WO2016065316A1

WO2016065316A1 - Power plant

Info

Publication number: WO2016065316A1
Application number: PCT/US2015/057209
Authority: WO
Inventors: Facundo Fausto Matias LEIVA-CANESTRACCI
Original assignee: Enairgy Engines Llc
Priority date: 2014-10-23
Filing date: 2015-10-23
Publication date: 2016-04-28

Abstract

A power plant that includes one source of compressed air and a cylinders and pistons engine of reciprocating movements, with a cylinder head that has a compressed air injector and an exhaust valve within each of said cylinders, having one high pressure compressed air tank connected to the injector of each cylinder, and a distributor of said high pressure compressed air to feed said high pressure compressed air to each injector of each cylinder once every n/2 rotations of said crankshaft, where n is the number of pistons of the engine. The invention also provides a power generation system comprising the combination of different fluids other than conventional combustion fuels, the system comprises a reaction chamber with input ports for injecting, into the chamber, under determined temperature and pressure conditions, three fluids, air, water and oil, in order to have a final pressure of the fluids combination reaching values much higher than the pressures of the entering fluids, with the chamber operating also with only two fluids, namely oil and water, without a pre-pressurization, the chamber obtaining the high pressure increasing by the contact between the oil and water.

Description

POWER PLANT Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a power plant powered by compressed air or other compressible gas. More particularly, the power plant is an engine of the reciprocating piston type. The engine may suitably be used in a variety of applications, including as a power plant for a vehicle, industrial equipment, maritime applications, and electricity generation or in other applications where power generation is desired.

In addition to the foregoing, and according to another aspect of the invention, the present invention relates to a power generation system comprising the combination of different fluids other than conventional combustion fuels. More particularly, the system comprises a reaction chamber with input ports for injecting, along predetermined oriented injection jets, into the chamber having a particular geometry, under determined temperature and pressure conditions, three fluids, such as air, water and oil, in order to have a final pressure of the fluids combination reaching values much higher than the pressures of the entering fluids. The system may suitably be used in a variety of applications, including a water vapor generator, a power plant for a vehicle, industrial equipment, maritime applications, and electricity generation or in other applications where power generation is desired.

Background of the Invention In the continuous search for solutions to the generation of movements, energy and work, many attempts have been made with different mechanical installations that can be operated through fossil fuels, the forces of nature, such as the wind and the water, as well as through the use of solar energy. More particu larly, in power plants for the generation of work that use combustion as an energy sou rce, such as for example, internal combustion fueled by gasoline, diesel, natu ral gas, etc., they have always had the same problems regarding low caloric performance of the machines with the need for refrigeration facilities, as well as the pollution resu lting from the combustion exhaust gases. Still, little progress has been made in solving these problems.

Significant attempts have been made to provide machines, facilities and/or plants for the generation of work that do not use fossil fuel combustion as an energy source. Such attempts include compressed air engines. Recently, several manufactu rers have attempted to develop an automobile using a compressed air engine. While recent attempts have not led to successfu l commercialization, there have been other previous attempts to operate an engine having a series of pistons and cylinders, through the action of compressed air, combining compressed air sources and/or air compressors that feed pressu rized air to the pistons so that the expansion of the air within a cylinder generates a force ca pable of driving a corresponding piston within the cylinder, resu lting in a reciprocating movement necessary to cause the rotation of a crankshaft mechanically joined to a connecting rod of the piston, from which the work for many applications is extracted . However, engines developed using such a design have not been successful due to low level of power output and poor efficiency.

The use of air and water has been an attempt to avoid the use of fossil fuels but, always, significant power consumption to pressurize the ai r and/or to vaporize the water has been necessary making the attempts non profitable.

Considering the cu rrent state of the art, it wou ld be desirable to provide a new technology of variation and multiplication of power, that allows the generation of work in a clean manner for the environment, while incurring costs lower than those of traditional plants and generation facilities, and with practical power output and improved efficiency levels, as well as it would be desirable to provide a new technology of multiplication of fluid pressure and/or generation of water vapor into a chamber, in a clean manner for the environment, while incurring costs lower than those of traditional boilers, pressure generating plants and generation facilities, and with practical power output and improved efficiency levels.

Summary of the Invention

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a power plant that allows the performance of work through the use of clean energies, without direct pollution or consumption of non-renewable fuels. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a plant or facility for the variation and/or multiplication of forces and/or work and/or power, based on an engine operating with reciprocating pistons within corresponding cylinders, that rotate a crankshaft from which work and power are obtained, as the pistons are driven through compressed air injected within the cylinders by air injectors that are fed from an individual source of compressed air provided for each cylinder.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a power plant that includes:

At least one source of compressed air that has a compressed air outlet,

an engine including reciprocating pistons within corresponding cylinders driving a rotating crankshaft, including a cylinder head incorporating at least one compressed air injector and at least one exhaust valve for each of the cylinders,

at least one high pressure compressed air tank for each cylinder and having a compressed air outlet in fluid communication with said at least one injector of air of the corresponding cylinder, and a distributor for the high pressure compressed air of the high pressure compressed air tanks, which distributes high pressure compressed air to said at least one injector of each cylinder to inject said high pressure compressed air to each cylinder once every n/2 rotations of said crankshaft, where "n" is the number of pistons of the engine, and

an actuator for each exhaust valve to close the exhaust valve of the cylinder in which said compressed air is being injected and open the exhaust valves simultaneously in all the other cylinders where said compressed air is not being injected.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a power plant that includes at least one source of compressed air and at least one cylinder and piston engine of reciprocating movements, wherein said at least one engine includes at least one cylinder head that has at least one injector of compressed air and at least one exhaust valve within said cylinder, one high pressure compressed air tank connected to said at least one injector of each cylinder, and a distributor of said high pressure compressed air to feed said high pressure compressed air to at least one injector of each cylinder once every n/2 rotations of said crankshaft, where n is the number of pistons of the engine.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a method for the operation of a power generation plant that includes the stages of:

providing at least one source of compressed air that has a compressed air outlet,

providing a cylinder and piston engine of reciprocating movements, that presents a cylinder head with at least one compressed air injector and at least one exhaust valve within each of said cylinders, and said pistons mounted within said cylinders and connected to a crankshaft through a connecting rod,

providing at least one high pressure compressed air tank for each cylinder, in which the high pressure compressed air tank has a compressed air outlet connected to said at least one injector of air of the corresponding cylinder, providing a distributor for said high pressure compressed air of said high pressure compressed air tanks,

operating said distributor of high pressure compressed air to feed said high pressure compressed air to said at least one injector of each cylinder to inject said high pressure compressed air in each cylinder once every n/2 turns of said crankshaft, where n is the number of pistons of the power machine,

providing an actuator for said exhaust valves, and

operating said actuator of exhaust valves to close the exhaust valve of one cylinder wherein said compressed air is being injected and open the exhaust valves simultaneously in all the other cylinders where said compressed air is not being injected.

