초록 ▼

The coolant in the cooling jacket of a dual cycle internal combustion steam engine is intentionally maintained at an elevated temperature that may typically range from about 225° F.-300° F. or more. A non-aqueous liquid coolant is used to cool the combustion chamber together with a provision for con

The coolant in the cooling jacket of a dual cycle internal combustion steam engine is intentionally maintained at an elevated temperature that may typically range from about 225° F.-300° F. or more. A non-aqueous liquid coolant is used to cool the combustion chamber together with a provision for controlling the flow rate and residence time of the coolant within the cooling jacket to maintain the temperature of the coolant at a selected elevated temperature that is substantially above the boiling point of water but below the boiling point of the coolant. The coolant is passed from the jacket through a heat exchanger in a first circuit to transfer heat to a vaporizable working fluid such as water and is then returned. An optional second circuit is an intrajacket perturbation circuit within the engine can be used to disrupt and disperse pockets of vapor that may tend to form before damaging hot spots can develop around the combustion chamber. A cooling jacket design is tailored to extract heat at the highest possible temperature from each heat transfer zone as by having the coolant follow a circuitous helical pathway to achieve more efficient and improved heat transfer from the combustion chamber to the cooling medium.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine for recovering waste combustion heat comprising, at least one cylinder having a combustion piston slidably and sealingly mounted therein between a combustion chamber and a steam expansion chamber,the combustion chamber being outward of the p

1. A combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine for recovering waste combustion heat comprising, at least one cylinder having a combustion piston slidably and sealingly mounted therein between a combustion chamber and a steam expansion chamber,the combustion chamber being outward of the piston and including a combustion intake valve and a combustion exhaust valve communicating therewith,the steam expansion chamber being located in the cylinder inward of the piston,at least one steam inlet valve enclosed by the piston and connected to be operated in timed relationship to the piston movement for admitting steam produced by waste combustion heat into the steam expansion chamber through a fixed cylinder cap that is sealingly and slidingly mounted within the piston,at least one steam exhaust port communicating with the expansion chamber to exhaust steam therefrom,a cooling jacket at least partially surrounding the combustion chamber,a helical flow guide comprising a spiral flange in the cooling jacket for causing a coolant to flow therethrough in a circuitous pathway wherein the coolant flows in a convoluted or winding course within the cooling jacket while in thermal contact with the combustion chamber whereby a mass velocity of the coolant is increased through at least one flow channel to thereby increase a net heat transfer coefficient between the combustion chamber cooling jacket and the coolant,a pump for transferring coolant between a portion of the cooling jacket adjacent the cylinder and a cylinder head cooling jacket for cooling the combustion chamber,a heat exchange coupling between the coolant and the steam or a steam condensate to transfer heat thereto from the coolant, anda duct connected to transfer the condensate to a heater fired by exhaust gases from the combustion chamber for providing steam produced from the condensate to the steam expansion chamber. 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the cooling jacket surrounds the cylinderwherein the cooling jacket includes an upper portion and a lower portion, and the pump is connected thereto to pump the coolant from the lower portion to the upper portionwherein the upper portion of the cooling jacket comprises the circuitous pathway through the helical flow guide wherein the spiral flange extends radially outward from the cylinder to direct the flow of coolant to encircle the combustion chamber in a spiral pathway proximate an upper portion of the cylindersuch that the heated coolant flows around the upper portion of the cylinder then through a cooling jacket within a cylinder head of the engine. 3. The engine of claim 1 including a guide within a cylinder head to impart a swirling motion to the coolant within the head and a coolant outlet in the head communicating with the cooling jacket to transfer the coolant out of the head for heating the steam condensate. 4. A combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine for recovering waste combustion heat comprising, at least one cylinder having a combustion piston slidably and sealingly mounted therein at one end of a combustion chamber and said engine having a steam expansion chamber,the combustion chamber being outward of the piston and including a combustion intake valve and a combustion exhaust valve communicating therewith,the steam expansion chamber being located in a cylinder of the engine,at least one steam inlet valve connected to be operated in timed relationship to the piston movement for admitting steam produced by waste combustion heat into the steam expansion chamber through a fixed cylinder head as a part of the engine,a steam exhaust valve connected for exhausting steam from the steam expansion chamber,a cooling jacket at least partially surrounding a cylinder,a pump connected to the cooling jacket to cause the coolant to flow therethrough in a coolant perturbation pathway inside the engine comprising an endless intrajacket circuit that is independent of coolant flow outside of the cooling jacket,a second pump for transferring coolant from the cooling jacket through a second circuit outside of the cooling jacket to a heat exchange coupling between the coolant and a steam condensate to transfer heat to the steam condensate from the coolant anda steam generator fired by waste combustion gas connected to further heat the steam condensate to provide steam for the steam expansion chamber. 