Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
  • F01B—MACHINES OR ENGINES, IN GENERAL OR OF POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT TYPE, e.g. STEAM ENGINES
  • F01B25/00—Regulating, controlling or safety means
  • F01B25/02—Regulating or controlling by varying working-fluid admission or exhaust, e.g. by varying pressure or quantity
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
  • F01B—MACHINES OR ENGINES, IN GENERAL OR OF POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT TYPE, e.g. STEAM ENGINES
  • F01B29/00—Machines or engines with pertinent characteristics other than those provided for in preceding main groups
  • F01B29/02—Atmospheric engines, i.e. atmosphere acting against vacuum
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
  • F01B—MACHINES OR ENGINES, IN GENERAL OR OF POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT TYPE, e.g. STEAM ENGINES
  • F01B23/00—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of engines with devices driven thereby
  • F01B23/08—Adaptations for driving, or combinations with, pumps
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
  • F01B—MACHINES OR ENGINES, IN GENERAL OR OF POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT TYPE, e.g. STEAM ENGINES
  • F01B25/00—Regulating, controlling or safety means
  • F01B25/02—Regulating or controlling by varying working-fluid admission or exhaust, e.g. by varying pressure or quantity
  • F01B25/08—Final actuators
  • F01B25/10—Arrangements or adaptations of working-fluid admission or discharge valves

Definitions

• the invention relates to an arrangement comprising a reciprocating engine, which is designed for combustion-free operation, and a vacuum chamber in which a reduced air pressure can be generated compared to the atmosphere surrounding the reciprocating engine.
• the invention further relates to a method for operating such an arrangement and the use of the arrangement for driving a mechanical machine and/or for generating electrical current.
• EP 3 249 155 A1 (Benkendil), for example, describes an air motor that does not convert heat into mechanical work like a conventional heat engine, but rather works through the effect of negative pressure.
• a cylinder is used, which is closed at both ends and is divided into two chambers on the inside by a movable piston.
• Each of the two chambers is provided with an inlet valve and an outlet valve, whereby each chamber can be connected to a vacuum generator via its outlet valve and to the ambient air via its inlet valve.
• the outlet valve of one chamber is open, the inlet valve of that chamber is closed, while in the other chamber the inlet valve is open and the outlet valve is closed.
• the piston can be moved back and forth in the cylinder.
• a push rod attached to the piston and led out of the cylinder Via a push rod attached to the piston and led out of the cylinder, its translational movement can be converted into a rotational movement by means of a corresponding mechanism, so that a generator can be operated, for example.
• EP 3 249 155 A1 (Benkendil) proposes a venturi tube which is used, for example, in a water flow.
• the venturi tube can be installed in a watercourse, in the area of a weir or at the outlet of a dam.
• the object of the invention is therefore to provide improved solutions which make it possible to use negative pressure as a form of energy.
• devices based on power machines are to be provided, which perform mechanical work by using negative pressure, which in turn can be converted into other forms of energy if necessary.
• the core of the invention is therefore an arrangement comprising a reciprocating engine, which is designed for combustion-free operation, and a vacuum chamber in which a reduced air pressure can be generated compared to the atmosphere surrounding the reciprocating engine, wherein: a) the reciprocating engine has at least one cylinder closed by a cylinder head, in which a piston can be moved and the piston is coupled to a crankshaft of the reciprocating engine via a connecting rod on the side facing away from the cylinder head, the connecting rod and the crankshaft being located in a crankcase of the Reciprocating engine are integrated; b) the at least one cylinder has at least one inlet valve and at least one separate outlet valve on the cylinder head, wherein the vacuum chamber can be fluidly connected to the working chamber of the at least one cylinder via the outlet valve in order to generate a vacuum in the working chamber and the working chamber to the working chamber via the inlet valve the atmosphere surrounding the reciprocating engine can be fluidly connected in order to generate ambient pressure in the working space;
• a substantially constant pressure means in particular that during operation the pressure in the area of the piston facing away from the cylinder head changes by no more than 50 mbar, in particular by no more than 10 mbar.