A still further object is to provide a compressed air powerplant with high efficiency(What does this mean? Need some definition? What's the % efficiency?) based on the amount of energy input to the power plant.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a power plant, comprising :

at least one source of compressed air, wherein the compressed air has a content of water vapor forming thus a humid compressed air,

a cylinders and pistons engine of reciprocating movements, that has a cylinder head with at least one compressed air injector and at least one exhaust valve within each of said cylinders, being said cylinders mounted on a crankshaft,

at least one high pressure compressed air tank for each cylinder that has a compressed air outlet connected to said at least one injector of air of the corresponding cylinder, and

a distributor for said high pressure compressed air of said high pressure compressed air tanks wherein said distributor of high pressure compressed air feed said high pressure compressed air to said at least one injector of each cylinder to inject said high pressure compressed air in each cylinder,

an oil injector for each cylinder to inject hot oil into the cylinder together with the compressed humid air injected by the air injector. A still further object is to provide a method for the operation of a power generation plant, comprising the steps of:

providing at least one source of compressed air, wherein the compressed air has a content of water vapor forming thus a humid compressed air,

providing an engine comprising cylinders and reciprocating moving pistons, the engine having a cylinder head with at least one humid compressed air injector and at least one exhaust valve within each of said cylinders, being said cylinders mounted on a crankshaft,

providing at least one high pressure humid compressed air tank for each cylinder that has a humid compressed air outlet connected to said at least one humid air injector of the corresponding cylinder, and

injecting said humid air sequentially into each cylinder, and

injecting hot oil into each cylinder, simultaneously with the injection of said humid air, whereby the hot oil is contacted with the humid air thus generating a sudden expansion of the water vapor contained in the injected humid air.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a power chamber or pressure generating system or water vapor generator that allows the performance of work through the use of clean energies, without direct pollution or consumption of non-renewable fuels.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pressure generating system comprising a reaction chamber having an air input port, an air feeding for feeding air into the chamber through the air input port, a water input port, a water feeder for feeding water into the chamber through the water input port, and an oil input port for feeding oil into the chamber through the oil input port.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a method for increasing the pressure in a fluid comprised of a mixture of fluids, the method comprising the stages of: providing a reaction chamber having an air input port, a water input port and an oil input port,

feeding air into the chamber through the air input port,

injecting water into the chamber through the water input port, and injecting oil into the chamber through the oil input port, wherein the oil is at a predetermined high temperature and pressure in order to enter into contact with the water and cause the water injected into the chamber to suddenly increase its volume, thus creating a high pressure into the chamber.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a method for generating water vapor for feeding a plant, motor, turbine, and the like, increasing the pressure in a fluid comprised of a mixture of fluids, the method comprising the stages of:

providing a reaction chamber having at least a water input port and an oil input port,

Brief Description of the Figures

In order to improve clarity and facilitate a better understanding of the object of this invention, the same has been illustrated in the appended figures, in which the invention has been represented in one of the preferred embodiments, by way of example, wherein :

Figure 1 shows a basic diagram corresponding to the plant or facility of the invention;

Figure 2 shows a diagram of the cylinder headof the engine of Figure Figure 3 shows a detail of the mounting of the components in the cylinder head of the engine, where the distributor of air to the cylinders can be seen;

Figure 4 shows a side view of the pistons of engine 10 and its angular arrangement in the crankshaft;

Figure 5 shows an axial view of the pistons of engine 10 and its angular arrangement according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 6 shows an axial view of the pistons of engine 10 and its angular arrangement according to another embodiment of the invention;

Figure 7 shows a recirculation diagram of the exhaust air with a separator of air-oil and venturi for the air intake and feedback of air to the feed circuit of the engine;

Figure 8 shows a schematic detail of venturi entraining exhaust air into a recirculating system;

Figure 9 shows a schematic detail of a venturi from which recirculating lubricating oil is entrained by the compressed air entering the cylinder;

Figure 10 shows a basic diagram corresponding to a plant or facility according to one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 11 shows an exhaust diagram of the embodiment of Figure 10;

Figure 12 shows a basic diagram corresponding to the reaction chamber with the inputs for the different fluids and the corresponding feedings and sensors according to the invention,

Figure 13 shows a diagram of the tip of an injector of Figure 1, either for water or oil, comprising directing ears or baffles for the ejecting fluid, and

Figure 14 is a diagram of an application of the device of the invention. Detailed Description of the Invention

Reference is now made to the figures. It can been seen that the invention includes a power plant and/or facility for the generation of work and/or mechanical and/or electrical power, for the variation and/or multiplication of work and/or power, as well as for the manipulation and administration of all kinds of usable power and energies in countless applications and that it basically includes the components that are illustrated as a diagram in Figure 1.

As shown in Figure 1 , the facility includes a power plant that includes at least one compressed air source that can be formed of any device able to compress air, for example ambient air, in one or more stages until reaching the desired pressure. The source of compressed air, indicated in general through reference numbers la and lb, is preferably at least one first air compressor la that can include one or more compressors 2, 3, able to compress air at a first pressure, or low pressure, that has an air outlet that feeds said air, that is compressed until reaching that first pressure, to a first tank 4 of low pressure, through a line of low pressure 5.

Said source of pressure also includes, preferably, at least one second air compressor lb at a second pressure that can include one or more "booster" compressors 6, able to compress air to a second pressure, or high pressure, that has an air outlet that feeds high pressure compressed air to at least one tank of high pressure 7 through a line of high pressure 8. Between low pressure tank 4 and compressor 6, there is an air dryer device 9.

According to one embodiment, compressors 2 and 3 compress the air to a first pressure of between approximately 800 kPa and 1000 kPa, and compressor 6 compresses the air to a second pressure of between approximately 1000 kPa and 10000 kPa, and preferably between approximately 1000 kPa and 4500 kPa. Compressors 2, 3 can be of any appropriate kind according to needs of the projected facility. Generally, commercially available compressors may be of the reciprocating, rotary screw or rotary centrifugal type. However, in one embodiment, rotary screw compressors have been used. In a particular case, compressors of the company "KAESER" (of Coburg, Germany) of the type CSD, with the following technical specification, have been used : Maximum service operating pressure: 1300 kPa (13 bar);

Maximum flow at service operating pressure: 12 m3/min. ;

Maximum flow rate: 15 m³/min;

Rated energy consumption at maximum operating pressure and flow rate: 75 kW.

For the second air compressor 6, also known in the art under the denomination "booster", a "Booster" from KAESER Compressors of Coburg Germany, of the series N, with the following specifications, has been used .

The pressure introduced to the booster compressor can be providedat up to 13 bar. The output pressure of the booster can be as high as 45 bar, with a flow rate range from 0.28 to 18 m³/min.

The booster compressor consumes a maximum of 40 kW at the maximum pressure of 40 kW and flow rate of 18 m³/min.

Regarding dryer 9, a refrigerated compressed air dryer sold under the trademark "Secotec" by Kaeser of Coburg, Germany can be used. This dryer provides volumetric flows between 0.26 and 25 m³/min. The dryer operates the refrigerant compressor only when necessary, by using a thermal storage medium. The refrigerant compressor cools the medium to a predetermined temperature and then cuts off, allowing the medium to cool the air and condense the water vapor.

