at the proper time before valve closure, cool ~ the charge so as to increase the charge density before the 21 valve clos~re, and thus, in effect, provide a form of super-22 charging, 24 Other inventors have not recogniæed these problems and have not implemented any control mechanism effective to 26 produce the benefits which can be obtained by controlling the 27 amount of added ~luid and heat energy in response to engine 28 need at each condition of operation of the engine.
., . ~9 Prior attempts to introduce 1uids into the engine 31 have relied primarily on intake manifold vacuum as the driving 32 force to induce liquid flow. This has the disadvantage of 33 having the greatest vacuum (and hence the larger driving force 34 for liquid 10w) at the conditions when the engine needs the least or no addition of liquid ~throttle closed). In addition, 36 when the engine requires the greatest liquid flow (acceleration 37 or heavy load) manifold vacllum is at a minimum. The present ~ 4 S~
1 invention provides fluid flow when needed by the en~ine 2 and not necessarily just when most easily injected by intake 3 manifold vacuum.
It is a primary object of the present invention to ~ control the added amount of fluid and heat energy, turbulence, 7 PCV gases, and air, in relation to engine need at all con-8 ditions of operation of the engine to obtai~ the benefits as g described above.
11 From one aspect, the present invention provides a 12 fluidic computer which provides the basic function of con-13 trolling the amount of fluid added, with the proper amount 14 of heat from $he exhaust gases, turbulence, positive crankcase ventilation ~PCV) gases, and air in response to the engine's 16 need for the added fluid at each condition of operation of 17 the engine.
19 The fluidic compu~er of this aspect of the present invention accomplishes this control function with no moving 21 parts It uses, as one input, the exhaust gas from the mani-2Z fo'd near one cylinder. It also uses the additional inputs of 23 PCV gases from the PCV valve outlet (preferably with the 24 valve removed~, fluid (in a particular embodiment, watex) from a reservoir providea in the system, and a~mospheric air.

3 27 In a preferred embodiment, the mixed liquid, exhaust 28 gases, PC~ gases, and air are admitted to the induction system 29 of the engine at the PCV inlet below the butter~ly valve.
31 The fluidic computer of this aspect of the present 32 invention utilizes the changing vacuum condition at the PCV inlet 33 in combination with the changing exhaust gas pressure and 34 temperature, to control the quantity and quality of the liquid and also to control (in proper relationship to the liquid) 36 the amounts and proportions of each of the gases: exhaust, 37 PCV, and air added~ It achieves this control by means of a numb~r 38 of control variables provided by the fluidic computer system 39 itself, and supplies the proper amounts~o~ each of these inputs for each condition o~ engine operation.
An important optional ~eature o~ the control sy~tem of the present invention is a varia~le impedance $10w control mechanism. The control mechanism produces an impedance to $10w through the mechanism which varies in a non-linear relationship to the pressure dlfferential across the con~rol mechanism.
In a pre$erred em~odiment of the present invention this flo~ control mechanism ~5` a main or primary vortex chamb.er having an outlet coDnected to the PCV inlet and having inputs connected to two additional variable impedance flo~
control mechanisms.
In this particular em~odiment, two parallel ejectors ln a pipe connect-ing the exhaust gases to a central axial opening o$ the vortex cham~er are used to dra~ in the needed amounts of air and aqueous fluid and send them into the ~ortex cham6er, without a coupling between the aqueous fluid ejector outlet and the intake manifold vacuum. PC~ gases are sent by a noz~le to a tangential inlet into the vortex chamber.
In accordance ~ith.the present invention, there is provided a comhus~
tion control system for an engine having an intake manifold with.a throttle, a PCV gas inlet opening into said intake mani$old, and an exhaust, including ln com~inatlon: a vortex device having a vortex chamber ~ith a tangential lnlet, a second inletland an axial outlet connected to said PCV gas inlet opening of said inta~e manifold, said tangential inlet o$ said vortex de~ice being connected to a supply~of gas at su~stantially atmospheric pressure, and an exhaust gas cun-duit connecting the other said inle~ o~ said vortex device to said engine e.xhaust.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there ~s provided a combustion control system for an engine having an intake manifold with a throttle, a PCV gas inlet opening .into said intake manifold, and an exhaust, in cluding in com~ination: a vortex device having a vortex chamber ~ith a tangential inlet, and an axial outlet connected to said PCV gas inlet opening o~ said in-take manifold, one said inlet of said vortex devicc ~eing connected to one fluld conduit, an exhaust gas conduit connecting the other said inlet of said vortex device to said engine exhaust, and ejector means in exhaust gas conduit for pump-ing an additional fluid into said exhaust gas conduit and sending it into sald vortex chamBer.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a combustion control system for an engine having an intake manifold with a throttle, a PCV gas inlet opening into said intake mani~old, an exhaust manifold, and a PCV gas conduit, including in combination: a vortex device having a vortex chamber with a tangential inlet connected to said PCV gas conduit, a central axial inlet, and an axial outlet connected to said PCV gas inlet openlng of said intake manifold, an exhaust gas conduit connecting sald exhaust manifold to said axial inlet and having first and second parallel ejectors, with an air inlet open-ing beyond said first ejector, thl~ough which air is pulIed lnto sald conduit by the action of the exhaust gas passing through said first ejector, a gas outlet beyond said second ejector, through which some of said exhaust gas is expelled, and a fluid inlet between said gas outlet and sald second ejector, a fluid re-servoir connected by a conduit to said fluid inlet, and an air intake opening connected to said air inlet opening regulating air intake into said exhaust gas conduit.
~ n accordance with anot~er aspect of the invention, t~ere ls provided a combus~tion control system for an engine having an intake manifold with a butter-fly valve, a PCV gas inlet opening into said intake manifold, and exhaust mani-old, and a PCV gas conduit, including in ccmbination: a vortex device having a vortex chamber with a tangential inlet and a central axial inlet, and a cusp-like curved wall leading to an axial outlet, a first venturi tube connecting said ,: ': ' ~ \

