FR3041701A1 - MOTOR DEVICE COMPRISING A TURBINE, IN PARTICULAR FOR MOTOR VEHICLES - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an internal combustion type engine device comprising a combustion chamber (6) which allows the combustion of an air / fuel mixture. A compressor (1) compresses air (2) taken from the ambient medium to introduce it into the antechamber (3). When the valve (4) is closed, the pressure of the air increases in the prechamber (3). When the valve (4), which separates the prechamber (3) from the combustion chamber (6), opens under the action of the actuator (5), the air is introduced quickly into the combustion chamber (6), mixes with the fuel fed by a conduit (8) to an injector (7), open at the desired time, and the air / fuel mixture gradually filled the combustion chamber. Then the valve (4) is closed and the mixture is ignited by several candles (9) by shifting their ignition in time to increase the pressure of the mixture, all managed by a computer. The candles can be replaced by lasers for a more targeted ignition in space and time. The ejected gases (10) rotate a turbine (11) which produces mechanical energy transformable into electrical energy by an electric generator (12).

Description

The present invention relates to an internal combustion type engine device comprising a combustion chamber which allows the combustion of a lean air / fuel mixture, which does not comprise a piston-connecting rod-crankshaft assembly of a conventional four-stroke engine. .

Although the four-stroke internal combustion engine has been in existence for more than a century, it is still often improved today to increase its performance while trying to reduce pollutant emissions to meet the standards. increasingly restrictive in terms of pollution.

These constraints lead to more and more complex engines that are expensive to buy and maintain.

Compared to the state of the prior art, the device according to the invention is of relatively simple construction, without piston or rod or crankshaft and its design tends to reduce its pollutant emissions compared to a conventional internal combustion engine, quantity of fuel consumed equal.

The device comprises means for compressing air such as a pump or a compressor which introduces from air taken in the ambient medium, pressurized air into a prechamber to which is juxtaposed an alternating means controlled by opening and closing the passage of this air under pressure or other fluid to a combustion chamber, means for injecting a fuel such as at least one injector, at least one means for guiding said injected fuel, said fuel forming with said air under pressure a lean air / fuel mixture which is periodically ignited, when said alternating means controlled to open and close the passage is closed, by an ignition means such as at least one spark plug, the combustion of said air / fuel mixture producing an increase in the temperature and pressure of the fluids converted into burnt gases, which makes them exit through an opening of the combustion chamber and they are introduced into a urbine, actuated in rotation by said burnt gases, said turbine mechanically driving said means for compressing the air and at least one other device to which it provides mechanical energy for example a pump or an electric generator which transforms this mechanical energy In electrical energy usable for the accessories of the present device and / or for use outside the present device, a starting means can actuate the turbine in rotation to start its rotational movement.

Compared with a four-stroke engine, the oil deposited on the cylinders is no longer present in the present device or the fuel deposited on the walls of the cylinder and the piston, especially during a direct injection, two elements which, after combustion under poor conditions, form a large proportion of the pollutants released by this four-stroke engine, regardless of the fuel.

According to particular embodiments; a second alternating means, controlled, to open and close the passage of the fluids may be associated with the combustion chamber to allow or to prohibit alternately the passage of fluids, disposed between the combustion chamber and the turbine; the ignition means of the air / fuel mixture in the combustion chamber may consist of a plurality of spark plugs which may be arranged around the ignition chamber, circularly if the combustion chamber is cylindrical, or transverse to the combustion chamber, the ignition for the combustion of the same volume of air / fuel mixture can be done once, twice, three times or more than three times, - several rows of candles d ignition of the air / fuel mixture can be arranged around the ignition chamber and ignition can be delayed in time for at least one of the spark plugs, for the ignition of the same volume of air / fuel mixture In the same combustion cycle, the ignition means of the air / fuel mixture can be constituted by at least one means using a laser beam, at least one laser beam ignition means can have the beam which acts. in the longitudinal direction of the combustion chamber, at least one means may allow the injection of water or water vapor into the combustion chamber and / or into the antechamber, at least part of this water or this water vapor can come from a cooling means of the wall of the combustion chamber, - a fuel injection means can be arranged in the antechamber, - the antechamber and / or the combustion chamber can comprise at least one injected fuel guiding means, mixed at least partly with the injected air, towards the axis or the middle of the combustion chamber, out of contact with the walls of the prechamber and / or the chamber of combustion. a part of the burnt gases leaving the combustion chamber and / or the turbine driven by these gases can be introduced into the combustion chamber either directly or indirectly, for example, through the inlet of the air compressor supplying the prechamber; , or by the antechamber.