The compressed air within the compression air circuit formed by compressors 2, 3, 6 and low pressure tank 4 and high pressure tank 7, is supplied to a cylinder and piston engine of reciprocating movement, indicated with the reference 10. Engine 10 is similar to an internal combustion engine, having a crankshaft and pistons that move with reciprocating movement within their corresponding cylinders, with the exception that the engine does not operate due to the explosion of an air / fuel mixture, but rather due to the action of the expansion of the previously mentioned air compressed at high pressure.

Engine 10 preferably includes an inertial flywheel 11 of great weight and size, particularly when the installation of the engine involves high output, for example, more than 200 kWa. Engine 10 also includes a cylinder head, schematically shown in Figure 2, that differs from a cylinder head of a conventional internal combustion engine in that the present cylinder head does not include spark plugs for the ignition of fuel, or fuel injectors, nor does it include or need one or more inlet valves for an air/fuel mixture.

Unlike a conventional cylinder head, the present cylinder head, indicated with the general reference 12, has at least one central opening 13 in which a compressed air injector comprised of conduit 44 and valve 23 is mounted, and at least one exhaust valve 14, 15 that can operate within the same cylinder, one at a time or both at the same time, depending on the operating regime of the engine, to facilitate the rapid and most complete evacuation of air already expanded once the piston has fulfilled its work and returns to its top dead center position within the cylinder. Since the compressed air is impregnated with lubricating oil within the corresponding cylinder, it can be assured that the exhaust air will include a mixture of air and finely dispersed oil.

According to one embodiment of the invention as an example, the tested power machine included a Deutz (of Koln-Porz, Germany) marine engine, Model 51, having a maximum operating speed of 500 rpm, operating with fuel oil, generating 330 horsepower (or about 245 kW). In one embodiment of the present invention, the engine was modified to operate by compressed air, at a speed of about 700 r. p.m. The cylinder head of the engine was modified according to what has been described and illustrated in Figure 2. The engine includes flywheel 11 mechanically connected to the crankshaft, made from a ferrous material and having a mass of 2.5 tons, with an external diameter of 1400 mm, an internal diameter of 1180 mm, an internal thickness of 63 mm and an external thickness of 250 mm .

The high pressure compressed air connected to the second pressure valve, emerging from tank 7, is directed, through a line of final high pressure 16, to a high pressure collector 17 that feeds the air to a plurality of high pressure compressed air tanks 18. According to the invention, each high pressure compressed air tank 18 is individually connected to a corresponding cylinder and has a compressed air outlet connected to the at least one air injector (comprised of conduit 44 and valve 23 as shown in Figure 3) of the corresponding cylinder, that is arranged at the entrance of the injection air intake 13. In other words, each cylinder of engine 10 receives an instant flow of the compressed air directly from a single tank 18 that is individually associated with each cylinder, ensuring that the pressure that reaches the cylinder is constant and is that preserved within the tank 18, without undergoing reduction or losses in the feeding collectors and/or conduits before entering the corresponding cylinder. It is preferred that each tank 18 have an operating volume that is 1.5 times the volume of each respective cylinder. In other embodiments, the volume of tank 18 can be as low as 1.1 times and as high as 5 times the volume of the respective cylinder. In one embodiment, a check valve-not shown- is provided at feeding line 19 to ensure that a pressure drop in one tank 18 does not effect the pressure in high pressure collector 17 or the other tanks 18. The pressure inside each tank 18 will be preferably between approximately 1000 kPa ( 12 bar) and 4500 kPa (45 bar). The air entering the cylinder is only approximately 19% of the volume of the cylinder.

In one embodiment, the geometry of the upper piston surface is hemispherical. However, other suitable geometries may be used as well.

The injection of high pressure compressed air to each cylinder is controlled by a distributor that distributes the air to the cylinders, as better illustrated in Figure 3. The high pressure compressed air is fed from high pressure line 16 to high pressure collector 17 and from there passes, through feeding lines 19, to high pressure compressed air individual tanks 18. From there, the distributor of high pressure compressed air, indicated with the general reference 20, feeds said high pressure compressed air to each of the injectors of the cylinders. Distributor 20 includes a control unit 21 connected to an encoder 21A for receiving information of the angular position of the shaft or crankshaft, to control the operation of a solenoid valve with pneumatic actuator 22 that in turn, drives a mechanical valve 23 that opens space to the high pressure compressed air from the tank 18 to the air injector within which it connects said at least one tank of high pressure compressed air to an associated cylinder. Valves 22 and/or valves 23 can be driven by low pressured compressed air (8 bar, for example), that can be taken through line of low pressure 24 fed from the line that connects air dryer 9 to high pressure compressor 6 (see Figure 1). In line 24, pneumatic valve 25 can be arranged to drive mechanical valves 23, through lines 26, as can be better seen in Figure 3. Valves 25 provides compressed air to actuators 22 which in turn open and close valves 23. Although pneumatic controls are used in one embodiment, other types of controls, such as electrically controlled servos may also be used. Control unit 21 is connected to an electronicencoder, illustrated as 21A, that receives the angular position of the driveshaft. Control unit 21 also serves to control the microwave generator, described below, by sensing, by one side the internal pressure in tank 7, and by other side the operation of the one or more compressors. If the desired pressure has been reached in tank 7, the operation of the compressors is interrupted to save energy and to prevent any overpressure in line 8.

According to the invention, controller 21 controls the closing and opening operations of the valves 22 and 23 to inject high pressure compressed air received from tanks 18, within each cylinder once every n/2 rotations of said crankshaft, where n is the number of pistons of the engine. More particularly, said distributor of said high pressure compressed air feeds said high pressure compressed air to the cylinders according to a sequence of feeding optimized to maintain balanced operation of the power plant. The sequence can be summarized as follows: 1st air injection : cylinders 1 and n;

2nd air injection : cylinders 2 and n- 1;

3rd air injection : cylinders 3 and n-2;

4th air injection : cylinders 4 and n-3;

and so on.

This can be summarized in the sequence formula of injection as follows: cylinders 1 and n; ...; cylinders (n/2) and (n/2)+ l, where n is the number of pistons of the engine.

According to above formula, if the engine has 6 cylinders the feeding sequence will be the following :

1st air injection : cylinders 1 and 6;

2nd air injection : cylinders 2 and 5; and

3rd air injection : cylinders 3 and 4.

