373 results about "Reciprocating engine" patented technology

A system for controlled recovery of thermal energy and conversion to mechanical energy. The system collects thermal energy from a reciprocating engine (for example, from engine jacket fluid) and may also collect further thermal energy from a natural gas compressor (for example, from compressor lubricating fluid). The collected thermal energy is used to generate secondary power by evaporating an organic propellant and using the gaseous propellant to drive an expander in production of mechanical energy. Secondary power is used to power parasitic loads, improving energy efficiency of the system. A supplementary cooler may provide additional cooling capacity without compromising system energy efficiency.

A system for controlled recovery of thermal energy and conversion to mechanical energy. The system collects thermal energy from a reciprocating engine, specifically from engine jacket fluid and / or engine exhaust and uses this thermal energy to generate a secondary power source by evaporating an organic propellant and using the gaseous propellant to drive an expander in production of mechanical energy. A monitoring module senses ambient and system conditions such as temperature, pressure, and flow of organic propellant at one or more locations; and a control module regulates system parameters based on monitored information to optimize secondary power output. A tertiary, or back-up power source may also be present. The system may be used to meet on-site power demands using primary, secondary, and tertiary power

A dual drive mechanism for a gas compressor includes a pulley and belt drive system to provide power to a gas compressor using either an electric motor or a reciprocating engine. The source of the power can be chosen by the operator of the system depending on a number of variables, including the cost of electric power.

In a waste heat recovery system wherein an organic rankine cycle system uses waste heat from the fluids of a reciprocating engine, provision is made to continue operation of the engine even during periods when the organic rankine cycle system is inoperative, by providing an auxiliary pump and a bypass for the refrigerant flow around the turbine. Provision is also made to divert the engine exhaust gases from the evaporator during such periods of operation. In one embodiment, the auxiliary pump is made to operate simultaneously with the primary pump during normal operations, thereby allowing the primary pump to operate at lower speeds with less likelihood of cavitation.

A system for chilling the pressurized charge air to a reciprocating engine is disclosed wherein the chilling is provided by a thermally activated refrigeration cycle powered by waste heat from the engine system. This reduces the required compression power, and also retards knock, making higher compression ratios possible. The chilling system is designed to minimize the amount of chilling required, and also to enable use of compression heat to power the chiller. The disclosed improvement also accommodates exhaust gas recirculation, plus providing activation heat from the exhaust gas, plus Miller cycle timing of the intake valves. Referring to FIG. 1, the charge air from turbocharger 5 is cooled in three stages: heat recovery stage 10; ambient-cooled stage 11; and chilling stage 12. Condensed moisture is removed from the charge air by valve 14 before the charge is supplied to inlet manifold 2.

Stable and highly efficient combustion / reaction is provided, even when fuel ratio of mixture is decreased and combustion / reaction of the lean mixture is performed in a heat engine such as a reciprocating engine, by controlling dielectric constant of mixture in a combustion / reaction chamber by introducing water and / or exhaust gas into the combustion / reaction chamber. A microwave radiation antenna for irradiation of the combustion / reaction chamber, and a discharge unit for igniting the mixture in the combustion / reaction chamber are provided. The dielectric constant of the mixture before the combustion / reaction of the mixture is controlled so that the resonance frequency of the mixture corresponds to the frequency of the microwave.

A valve arrangement for reciprocating machine, where the arrangement (1) comprises an in-valve (18) and an out-valve (19), each valve (18), (19) being a springloaded one-way valve designed to open for flow when the pressure differential in the direction of flow provides a force that exceeds the spring tension, wherein the valves (18, 19) are mounted in a casing (8) that forms or is connected to the cylinder head of the reciprocating engine (2). The in-valve (18) and the out-valve (19) are mounted in a sleeve (16) designed to be fitted in a bore (9) in the casing (8), and where fluid may flow to the sleeve (16) from an inlet (11) in the casing (8) and into the sleeve (16) via the in-valve (18), and where the sleeve (16) is provided with at least one perforated area where fluid may flow radially out of or into the sleeve (16) via holes (50, 51), thereby flowing to or from a passage (14, 15) that forms a perpendicular or near perpendicular connection with the bore (9).