In the present description, unless otherwise indicated, the following terms and expressions are used in the indicated direction, for simplification of writing: a "valve" is an "alternative means controlled to open and close the passage of this air under pressure or other fluid "or" a second alternative means, controlled, to open and close the passage of fluids ". an "injector" is a "means of injecting a fuel such as at least one injector". - A "candle" is an "ignition means such as at least one spark plug". a "laser" is a "laser ignition means". a "guide" is a "means for guiding the injected fuel and the air passing through this guide". a "compressor" is a "means of compressing air such as a pump or a compressor".

The accompanying drawings illustrate schematically the invention:

FIG. 1 represents the device of the invention in one of its forms,

FIG. 2 represents, enlarged, a portion of the injection means and a means for guiding the injected fuel of the figurel,

Figure 3 shows a variant of the device with a second means of opening or closing the passage of fluids, those coming out of the combustion chamber.

Figure 4 partially shows a variant of the device in which the fuel injection is performed in the prechamber.

FIG. 5 partially represents a variant of the device in which the section of the combustion chamber decreases as it approaches the outlet of the flue gases.

FIG. 6 partially represents a variant of the device in which the ignition means comprises an element more or less in the axis of the combustion chamber. FIG. 7 partially represents a variant of the device in which at least one of the elements of the ignition means ignition is a means using a laser beam.

FIG. 8 partially represents a variant of the device of which at least two laser beam ignition means are more or less close to the axis of the combustion chamber.

FIG. 9 partially represents a variant of the device in which a means for guiding the injected fuel has a particular shape.

Figure 10 partially shows a variant of the device in which is disposed a means for injecting water or water vapor.

FIG. 11 partially represents a variant of the device in which the antechamber has a larger section, of its internal cavity, on the side of the air inlet coming from the compressor than on the side of the air outlet in contact with the valve. .

Referring to Figure 1, in a first non-limiting embodiment, the device comprises a compressor (1) which compresses air (2) taken from the environment to introduce it into the prechamber (3). A valve (4), this first embodiment has only one but the device may comprise two, juxtaposed with the prechamber (3), separates the prechamber (3) from the combustion chamber (6). This valve (4), when open, allows maximum passage of the fluids contained in (3) through a maximum opening. In an operating cycle, when the valve (4) is closed, the air pressure increases in the prechamber (3). When the valve (4) opens under the action of the actuator (5), the air is introduced quickly into the combustion chamber (6), mixed with the fuel supplied by at least one duct (8). ) to at least one injector (7), located in the combustion chamber (6), open and injecting fuel at the desired time, and the air / fuel mixture gradually filled the combustion chamber. Any fuel return line is part of a known technology and is neither explained nor illustrated. Then the valve (4) is controlled to close.

The air / fuel mixture does not immediately escape through the other end of (6) because there remains a little pressure of the combustion of the previous cycle, and at this end the gas outlet is tightened and the cycle is very fast .