In combination with said pattern of air injection, the pistons are connected to the crankshaft through a crank mechanism and the pistons preserve an angular uniform relation wherein the pistons are grouped at least in pairs and the pairs are angularly out-of-phase among them by equal angles. As can be seen in Figures 4 to 6, an engine of 6 cylinders, according to the invention, has its pistons, indicated with the references PI to P6, arranged in the crankshaft 27 in an angular form. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the invention, in the arrangement of Figure 5, when the pistons PI and P6 are in their top dead center position, the sets of cranks of the pistons P2 and P5 are out-of-phase at 120°, on the left side of Figure 5, and the sets of cranks of the pistons P3 and P4, are out-of-phase at 120° on the right side of Figure 5. According to another embodiment of the invention, in the arrangement of Figure 6, when the pistons PI and P6 are in their top dead center position, the sets of cranks of the pistons P3 and P4 are out-of-phase at 120° on the left side of Figure 6, and the sets of cranks of the pistons P2 and P5 are out-of-phase at 120° on the right side of Figure 6. Referring again to Figure 2, as previously stated, exhaust valves 14 and 15 in each cylinder 28, arranged as an example, one on each side of the inlet of the air injection 13, can be opened one at a time or both simultaneously. To perform this operation, actuator 29 can be provided and can include, for example, a rotary actuator of the company Micro Pneumatics Pvt Ltd, of Maharashtra, India, series 90°, with turns of 90° or more. Actuator 29 can be programmed to close the exhaust valve of a cylinder where said compressed air is injected and open the exhaust valvessimultaneously in the rest of the cylinders where said compressed air is not being injected. This will ensure a complete removal of the air that has already been propelled to the corresponding cylinders and must expelled from the cylinder to permit high pressured compressed air to enter the cylinder for the next cycle. Actuator 29 can drive valves 14, 15 through corresponding lines 30, 31, that can be pneumatic, hydraulic or electrical lines depending on the type of actuator used, all of which are well known in the art.

As has been previously mentioned, the exhaust air of the cylinders, once expanded, is expelled with an amount of oil that was entrained during its passage through the interior of the cylinder. According to an embodiment of the invention, said exhaust air can be recovered and sent to a recirculation circuit of exhaust air to be again compressed and injected to engine 10. In one embodiment, the air is injected into each cylinder at a pressure of from about 8 bar to about 15 bar. The air exhausted from each cylinder during the exhaust stroke of the engine cycle has a residual pressure of between about 2 bar and 4 bar. The exhaust air exiting through line 34, passing the oil/air separator 35 and reaching the connection of line 36 to high pressure line 16, is not subjected to back pressure forces, despite the higher pressure in line 16, because venturi 43, shown in Fig. 8, will cause the high pressure air coming from tank 7 and flowing through line 16 to entrain air from line 36 into line 16 to feed this air into collector 17.

To remove the oil contained in the exhaust air that reenters the circuit, the air passes through exhaust lines 32, illustrated in Fig. 7, in which the illustration of engine 10 has been removed for the sake of clarity of the figure. Exhaust valves 14, 15, as well as their operating components, are indicated in this Figure by means of the reference number 33 and can include opening and closing valves with conventional actuators, for example, one or more rotary actuators offered by the company MICRO , series 90°, with turns of 90° or more. More preferably, a rotary actuator 29 is used for each exhaust valve. From there, the exhaust air is directed, through a line 34, to a separator of air/oil 35 that has an air output 36 connected to the high pressure line 16 and an oil outlet 37 connected to an oil container or the crankcase of the engine 10, indicated with reference 38.

According to the invention, oil tank or crankcase 38 is connected to a plurality of Venturis 42, with each venturi 42 being associated with one cylinder, and each venturi arranged between said at least one high pressure compressed air tank 18 and a corresponding cylinder 28, preferably in conduit 44. The venturi is connected to said oil tank or the crankcase, whereby the high pressure compressed air exiting each high pressure compressed air tank 18 entrains oil from a collector 45 and through venturi 42 into the corresponding cylinder. While other arrangements may be employed, venturi 42, at the entrance to the cylinder, will feed the amount of oil that is proportional to the higher or lower flow of air entering the cylinder. So, the proportion of oil to be injected into the cylinder is automatically controlled by the same air entraining the oil. Therefore, the amount of oil entrained from venturi 42 depends on the engine operating cycle, namely the speed in r. p. m. during operation. In conclusion, said high pressure compressed air injected to the cylinders has an oil content, coming from said crankcase, via the venturi, of between about 7 and 10% by volume of the air-oil mixture. In one embodiment, the oil used can be lubrication oil rated at SAE 20. When entering the machine 10, the oil provides several benefits among which include lubrication within the cylinder, an improvement in the sealing of the piston against the walls of the cylinder and the fact that the oil occupies a volume within the high pressure compressed air mass that allows a reduction in the need of air volume to be injected. According to another aspect of the invention, a process for the operation of the power plant is also included, for instance, for the generation of energy, work, etc. The process includes providing at least a source of compressed air that has a compressed air outlet, in which the source of compressed air can include compressors 2, 3 and 6 in combination with tanks 4 and 7. The engine 10, of cylinders and pistons of reciprocating movement, is also provided, and includes a cylinder head 12 with at least one compressed air injector, in an inlet opening 13 and at least an exhaust valve 14, 15 within each of said cylinders 28, having pistons mounted on a crankshaft 27. To properly propel the pistons of engine 10, the at least one tank of high pressure compressed air 18 for each cylinder 28 is provided, wherein the high pressure compressed air tank has a compressed air outlet connected to said at least one injector of air of the corresponding cylinder, such that the air is distributed to the cylinders by means of the provision of the distributor of said high pressure compressed air coming from said high pressure compressed air tanks.

According to the invention, distributor 20 of high pressure compressed air that feeds said high pressure compressed air to the at least one injector of each cylinder, and is operated to inject said high pressure compressed air in each cylinder once every n/2 rotations of said crankshaft, where n is the number of pistons of the engine. More particularly, said stage of operating said distributor of high pressure compressed air to feed said high pressure compressed air to the at least one injector of each cylinder includes injecting said high pressure compressed air at a pressure of between 1000 kPa (12 bar) and 4500 kPa (45 bar). Even more particularly, the stage of operating said distributor means of high pressure compressed air to feed said high pressure compressed air to said at least injector of each cylinder includes injecting said high pressure compressed air to the cylinders according to the following sequence, cylinders 1 and n; ... ; cylinders (n/2) and (n/2)+ l, where n is the number of pistons of the engine. To allow the efficient exhaust of air once it has operated on the pistons, actuator 29 of said exhaust valves is provided, and said actuator is operated to close the exhaust valve of a cylinder where said compressed air is being injected and open the exhaust valves simultaneously in the rest of the cylinders where compressed air is not being injected.

To obtain the desired pressure of compression to move the pistons, said stage of providing at least one source of compressed air includes compressing air until a first pressure and storing it in tank 4 of first pressure and compressing the air coming from said tank 4 of first pressure until a second pressure is obtained and feeding said compressed air to a second pressure to that at least one tank 7 of high pressure compressed air. To that end, compressors 2 and 3 compress the air to said first pressure that is a pressure between approximately 800 kPa and 1000 kPa, and said compressor 6 comprises the air to said second pressure that is a pressure between approximately 1000 kPa and 20000 kPa, more preferably between approximately 1000 kPa and 4500 kPa.