The present invention is a mobile-energy generating system capable of providing redundant direct current power. It comprises a reciprocating engine and generator having dual fuel capability, a fuel cell, commercial electrical power hookups, and capacitors used for bridging purposes. Back-up fuel for the engine and fuel for the fuel cells are stored in propane and hydrogen storage tanks, respectively.

A system of a fuel cell bottoming an internal combustion engine. The engine exhaust gas may be combined in varying degrees with air and fed as input to a fuel cell. Reformer and oxidizers may be combined with heat exchangers to accommodate rich and lean burn conditions in the engine in peaking and base load conditions without producing high concentrations of harmful emissions.

This invention discloses systems and methods for control of a gas turbine or a gas turbine generator, where the gas turbine is connected to a dryer vessel in which gas turbine exhaust gases are used to heat treat a material in the dryer vessel. The control system comprises one or more sensors for temperature, moisture and / or flow rate in the dryer vessel and / or of the material inside, entering and / or exiting the dryer vessel and a controller responsive to the sensor for controlling the fuel and / or air flow into the gas turbine. This control system and method enables providing the appropriate heat output from the gas turbine to meet the process heat required for the desired material treatment. Optionally, the gas turbine can be a liquid fuel turbine engine, or a reciprocating engine can be substituted for the turbine engine.

An apparatus and method to detect combustion conditions using ion signals for use in a feedback control of a reciprocation engine is presented. The ion signals are used as a feedback signal to control EGR and diesel injection timing. The apparatus is an ignition system with a spark plug type of sensor. The ignition system is used to provide a cold start mechanism for diesel engines and start of combustion for spark ignition engines. The ignition is combined with ion sensing feedback that can control the engine.

A method and system are provided for diagnosing the health-condition of engines, in particular internal combustion reciprocating engines, in which the harmonic terms of the Fourier series representation of the engine vibration are correlated with the mechanical state of the engine. In particular, the characteristics of the harmonic components of the Fourier representation are monitored at one or more predetermined frequencies according to at least one first predetermined criterion, and the characteristics of these harmonic components are analysed according to at least one second predetermined criterion to determine the operational state of the engine correlated to the second criterion.

This invention encompasses embodiments for multi-modal integrated simultaneous measurement of various aspects of fluids contained in circulating systems such as automotive reciprocating engines and vehicle transmissions. These circulating systems perform constant internal lubrication, and heat and contaminant removal to protect the internal moving parts from the inherent friction and damage in normal operation. Most commonly this is achieved with fluids based on hydrocarbon and / or related synthetics, which, over time, can lose their protective properties, and vary in their performance or breakdown / decay due to internal and external events. Several components within the lubricant fluid can be measured and can provide insight into the efficacy of the system to perform its designed mission. The mass and level of the fluid may also be monitored on an on-going basis. Described herein is a real-time, simultaneous, integrated, multi-modal sensor system for early warning notification.

A cooling system for a reciprocating engine includes a main cooling device and a side tank. The main cooling device includes at least one heat dissipation tube that contains an internal fluid for transporting excess heat developed by a reciprocating engine. The side tank is attached to the main cooling device and includes a plurality of exterior fins for dissipating heat to cool airflow. The exterior fins form an adjustable mounting location.

In a waste heat recovery system wherein an organic rankine cycle system uses waste heat from the fluids of a reciprocating engine, provision is made to continue operation of the engine even during periods when the organic rankine cycle system is inoperative, by providing an auxiliary pump and a bypass for the refrigerant flow around the turbine. Provision is also made to divert the engine exhaust gases from the evaporator during such periods of operation. In one embodiment, the auxiliary pump is made to operate simultaneously with the primary pump during normal operations, thereby allowing the primary pump to operate at lower speeds with less likelihood of cavitation.

This invention encompasses embodiments for multi-modal integrated simultaneous measurement of various aspects of fluids contained in circulating systems such as automotive reciprocating engines and vehicle transmissions. These circulating systems perform constant internal lubrication, and heat and contaminant removal to protect the internal moving parts from the inherent friction and damage in normal operation. Most commonly this is achieved with fluids based on hydrocarbon and / or related synthetics, which, over time, can lose their protective properties, and vary in their performance or breakdown / decay due to internal and external events. Several components within the lubricant fluid can be measured and can provide insight into the efficacy of the system to perform its designed mission. Described herein is a real-time, simultaneous, integrated, multi-modal sensor system for early warning notification.