axial outlet to s~id PC~ gas inle~ opening o~ said intake mcmi~old, a second venturi tu~e connecting said tangen-tial inlet to said PC~ gas conduit, an ex-haust gas conduit connecting said ex~laust mani~old to said axial inlet and hav-ing therein first and second parallel ejectors, with an air inlet opening beyond said first ejector, through which air ls pulled in by ~he action of the exhaust gas passing through said first ejector, a gas outlet beyond said second ejector, through which some of said exhaust gas is expelled, and a fluid inlet between said gas outlet and said second ejector, a fluid reservoir connected by a conduit to said fluid inlet, and a needle valve adjacent to said air inlet opening re-gulating air intake into said exhaust gas conduit at an air intake opening, saidair lntake opening being spaced from and yet close to and in alignment with said gas outlet, so that the gas therein and the fluid contained therein are fed to said air ~ntake in a manner avoiding coupling of the fluid intake to said intake manifold.
In accordance with another aspect o~ the invention, there i5 provided a com~ustion control sy-stem ~or an engine having an intake mani~old with a butter-~ly valve, a PC~ gas inlet opening into said intake manifold helo~ said butterfl~
valve, an exhaust ma~ifold, and a PCV gas conduit, including in comhination:
a vortex device hav~ng a vortex chamber ~ith a tangential inlet and a central 2Q ax~al inlet into an end wall, and a second tapercd and curved end wall leading to an axial outlet, a first venturi tube connecting said axial outlet to said PCV gas inlet opening of said intake manifold~ a seoond venturi tube connecting said tangential inlet to said PCV gas conduit, an exhaust gas conduit connecting said exhaust manifold to said axial inlet and having therein a first ejector ancl an air inlet opening between said first ejector and said axial inlet, through which air is pulled in by the action of the exhaust gas passing thr~ugh said first ejector, an auxiliar~ condu-it snlaller in diameter than sa-id exhaust gas

5~3 conduit and openi~ng from i~t a~ead o~ saicl-~irst e~ector, said auxiliary conduit ~avlng a s-econd e~ector therein, a gas outlet beyond said second ejector, and a ~luid lnlet ~etween sald gas outlet and said second ejector, a fluid reservoir c~nnected By~a conduit to said fluid lnlet, and a needle valve adjacent to said alr inlet opening regulating air intake into said exhaust gas conduit at an air intake opening, said alr intake opening being spaced from and yet close to and ln alignment wit~ sald gas outlet, so that the gas therein and the fluid con-tained therein are fed to said a~r intake in a manner avoiding coupling of the fluid intake to said intake manlold~
Brlef Description of the Drawings In the drawings:
Flgure 1 is a view in elevation and ln section o a combustion control system embodying the principles of the invention.
Figure 2 is a view in section taken along the line 2 - 2 in Figure 1.
~ igure 3 is a detail view of a scoop for taking low-pressure gas from the exhaust manifold.