5. The engine of claim 4 wherein the steam exhaust valve is a phase controlled exhaust valve that communicates with the steam expansion chamber for varying a recompression of residual steam remaining in the steam expansion chamber to thereby regulate the final pressure of the recompressed steam. 6. The engine of claim 4 including a fuel burner which comprises a source of supplemental heat that is separate from the combustion chamber and is connected to heat the steam or condensate thereof whereby a portion of Rankine cycle thermal energy is provided by waste heat from the internal combustion cycle and a second portion of the Rankine cycle thermal energy is operatively connected to be supplied by the fuel burner. 7. A combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine for recovering waste combustion heat comprising, at least one cylinder having a combustion piston slidably and sealingly mounted therein at one end of a combustion chamber that comprises a first thermodynamic cycle of energy conversion and said engine having an expansion chamber for steam comprising a second thermodynamic cycle of energy conversion,the combustion chamber being outward of the piston and including a combustion intake valve and a combustion exhaust valve communicating therewith,the steam expansion chamber is located in at least one of the cylinders in communication with the piston of the at least one of the cylinders,at least one steam exhaust port and at least one steam inlet valve to power the piston of the at least one of the cylinders by admitting steam produced by waste combustion heat from the combustion chamber into the steam expansion chamber through the steam inlet valve as a part of the engine,a cooling jacket for the first thermodynamic cycle in thermal transfer relationship with the combustion chamber,a liquid non-aqueous coolant contained in a cooling jacket circuit of the first thermodynamic cycle is interposed as a thermal interface between the first and the second thermodynamic cycles of energy conversion to transfer heat from the cooling jacket to a heat exchange coupling between the liquid non-aqueous coolant and the steam or a condensate of the steam from the steam expansion chamber to thereby heat the steam or condensate. 8. The engine of claim 7 wherein the two different thermodynamic cycles of energy conversion are (a) at least one of an Otto, Atkinson, two-stroke or Diesel cycle and (b) a Rankine cycle. 9. The engine as in claim 1, 2, 3 or 7 wherein the cooling jacket has an intrajacket coolant perturbation pump which circulates coolant in an endless circuit that is contained within the cooling jacket thereof. 10. The engine of claim 9 wherein the endless circuit contained in the cooling jacket includes coolant ductwork as a part of a cylinder block or a cylinder head of the engine and the ductwork is in thermal transfer relationship with the coolant in the cooling jacket. 11. A high efficiency method of operating a dual internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine to recover waste heat and having at least one cylinder, said engine containing a combustion chamber and a steam expansion chamber with a piston slidably and sealingly mounted for reciprocation therein comprising the steps of, providing a fixed steam cylinder head mounted as a part of the engine,providing a cooling jacket in thermal transfer relationship with a combustion chamber,providing a non-aqueous liquid coolant that has a boiling point of at least 225° F. in the cooling jacket of the combustion chamber,transferring the non-aqueous coolant from the cooling jacket to a heat exchanger circuit for heating steam or a steam condensate and thereby recovering waste heat from the combustion chamber while maintaining the coolant thus transferred above 212° F.,transferring the heated steam or the condensate thereof through a steam generator fired by waste combustion gases from the combustion chamber that supplies additional heat to the steam or the condensate which is then transferred to the steam expansion chamber,such that the non-aqueous liquid coolant serves as a thermal interface between two thermodynamic cycles of energy conversion comprising (a) at least one of an Otto, Atkinson, two-stroke or Diesel cycle and (b) the Rankine cycle. 12. The method of claim 11 including the step of providing an endless intrajacket coolant flow perturbation circuit in the engine that is contained within the cooling jacket and comprises a circuit that is separate from the heat exchanger circuit to help reduce or eliminate transition film boiling of the coolant in the cooling jacket. 13. The method of claim 12 wherein a flow rate of the heat exchanger circuit and a flow rate of the intrajacket perturbation circuit are arranged to maintain the temperature of the coolant at 225° F. or more within the cooling jacket while reducing or preventing transition film boiling from producing hotspots in the engine. 14. The method of claim 11 including a step of agitating the coolant in the cooling jacket by inducing sonic impulses or shock waves to pass therethrough to provide sufficient perturbation of the coolant to reduce or eliminate hotspots within the cooling jacket. 15. The method of claim 13 wherein the arrangement of the circuits comprises maintaining the heat exchanger circuit flow at a rate sufficient to keep the coolant temperature at 225° F. or above and the endless intrajacket perturbation circuit flow rate is sufficient to reduce or prevent transition film boiling from producing hot spots around the combustion chamber. 