• seals are usually difficult to implement and have relatively high leakage rates. Overall, therefore, higher speeds can be achieved without excessive mechanical loads occurring, and the interplay between negative pressure and atmospheric pressure in the working space can be controlled more precisely.
• the moving parts of the reciprocating engine are optimally protected against damage and weather influences and the pressure ratio in this area can be controlled as best as possible.
• inlet valve and the outlet valve are two separate valves, with the outlet valve being designed exclusively to remove air from the working space, while the inlet valve is designed exclusively to feed air into the working space. Due to this separation, the air supply and exhaust is controlled extremely precisely. If the air supply and the air discharge take place via the same inlet or outlet, the efficiency decreases significantly.
• a vacuum chamber in the arrangement according to the invention also ensures a substantially constant vacuum during operation of the reciprocating piston engine, to be precise over a wide range independently of the speed. This cannot be achieved by simply sucking the air out of the working area with a fan or the like.
• the vacuum chamber has a volume that is larger than the cubic capacity of the reciprocating engine.
• the volume of the vacuum chamber corresponds to at least ten times, in particular at least a hundred times, in particular at least a thousand times, the cubic capacity of the reciprocating engine.
• the displacement of the reciprocating engine defines the volume that is displaced by the stroke of all pistons.
• the functional interaction of the elements of the inventive arrangement is a surprisingly advantageous and efficient use of vacuum and conversion into mechanical work.
• the individual elements of the arrangement according to the invention interact synergistically.
• the reciprocating piston engines used according to the invention can be realized by converting conventional internal combustion engines, e.g. gasoline engines or diesel engines. Depending on the engine type, it is sufficient to adjust the valve control, for example, so that the engine can be operated with a vacuum.
• the arrangement according to the invention can thus be implemented in a relatively simple and cost-effective manner.
• the reciprocating engine is therefore an internal combustion engine with modified valve control.
• the reciprocating engine has at least two cylinders, in particular four, five, six, eight, ten or twelve cylinders.
• the advantages according to the invention thus come into play to a particularly large extent. In principle, however, it is also possible to provide a reciprocating piston engine with a single cylinder.
• the reciprocating engine is a V-engine, a radial engine, or an in-line engine.
• V-engine a V-engine
• radial engine a radial engine
• in-line engine a motor that uses the reciprocating engine to generate a V-engine to generate a V-line.
• other motor geometries are also possible.
• the valve control is implemented in particular via at least one, for example via two, camshaft(s) and/or cam disk(s) coupled to the crankshaft.
• the crankshaft is coupled purely mechanically to the at least one camshaft and/or cam disk.
• the inlet and outlet valve is preferably opened and closed via tappets, rocker arms and/or rocker arms interacting with the at least one camshaft and/or cam disk. This enables the valves to be opened and closed particularly precisely and quickly, which is particularly advantageous for operating the reciprocating engine with a vacuum.
• the coupling is implemented in particular via a timing chain or a toothed belt.
• valve control can also be implemented differently.
• the valve control is a pneumatic, hydraulic and/or electromechanical valve control.
• the at least one camshaft and/or cam disk is coupled to the crankshaft in particular with a gear ratio of 2:1, so that during operation the at least one camshaft and/or cam disk has half the speed of the crankshaft. This allows the valves to be opened and closed precisely.
• other transmission ratios can also be implemented.
• an engine block, the piston, the connecting rod, the crankshaft, the at least one camshaft and/or the crankcase of the reciprocating engine in particular the entire mechanical structure of the reciprocating engine, consists of plastic, ceramic and/or a composite material.