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:

- ~.245~8 1 Description of a Preerred Embodiment I

2 Fig. l sho~s a vortex unit 120 connected to an 3 intake manifold 2li below a butterfly valve 25 and preferably 4 using a standard PCV valve entrance 23 therewith. The con-nection between the vortex unit 120 and thc intake manifold

6 24 may be substantially the same as in Fig. 1 of

7 U~S...Patent No. 4 183 338

8 or if desired the grooves 84 shown there may be .

9 omitted. In the present form of the invention,.the PCV g~ses may flow pas~ a PCV valve 121, through a conduit 122,.and via 11 a small orifîce or nozzle 123 ~angen~ially enter a vortex cham-12 ber 124 in the vortex unit 120, shown also in Fig. 2. Actually~
13 the PCV valve 121 exercises little, if any, control and may be 14 removed and discarded, the main control being at the vortex 124 itself; In most instances the PCV valve, if let in place, will 16 ~ot even move, and the total control is exercised at the vortex 17 -124.

19 Gas under pressure is picked up from an exhaust mani-fold 125 and conducted through a conduit 126. If desired, as 21 shown in Fig. 3, there may be a scoop 127 to aid in getting 22 the gases from the exhaus~ manifold 125 to flow in~o the tube 23 126. The scoop 127 is not required unless there is a low back 24 pressure due to exhaust system tuning or the absence of a muffler. In distinction to the device of US Patent No. 4 183 338 26 the vortex unit 120 is placed as close as possible to the in-27 take manifold 24 and need not be as close to the exhaust mani-28 fold 125. The conduit 126 may be a stainless steel tube and 29 may be provided with suitable insulation to retain heat. Pre-ferably, the conduit 126 is relatively small in diameter to 31 avoid hea~ losses also. For example, on larger automotive 32 engines, thin-wall tubing with an outer diameter of about 1/4 33 inch and ~Jith a wall thickness of about 0.020 inch may be 34 used; for smaller engines the conduit 126 may have an outer diameter o about 3/16 inch.

37 The conduit 126 leads into the axial center line o~
38 the vortex unit 120 at an inlet 128. In the conduit 12`6 ahead I

1 of the inlet 128, is a first ejector 130 which is used to pull 2 air into the conduit 126 through an inlet port 131. Carbon de-3 posits are avoided by omitting any diffuser section and simply 4 following the ejec~or with the full inner diameter o~ the con-S duit 126. By spacing the ejector 130 well ahead of the inlet 6 128 -- by at least ~wice the diameter of ~he ejector nozzle, good 7 ejector pumping is obtained . The amount o air which can be - !
8 drawn into the conduit 126 is controlled by a needle valve 132, i.
9 A.spring 133 may be used to keep the needle v,lve 132 from turning accid~ntally, due to ~ibration. ~he needle valve 132 11 controls an air intake orifice 134 by axial threaded adjustment.