An electronic computer, not shown, manages the operation of the assembly and therefore the ignition in the combustion chamber when the air / fuel mixture fills it at best. Said mixture is then relatively weakly compressed gold, it is known that the efficiency of this combustion is even higher than the pressure is high. To increase the pressure of said mixture, ignition is done in several times in a very short time managed by said computer. Several solutions are usable and forming part of the invention. For example, initially, the spark plug (s) that (9) closest to the end of the combustion chamber, the output side of the gas, lights the air / fuel mixture that begins to burn by producing heat and increasing the volume of all the fluids present, which has the effect, on the one hand, of starting to extract some of the burnt gases from the combustion chamber and, on the other hand, to compress the rest of the air / fuel mixture contained in the combustion chamber and not yet ignited. The other candle (s) ignites then that part of the mixture which is strongly compressed at a time managed by said computer in one or more successive ignitions for the same cycle and the same volume of mixing. Ignition for combustion of the same volume of air / fuel mixture can be done at once, twice, three times or more than three times depending on the shape of the combustion chamber and the fuel used. Candles may not be implanted regularly.

The air / fuel mixture can be ignited starting with at least one of the candles without necessarily being at one end of the combustion chamber.

The air / fuel mixture produced, in all cases of the present device, is a lean mixture, it is managed so that in no case it can be detonating which could destroy the device. It is in all cases combustion whose flame speed is low compared to the speed of propagation of a detonation. With respect to a detonation, this low rate of propagation of the combustion makes it possible to manage the combustion with several ignitions in the same cycle, for the same volume of air / fuel mixture in the combustion chamber.

In the operation of a direct injection four-stroke internal combustion engine, it is known that a significant part of the pollutant emissions is due to the fuel sprayed on the walls, especially on the piston, because of their poor combustion. the fineness of the droplets of the injected fuel, when it is a liquid. In the present device, one of the aims is to avoid as much as possible that the fuel is deposited on the walls.

Shown in FIG. 2, in the present device, a guide (15) guides the fuel injected by the injector (7) so that a part of the pressurized air (19) drives this fuel but without touching the fuel. walls of the combustion chamber while forming the air / fuel mixture. Another portion of the pressurized air (18) passes around the guide (15) so that it also helps to separate said mixture from the wall (16) of the combustion chamber. The expansion of the flue gases or combustion during combustion in the combustion chamber takes them out under pressure (10) and they arrive in a turbine (11) they pass through by transmitting their input energy which leads in rotating the central shaft of the turbine (11) which mechanically drives (30) in rotation the compressor (1), as well as at least one other device to which it provides mechanical energy by (29) for example a pump or an electrical generator (12) which converts the received mechanical energy into electrical energy usable for the accessories of the present device and / or for use outside the present device.

As shown, the actuator (5) is electrical but the valve (4) can also be actuated by a mechanical drive (31) related to the rotation of the turbine (11). Said computer manages the speed of rotation of the turbine by the operating speed of the valve (4) when the actuator (5) is electric. When the actuator is controlled mechanically, the speed of rotation of the turbine (11) is managed for example by the metering of the fuel, the ignition of the spark plugs, the power demanded by the alternator.

An optional starting means (13) is provided for operating the rotating turbine to rapidly start its rotational movement. The start in rotation can also be achieved by the alternator (12) used for a moment in motor mode.

An optional flywheel (14) is provided to regulate the rotation of the turbine (11). The walls of the combustion chamber are cooled by air and / or a liquid. Figure 1 shows a liquid flowing in a circuit in contact (17) or forming part of the wall of the combustion chamber (6). This liquid is then cooled by a conventional means of passage in a radiator associated with a fan.

The turbine (11) is also cooled by means not shown.

When the cycle is completed, a new cycle can begin with already a quantity of air pressurized by the compressor (1) in the antechamber (3), which will be injected into the combustion chamber by opening the valve (4).

In a non-illustrated variant, a part of the flue gases leaving the combustion chamber and / or the turbine driven by these gases is introduced into the combustion chamber either directly or indirectly, for example, through the compressor inlet. air supplying the prechamber or the prechamber.

In the embodiment according to Figure 3, the device is identical to that of Figure 1 with two differences, on the one hand, the presence of a second valve (20) which allows to open and close the passage fluids, those coming out of the combustion chamber, the actuation of which is linked to that of the valve (4), represented here mechanically by (21), the synchronization of the two valves being able to be electric and managed by said computer, d on the other hand, the shape of the openings for the passage of the fluids (22) and (23).

