Abstract:
A rotary vane pumping machine includes a stator and rotor in relative rotation. The rotor has a plurality of radial vanes slots and each one of a corresponding plurality of vanes slides within a radial vane slot of the rotor. Each pair of adjacent vanes defines a vane cell. A rotary scavenging disk is disposed along the stator circumference, and is sized such that the rotary scavenging disk extends into the vane cell. An outer circumferential edge of the rotary scavenging disk is in sealing proximity with an outer circumferential edge of the rotor and recesses within the rotary scavenging disk mesh and seal with the extending and retracting vanes.
Abstract:
A method for reducing the exhaust pollution emissions in a two-stroke sliding vane internal combustion engine. First, fresh air is inducted into a vane cell, and fuel is injected into the cell at an ultra-lean fuel-air equivalence ratio less than about 0.65. The fuel is injected at a location such that a circumferential distance at mid-cell-height to the stator site at the onset of combustion is at least about 4 times a vane cell height at intake. The ultra-lean fuel-air combination is then compressed and thoroughly premixed prior to combustion to a dimensionless concentration fluctuation fraction below about 0.25. The ultra-lean, thoroughly premixed fuel-air combination is then combusted. The combusted fuel-air combination is purged after an expansion cycle. The premixing step prior to combustion may use inclined airfoils within the intake duct to produce counter-rotating mixing vortices.
Abstract:
An internal combustion engine has a ring-shaped stator with a plurality of thin slits. A rotor, having a plurality of helicotoroidal troughs formed on its inner surface, encloses the stator. A planar vane wheel, having a plurality of radially extending vanes, is resident in each of the thin slits, with the vanes communicating with the respective helicotoroidal troughs. Rotation of the rotor imparts rotation to the vane wheels. The interaction of the stator, troughs, and vanes produces a plurality of sequential intake, compression, combustion, expansion, and exhaust chambers.
Abstract:
A rotary vane combustion engine is provided that uses a hot wall combustion insert to provide the heat for combusting a fuel-air charge. The rotary vane combustion engine includes a rotor having a plurality of vanes, a stator enclosing the rotor to form a plurality of vane cells between the plurality of vanes, one or more intake ports for providing intake gas to the vane cells, a fuel source for mixing fuel with the intake gas to form a fuel-air charge having a fuel-to-air equivalence ratio, a hot wall combustion insert with an exposed surface provided on the stator for igniting the fuel-air charge during a combustion cycle and producing an exhaust gas, and one or more exhaust ports for removing the exhaust gas from one of the vane cells. The hot wall combustion insert provides the heat to combust the fuel-air charge, and operates on the gas over a wide area, rather than only at a point or a given line of contact. Once the hot wall combustion insert surface reaches the ignition temperature, it can use the heat from the combustion in a given vane cell to maintain its temperature for combustion in the next vane cell.
Abstract:
A rotary vane pumping machine having a rotary-linear vane guidance structure, including a translation ring disposed at each axial end of the pumping machine, the translation ring rotating around a fixed hub, with the fixed hub being eccentric to a rotor shaft axis, with the rotor spinning around the rotor shaft axis which is a fixed rotational axis relative to a stator cavity. A plurality of vanes are disposed in a corresponding plurality of vane slots in the rotor, each of the vanes having a tip portion and a base portion, with the base portion having a protruding tab extending from each axial end therefrom. A plurality of linear channels are formed in each translation ring, wherein the protruding tabs extending from the base portion of each of the plurality of vanes communicate with a respective linear channel in the translation ring, whereby the rotor rotation causes rotation of the vanes and a corresponding rotation of the translation ring. The stator cavity has a contoured sealing profile determined from a continuous path traced by the tips of the vanes as the rotor spins around the rotor shaft axis and the translation ring rotates around the eccentric fixed hub, thereby creating cascading cells of compression and expansion between the rotor, the vanes, and the stator cavity as the vanes sweep by the contoured profile of the stator cavity.
Abstract:
A rotor and stator cooling system for a rotary vane pumping machine having two end plates, a stator assembly, and a rotor. A rotor cooling gas supplied at a cooling gas supply channel in an end plate passes from a radial inner location, along a rotor face chamber of the rotor in an outward radial direction, and then toward a plurality of rotor gas channels in the rotor. The rotor cooling gas absorbs heat from the rotor and then exits through a heated gas exit channel in another endplate. A stator cooling fluid entering at a cooling fluid port in one end plate passes through stator fluid channels of the stator assembly, absorbs heat therein, and exits at another fluid port in the other endplate.
Abstract:
A sliding vane engine, where the vanes slide with at least of one of an axial and radial component of vane motion, and where the compression ratio of the engine may be variably controlled. The engine includes a stator and a rotor in relative rotation, and a plurality of vanes in rotor slits defining one or more main chamber cells and one or more vane slit cells. The vanes contain extended pins that move in a pin channel for controlling the sliding motion of the vane. Fuel is mixed by incorporating air turbulence generators at or near the intake region. The intake and exhaust regions of the engine also incorporate a wave pumping mechanism for injecting and scavenging air from the main chamber cells and the vane slits. The compression ratio of the engine may be varied while the engine is in operation, and the engine geometry provides for an extended temporal duration at about peak compression. The engine is insulated by using segmented ceramic inserts on the stator and rotor surfaces.
Abstract:
A rotor and stator cooling system for a rotary vane pumping machine having two end plates, a stator assembly, and a rotor. A rotor cooling gas supplied at a cooling gas supply channel in an end plate passes from a radial inner location, along a rotor face chamber of the rotor in an outward radial direction, and then toward a plurality of rotor gas channels in the rotor. The rotor cooling gas absorbs heat from the rotor and then exits through a heated gas exit channel in another endplate. A stator cooling fluid entering at a cooling fluid port in one end plate passes through stator fluid channels of the stator assembly, absorbs heat therein, and exits at another fluid port in the other endplate.
Abstract:
A rotary vane pumping machine have a core structure and peripheral components interfacing with the core structure. The core structure includes a stator assembly defining a contoured surface of a stator cavity, a rotor spinning around a rotor shaft axis that is fixed relative to the stator cavity, and end plates disposed on either side of the rotor. The rotor has a plurality of radial vanes slots for housing a corresponding plurality of vanes that slide within the radial vane slot of the rotor. The plurality of vanes, stator cavity and rotor define a plurality of chamber cells. The core structure is substantially made of low coefficient of thermal expansion Invar materials to achieve precise non-contact sealing clearances between components of the machine.
Abstract:
A rotary vane machine having a rotary-linear vane guidance structure, including a translation ring disposed at each axial end of the machine, the translation ring rotating around a fixed hub, with the fixed hub being eccentric to a rotor shaft axis, with the rotor spinning around the rotor shaft axis which is a fixed rotational axis relative to a stator cavity. A plurality of vanes are disposed in a corresponding plurality of vane slots in the rotor, each of the vanes having a tip portion and a base portion, with the base portion having a protruding tab extending from each axial end therefrom. A plurality of linear channels are formed in each translation ring, wherein the protruding tabs extending from the base portion of each of the plurality of vanes communicate with a respective linear channel in the translation ring, whereby the rotor rotation causes rotation of the vanes and a corresponding rotation of the translation ring. The stator cavity has a contoured sealing profile determined from a continuous path traced by the tips of the vanes as the rotor spins around the rotor shaft axis and the translation ring rotates around the eccentric fixed hub, thereby creating cascading cells of compression and expansion between the rotor, the vanes, and the stator cavity as the vanes sweep by the contoured profile of the stator cavity.