13 ; A reservoir 135 for water or the like, is provided with 14 a conduit 136 which leads up to a constant diameter (e,g., dril-led) outlet 137 just beyond a second ejector 140 in parallel 16 with the ejector 130. Exhaust gas f~o~ the conduit 126 passes 17 by a passage 141 to the ejector 140, and an outlet 142 ejects 18 the moisture ladden air to atmosphere. This outlet l42 is about l9 1/8 inch from the exit of the outlet 137, and the outlet 137 is in line and spaced only about l/4 inch from the air intake 134 21 for the needle valve 132, so that when the strea~ pressure builds 22 up through the ejector 140 it carries mois~ure in~o the inlet 134 23 and therefore via the ~alve 132 and the port 131 into the vortex 24 124. .
26 An important feature of this emb,_,di~ent of the invention is thatit 27 prevents any coupling of the intake manifold pressure to the water 28 outlet 137, which, if it took place would by itself draw water 29 into the vortex 134 in excessive amounts~ By having the outlet 137 separated from the inlet 134, with atmospheric pressure air 31 space in between, such coupling is positively prevented, and 32 instead there is a decoupling. The unc~ion is, of course, to 33 prevent excess amounts o moisture ~rom being drawn in due to a 34 coupLing effect. It is important that there be no~coupling at all under engine idle conditions and decelera~ion conditions, 36 when no additional moisture is desired, and ~his, o course, is 37 the time when the vacuum in the intake man;fold is highest and 38 most likely to cause coupling were the structure differen~ and

- 10 -. ' ~
::

r - ~9 291L~8 . ' ' i .
-1 were the water connected directly into the inlet 128.
2 !
3 The operation of the device of Figs. 1 and ~ is as ~ follows: The PCV products come in through the orifice 123 tangent~ially into the vortex 12b~. As shown in Fig. 2 9 the~e 6 gases may rotate cloc~wise, and this would be the ideal arrange-7 ment for southern hemisphere operations and the equivalent; the 8 opposite (counter-clockwise) rotation would be used in the north-g er-n hemisphere. Thus, the PCV gases are initiaLly separated from and are ~herefore not greatly heated by the exhaust gases. Mean-

11 while, the exhaust gases are being cooled by the air and the

12 water. The rotating PCV products put also into rotation the ex-

13 haust gas, the air and the water which enter into the center of ~4 the vortex 124. These together in rotation create a choking action at the exit 143 o~ the vo~tex 120, and this results in a 16 high impedance to fluid flow-through past the exit 143 thro~gh 17 ~ venturi-like member 144 into the intake manifold 24. To pre-18 vent deposit of solids, the venturi 144 should diverge on its 19 outlet side by no more than about 12 and preferably less than ~ 6, and the vortex 124 s~vuld have its tapered or curved wall, 21 pre~erably sh~ped like a cusp cur~e, curved quite smoothly into 22 the venturi inlet. The venturi-like orifice 143 has a minimum 23 cross-sectional area designed to accelerate the gas flow to a 24 sonic velocity at its narrowed point. The optimum cross-sectional ~5 area is a l;near function of the cubic displacement of the engine.
26 Nevertheless, a very high degree of rotational energy does enter 27 below the butterfly valve 25 and creates a high degree of tur-28 bulence as it intermixes with the fuel and the air of the car-29 burator. This turbulence is a great deal of help in providing much more uniform mixing of the fuel-air mix~ure, and in the case, 31 also of the added exhaust heat, moisture when provided, air, and 32 the PCV products. It also is the means by which the flow of PCV
33 products is itself properly monitored, as it provldes a high impe-34 dance to flow at deceleration and idle so that only a small amount of PCV products then flow. As the butterfly valve 25 is opened and 36 the vacuum in the in~ake manifold 24 decreases such that at full-37 throttle it is only 1/2 inch, mercury, approximately.