The presence of the second valve (20) allows a greater first compression of the air / fuel mixture in the combustion chamber, before it is ignited.

The various elements that make up the device are illustrated in FIG. 3 without representing them specifically in an operating phase.

The openings for the passages of the fluids (22) and (23) respectively of the valves (4) and (20) are of adapted shape to pass as easily as possible the fluids that pass through them while having shapes allowing the synchronization of actions in a cycle. Thus, the two valves are closed during ignition and combustion of the air / fuel mixture and the opening of the passage (23) of the valve (20) is linked to the opening of the passage (22) of the valve ( 4) for the arrival of air from the antechamber with or without a time lag.

FIG. 4 partially represents an embodiment of the device according to the invention comprising a conduit (26) which allows the arrival of the fuel, in the antechamber (3), to at least one injector (24), open at the desired moment managed by said calculator, a fuel which will form part of the air / fuel mixture and which will be burned in the combustion chamber. A guide (25) guides the fuel injected by the injector (24) so that a portion of the air (2) introduced into the antechamber (3) drives this fuel but without touching, or as little as possible, the valve wall (4), open in this phase, nor the wall of the combustion chamber (16).

FIG. 5 partially represents a variant of the device comprising a combustion chamber (27) whose section decreases from the valve (4) towards the exit of the burned gases. Upon entering the combustion chamber, the air / fuel mixture (28) undergoes another form of compression before being ignited. The ignition means is not illustrated.

FIG. 6 partially represents a variant of the device in which an element (32) of the ignition means is more or less in the axis of the combustion chamber, and makes it possible to complete the possibility of ignition of the air / fuel mixture. in several phases.

FIG. 7 partially represents a variant of the device in which at least one of the elements such as (33) of the ignition means is a means using a laser beam. In the combustion chamber (35), without piston, without obstacle, the radius of action of each laser is predetermined for optimum results; thus the optional laser (34) disposed substantially in the axis of the combustion chamber has either a short radius to ignite the air / fuel mixture in one of the possibilities of multiple phases of ignition, or a long radius for igniting said mixture towards the axis of the combustion chamber which compresses said mixture between the combustion zone which begins and the wall of the combustion chamber, either for a combustion which thus continues, or by at least one other complementary ignition a means like (33), the whole being here also managed by said calculator. Lasers allow more targeted ignition in space and time than conventional candles.

Figure 8 partially shows a variant of the device of which at least two ignition means (36) and (37) by laser beam are more or less close to the axis of the combustion chamber (38). By the orientation and the length of each laser beam, new possibilities are obtained for ignition of the air / fuel mixture while optimizing a compression of said mixture during its combustion.

FIG. 9 partially represents a variant of the device in which a means for guiding the injected fuel has a particular shape. The guide (39) has at least a portion of its air guiding edges not parallel to the wall of the combustion chamber (40) to further homogeneously distance said mixture from the wall of the combustion chamber ( 40).

In a variant not shown, a guide has edges having a shape close to half a NACA profile to further direct the fluid that passes around said guide to better separate the air / fuel mixture from the wall of the chamber. combustion.

FIG. 10 partially represents a variant of the device in which at least one means can allow water or water vapor to be injected into the antechamber (41) thanks to an arrival of this fluid via a conduit (42) which supplies dispersing means (43) within the prechamber (41). The injection of water or steam allows a better combustion, a decrease of the fuel consumption and a decrease of the quantity of rejected pollutants.

In a variant not shown, the injection of water or steam, cited for the variant illustrated in Figure 10, is practiced in the combustion chamber.

In a variant not shown, at least a portion of this water or water vapor injected into the prechamber and / or into the combustion chamber comes from a cooling means of the wall of the combustion chamber which heats directly. or indirectly that water that can be turned into steam.