• the weight of the reciprocating engine can thereby be reduced, manufacture can be simplified and/or the costs for manufacture and spare parts can be lowered. Since the operation of the reciprocating engine generates little frictional heat, the reciprocating engine hardly heats up. Cooling is not required. It is therefore possible to manufacture the engine or components thereof from less heat-resistant and cheaper materials than conventional internal combustion engines. Another advantage of the materials mentioned is that they can be produced with almost any shape and structure, e.g. using additive manufacturing processes such as 3D printing, so that specially designed motor shapes can also be realized.
• the engine block, the piston, the connecting rod, the crankshaft, the at least one camshaft and/or the crankcase of the reciprocating engine, in particular the entire mechanical structure of the reciprocating engine are made of metal. This means that particularly robust reciprocating piston engines can be implemented.
• the valve control is designed in particular in such a way that when the maximum stroke height of the piston in at least one cylinder is reached, the outlet valve is opened and the inlet valve is closed, so that the air pressure in the working chamber is reduced and when the minimum stroke height of the piston is reached in at least one cylinder, the inlet valve is reduced is opened so that the air pressure in the working space is increased. This takes place in particular in regular cycles during operation of the reciprocating engine.
• the maximum stroke of the piston is reached when the working space in the cylinder has the maximum volume, while the minimum stroke of the piston is reached when the working space in the cylinder has the minimum volume.
• the valve control is designed such that: in a first stroke, in which the piston moves toward the cylinder head, the exhaust valve is opened and the intake valve is closed, so that the piston is pulled toward the cylinder head by the vacuum; in a subsequent second stroke, in which the piston moves away from the cylinder head, a first period of time the exhaust valve is closed and the intake valve is open and in a subsequent second period of time both valves are closed, so that in the second period of time the piston moving away from the cylinder head is in the working chamber creates a depression.
• a stroke is a complete movement of the piston from one dead center to the other dead center.
• a cycle takes place in particular during half a revolution of the crankshaft. Both strokes occur together during one complete revolution of the crankshaft.
• the first time section and the second time section in the second cycle correspond in particular to 40-60% each, in particular 50% each, of the duration of the entire second cycle.
• the first and second time segments thus each correspond to half a clock.
• the two clocks are executed one after the other during operation, in particular in a continuous process.
• valve controls described above have proven to be particularly preferred. If there is more than one cylinder, the crankshaft and the valve control are designed in such a way that the pistons in the respective cylinders are moved at least partially out of phase during operation. This is analogous to conventional combustion engines.
• the negative pressure chamber is in particular connected in a fluid-conducting manner to a vacuum generating device, in particular a vacuum pump, so that the negative pressure chamber can be or is evacuated by the vacuum generating device in a vibration-free manner.
• the arrangement according to the invention can be operated by completely different vacuum generation devices and can therefore be used extremely flexibly.
• the vacuum generating device includes a Venturi tube.
• a Venturi tube can be used as a pump that is simple in design and has no moving parts. Venturi tubes are correspondingly robust, low-maintenance and versatile.
• the Venturi tube is placed in a watercourse, for example in the area of a weir or at the outlet of a dam. As a result, water power can be converted into mechanical energy with the arrangement according to the invention and, if necessary, further into electrical energy, e.g. via a generator.
• the vacuum generating device comprises an electrically operated vacuum pump, in particular a rotary vane pump.
• the electrically operated vacuum pump can be present as an additional or sole vacuum generation device. This makes it possible, for example, to compensate for fluctuations in other vacuum generation devices.
• the arrangement according to the invention can be operated entirely by electrical energy, e.g. by solar energy or excess energy from the electricity network.
• vacuum generation devices such as mechanically operated pumps are also conceivable, which can be driven by wind energy, for example.
• the vacuum generating device also includes the electrically operated vacuum pump a vacuum booster, which is connected between the vacuum chamber and the electrically operated vacuum pump.
• the vacuum booster is operated electrically.