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1 This, then, reduces the amount of difference in pres-2 sure between the intake manifold 24 and the atmospheric pres-3 sure a~ the PCV tube entrance, (i.e., essentially atmospheric 4 pressur~) at the PCV valve 121.
S ' ' , I
6 At full throttle, because of the low pressure dif-7 ferential across the vortex 124, (the PCV tangent entrance 123 8 is at one atmosphere and the intake manifold ~4 is only 1/2 9 inch Hg below atmosphere at full-~hrot~le), there is almost no force to create tangential flow. Consequently, vortex rotation-11 al flow essentially stops at full-throt~le, and ~he impedance 12 to flow through the vortex 1~4 including the vortex choke point 13 143 is subs~antially zero. There~ore, flow is maximum.
~4 As the throttle 25 is gradually closed, the intake l6 manifold ~acuum gradually increases, thus increasing the pres-17 sure differential across the vortex 124. The higher the vacuum 18 the higher the tangent PCV mass flow momentum with i~s resultant 19 increased impedance to fluid flow at the orifice 143. Consér-vation of momentum causes the mass in rotation to accelerate 21 to higher and higher rotational speeds as the radius of rotation 2Z decreases. The axial flow becomes very small as the rotational 23 speed increases. With this ~he axia~ flow of all fluids becomes 24 very low.
~S
26 Because of the high pressure differential at the exit 27 143, there is no appreciable pressure dif~erential across the 28 PCV valve 121> and that valve stays full open. In fact, in the 29 ideal situation, the PCV val~e is removed, and a plastic shell having the same shape may be substituted at this point. The 31 PCV products are controlled, therefore, by the vortex generator 32 120 and the impedance created at the exit 143. This same vary-33 ing impedance at the exit 143 for the same reason, controls the 34 total mass flow that comes in wi~h exhaust heat, past the ejector 130 and the amount of water and air that are allowed to come in, 36 because the major impedance to the whole system is controlled at 37 ~he exit 143. The ratios of ~.he amount of exhaus~ gas and air 38 and the PCV product~ are controlled by the ratio of the orifices ~2~5~3 1 con~rolling each one.
3 The needle valve ~32 is also useful in providing an 4 adjustment for idle air control in cars where the former ad-Justability of the idle mixture control valve has been taken 6 away.
8 O~e of the key features shown in Fig. 1 is that of 9 reducing the amount of energy used in the control system.In the ~ arrangement disclosed in IJS..Patent 4 ,183, 338 there is used rotatio-11 nal energy for each of the major controls rwhich ener~y than ~ c~mon 12 when the ejector 130 i9 used and when orifices accomplish the 13 6ame flow control and preser~e the maximum amount of energy,

14 which is in a form of pressure differential so that it can appear across the vortex 120 to create the maximum amount of 16 ~urbulence as it leaves the vortex generator; thus, the max-17 imum amount of turbulence enters below the butterfly ~alve 18 and causes the maximum amount of mixiIlg of the fuel-air products 19 before the mixture r~aches the combustion chamber.
21 Fig. 1 also shows a significant em~odiment enabling 2~ rapid installation and also rapid part changes and adjustments.
23 Thus, the exhaust gas conduit I26 may, as shown, be made in 24 three sections 150, 151, and 152, the sections 150 and 152 ~5 being straight and the section 151 as below. The section or 26 f tting 152 has a threaded end 153 that fits int~ a threaded 27 opening 154 in the exhaust manifold 125, and a hexagonal ,flange 28 1~5 near i~s center. The section 152 may have a ~hreaded end 156 ~9 joined to the section 151 by a standard swage type fitting 1S6 with a seal 158. An identical fitting 157 may be used to ioin 3~ the sections 151 and 150. Insulation is not illustrated but is 32 preferably provided around the full length o the conduit 126, 33 and also around the vortex member 120 and other parts that are 34 to be kept hot. The section 150 may be secured to the vortex member 120 by a slip fit and held in place by a set screw 159, 36 or the members 120 and lS0 may be m~de as a single piece or 37 brazed together.

1 The first ej ector 130 may be slipped inside the tube 2 section 150 and held in place by a set screw 160, enabling 3 some adjustment longitudinally, or may be made as a ~ingle 4 piece, if desired. Similarily, ~he venturi tube 144 may be 5 held in a connecting tube 161 (which connects the vortex mem-~ ber 120 to the intake manifold 24) by a se~ screw 162. With 7 this structure, ~he venturi tube 144 is easily replaced (as B f or a change in sizes), as is the first ejector 130. This also 9 applies to a venturi tube 163 which supplies the nozzle 123;
it fits into the tube 122 and is held in place at a desired 11 location by a set screw 164. A~ain, unitary cons~ruction ~ay 12 be provided, if desired.
) 13 14 The needle valve 132 may be in a ~ousing 165 that may be made as a unitary part of the section lS0, as by casting, or 16 may be brazed thereto. Similarilyl the second ejector 140 may 17 be located in a member 166 that may be an integral portion of 18 the section 150 or brazed thereto. If cast with the sec~ion 19 150, it may be split into two pieces to provide the passage 14I or may be drilled and plu~ged; i~ brazed, the passages are provided 21 very simply,-and there will be a plug 167 inserted at the dead 22 end. A set screw 168 may hold the second ejector 140 in place.