To further reduce the energy consumption of the plant, compressor 6, usually a compressor consuming about 30 KWa in the above disclosed embodiment, can be replaced by smaller compressor in terms of its consumption, for example a compressor consuming about 10 KWa. To reach the desired pressure into tank 7 however, a microwave generator 39 for additionally increasing the pressure into the tank, is incorporated. Microwave generator 39, consuming about 6 to 10 KWa, will heat the air into the tank causing it to expand and increase the pressure within the tank. In addition, the microwave energy will heat the water vapor present in the pressurized air. In one embodiment, it is preferred that the pressurized air have a water content (humidity) of between 5% and 20 % With reference to Fig. 7, the microwave is preferably installed in the tank wall with a portion accessible from outside the tank. One or more microwave generators may be incorporated, preferably at the upper part of the tank. A convenient installation may be similar to those used in commercial autoclaves. In one embodiment, the microwave generator operated at an energy consumption of between 1 to 10 kW. The energy introduced by the microwave generator heats the air and water within the pressure tank, resulting in an increase in pressure. With the implementation of microwave generator 39, the capacity of air dryer 9 can also be minimized to reduce KWa consumption, or the dryer can be removed entirely to save energy. In this sense, all the available humidity or a desired content of humidity would be conserved into the air entering tank 7, which humidity, or content of water, will be used to increase pressure, through evaporation by microwave generator 39 into tank 7. Thus, a dryer 9 involving less energy consumption, or even no dryer, will be necessary.

In addition to the microwave generator, and to control pressure and flow and to prevent anti-return pressure flow, a pair of check valves are installed in tank 7, a pressure/flow regulating valve 40 at the connection to the exit to final high pressure line 16 and a check valve 41 at the intake of high pressure line 8

Finally, with reference to Fig. 9, regarding the stage of opening the exhaust valves , it includes opening said exhaust valves and directing the exhaust air to the separator of air/oil 35, and separating the total, or preferably, part of the oil entrained by the exhaust air and feeding said exhaust air separated in the air/oil separator to a recirculation of air to be injected to the engine. The separator removes substantially all of the oil from the oil/air mixture before the air is recirculated to be re pressurized.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, compressor 3, dryer 9 and booster 6 of Figure 1 may be removed from the plant and only compressor 2 is employed for operating the plant together with the provision of the microwave generator, a water supply and oil injectors in the cylinders, as explained in more detail below.

Basically, the arrangement of Figure 10 is the like the one of Figure 1 except that some components have been removed and some others have been added. Thus, compressor 2 feeds air to tank 4 which tank will keep the compressed air at a pressure of between about 8 Bar (800 kPa) and 10 Bar ( 1000 kPa), the same pressure of tank 4 as in the embodiment of Figures 1- 9. Line 8 conducts the pressurized air from tank 4 to high pressure tank 7, which will have the air contained at a pressure, namely said second pressure, of between approximately 10 Bar ( 1000 kPa) and 100 Bar ( 10000 kPa) and more preferably between approximately 10 Bar ( 1000 kPa) and 45 Bar (4500 kPa). While the compressed air is received through check valve 41 at the first pressure, namely a pressure of about 8 Bar (800 kPa) and 10 Bar ( 1000 kPa), from tank 4, the pressure in tank 7 is highly increased by the combination of a water supply or source, such as a water tank 46 and water line 47 connected to the bottom of tank 7, and the microwave generator 39. One or more generators 39 may be arranged in order to operate, not simultaneously but in alternating sequence,to prevent overheating of each of the magnetrons, or microwave circuits. Thus, the content of water in the air within tank 7 will be heated by the microwaves and will expand increasing volume and pressure, the latter reaching the above mentioned second pressure. The humidity or content of water will depend on the ambient air but it is estimated that a content of water 48 within the tank would be no less than 5% v/v with the volume of the tank being 100%. This will increase the pressure into tank 7 to such a degree that it is not necessary to operate compressor 2 constantly, but instead it can operate intermittently.

The pressure within tank 7 is controlled by a sensor 49 that senses the inner pressure and sends the data to control unit 21 by data line 50. In addition, valve 40 regulates the exit pressure and flow in order to have the desired values, preferably a pressure of 10-45 bar and a flow of about 800 liters/minute and about 1300 liters/minute. This flow is also valid for the embodiment of Figures 1-9. This compressed air is injected to the cylinders in the same manner as the embodiment of Figures 1-9.

In addition to the foregoing, the present embodiment incorporates the injection of hot oil into the cylinders. Thus, an oil source or, preferably, recycled oil from separator 35 which separator directs the separated oil via line 35 to an oil tank 51 which keeps the oil heated and under a pressure of no less than 1 bar. The oil is heated by a magnetron or microwave generator 52 which also maintains the pressure of the oil. The pressure within tank 51 is controlled by check valve 53 at the entrance to the tank and a flow/pressure control valve 54 at the exit of the tank. The oil will be heated to a temperature of between about 200°C to about 300°C, and the oil is preferably a low viscosity oil such as SAE 20 type oil.

The heated oil from tank 51 is fed to an oil pump 55, such a piston type pump from the firm "BOSCH", preferably a pump Model P Series inline injection pump. Pump 55 increases the oil pressure that is about the same pressure as the second pressure, namely to 10 bar to 45 bar, or higher. In any event, it is preferred that the oil is injected into the cylinder through corresponding lines 56 and injector 57 at a pressure that is the same as the pressure of the air that is being injected into the cylinder or a pressure higher than that of the injected compressed air. The oil is injected in the form of a mist or spray.

According to the invention, the simultaneous injection of heated pressurized oil and compressed humid air into the cylinder will cause a sudden increase in the pressure as a result of the contact of the water conained in the air and the hot oil. The boiling point of oil varies, but is around 300°C for refined motor oil. Thus hot oil may be much hotter than the boiling point of water. Whatever the heat capacity of oil, or more precisely its specific heat, which is actually about half that of water, the very high temperature can provide considerable heat that will instantly heat the water to the steam state, instantly creating considerable pressure, i.e. an explosive behaviour for each drop of water. This explosion or sudden expansion will provide additional energy to the piston and increase the power.

The novel application and combination of all the disclosed components, in the inventive power plant, result in an arragement or facility to generate energy with very good yields. Several tests have been carried out and the consumption of all the components, including air compressors, micro-wave generators, fluid heaters, etc, has been calculated and measured. The tests were permformed in an Engine DEUTZ of 250KW to 250 RPM, of year 1959, and with an inertia flywheel of 2.5 tons. The plant, according to the embodiment of Figure 11, has a conumption of between 80KW ( 107 HP) and 85KW ( 114 HP) and the resulted output power was measuredin a value between 66KW (88.5 HP) and 72KW (97 HP) at 84 RPM. This is certainly a very good yield, without employing fossil fuels. It is noted that oils and lubricants are employed but not for combustion purposes under burning conditions.

Reference is now made to Figures 12- 14 wherein, according to another aspect of the invention, a device for generating a fluid pressure or vapor generator is shown, wherein the pressurized fluid or pressurized vapor may be applied to any conventional energy converter, such as a motor, engine, turbine and the like. More particularly, the device comprises a chamber for creating a sudden fluid expansion and the invention also provides a method for generating a sudden fluid expansion by placing into contact at least two fluids, water and oil, preferably in a mixture with air, at predetermined conditions of pressures and temperatures, and with the chamber having a particular geometry. While the chamber is disclosed as a reaction chamber with three fluid input ports and an outlet port for directing the pressurized fluid out of the chamber, this chamber may be a combustion chamber of a reciprocating engine, defined in each of the engine cylinders, between the head of the engine block and the head of the piston, with the fluid inlet ports and exhaust port being properly arranged in the cylinder. The inventive chamber may be also a pre-expansion chamber that produces the pressurized fluid to be fed into a typical engine cylinder to actuate a piston under the pressure of the fluid. According to the invention, as depicted in Figures 12- 14, a chamber or reaction chamber 58 may comprise a chamber with an inlet port 59 and an outlet port 60, and it may be manufactured in any proper metal such as steel, aluminum, and even any polymer capable of resisting the involved pressures and temperatures. The inventive device for generating pressurized fluid, such as water vapor, comprises the chamber 58 having a particular geometry comprised of a lower portion S, of a rounded or spherical shape, and upper part C, having a truncated conical shape. The spherical portion S is combined with the conical portion C in a manner that the shape illustrated in Figure 12 is resulted. The chamber is a geometric revolution design having a longitudinal geometric axis X, which axis is inclined in respect of the gravity vector in the place of use, sucha an inclination of between about 5 to about 50°, preferably between 25° and 45°, and more preferably 45°.