• Vacuum boosters increase the pumping speed and the ultimate pressure of vacuum pumps. They increase the performance of vacuum systems by a factor of up to ten. Vacuum boosters work according to the Roots principle: Two Roots pistons rotate synchronously within a housing. These do not touch each other or the housing. This means that no lubricants or operating fluids are required in the process chamber. During the rotation of the Roots, gas is transported between the Roots and the housing into the downstream vacuum pump.
• the pressure in the vacuum chamber is preferably at least 0.2 bar, in particular at least 0.4 bar, in particular at least 0.7 bar, lower than the atmospheric pressure surrounding the reciprocating engine.
• the pressure in the vacuum chamber is in the range of 0.05-0.8 bar, in particular 0.1-0.5 bar, in particular 0.1-0.3 bar. At such pressures, the arrangement according to the invention works particularly effectively. In special constellations, however, other pressure conditions are also possible.
• the reciprocating engine has a turbocharger, the turbocharger being driven by the air flowing out of the outlet valve and compressing the ambient air supplied via the inlet valve.
• a turbocharger consists of a turbine that uses the energy from the expelled air and drives a compressor that compresses the ambient air that is supplied. The air supply is thus increased in order to achieve faster volume filling.
• crankcase has a crankcase ventilation, in particular an open crankcase ventilation.
• This is designed in such a way that the inner volume of the crankcase and/or the area of the piston facing away from the cylinder head communicates with the surrounding atmosphere in a fluid-conducting manner.
• a substantially constant pressure can be maintained in the area of the piston facing away from the cylinder head in a simple manner and at the same time the connecting rod and crankshaft can be protected from external influences.
• the crankshaft of the reciprocating engine is coupled to a power generator, so that power can or is generated by the work of the reciprocating engine.
• the electricity can, for example, be used to operate external consumers and/or be temporarily stored in an electricity storage device.
• Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method for operating an arrangement as described above, wherein negative pressure and ambient pressure are alternately applied via the inlet valve and the outlet valve in the working chamber, so that the piston in at least one cylinder is moved back and forth, so that the crankshaft is driven.
• the outlet valve is opened and the inlet valve is closed, so that the air pressure in the working chamber is reduced and when the minimum stroke of the piston in at least one cylinder is reached, the outlet valve is closed and the inlet valve is opened , so that the air pressure in the working area is increased.
• the valves are controlled by the valve control in such a way that: in a first stroke in which the piston moves toward the cylinder head, the exhaust valve is opened and the intake valve is closed, so that the piston is pulled in the direction of the cylinder head by the vacuum; in a subsequent second stroke, in which the piston moves away from the cylinder head, a first period of time the exhaust valve is closed and the intake valve is open and in a subsequent second period of time both valves are closed, so that in the second period of time the piston moving away from the cylinder head is in the working chamber creates a depression.
• the two clocks are executed one after the other during operation, in particular in a continuous process.
• the vacuum chamber is in particular continuously evacuated with a fluid-conducting connected vacuum generating device, in particular a vacuum pump. Possible vacuum generating devices are described above.
• the pressure in the vacuum chamber is preferably kept at at least 0.2 bar, in particular at least 0.4 bar, in particular at least 0.7 bar, below the atmospheric pressure surrounding the reciprocating engine.
• the pressure in the vacuum chamber is kept in the range of 0.05-0.8 bar, in particular 0.1-0.5 bar, in particular 0.1-0.3 bar.
• the air flowing out of the outlet valve is used to drive a turbocharger, which compresses the ambient air before it is supplied via the inlet valve. This further improves the efficiency.
• crankcase is vented during operation via a crankcase ventilation, in particular an open crankcase ventilation.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an arrangement according to the invention with a reciprocating engine that can be driven without combustion and a vacuum chamber in which a reduced air pressure can be generated compared to the atmosphere surrounding the reciprocating engine;
• FIG. 2 shows a first type of activation of the valves of the reciprocating engine from FIG. 1 .
• the same parts are provided with the same reference symbols in the figures.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an arrangement 100 according to the invention.