24 The vortex member 120 may be made in two pieces 170 ~5 and 171, if desired, as shown. The tube 161 and the venturi 26 tube 144 may be integral parts of the piece 171, if desired.
27 Press fits may be used instead of threading, of course~

29 The various sizes of the parts vary, according to such things as the engine displacement. As an example, or a 225 31 cubic inch displacement, six-cylinder engine, here are some ex-32 amples of a workable structure and the best I have made so far:

5~?8 1 ELEMENT ' LENGTll DIAMETER ORIFICE
. ~ - I
3 Ej ector 130 1~2" 1/4i' 0.080"
4 Ejectox 140* 3/8" . 1/8" 0.038"
5 PCV Venturi 1633/4" .1/4" 0.112"
6 Outlet Venturi 144 1" 1/4" 0.170"
. 7 3 * The orifice outlet 137 is 0.052 inch in diameter, to go into 9 the 0.038 inch orifice, and the fluid outlet 142 is spaced 1/8 inch from the exit of the outlet 137, which is about 114 11 inch from the air inlet 134.

? 13 The control assembly, comprising the assembled vortex 14 member 120 along wi~h the section 150 (including the installed lS ejector 130, the ~ide passage 141 and its installed ejector 14Q9 ,~
16 and the needle valve assembly 132, 133, 165),~he tube 122 (with 17 its installed venturi tube 163), and the connection tube 161 18 (with i~s installed venturi tube 143) is readily installed in 19 the engine. A flexible hose 172 is used to connec~ the tube : 20 161 to a ~itting 173 at the PCV inlet 23~ Similarily, a flexible 21 hose 174 of any sui~able leng~h may be used ~o connect the tube ~2 122 to a tube portion 175 of the PCV valve housing 176. Then 23 the sections 151 and 152 and the conduit 136 may be connected 24 to the section 150.
`26 i 37

- 15 -

Claims (20)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A combustion control system for an engine having an intake manifold with a throttle, a PCV gas inlet opening into said intake manifold, and an exhaust, including in combination:
a vortex device having a vortex chamber with a tangential inlet, a second inlet, and an axial outlet connected to said PCV gas inlet opening of said intake manifold, said tangential inlet of said vortex device being con-nected to a supply of gas at substantially atmospheric pressure, and an exhaust gas conduit connecting the other said inlet of said vortex device to said engine exhaust.

2. The system of claim 1 in which said gas at atmospheric pressure is air.

3. The system of claim 1 in which said gas at atmospheric pressure is PCV gas.

4. The system of claim 1 having a liquid reservoir connected by a con-duit to said exhaust gas conduit, and means actuated by said exhaust gas for drawing from said reservoir thereinto.

5. The system of either of claims 1 or 4 wherein said second inlet is an axial inlet into said vortex chamber.

6. The system of claim 4 having means for decoupling intake manifold vacuum from said means for drawing liquid.

7. The system of claim 1 having means for sending the total pressure in said engine exhaust into said exhaust gas conduit.

8. A combustion control system for an engine having an intake manifold with a throttle, a PCV gas inlet opening into said intake manifold, and an ex-haust, including in combination:
a vortex device having a vortex chamber with tangential inlet, a second inlet, and an axial outlet connected to said PCV gas inlet opening of said intake manifold, one said inlet of said vortex device being connected to one fluid conduit, an exhaust gas conduit connecting the other said inlet of said vortex device to said engine exhaust, and ejector means in exhaust gas conduit for pumping an additional fluid into said exhaust gas conduit and sending it into said vortex chamber.

9. The system of claim 8 in which PCV gas is connected to the tangential inlet.

10. The system of claim 8 in which atmospheric air is said additional fluid.

11. The system of claim 8 having a liquid reservoir connected by a conduit to said ejector means, said liquid being said additional fluid.

12. The system of either of claims 8 or 11 wherein said second inlet is an axial inlet into said vortex chamber.

13. The system of claim 11 having means for decoupling the intake mani-fold vacuum from said ejector means.

14. The system of claim 8 having scoop means joining said engine exhaust to said exhaust gas conduit for sending into said exhaust gas conduit the total exhaust pressure resulting from both the static head and the velocity head.

