ES420961A1 - Turbine engine with valved, rotating combustion chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

The engine includes a rotatably supported, axially elongated cylindrical rotor formed with a plurality of equiangularly spaced axially elongated chambers all located at the same radial distance from the rotor axis. Each chamber has a closed inner end and an outer end connected to a respective discharge passage extending through an axial end surface of the rotor. Alternate chambers communicate with one axial end surface of the rotor and intermediate chambers communicate with the opposite axial end surfaces. A pair of stators engage the opposite end surfaces of the rotor, and each is provided with a circular series of radial stator vanes communicating, at the inner radial end, with the discharge passages extending through the respective adjacent end of the rotor. Each end surface of the rotor has a respective circular series of radial rotor vanes communicating at their inner radial ends with the outer radial ends of the associated series of stator vanes. Each chamber has, substantially at its midpoint, a radial fuel supply passage and, as the rotor rotates, the fuel supply passages are sequentially and successively aligned with a fuel supply pipe. Between its fuel supply passage and its discharge passage, each chamber has associated therewith a respective gate which is spring biased to an open position completely clearing the associated chamber and is operable, by a ring cam surrounding the rotor, to be moved to a position closing the associated chamber immediately after fuel has been supplied to the chamber. Adjacent its inner end, each chamber has associated therewith an ignition device, such as a spark plug, which, as the rotor turns, engages an electrical contact to ignite the fuel mixture then in the associated chamber shortly after the associated gate has closed. Following the ignition, the ring cam permits the associated gate to open to that the combustion gases are discharged through the discharge passages into the stator vanes, to propel the rotor by reaction, with the combustion gases being redirected into the rotor vanes to provide a further rotor propelling action and with the combustion gases then being discharged from the radially outer ends of the rotor vanes through discharge passages extending through the stators. The engine is particularly designed for use with a metallic fuel, such as pure metallic dust or a catalyzed metal fuel, with the metallic dust being preferably suspended in a gel which immediately liquifies in the combustion chamber to form a fuel in addition to the metal powder.