• This comprises a reciprocating piston engine 110 designed for combustion-free operation, which is shown in FIG. 1 in a cross section perpendicular to the crankshaft and comprises, for example, six cylinders arranged in a row.
• the first cylinder 1 1 1 can be seen in FIG. 1, while the other five cylinders lie behind the first cylinder and are not visible in the view of FIG.
• the entire mechanical structure of the reciprocating engine 110 is made entirely of metal.
• the first cylinder 1 1 1 of the reciprocating engine 1 10 is arranged in the engine block 1 17 and closed with a cylinder head 1 18, wherein in the cylinder 1 1 1 1 a piston 1 12 is movably mounted. On the side of the piston 112 facing away from the cylinder head 118, the latter is coupled to the crankshaft 116 of the reciprocating engine 110 via a connecting rod 115.
• the connecting rod 1 15 and the crankshaft 1 16 are integrated in a crankcase 1 17a.
• crankcase 1 17a is an integral part of the engine block 1 17 and also has an open crankcase ventilation 1 17a.1 in the form of an opening which ensures that during operation in an area 1 14 of the piston 1 12 facing away from the cylinder head 1 18 there is always an im Substantially constant pressure or the atmospheric pressure surrounding the reciprocating engine 110 is present.
• the inner working volume 1 13 of the cylinder 1 1 1 can be fluidly connected to the atmosphere surrounding the reciprocating piston engine 1 10 (when the valve 1 19a is open as shown in Fig. 1) around the cylinder or the working chamber 1 13 Supply ambient air LZ to generate ambient pressure.
• the outlet valve 1 19b (shown in the closed position in Fig. 1) enables the working chamber 1 13 of the cylinder 1 1 1 to be fluidly connected to a vacuum chamber 130 in order to discharge exhaust air LA and to generate a vacuum in the working chamber 1 13 (for this purpose, the outlet valve 1 19b is opened and the inlet valve 1 19a is closed).
• the reciprocating piston engine 110 has a valve control 120 in the form of two parallel camshafts 120a, 120b, which are coupled to the crankshaft 116, for example via a toothed belt 121 (represented symbolically as connecting arrows).
• the camshafts 120a, 120b are coupled to the crankshaft 116 with a gear ratio of 2:1, for example, so that the camshafts 120a, 120b rotate at half the speed of the crankshaft 116 during operation.
• the valve control 120 is designed such that the inlet valve 1 19a and the outlet valve 1 19b are controlled during operation in such a way that the piston in the cylinder 1 1 1 is moved back and forth by the alternating application of ambient pressure and negative pressure. Possible controls to achieve this are described in more detail in connection with FIGS.
• the valves of the other cylinders are controlled in the same way, with the pistons in cylinders 1 and 6 running in phase, cylinders 2 and 5 running in phase with one another but out of phase with cylinders 1 and 6, while cylinders 3 and 4 are in phase with one another , but run out of phase with the other cylinders.
• the air LA flowing out of the outlet valve 1 19b can be used to drive an optional turbocharger 122, which compresses the ambient air before it is supplied via the inlet valve (indicated by a broken connecting line).
• the reciprocating engine 110 is connected via the outlet valve 119b to the vacuum chamber 130, in which there is a pressure of 0.2 bar, for example.
• the pressure in the vacuum chamber 130 is thus about 0.8 bar lower than the ambient pressure or the atmospheric pressure in which the reciprocating engine 110 is located.
• the vacuum in the vacuum chamber! 30 can be measured with a 131 manometer.
• the vacuum chamber 130 is connected in a fluid-conducting manner to a vacuum generating device 132 .
• a vacuum generating device 132 can be an electrically operated vacuum pump 132a, such as a rotary vane pump, which is operated in combination with an electrically operated vacuum booster 132b, which is connected between the vacuum chamber 130 and the electrically operated vacuum pump.
• the ones from the Air conveyed to the vacuum chamber 130 is discharged into the atmosphere A.