The invention relates to a failure monitoring and predicting method and system of power equipment. The method comprises the following steps: (1) installing a failure monitoring and predicting system comprising a reciprocating engine, an oil extraction device, an oil preprocessor, an oil data analyzing and storing module, a failure diagnosis module, a magnetoelectric sensor, a voltage sensor, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a vibration sensor, an ultrasonic wave sensor, a signal conditioning box, an analog-to-digital conversion module and a data acquisition module; (2) the data acquisition module acquiring the crankshaft phase signal and each sensor starting acquiring the signals; (3) sending the acquired signals to the failure diagnosis module; (4) the oil extraction device taking out dynamic oil samples and the oil data analyzing and storing module sending the concentration values of the metallic elements in the oil to the failure diagnosis module; (5) determining the threshold values of the phase signal and the amplitude; and (6) the failure diagnosis module carrying out failure monitoring and predicting on the reciprocating machine states. The invention has overall acquisition means, can satisfy the failure predicting and monitoring functions and has high diagnosis precision. The invention can be widely applied to various reciprocating machines.

A laser based ignition system for stationary natural gas engines, a distributor system for use with high-powered lasers, and a method of determining a successful ignition event in a laser-based ignition system are provided. The laser based ignition (LBI) system for stationary natural gas engines includes a high power pulsed laser providing a pulsed emission output coupled to a plurality of laser plugs. A respective one of the plurality of laser plugs is provided in an engine cylinder. The laser plug focuses the coherent emission from the pulsed laser to a tiny volume or focal spot and a high electric field gradient at the focal spot leads to photoionization of the combustible mixture resulting in ignition.

An engine and a method of operating an engine. One method includes: routing air to both a donor and a non-donor cylinder of an engine; combusting an air fuel mixture in the cylinders; routing exhaust gas from the non-donor cylinder through an exhaust manifold; and recirculating exhaust gas from the donor cylinder through an aftertreatment system and a cooler back to the intake manifold. Another method includes: recirculating exhaust gas from a first cylinder of an engine to an intake stream or air-fuel mixture of the engine, whereby: the recirculated exhaust gas from the first cylinder flows through an after treatment system; and the recirculated exhaust gas is cooled to a lower temperature after the after treatment system; and routing exhaust gas from the second cylinder through an exhaust manifold.

This invention relates to an aircraft having an auxiliary power system, the auxiliary power system, including: a reciprocating engine having an air inlet and an exhaust system; a compressed air source for providing compressed air to the air inlet; and, an electrical generator for providing electrical power.

An electro-magnetic reciprocating engine and method for converting an internal combustion engine to an electro-magnetic reciprocating engine wherein a ferrite magnet is secured to the top of each piston reciprocally disposed in a cylinder, and an electro-magnet spaced apart from said ferrite magnet on the top of each cylinder. The electro-magnets are energized with a constant voltage to create a magnetic field and the ferrite magnets are selectively intermittently polarized when the piston is about one degree past TDC. The ferrite magnets are polarized by contract strike through a distributor allowing the conventional camshaft to provide timing. The distributor is electrically coupled to a DC power source and a capacitor used to provide a stored but adjustable instant burst of voltage to the contact strike to optimize the magnetic field about the ferrite magnet to interact with the magnetic field about the electro-magnet to effect reciprocal motion of the pistons within the cylinders.

A supercharging system includes a fan providing an air flow, and a prime mover that drives the fan. A duct directs a first portion of the air flow to a gas turbine system, a main bypass subsystem diverts a second portion of the air flow to a heat recovery steam generator; and a drive bypass subsystem that diverts a third portion of the air flow to the prime mover. The prime mover may be one of an aeroderivative gas turbine, a gas turbine, a reciprocating engine, a steam turbine and an induction motor and a variable frequency drive.

The invention relates to a system for real-time monitoring of motile lubricants within the presently common reciprocating engine. A sensor array is fully submerged (or partially submerged) within the lubricant system fluid, for example, oil. The fluid property monitoring is accomplished by multiple sensors acting in unison to provide data to a remote processing and display portion of the system. The system allows for the unified data acquisition and real-time comparison by providing both a physical sensor unit with embedded multiple sensors of multiple types as well as multiple DSP (Digital Signal Processing) or microcontroller modules acting in parallel to provide best-fit results for purposes of real-time monitoring high-temperature motile lubricants for property degradation (namely viscosity and foreign particulate detection) and particulate accumulation.

