JPH1054306A - Internal combustion steam engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain high heat efficiency by vaporizing water by combustion heat of fuel, increasing pressure of the operation gas by the generated steam, and lowering the temperature of the operation gas due to vaporizing heat. SOLUTION: A water injection device 1 is so arranged on a cylinder head 2 that its injection port is faced to a combustion chamber 8, for injecting water in accordance with combustion in every cycle. The injected water is vaporized by the combustion heat of fuel. Volume expansion of the veporized water increases pressure of operation gas such as combustion gas to generate work energy. The water, being vaporized together with combustion of fuel, takes heat away from atmosphere and lowers temperature of the operation gas. Even though it seems that high pressure of the operation cannot be kept, energy is saved in whole of the operation gas due to the water vaporized by heat energy. High pressure of the operation gas is thus kept while its low temperature is kept.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine using fuel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heat engines include an internal combustion engine that generates heat energy by burning fuel inside the engine, such as a gasoline engine and a gas turbine, and a heat energy that is generated externally, such as a steam turbine. There is an external combustion engine to use.

[0003]

In a reciprocating gasoline engine, which is the most frequently used internal combustion engine at present, heat energy generated by combustion of fuel,
In the following, the term "combustion heat" is converted into work energy through expansion of the combustion gas, which is a working gas, so that a large amount of heat energy is lost as cooling loss or exhaust loss, and the thermal efficiency is as low as less than 30%. Further, the combustion is explosive and high temperature, and harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides are easily generated. However, since it is lightweight and easy to handle, it is widely used as power for automobiles.

On the other hand, external combustion engines generally have better thermal efficiency than internal combustion engines. A steam turbine, which is a typical external combustion engine, converts combustion heat into work energy through volume expansion due to vaporization of water, and thus has less energy loss than a gasoline engine. However, since it is structurally large, heavy, and difficult to handle, it is used for power generation and the like.

[0005] Therefore, the advantages of an internal combustion engine and an external combustion engine are combined, that is, they have the lightness and ease of handling of a gasoline engine and the thermal efficiency of a steam turbine.
If a heat engine that burns at a relatively low temperature can be developed, a significant improvement in performance as a heat engine can be expected.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems According to the present invention, in a space where fuel inside an internal combustion engine is generally being tried, combustion heat is used to burn fuel and vaporize water sent into the space, using combustion heat. The above-mentioned problem is solved by using such means.

[0007]

According to the present invention, water is sent into a space inside a conventional internal combustion engine where fuel is burned, and the fuel is burned and burned by combustion heat. The volume expansion of the water due to the vaporization increases the pressure of a working gas such as a combustion gas and generates work energy. In the conventional internal combustion engine, the heat of combustion generated the pressure of the working gas by raising the working gas, but in the present invention, the water itself is vaporized by the combustion heat, thereby increasing the amount of the working gas itself. This causes pressure to be generated, and thus differs from a conventional internal combustion engine in terms of the operation principle. However, not all heat energy of the generated combustion heat is used for vaporization of water, and the heat energy not used for vaporization directly heats the working gas without wasting to help increase the pressure, In this respect, it is similar to the conventional internal combustion engine. In addition, the use of vaporization of water is similar to that of a steam engine as an external combustion engine, but differs in that combustion heat generated inside the engine is used. From the above characteristics, it can be said that the present invention is an internal combustion type steam engine.

When water evaporates with the combustion of fuel, heat of vaporization is taken from the surroundings. This lowers the temperature of the working gas, such as combustion gas, compared to a conventional internal combustion engine.
Although it seems that the high pressure of the working gas cannot be maintained due to this phenomenon, the water is vaporized by the heat energy corresponding thereto, and the energy is stored as the whole working gas. That is, the present invention has an excellent feature that it is possible to maintain the high pressure of the working gas while keeping the working gas at a low temperature as compared with the conventional internal combustion engine.

