Air assisted injector for wet compression atomization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9709005-B2
Application number	US-201514625078-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 18, 2015
Priority date	Feb 18, 2015
Publication date	Jul 18, 2017
Grant date	Jul 18, 2017

Abstract

An apparatus comprises an internal combustion engine including an intake stream, at least one piston cylinder. An air assisted injector is configured to insert a plurality of liquid droplets into the intake stream or cylinder. The injector comprises a gas injection portion configured to deliver a gas to a mixing chamber at a first pressure and a first pulse width. A liquid injection portion is configured to deliver a liquid to the mixing chamber at a first temperature and a second pulse width, and after a predetermined delay relative to the gas so as to generate the plurality of liquid droplets having a mean diameter of up to 5 microns. A nozzle is configured to deliver the plurality of liquid droplets into the intake chamber or cylinder. The gas and the inserted liquid droplets are compressed during a compression stroke in the cylinder and fully vaporize throughout the compression stroke.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
an internal combustion engine including an intake stream, at least one piston and at least one cylinder;
an air assisted injector configured to insert a plurality of liquid droplets into at least one of the intake stream and the cylinder of the engine, the air assisted injector comprising:
a gas injection portion configured to deliver a gas to a mixing chamber included in the air assisted injector at a first pressure and a first pulse width;
a liquid injection portion configured to deliver a cooling liquid to the mixing chamber at a first temperature and a second pulse width, the cooling liquid delivered to the mixing chamber after a predetermined delay relative to the gas so as to generate the plurality of liquid droplets having a mean diameter of up to 5 microns; and
a nozzle configured to deliver the plurality of liquid droplets to at least one of the intake stream or the cylinder,

wherein the gas and the inserted liquid droplets are compressed during a compression stroke in the at least one cylinder, the compression causing the inserted liquid droplets to fully vaporize throughout the compression stroke in the at least one cylinder, and wherein the inserted liquid droplets provide cooling to the at least one cylinder.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first temperature is in the range of 25 degrees Celsius to 90 degrees Celsius.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cooling liquid is at least one of water, ethanol, or a hydrocarbon.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second pulse width is 8.5 milliseconds, the second pulse width configured to deliver in the range of 80 mg/pulse to 90 mg/pulse of the liquid.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gas is a gaseous fuel.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the gas is one of air, hydrogen and natural gas.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first pressure is in the range of 650 kPa to 2,000 kPa.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first pulse width is 10 milliseconds to 25 milliseconds.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined delay is 0 milliseconds to 12 milliseconds.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a ratio of the gas to the liquid is in the range of 0.25 to 2.5.

11. An apparatus comprising:
an internal combustion engine including an intake stream, at least one piston and at least one cylinder;
an air assisted injector configured to insert a plurality of liquid droplets into at least one of an intake stream or the cylinder of the engine, the air assisted injector comprising:
a gas injection portion configured to deliver a gas to a mixing chamber included in the air assisted injector at a first pressure and a first pulse width, wherein the first pressure is in the range of 650 kPa to 2,000 kPa;
a liquid injection portion configured to deliver a cooling liquid to the mixing chamber at a first temperature and a second pulse width, the cooling liquid delivered to the mixing chamber after a predetermined delay relative to the gas to generate the plurality of liquid droplets having a mean diameter of up to 5 microns; and
a nozzle configured to deliver the plurality of liquid droplets to at least one of the intake stream or the cylinder, wherein the gas and the inserted liquid droplets are compressed during a compression stroke in the at least one cylinder; and

a controller electrically coupled to at least one of the air assisted injector or the engine, wherein the controller is configured to determine an amount of the liquid droplets which is to be inserted into the cylinder based on an operating condition of the engine, the amount of inserted liquid droplets determined to fully vaporize throughout the compression stroke of the at least one cylinder,
and wherein the inserted liquid droplets provide cooling to the at least one cylinder.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first pulse width is 8.5 milliseconds, the first pulse width configured to deliver in the range of 80 mg/pulse to 90 mg/pulse of the liquid.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the second pulse width is 10 milliseconds to 25 milliseconds.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined delay is 8 milliseconds to 12 milliseconds.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein a ratio of the gas to the cooling liquid is in the range of 0.25 to 0.85.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the air assisted injector is fluidly coupled to the combustion chamber of the at least one cylinder.

17. A method of generating liquid droplets for wet compression in an engine using an air assisted injector comprising a liquid injection portion, a gas injection portion, a mixing chamber, and a nozzle, the method comprising:
operating an internal combustion engine which includes at least one piston and at least one cylinder;
delivering a gas via the gas injection portion to the mixing chamber at a first pressure and a first pulse width;
delivering a cooling liquid via the liquid injection portion to the mixing chamber at a second pulse width after a predetermined delay;
generating a plurality of liquid droplets having a mean diameter of up to 5 microns from the cooling liquid;
communicating the plurality of liquid droplets to the at least one cylinder; and
compressing the plurality of liquid droplets in the cylinder, the compressing causing the liquid droplets to fully vaporize during the compressing within the cylinder, wherein the plurality of liquid droplets provide cooling to the at least one cylinder.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
determining an amount of the liquid droplets which is to be inserted into the cylinder based on an operating condition of the engine, the amount of inserted liquid droplets determined to fully vaporize during the compressing.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
heating the cooling liquid to temperature of 25 degrees Celsius to 95 degrees Celsius before delivering to the mixing chamber.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the first pulse width is about 8.5 milliseconds, the first pulse width configured to deliver in the range of 80 mg/pulse to 90 mg/pulse of the liquid.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein the first pressure is in the range of 650 kPa to 1,200 kPa.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein the second pulse width is 10 milliseconds to 25 milliseconds.

23. The method of claim 17 , wherein the predetermined delay is 8 milliseconds to 12 milliseconds.

24. The method of claim 17 , wherein the cooling liquid includes a surfactant.

25. The method of claim 17 , wherein a quantity of the surfactant in the cooling liquid is in the range of 0.01% to 0.1% by volume.

Assignees

• Cummins Power Generation Ip

Inventors

• Pendray John Robert

Classifications

• F02M69/08

  characterised by the fuel being carried by compressed air into main stream of combustion-air · CPC title

• F02M25/028 Primary

  into the charge intakes · CPC title

• Y02T10/30

  Use of alternative fuels, e.g. biofuels · CPC title

• F02M21/0248

  Injectors · CPC title

• F02M25/0228

  Adding fuel and water emulsion · CPC title