16. A combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine for recovering waste combustion heat comprising, at least one cylinder having a combustion piston slidably and sealingly mounted therein at one end of a combustion chamber and said engine having a steam expansion chamber for a working fluid,the combustion chamber being outward of the piston and including a combustion intake valve and a combustion exhaust valve, the steam expansion chamber being located in at least one of the cylinders in communication with the piston thereof,a steam inlet valve for injecting steam to power the piston of the steam expansion chamber and connected to be operated in timed relationship to piston movement for admitting steam from a steam supply produced by waste combustion heat from the combustion chamber into the steam expansion chamber through a fixed cylinder cap,a steam exhaust valve having an exhaust port for discharging steam from the steam expansion chamber,a connecting rod which is moveable along a central longitudinal axis of at least one of the cylinders is operatively connected between the piston thereof and a crankshaft and is disposed for movement in a space between the cylinder cap and the crankshaft,the steam supply including a heater connected to the combustion exhaust valve to receive exhaust gas therefrom to heat the working fluid for injection through the steam inlet valve into the steam expansion chamber, anda fuel burner comprising a source of supplemental heat that is separate and independent of the combustion chamber and is operatively connected to supply heat to the working fluid so as to provide a portion of the Rankine thermal energy input from a source that is external to the heat energy from the combustion chamber exhaust gas. 17. The combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine of claim 16 wherein the heater is a steam generator and the fuel burner is connected as a part of the steam generator. 18. The combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine of claim 16 wherein the fuel burner is a standby heater for supplying supplemental Rankine thermal energy to the steam for adapting to changing conditions of operation. 19. The combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine of claim 16 wherein the fuel burner is connected to add heat to the working fluid following heating thereof by the heater. 20. The method of claim 11 including providing a fuel burner that is separate from the combustion chamber and is connected to heat the steam and,arranging said fuel burner to produce a portion of the Rankine thermal energy input that is external to energy from the waste combustion chamber exhaust gas. 21. The combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine of claim 4 including a coolant flow guide in the cooling jacket causing the coolant to flow in a circuitous path while in thermal contact with the cylinder having the piston therein. 22. The combined internal combustion and Rankine cycle engine of claim 7 including a coolant flow guide in the cooling jacket causing the coolant to flow in a circuitous path while in thermal contact with the cylinder having the piston therein. 23. A method of recovering waste heat in a dual Rankine cycle and internal combustion piston engine comprising the steps of, providing at least one cylinder having a piston slidably and sealingly mounted therein and a cylinder head with an internal combustion chamber therebetween, the engine also having a steam expansion chamber in at least one of the cylinders that is operatively associated with a piston therein, wherein each piston is operatively connected to a crankshaft;providing the internal combustion chamber with a cooling jacket that at least partially surrounds the combustion chamber;providing a heater fired by combustion products from the internal combustion chamber;providing a Rankine working fluid in a circuit that passes through the heater, followed by a Rankine cycle expansion in the steam expansion chamber and thereafter through a condenser to form a condensate;providing a non-aqueous coolant that has a boiling point which is above the boiling point of the working fluid;heating the non-aqueous coolant in the cooling jacket of the combustion chamber to a temperature that is above the boiling point of the working fluid but is below the boiling point of the coolant;circulating the heated non-aqueous coolant as a thermal interface between two thermodynamic cycles, of energy conversion comprising the internal combustion cycle and the Rankine cycle to thereby heat the Rankine working fluid in a first heating stage; andthereafter passing the working fluid through the heater fired by combustion exhaust gas from the combustion chamber. 24. The method of claim 23 wherein the non-aqueous coolant in the cooling jacket is caused to flow in a circuitous path while in thermal contact with the cylinder having the combustion chamber therein. 25. The method as in claim 23 including the steps of circulating the coolant in the cooling jacket to flow in an endless course located inside the cooling jacket that is independent of circulation through said circuit. 26. The method of claim 23 including the steps of burning a fuel as a source of supplemental thermal energy that is separate from the combustion chamber and supplying the supplemental thermal energy to the working fluid to thereby provide more power. 27. The engine of claim 16 wherein the steam exhaust valve is constructed and arranged to close proximate an end of an exhaust stroke and wherein a clearance between the piston and the fixed cylinder cap of a minor fraction of an inch is provided that is sufficient to keep the piston from striking the cylinder cap. 28. The method of claim 23 including the steps of: enabling residual steam to escape through the steam exhaust valve by closing the steam exhaust valve proximate an end of an exhaust stroke, andproviding a small clearance space between the piston and the cylinder head that is sufficient to prevent thermal expansion from enabling the piston to strike the cylinder head.