15. The system of claim 8 wherein said ejector means comprises first ejector means for drawing in atmospheric air and second ejector means for draw-ing in liquid from a source of liquid and sending it into the atmospheric air drawn in by said first ejector means.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein said second ejector means sends ex-haust gas and said liquid to an air intake from said second ejector means across an open space, thereby decoupling the intake of liquid from the pressure in the intake manifold.

17. A combustion control system for an engine having an intake manifold with a throttle, a PCV gas inlet opening into said intake manifold, an exhaust manifold, and a PCV gas conduit, including in combination:
a vortex device having a vortex chamber with a tangential inlet con-nected to said PCV gas conduit, a central axial inlet, and an axial outlet connected to said PCV gas inlet opening of said intake manifold, an exhaust gas conduit connecting said exhaust manifold to said axial inlet and having first and second parallel ejectors, with an air inlet opening beyond said first ejector, through which air is pulled into said conduit by the action of the exhaust gas passing through said first ejector, a gas outlet beyond said second ejector, through which some of said exhaust gas is expelled, and a fluid inlet between said gas outlet and said second ejector, a fluid reservoir connected by a conduit to said fluid inlet, and an air intake opening connected to said air inlet opening regulating air intake into said exhaust gas conduit.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said air intake opening is spaced from and yet close to and in alignment with said gas outlet, so that the gas therein and the fluid contained therein are fed to said air intake in a manner avoiding coupling of the fluid intake to said intake manifold pressure.

19. A combustion control system for an engine having an intake manifold with a butterfly valve, a PCV gas inlet opening into said intake manifold, and exhaust manifold, and a PCV gas conduit, including in combination:
a vortex device having a vortex chamber with a tangential inlet and a central axial inlet, and a cusp-like curved wall leading to an axial outlet, a first venturi tube connecting said axial outlet to said PCV gas inlet opening of said intake manifold, a second venturi tube connecting said tangential inlet to said PCV gas conduit, an exhaust gas conduit connecting said exhaust manifold to said axial inlet and having therein first and second parallel ejectors, with an air inlet opening beyond said first ejector, through which air is pulled in by the action of the exhaust gas passing through said first ejector, a gas outlet beyond said second ejector, through which some of said exhaust gas is expelled, and a fluid inlet between said gas outlet and said second ejector.
a fluid reservoir connected by a conduit to said fluid inlet, and a needle valve adjacent to said air inlet opening regulating air intake into said exhaust gas conduit at an air intake opening, said air intake opening being spaced from and yet close to and in alignment with said gas outlet, so that the gas therein and the fluid contained therein are fed to said air intake in a manner avoiding coupling of the fluid intake to said intake manifold.

20. A combustion control system for an engine having an intake manifold with a butterfly valve, a PCV gas inlet opening into said intake manifold below said butterfly valve, an exhaust manifold, and a PCV gas conduit, including in combination:

a vortex device having a vortex chamber with a tangential inlet and a central axial inlet into an end wall, and a second tapered and curved end wall leading to an axial outlet, a first venturi tube connecting said axial outlet to said PCV gas in-let opening of said intake manifold, a second venturi tube connecting said tangential inlet to said PCV gas conduit.
an exhaust gas conduit connecting said exhaust manifold to said axial inlet and having therein a first ejector and an air inlet opening between said first ejector and said axial inlet, through which air is pulled in by the actionof the exhaust gas passing through said first ejector, an auxiliary conduit smaller in diameter than said exhaust gas conduit and opening from it ahead of said first ejector, said auxiliary conduit having asecond ejector therein, a gas outlet beyond said second ejector, and a fluid inlet between said gas outlet and said second ejector, a fluid reservoir connected by a conduit to said fluid inlet, and a needle valve adjacent to said air inlet opening regulating air intake into said exhaust gas conduit at an air intake opening, said air intake opening being spaced from and yet close to and in alignment with said gas outlet, so that the gas therein and the fluid contained therein are fed to said air intake in a manner avoiding coupling of the fluid intake to said intake manifold.