Inlet port 59 is connected to an air inlet conduit 61 and outlet port 60 is connected to a high pressure fluid oulet conduit 62 to be connected to any power converting machine such as a cylinder of an engine, a turbine or a high pressure fluid collector. A first check valve Vl(same description as component 41-suggest giving these components a different name so we can distinguish in the claims) and a second check valve V2 are respectively mounted in conduits 61, 62, for closing/opening the fluid pass through the conduit in only one direction, namely in the dirction from counduit 61 towards conduit 62, as indicated by the arrows as shown on Figure 12? . First check Valve VI may be actuated by any known actuating mechanism to open for permitting the passage of a fluid Fl, such as air, at a pressure PI, into the chamber, and second check valve V2 may be actuated by any known actuating mechanism to open for permitting the exit of a highly pressurized mixture of fluids participating in the combination inside the chamber, namely air Fl y oil and water as it will be explained below.

The fluids which are combined with air Fl, are water, indicated by F2 in Figure 12, and oil indicated by F3 in Figure 12, which are injected into the chamber at respective pressures P2 and P3 and respective temperatures T2 and T3. Water Fl is injected by an injector 63 which injects very small drops of water at a high pressure, such as a spray jet or a mist directed to the center of the chamber, and oil F2 is injected by an injector 64 which injects the oil in the form of very small drops, a spray jet or a mist, directed against the jet or mist of water, in order to cause a collision and a sudden expansion or vaporization of the water spray illustrated like an explosive cloud 65. Oil F3 may be any appropriate motor oil, preferably a low viscosity oil, such as motor oil SAE 15.

According to several tests that have been carried out, the following parameters have shown to produce the desired results.

Fl= air

Pl= about 0 to about 6 bar

T2= about 25°C to about 100°C or even higher

F2= water

P2= about 250 to about 300 bar

T2= 25°C

F3=oil

P3=about 250 to about 300 bar

T3= about 100 to about 200 °C

Several sensors have also been arranged in the chamber and system for taking measures of the parameters, thus, a pressure sensor 66 has been located at the entrance of conduit 61 for sensing the air pressure that is feeding into the chamber. A pressure sensor 67 has been connected to chamber 58 for sensing the pressure inside the chamber and a sensor 68 has been connected to conduit 62 for sensing the output pressure. In addition, a temperature sensor 69 is located into the chamber 58 for detecting and measuring temperature inside the chamber.

In particular reference to a preferred arrangement of injector, one or both injectors 63, 64 is/are provided with a nozzle circumscribed by flaps, baffles or ears, indicated by numeral reference 70, 71 in Figura 13, for directing the injected fluid as desired. Particularly, as shown in Figure 1, the fluids are directed one against the other in order to provoke a collision inside the chamber. Figure 13 illustrates injector 63 as an example, which injector or similar injector would be employed to inject water, injector 63, or oil, injector 64. Baffles 70 may be any kind of plate or ear made of metal or any other material capable of withstanding the sudden expansion of water and the resulting pressure increase, and they can be pre-oriented to direct the injected fluid in the desired direction. Injector 63, 64 will have a tip which is appropriate to inject the involved fluid. According to the invention, injectors 63, 64 are arranged in a manner to face to each other, preferably aligned with the horizon line in the place, or keeping an angle with axis X of the chamber, as shown in Figure 12.

A test of the device has been carried out as follows. While only one Valve VI may be employed as described above, an additional valve V3, also illustrated in Figure 12, may be mounted in conduit 61 to operate as described below.

The operation of the inventive device begins by heating the oil, motor oil SAE 15, up to reach the desired temperature, 100°, 120°, 150°, 170°, 200°C, etc. by igniting a conventional thermal resistance, for example one commercially known as DIAMORE 600W,4 20Ma.

Once the desired temperature (°C) for the oil is reached, the oil is fed to the injector, for example one commercially known as BOSCH modelCOD.160 S 6173, which injects the hot oil into the chamber. In order to keep the temperature into the circuit, another resistance, for example one commercially known as DIAMORE 1000W, 4-20 Ma, is operated, which keeps the pipeline that join the injector with a hydraulic pump, not shown, for example a pump commercially known as BOSCH pump model B86S 121/4. Once desired temperature (°C) in the oil is reached, a compressor, for example SCHULZ, Model MSW 40 FORT/452, is started during the period of one (1) minute to compress air Fl and collect the pressurized air in a deposit for feeding into the chamber in order to get a starting pressure such as 2 bars, 2.5 bars, 3 bars... etc. Then, with a control flow valve, indicated by V4 in Figure 12, commercially known as AIRTAC 1" 0- 10 bar, the desired input pressure is adjusted. This obtained value is also visualized in a monitor which is sent through signals from a pressure transmitter, namely that one known as ADZ-Nagano GmbH SML -20.0-0002500-BAR-G-G14E- 22-MVS/C, placed in the output of the pressure and flow control valve V4., towards a PLC of the trademark SIEMENS 6ES7313-5BG04-0AB0, not shown.

With the air at the desired pressure, first check valve VI, such as for example, a valve commercially known as MAC Model 56C1 is open to pressurize conuit 61 at a section upstream of Valve VI . Then, second check valve V2, such as, for example, a valve known as MAC Model 55B 3/8, is opened to let the pressurized air enter the reaction chamber. Once sensor 67, for example a sensor commercially available under the name ADZ - Nagano GmbH SML -20.0-0004000 -BAR- G - G14E- 22 - MVS / C, detects the desired pressure, regulated by control valve V4, valves VI and V3 are closed thus preserving the initial pressure (bar) inside the pressurized reaction chamber. Once the starting air pressure is reached in the reaction chamber, sealed and contained by valves VI and V2 (MAC Model 55B 3/8") and oil is at the desired starting temperature, the fluids, water F2 and oil F3, are injected into the chamber, one against the other as it shown in 65. Injectors 63, 64, for example those commercially known as BOSCH( injector model COD.160 S 6173, inject the water F2, at room temperature, and Oil F3 at the desired high temperature. These fluids are atomized at a pressure of 250 bars, thus overcoming the air pressure contained in the pressurized reaction chamber. The water and oil jets will enter into contact at 65, with the result that the sprayed water, upon contacting the hot oil, will suddenly vaporize , thus producing a violent increase of the pressure into the chamber, creating a highly pressurized fluid. Once the desired pressure pointis reached, valve V3 is opened, by means of any conventional actuator, in order to evacuate the instantaneous boost pressure contained within the pressurized reaction chamber, through conduit 62, for actuating in any machine for converting the pressurized fluid into movement, such as an engine or turbie, or a pressure collector.