A method of reducing smoke and particulate emissions from an exhaust gas from a compression-ignited reciprocating engine by adding a fuel additive that contains an oil-soluble iron compound and an over-based magnesium compound to liquid petroleum fuel.

An apparatus and method to detect abnormal combustion conditions for use as a feedback control of an EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) controlled reciprocating engine using ionization signals is presented. The system receives a succession of ionization signals for successive cycles of a running engine and processes a plurality of related ionization signals for signal stability. The ionization signals are checked to determine if an abnormal combustion condition such as knock or misfire has occurred. The variation of an ionization signal that changes with respect to an engine parameter over a combustion event of the reciprocating engine is measured and a floating bounded space is associated with the ionization signal. An indication that the abnormal combustion condition has been detected is provided if a portion of the ionization signal is within the floating bounded space.

A laser based ignition system for stationary natural gas engines, a distributor system for use with high-powered lasers, and a method of determining a successful ignition event in a laser-based ignition system are provided. The laser based ignition (LBI) system for stationary natural gas engines includes a high power pulsed laser providing a pulsed emission output coupled to a plurality of laser plugs. A respective one of the plurality of laser plugs is provided in an engine cylinder. The laser plug focuses the coherent emission from the pulsed laser to a tiny volume or focal spot and a high electric field gradient at the focal spot leads to photoionization of the combustible mixture resulting in ignition.

The operation of internal combustion, reciprocating engines in some automotive vehicles may be managed such that the engine operation is stopped each time the vehicle is brought to a stop, and then the engine is re-started when the operator presses the accelerator pedal to put the vehicle in motion. In some driving situations the engine of the vehicle may be stopped and re-started many times, which is a mode of engine operation for which the traditional 12 volt, lead-acid battery is not well suited. It is found that a six cell, lithium-ion battery combining LiFePO4 as the active positive electrode material and Li4Ti5O12 as the active negative electrode material, together with suitable separators and a suitable low freezing point electrolyte may be adapted to deliver starting power for repeated engine starting, despite short intervening charging periods.

Described herein are embodiments of systems and methods for oxidizing gases. In some embodiments, a reaction chamber is configured to receive a fuel gas and maintain the gas at a temperature within the reaction chamber that is above an autoignition temperature of the gas. The reaction chamber may also be configured to maintain a reaction temperature within the reaction chamber below a flameout temperature. In some embodiments, heat and product gases from the oxidation process can be used, for example, to drive a turbine, reciprocating engine, and injected back into the reaction chamber.

The fuel efficiency of an internal combustion reciprocating piston engine may be increased through selective secondary expansion of exhaust gas in the engine cylinders in order to recover exhaust gas energy which is otherwise wasted by cylinder blow-down at the end of the power stroke. Exhaust valve cam switching, intake valve deactivation, multiple exhaust valves, a specialized exhaust manifold arrangement and an exhaust gas diverter valve can be configured to enable a reciprocating engine to selectively operate in efficient eight stroke cycle compound mode when moderate engine power is demanded, then revert to conventional four stroke cycle non-compound mode operation when high engine power is demanded, without stopping the engine. For a road vehicle application, the benefit is substantially reduced highway cruising fuel consumption, while incurring minimal impact on engine weight, minimal impact on engine manufacturing cost, and no adverse impact on vehicle acceleration performance, hill climbing performance or trailer towing performance.

This invention encompasses embodiments for multi-modal integrated simultaneous measurement of various aspects of fluids contained in circulating systems such as automotive reciprocating engines and vehicle transmissions. These circulating systems perform constant internal lubrication, and heat and contaminant removal to protect the internal moving parts from the inherent friction and damage in normal operation. Most commonly this is achieved with fluids based on hydrocarbon and / or related synthetics, which, over time, can lose their protective properties, and vary in their performance or breakdown / decay due to internal and external events. Several components within the lubricant fluid can be measured and can provide insight into the efficacy of the system to perform its designed mission. The mass and level of the fluid may also be monitored on an on-going basis. Described herein is a real-time, simultaneous, integrated, multi-modal sensor system for early warning notification.