• a second vacuum generation device 133 can be present in the form of a venturi tube, which is installed, for example, in a watercourse and also evacuates air from the vacuum chamber 130 and releases it into the atmosphere.
• the electrically operated vacuum pump 132a and the vacuum booster 132b can be charged with electrical energy (shown as a dashed line) via an optional power storage device 150, e.g. an accumulator, which is charged by an external power source 160, e.g. a solar cell and/or the power grid. be taken care of.
• an optional power storage device 150 e.g. an accumulator, which is charged by an external power source 160, e.g. a solar cell and/or the power grid. be taken care of.
• the pressure in the vacuum chamber is kept in the range of 0.1-0.3 bar, for example.
• crankshaft 116 of the reciprocating engine 110 is also coupled via a transmission 141 (indicated by a connecting arrow in FIG. 1) to a power generator 140, so that useful electrical energy E can be generated by the work of the reciprocating engine 110.
• crankshaft 116 can optionally be coupled to a mechanical machine M via a second transmission 142 in order to drive it directly.
• Fig. 2 shows a first way of controlling the valves of the first cylinder 1 1 1 of the reciprocating engine 1 10.
• the valves of the other cylinders are controlled analogously, but these are controlled in time so that the phase relationships described above are obtained.
• intake valve 1 19a left horizontal arrow
• exhaust valve 1 19b right horizontal arrow
• the closed position is marked as ("X") and the open position as "O”.
• a first stroke 201 in which the piston 1 12 moves towards the cylinder head (indicated by the arrow pointing up), the exhaust valve 1 19b is open (0) and the intake valve 1 19a is closed (X), so that the piston passes through the vacuum is drawn towards the cylinder head.
• the valves are switched as in the first cycle 201, while in the subsequent cycle 204 the valves are switched as in the second cycle. The cycle then begins again.
• each of the strokes corresponds to half a revolution of the crankshaft 116, so that the crankshaft has performed exactly two revolutions after one cycle.
• the camshafts 120a, 120b rotate exactly once.
• the engine can have more or less than six cylinders.
• valve control can also be configured differently. For example, the closing and opening times can be adjusted or it can be controlled by a single camshaft.
• the power storage 150 can also be omitted.
• the electrically operated vacuum pump 132a and the vacuum booster 132b can be connected directly to the external power source 160, for example.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Atmospheric Sciences (AREA)
• Compressors, Vaccum Pumps And Other Relevant Systems (AREA)
• Medicines That Contain Protein Lipid Enzymes And Other Medicines (AREA)
• Lubrication Details And Ventilation Of Internal Combustion Engines (AREA)
• Valve Device For Special Equipments (AREA)

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Citations (4)

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• 2022
  • 2022-02-01 EP EP22154647.6A patent/EP4219895A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2023
  • 2023-01-30 JP JP2024545750A patent/JP2025503306A/ja active Pending
  • 2023-01-30 CN CN202380019928.1A patent/CN118647784A/zh active Pending
  • 2023-01-30 AR ARP230100209A patent/AR128380A1/es unknown
  • 2023-01-30 WO PCT/EP2023/052191 patent/WO2023148126A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 2023-01-30 KR KR1020247027123A patent/KR20240138510A/ko active Pending
  • 2023-01-30 RS RS20250580A patent/RS66910B1/sr unknown
  • 2023-01-30 HU HUE23701806A patent/HUE072411T2/hu unknown
  • 2023-01-30 HR HRP20250689TT patent/HRP20250689T1/hr unknown
  • 2023-01-30 UY UY0001040134A patent/UY40134A/es unknown
  • 2023-01-30 EP EP23701806.4A patent/EP4473194B1/de active Active
  • 2023-01-30 US US18/833,527 patent/US12704068B2/en active Active
  • 2023-01-30 ES ES23701806T patent/ES3033972T3/es active Active
  • 2023-02-01 TW TW112103505A patent/TW202348889A/zh unknown

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