Some data has been collected during the test for different parameters, as shown in the Tables below.

Table 1

OIL (SAE 15) TO 120°C

Table 4 OIL (SAE 15) TO 200°C

Note: Input Pressure is the pressure at the chamber before injecting the water and the oil.

As it can be seen from the Table above, as the temperature of the oil to be fed into the chamber increases, the pressure differential also increases. Thus, if less energy needs to be consumed, entry pressure can be reduced in the pressurized reaction chamber with the oil temperature kept the same.

An additional test has been carried out to compare the pressure obtained in the inventive chamber with a pressure obtained in a common cylindrical chamber, with the reaction betwwn hot oil and water.

The volume of both, the inventive chamber and the conventional cylindrical chamber is 30 cc.

The starting or initial pressure into the chamber, i.e. before injecting the water and oil, was 1 bar.

Data of each injection :

Oil : 0.06 cc. at 100°C.

Water: 0.03 cc.

Table 5

Starting Pressure Final Pressure (Bar) Final Pressure (Bar) inside the chamber Cylindrical Chamber Inventive Chamber (Bar)

1 2,80 2,97 Further tests ahve been carried out for the inventive chamber, at different starting pressures, with the oil at 100°C.

Table 6

While the device with chamber 58 of the invention has been disclosed as being operated with air, water and oil, the same may be operated with only water and oil to generate water vapor. Under this alternative, air Fl may be injected into chamber 58 just at the start of the operation, to pressurize the chamber at the initial or starting pressure and, once the water and air is injected, valve VI can be closed to prevent the air from entering the chamber during the cycles of injection of water and oil. Each cycle comprises the simultaneous injection of water and oil jets. During each injection, valves VI, V2, V3, remain closed. Valve V3 is opened when the desired high pressure is reached into chamber. The geometry of chamber 58, as described above, provides an efficient reaction between the water and oil and an excellent expansion and pressure dsitribution into the chamber to flow outside the chamber through outlet port 60. The inclination of the chamber with respect to the vertical, as well as the inclination of the injectors with respect to the chamber, makes the expansion and pressure distribution to be complete and effective. Further applications of the device of Figures 12- 14, may be a combination of chamber 1 with the power plant of Figures 1-11. More particularly, the inventive chamber may be incorporated in the engine of Figures 1-7, which engine is operated by injecting high pressurized air from a collector tank in a manner that the highly compressed air is injected into the combustion chamber (piston) in order to move the piston, and/or may be incorporated in the engine of Figures 8- 11, wherein the air injected into the chamber is combined with water vapor and hot oil to provoke a sudden "reaction" resulting in an extremely sudden increasing of the pressure inside the chamber. For example, device 1 may be connected to high pressure tank 7 to feed the fluid, pressurized in chamber 1, into tank 7.

The combination of the inventive system of Figures 12-14 takes advantage of the phenomena that such a combination of fluids, hot oil and water, results in increasing of the pressure that, compared to the same pressure generated by a traditional compressor, consumes less energy. In other words the horsepower (HP) necessary for operating a compressor to achieve the necessary pressure into the piston chamber is higher than the HPs necessary to operate a small compressor for compressing the water and the oil simultaneously injected into the chamber.

Also according to the invention, as it is illustrated in Figure 14, chamber 58 may be incorporated in a power plant wherein the pressurized fluid generated in the chamber, will move out of the chamber, as shown by the arrows, passing through valve V2 when open, and via conduit 62, to a moving machine, such the cylinders of an engine or turbine. The exhaust fluid from the machine is directed to an oil/water separator 74, directing the separated water, via conduit 75, to a water filter, and the separated oil, via conduit 77, to an oil collector 78. The separated oil may be filtered to be reinserted into the circuit to feed injector 64, by means of a pump, as known. Separated water, part of which may be in the form of vapor, may be directed to a condenser 79 and then, via a water line 80, to a water container 81, for feeding injector 63 by means of a pump not shown.

Claims

1. A power plant, comprising :

at least one source of compressed air that has a compressed air outlet,

a cylinders and pistons engine of reciprocating movements, having a cylinder head with at least one compressed air injector and at least one exhaust valve within each of said cylinders, and said cylinders mounted on a crankshaft,

at least one high pressure compressed air tank for each cylinder having a compressed air outlet connected to said at least one air injector of the corresponding cylinder, and

a distributor for said high pressure compressed air of said high pressure compressed air tanks wherein said distributor of high pressure compressed air feeds said high pressure compressed air to said at least one injector of each cylinder to inject said high pressure compressed air in each cylinder once every n/2 turns of said crankshaft, where n is the number of pistons of the power machine, and

an actuator of said exhaust valves that closes the exhaust valve of each cylinder when said compressed air is being injected into the cylinder and opens the exhaust valves simultaneously in all the other cylinders where said compressed air is not being injected.

2. A plant according to claim 1, wherein said at least one high pressure compressed air tank for each cylinder includes an individual tank for each cylinder connected to the cylinder injector through a mechanical valve, said tank having a capacity of between approximately 1000 kPa and 10000 kPa tely, and more preferably between 1000 kPa and 4500 kPa approximately.

3. A plant according to claim 1, wherein the pistons are connected to the crankshaft through a crank mechanism and the pistons preserve an angular uniform relation in which the pistons are grouped at least in pairs and the pairs are angularly out-of-phase among them by equal angles.

4. A plant according to claim 1, wherein said distributor of said high pressure compressed air feed said high pressure compressed air to the cylinders according to the following sequence, cylinders 1 and n; ... ; cylinders (n/2) and (n/2)+ l, where n is the number of pistons of the engine.

5. A plant according to claim 1, wherein said source of compressed air includes at least a first air compressor at a first pressure that feeds a first air container tank to said first pressure, and at least a second air compressor at a second pressure that feeds high pressure compressed air tanks.

6. A plant according to claim 4, wherein said first pressure is a pressure between approximately 800 kPa and 1000 kPa, and said second pressure is a pressure between approximately 1000 kPa and 10000 kPa, more preferably between approximately 1000 kPa and 4500 kPa.

7. A plant according to claim 2, wherein said distributor of pressurized air include a control unit to control the mechanical valve that connects at least one tank of high pressured compressed air to an associated cylinder.

8. A plant according to claim 1, wherein said crankshaft includes an inertial flywheel.

9. A plant according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust valve connects to a recirculation circuit of exhaust air with a separator of air/oil that has an air output connected to the high pressure line of injection to the power plant and an oil outlet connected to an oil container or a crankcase of the power machine, with a venturi being arranged between said at least one high pressure compressed air tank for each cylinder and a corresponding cylinder, the venturi being connected to said oil container or the crankcase, whereby the high pressure compressed air exiting each high pressure compressed air tank drags oil from the venturi into the corresponding cylinder.

10. A plant according to claim 9, wherein said high pressure compressed air injected to the cylinders has an oil content, coming from said venturi, of about 7% in volume and approximately 10% in volume of the mixture air-oil.

