Variable compression ratio diesel engine
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- operating a diesel opposed piston engine with a first compression ratio to supply engine power in response to a first engine load, the diesel opposed piston engine comprising a combustion chamber defined at least in part by respective crowns of two pistons each having one or more swirl canceling features and each individually coupled to one of two crankshafts, the swirl canceling features forming two pockets within the combustion chamber as the two pistons come together near a top dead center position to thereby cause inlet air delivered from an inlet port to the combustion chamber as a single flow field to be divided into separate co-rotating swirls within the two pockets, the two co-rotating swirls experiencing high shear with each other at a center of the combustion chamber as the two pistons move apart from the top dead center position; and
changing the first compression ratio to a second compression ratio to supply engine power in response to a second engine load, the second engine load being larger than the first engine load, the second compression ratio being smaller than the first compression ratio.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Diesel opposed piston engines, optionally with variable compression ratio and/or turbocharging, can provide improved fuel efficiency by adapting a compression ratio of the engine in accordance with an engine load such that larger compression ratios are used for smaller loads and smaller compression ratios are used for larger loads. Turbocharging can provide improved efficiency at the smaller compression ratio operating conditions. Optionally, one or more current engine parameters can be modified to maintain a peak combustion chamber temperature below a threshold temperature at which an acceptable level of nitrogen oxide pollutants (NOX) is expected to be formed. One or more swirl inducing features can be included on piston crowns in an opposed piston engine. Methods, systems, articles of manufacture, etc. are described.
68 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
operating a diesel opposed piston engine with a first compression ratio to supply engine power in response to a first engine load, the diesel opposed piston engine comprising a combustion chamber defined at least in part by respective crowns of two pistons each having one or more swirl canceling features and each individually coupled to one of two crankshafts, the swirl canceling features forming two pockets within the combustion chamber as the two pistons come together near a top dead center position to thereby cause inlet air delivered from an inlet port to the combustion chamber as a single flow field to be divided into separate co-rotating swirls within the two pockets, the two co-rotating swirls experiencing high shear with each other at a center of the combustion chamber as the two pistons move apart from the top dead center position; and changing the first compression ratio to a second compression ratio to supply engine power in response to a second engine load, the second engine load being larger than the first engine load, the second compression ratio being smaller than the first compression ratio. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A diesel opposed piston engine comprising:
-
two opposed pistons each having one or more swirl canceling features on their respective crown and each individually coupled to one of two crankshafts, an inlet port configured to deliver inlet air as a single flow field to a combustion chamber defined at least in part by the crowns of the two opposed pistons, wherein the swirl canceling features form two pockets within the combustion chamber as the two pistons come together near a top dead center position to thereby cause the inlet air to be divided into separate co-rotating swirls within the two pockets, the two co-rotating swirls experiencing high shear with each other at a center of the combustion chamber as the two pistons move apart from the top dead center position; and an engine controller, the engine controller performing operations comprising; operating the diesel opposed piston engine with a first compression ratio to supply engine power in response to a first engine load; and changing the first compression ratio to a second compression ratio to supply engine power in response to a second engine load, the second engine load being larger than the first engine load, the second compression ratio being smaller than the first compression ratio. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 20)
-
-
17. A diesel opposed piston engine comprising:
-
a combustion chamber defined at least in part by crowns of two pistons each having one or more swirl canceling features coupled to two crankshafts; and an engine controller, the engine controller performing operations comprising; determining, based on engine operation information, a predicted peak combustion chamber temperature that will occur in the combustion chamber; identifying a target set of engine operation parameters when the predicted peak combustion chamber temperature exceeds a threshold temperature at which an acceptable level of nitrogen oxide pollutants (NOX) is expected to be formed in the combustion chamber; and applying the target set of engine operation parameters to modify one or more current engine parameters to thereby maintain the peak combustion chamber temperature below the threshold temperature. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
-
Specification