Harmonic engine
First Claim
1. An engine comprising:
- a reciprocating-piston expander comprising;
an expander cylinder;
an expander piston head axially slidable in said expander cylinder and together enclosing an expansion chamber;
a piston rod connected at one end to the expander piston head;
an inlet valve for controlling the flow of working fluid into the expansion chamber to effect a power stroke of the expander, said inlet valve being a harmonic oscillator having an equilibrium position outside the expansion chamber so that the inlet valve is open at equilibrium and displaceable to a closed position against an equilibrium restoring force;
latch means for automatically re-latching the inlet valve in the closed position after being unlatched to experience a harmonic oscillation;
an outlet valve for controlling the flow of working fluid out from the expansion chamber during a return stroke of the expander, said outlet valve being a harmonic oscillator having an equilibrium position inside the expansion chamber so that the outlet valve is open at equilibrium and displaceable to a closed position against an equilibrium restoring force;
an intake header connectable to a pressurized fluid source for channeling pressurized working fluid into the expansion chamber via the inlet valve; and
an exhaust header for channeling working fluid exhausted out from the expansion chamber via the outlet valve; and
periodic return means for effecting the return stroke of the expander after each power stroke.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A high efficiency harmonic engine based on a resonantly reciprocating piston expander that extracts work from heat and pressurizes working fluid in a reciprocating piston compressor. The engine preferably includes harmonic oscillator valves capable of oscillating at a resonant frequency for controlling the flow of working fluid into and out of the expander, and also preferably includes a shunt line connecting an expansion chamber of the expander to a buffer chamber of the expander for minimizing pressure variations in the fluidic circuit of the engine. The engine is especially designed to operate with very high temperature input to the expander and very low temperature input to the compressor, to produce very high thermal conversion efficiency.
28 Citations
36 Claims
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1. An engine comprising:
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a reciprocating-piston expander comprising;
an expander cylinder;
an expander piston head axially slidable in said expander cylinder and together enclosing an expansion chamber;
a piston rod connected at one end to the expander piston head;
an inlet valve for controlling the flow of working fluid into the expansion chamber to effect a power stroke of the expander, said inlet valve being a harmonic oscillator having an equilibrium position outside the expansion chamber so that the inlet valve is open at equilibrium and displaceable to a closed position against an equilibrium restoring force;
latch means for automatically re-latching the inlet valve in the closed position after being unlatched to experience a harmonic oscillation;
an outlet valve for controlling the flow of working fluid out from the expansion chamber during a return stroke of the expander, said outlet valve being a harmonic oscillator having an equilibrium position inside the expansion chamber so that the outlet valve is open at equilibrium and displaceable to a closed position against an equilibrium restoring force;
an intake header connectable to a pressurized fluid source for channeling pressurized working fluid into the expansion chamber via the inlet valve; and
an exhaust header for channeling working fluid exhausted out from the expansion chamber via the outlet valve; andperiodic return means for effecting the return stroke of the expander after each power stroke. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. An engine comprising:
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a reciprocating-piston expander comprising;
an expander cylinder enclosing a cylindrical volume;
an expander piston head axially slidable in said expander cylinder and dividing the cylindrical volume into an enclosed expansion chamber and an enclosed buffer chamber;
a piston rod connected at one end to the expander piston head and axially extending out from the expander cylinder through a closed end thereof;
an inlet valve for controlling the flow of working fluid into the expansion chamber to effect a power stroke of the expander, said inlet valve being a harmonic oscillator having an equilibrium position outside the expansion chamber so that the inlet valve is open at equilibrium and displaceable to a closed position against an equilibrium restoring force;
latch means for automatically re-latching the inlet valve in the closed position after being unlatched to experience a harmonic oscillation;
an outlet valve for controlling the flow of working fluid out from the expansion chamber during a return stroke of the expander, said outlet valve being a harmonic oscillator having an equilibrium position inside the expansion chamber so that the outlet valve is open at equilibrium and displaceable to a closed position against an equilibrium restoring force;
an intake header connectable to a pressurized fluid source for channeling pressurized working fluid into the expansion chamber via the inlet valve; and
an exhaust header for channeling working fluid exhausted out from the expansion chamber via the outlet valve; and
a shunt channel fluidically connecting the buffer chamber to the exhaust header so that, upon operating said outlet valve to exhaust working fluid from the expansion chamber, the expansion chamber and the buffer chamber are in fluidic communication;periodic return means for effecting the return stroke of the expander after each power stroke; a compressor as the pressurized fluid source having a compression chamber, a compressor inlet leading into the compression chamber, and a compressor outlet leading out from the compression chamber; a fluidic channel connecting the compressor outlet to the intake header of the expander for supplying pressurized working fluid thereto; throttle valve means for controlling the flow rate of working fluid entering the compressor based on an absolute temperature ratio of the working fluid leaving the expander and the working fluid entering the compressor; and throttle valve means for controlling the flow rate of working fluid coming from the exhaust header of the expander.
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33. An engine comprising:
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a reciprocating-piston expander comprising;
an expander cylinder enclosing a cylindrical volume;
an expander piston head axially slidable in said expander cylinder and dividing the cylindrical volume into an enclosed expansion chamber and an enclosed buffer chamber;
a piston rod connected at one end to the expander piston head and axially extending out from the expander cylinder through a closed end thereof;
an inlet valve for controlling the flow of working fluid into the expansion chamber to effect a power stroke of the expander;
an outlet valve for controlling the flow of working fluid out from the expansion chamber during a return stroke of the expander;
an intake header connectable to a pressurized fluid source for channeling pressurized working fluid into the expansion chamber via the inlet valve; and
an exhaust header for channeling working fluid exhausted out from the expansion chamber via the outlet valve; and
a shunt channel fluidically connecting the buffer chamber to the exhaust header so that, upon operating said outlet valve to exhaust working fluid from the expansion chamber, the expansion chamber and the buffer chamber are in fluidic communication; andperiodic return means for effecting the return stroke of the expander after each power stroke.
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34. An engine comprising:
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an expander having an expansion chamber, an expander inlet leading into the expansion chamber, an expander outlet leading out from the expansion chamber, valve means for controlling flow of working fluid into and out of the expansion chamber via the expander inlet and the expander outlet, respectively; a compressor having a compression chamber, a compressor inlet leading into the compression chamber, a compressor outlet leading out from the compression chamber, and valve means for controlling flow of working fluid into and out of the compression chamber via the compressor inlet and compressor outlet, respectively; a fluidic channel connecting the compressor outlet to the expander inlet for supplying pressurized working fluid from the compressor to the expander; throttle valve means for controlling the flow rate of working fluid entering the compressor inlet based on an absolute temperature ratio of the working fluid leaving the expander and the working fluid entering the compressor; and throttle valve means for controlling the flow rate of working fluid coming from the exhaust header of the expander. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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Specification