11. A plant according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust valve connects a recirculation circuit of exhaust air with a separator of air/oil that has an air output connected to the high pressure line of injection to the power plant.

12. A plant according to claim 11, wherein said high pressure compressed air injected to the cylinders has an oil content, coming from said air/oil separator, of about 7% in volume and approximately 10% in volume of the mixture air-oil.

13. A power plant, comprising :

at least one source of compressed air and at least one engine having cylinders and pistons, said pistons having reciprocating movements, wherein said at least one engine has one cylinder head that includes at least one injector of compressed air and at least one exhaust valve within each of said cylinders, at least one tank of high pressure compressed air connected to said at least one injector of each cylinder, and a distributor of said high pressure compressed air to feed said high pressure compressed air to at least one injector of each cylinder once every n/2 turns of said crankshaft where n is the number of pistons of the engine.

14. A method for the operation of a power generation plant, comprising the steps of:

providing at least one source of compressed air that has a compressed air outlet, providing an engine having cylinders and pistons with reciprocating movements, the engine having a cylinder head with at least one compressed air injector and at least one exhaust valve within each of said cylinders, being said pistons mounted on a crankshaft,

providing at least one high pressure compressed air tank for each cylinder, in which the high pressure compressed air tank has a compressed air outlet connected to said at least one injector of air of the corresponding cylinder,

providing a distributor of said high pressure compressed air of said high pressure compressed air tanks,

operating said distributor of high pressure compressed air to feed said high pressure compressed air to said at least one injector of each cylinder to inject said high pressure compressed air in each cylinder once every n/2 turns of said crankshaft, where n is the number of pistons of the engine,

providing actuator means of said exhaust valves, and

operating said actuator means of exhaust valves to close the exhaust valve of one cylinder wherein said compressed air is being injected and open the exhaust valves simultaneously in all the other cylinders where said compressed air is not being injected.

15. A process according to claim 14, wherein said stage of operating said distributor of high pressure compressed air to feed said high pressure compressed air to the at least one injector of each cylinder includes injecting said high pressure compressed air at a pressure between 1000 kPa and 10000 kPa, more preferably between approximately 1000 kPa and 4500 kPa.

16. A process according to claim 14, wherein said stage of operating said distributor of high pressure compressed air to feed said high pressure compressed air to said at least one injector of each cylinder includes injecting said high pressure compressed air to the cylinders according to the following sequence, cylinders 1 and n; ...; cylinders (n/2) and (n/2)+ l, where n is the number of pistons of the engine.

17. A process according to claim 16, wherein said stage of providing at least one source of compressed air includes compressing air until a first pressure and storing it in tank of first pressure and compressing the air coming from said tank of first pressure until a second pressure and feed said compressed air to that second pressure to that at least one tank of high pressure compressed air.

18. A process according to claim 17, wherein said first pressure is a pressure between 800 kPa and 1000 kPa approximately, and said second pressure is a pressure between 1000 kPa and 10000 kPa approximately, more preferably between 1000 kPa and 4500 kPa approximately.

19. A process according to claim 16, wherein the stage of opening the exhaust valves includes opening said exhaust valves and directing the exhaust air to the separator of air/oil,

separating part of the oil entrained by the exhaust air and feeding said exhaust air separated in the air/oil separator to said engine.

20. A proceeding according to claim 19, wherein said high pressure compressed air injected to the cylinders has an oil content, coming from said air/oil separator, of about 7% in volume and approximately 10% in volume of the mixture air-oil.

21. A plant according to claim 5, further comprising a high pressure tank (7) between said at least one second air compressor and said high pressure compressed air tanks, wherein the high pressure tank (7) includes a microwave generator for additionally increasing the pressure into the high pressure tank.

22. A power plant, comprising :

at least one source of compressed air, wherein the compressed air has a water vapor content forming humid compressed air, a cylinders and pistons engine of reciprocating movements, the engine having a cylinder head with at least one compressed air injector and at least one exhaust valve within each of the engine cylinders, said piatons being mounted on a crankshaft,

at least one high pressure compressed air tank for each cylinder, each of said compressed air tanks having a compressed air outlet connected to said at least one air injector of the corresponding cylinder, and

a distributor for said high pressure compressed air of said high pressure compressed air tanks that feeds said high pressure compressed air to said at least one injector of each cylinder to inject said high pressure compressed air in each cylinder, and

an oil injector communicating with each cylinder to inject hot oil into the cyclinder together with the compressed humid air injected by the air injector.

23. The power plant of claim 22, wherein the humid compressed air is obtained by providing water into the at least one source of compressed air, and the water is incorporated into the air as a water vapor by a microwave generator installed in the at least one source of compressed air.

24. A method for the operation of a power generation plant, comprising the steps of:

providing at least one source of compressed air, the compressed air having a content of water vapor and forming a humid compressed air,

providing an engine comprising cylinders and reciprocating moving pistons, the engine having a cylinder head with at least one humid compressed air injector and at least one exhaust valve within each of said engine cylinders, and said cylinders being mounted on a crankshaft,

providing at least one high pressure humid compressed air tank for each cylinder,said compressed air tank having a humid compressed air outlet connected to said at least one humid air injector of the corresponding cylinder, and

injecting said humid air sequentially into each cylinder, and injecting hot oil into each engine cylinder, simultaneously with the injection of said humid air, whereby the hot oil is contacted with the humid air thus generating a sudden expansion of the water vapor contained in the injected humid air.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the oil is heated at a temperature above the boiling temperature for water.

26. Pressure generating system comprising a reaction chamber having :

an air input port,

an air feeding for feeding air into the chamber through the air input port,

a water input port,

a water feeder for feeding water into the chamber through the water input port, and

an oil input port, and

an oil feeder for feeding oil into the chamber through the oil input port.

27 The system of claim 26, wherein the reaction chamber is a revolution body having a lower portion of a rounded or spherical shape, and an upper portion having a truncated conical shape, combined along a geometrical longitudinal axis.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the longitudinal geometril axis of the reaction chamber is inclined in respect of the gravity vector in the place of use, with such an inclination being between about 5 to about 50°, preferably between 25° and 45°, more preferably between 45°.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the inlet port is connected to an air inlet conduit and the outlet port is connected to a high pressure fluid oulet conduit, and wherein a first check valve and a second check valve are respectively mounted in said air inlet conduit and said high pressure fluid oulet conduit, for closing/opening the fluid pass through the conduits in only one direction.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the injectors are aligned and facing one to another whereby the tips are directed in opposite senses, one in front to the other.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein the injectors have respective tips circumscribed by directing baffles.

32. A method for increasing the pressure in a fluid comprised of a mixture of fluids, the method comprising the steps of:

injecting water into the chamber through the water input port, and injecting oil into the chamber through the oil input port, wherein the oil is at a predetermined high temperature and pressure and contacts the water to cause the water injected into the chamber to suddenly increase its volume and create a high pressure in the chamber.

33. The method of claim 32, comprising the further stage of:

providing an air input port in the reaction chamber, and

feeding air into the chamber through the air input port, before injecting the water and oil.