[0009] A decrease in the temperature of the working gas indicates that the cooling loss is reduced and the thermal efficiency is necessarily improved. Further, generation of harmful substances such as nitrogen oxides generated at a high temperature can be suppressed as compared with a conventional internal combustion engine.

[0010] In order to evaporate water along with fuel combustion,
Before or during the combustion, it is necessary to feed the fuel into the space where the fuel is to be burned in such a manner as to be easily vaporized. Therefore, water is atomized or dropped using the water injection device according to claim 2 or the fuel injection device according to claim 4, and the water is placed on intake air or directly injected into a combustion space. Evaporation efficiency is good when sent. At this time, if the water particle size is too large, the efficiency of vaporization is reduced, and if the water particle size is too small, the vaporization occurs before combustion. It is necessary to set the diameter and the injection position.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention can be applied to any general internal combustion engine using fuel with almost no change in its main structure. For example, FIG. 1 schematically shows an example applied to a four-cycle gasoline engine. Here, the water injection device according to claim 2 is provided in the cylinder head such that the injection port faces the combustion chamber in order to convert water into particles,
Inject water with combustion in each cycle. Although various timings of water injection are conceivable, it is most efficient to inject the water near the final stage of the compression stroke. In order to inject water, the electric coil is used to inject power at a timing by electric control, or the kinetic energy of some parts of the engine is used as power and injected in conjunction with the cycle. Exists.

The present invention can be applied to other reciprocating engines, rotary engines, gas turbines, and the like based on the same principle as described above. In a diesel engine, the use of the fuel injection device described in claim 4 is effective because water can be injected simultaneously with fuel injection. Further, in an internal combustion engine such as a gas turbine where combustion occurs continuously, it is necessary to continuously inject water.

[0013] Further, since the main structure of the conventional internal combustion engine can be implemented with almost no change, when water is not introduced, the operation mode of the internal combustion engine, which is the main body, is returned to by a simple operation such as changing ignition timing. It can also be highly available.

[0014]

According to the principle described above, higher thermal efficiency can be obtained than in the conventional internal combustion engine. At that time, since the operation can be performed with almost no change in the basic structure of many conventional internal combustion engines, there is almost no increase in weight or size due to performance improvement, and it is easy to produce economically and technically.
On the contrary, since the temperature of the working gas such as combustion gas can be kept lower than that of the conventional internal combustion engine, the cooling system can be simplified with a reduction in cooling loss, and furthermore, harmful substances such as nitrogen oxides generated at high temperatures can be reduced. Substances can be reduced. In addition, in a situation such as running out of water or operating in an extremely low temperature environment, the operation can be performed without water by adding a simple operation, so that the utility is high.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cross section of a cylinder portion of a four-cycle gasoline engine in which a water injection device having a structure similar to a general injector is installed in a cylinder head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water injection device 2 Cylinder head 3 Cylinder 4 Piston 5 Spark plug 6 Intake valve 7 Exhaust valve 8 Combustion chamber

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. sending water into a space where fuel burns,
In the space, water is vaporized with the combustion of the fuel by the heat generated by the combustion of the fuel, and the pressure of the working gas is increased by the steam generated thereby, and the temperature of the working gas is reduced by the accompanying heat of vaporization. Internal combustion engine. 2. An object to be installed in an internal combustion engine, wherein water is sprayed intermittently or continuously with combustion before or during combustion to form water into a mist or water droplets. A water injection device characterized by being mixed with a gas. 3. By installing the water injection device according to claim 2, water is injected into the gas before combustion, and the fuel burns mist or water droplets together with the intake of the gas. The internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein the water is injected into the space, or the water injection device is installed, whereby water is directly injected into a gas immediately before or during combustion in a space where fuel is burned. 2. The internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein mist-like or water-drop-like water is fed into said space. 4. A fuel injection device, wherein water is sucked from a water inlet, fuel and water are mechanically mixed, and fuel and water are injected from the same nozzle. 5. The internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein the fuel injection device according to claim 3 is installed, and the fuel and water are simultaneously fed into a space in which the fuel burns.