In a variant partially illustrated in FIG. 11, the antechamber (44) has a greater volume than in the other versions because of its longer length and / or thanks to a larger section, of its internal cavity, on the side of the air inlet coming from the compressor than the air outlet side in contact with the valve (4). This feature allows to compress a large volume of air in the prechamber while the valve (4) is closed and to inject the air into the combustion chamber at a pressure that remains significant despite the sudden increase in the volume to be filled in the combustion chamber when the valve (4) opens. The compressor (45) has the characteristics adapted for this purpose.

The first embodiment and at least one variant, or at least two variants may be combined to achieve a new variant which is also part of the present invention.

The shape, the dimensions, the proportions and the number of the various elements can vary without changing the principle of the invention which has been described above.

The device that is the subject of the invention provides mechanical energy that can be used directly, for example, to drive an electric generator, which then supplies electrical energy, for example connected to an electricity distribution network. electrical energy users who are connected to this network.

Embedded on a vehicle, the device can provide the energy necessary for the operation and / or movement of this vehicle (two-wheeled vehicles and more, cars, trucks, trains also boats, barges, gear to navigate, also planes and any vehicle or machine that uses fuel). The energy supplied to the vehicle can be mechanical. The electrical energy can be supplied by means of an electric generator, in which case, with the addition of a buffer battery, the device operates at almost constant speed, consuming and polluting the least and makes it possible to feed an electric vehicle either as a backup means and thus an extension of autonomy or as a continuous electricity supplier.

The device can enter into the constitution of a generator, be used in all areas where we consume electrical energy or mechanical energy. Numerous fluids can be used as fuel in the present invention, such as gasoline, diesel, alcohols, fuel gases. One can even use two fuels one after the other or simultaneously to change the result of the combustion.

Claims (10)

1) Device comprising a compressor (1) which introduced from air (2) taken in the ambient medium, air under pressure in the prechamber (3) juxtaposed to a valve (4) which separates the prechamber from the combustion chamber (6), at least one injector which introduces a fuel, said fuel forming with said air under pressure a lean air / fuel mixture which is periodically ignited, when the valve (4) is closed, by means of ignition such as (9), the flue gases produced by the combustion of said lean mixture air / fuel entering a turbine (11), actuated in rotation by said flue gas, said turbine mechanically driving at least one other device to which it provides mechanical energy for example a pump or an electric generator (12) which converts this mechanical energy into electrical energy, characterized in that it comprises at least one means for guiding the injected fuel. 2) Device according to claim 1 characterized in that at least one guiding means (15) of the injected fuel is located in the combustion chamber (6). 3) Device according to claim 1 characterized in that at least one means for guiding the injected fuel (25) is located in the prechamber (3). 4) Device according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that at least one injector (7) is located in the combustion chamber (6). 5) Device according to any one of the preceding claims to the exclusion of claim 4 characterized in that at least one injector (24) is located in the antechamber (3). 6) Device according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the ignition means of the air / fuel mixture in the combustion chamber (6), such as (9) consists of several spark plugs which are disposed around the ignition chamber, circularly if the combustion chamber is cylindrical, or transversely to the combustion chamber, ignition for combustion of the same volume of air / fuel mixture being in one twice, three times or more than three times. 7) Device according to any one of the preceding claims to the exclusion of claim 6 characterized in that the ignition means of the air / fuel mixture may be constituted by at least one means such as (33) using a laser beam . 8) Device according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that a second alternating means (20), controlled, to open and close the passage of the fluids is associated with the combustion chamber (6), arranged between the chamber combustion chamber (6) and the turbine (11). 9) Device according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that at least one means allows the injection of water or water vapor in the combustion chamber (6) and / or in the prechamber (41) through at an arrival of this fluid by a conduit (42) which feeds a dispersing means (43). 10) Device according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that a portion of the burnt gases leaving the combustion chamber (6) and / or the turbine (11) entrained by these gases, is introduced into the chamber of combustion (6) either directly or indirectly through the inlet of the air compressor (1) feeding the antechamber (3), or by the antechamber (3).