Ring turbo-piston engine and ring turbo-piston supercharger

Abstract

The inventive turbo-piston machine is embodied in the form of a turbo-piston expander and / or a turbo-piston supercharger and / or internal combustion engine comprising two mating working members i.e. a rotor and a valve. The rotor is provided with a piston embodied thereon and the valve is provided with a groove. The working members are arranged in the body of the turbo-piston machine, wherein the rotor is placed in at least one cylinder formed by the body walls and, for example, by the sidewalls. The operating process is carried out in at least two working chambers formed by the division of the cylinder space. A working medium is injected into one of the working chambers of the turbo-piston expander and is pumped into the other working chamber. The combination of the turbo-piston supercharger and the turbo-piston expander in one turbo-piston machine makes it possible to develop the internal combustion engines which can operate according to any known cycles, for example according to the Otto, Diesel, Trinkler, Atkinson, Miller, Brayton, Ericsson-Joule, Humphrey, Lenoir, Rankine and Stirling cycles.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The invention relates to expansion machines (EM), in particular, to internal combustion engines (ICE) and / or external combustion engines, expanders, gas generators (GG), for example, to free-piston GG (FPGG), chemical reactors (CR), for example, to gas-turbine plants (GTP), for example, intended for recycling chemical weapon agents and to superchargers.[0003]Unless otherwise separately set forth herein, hereinabove and hereinafter, the term “expansion machine” is used to designate an EM of any design, in which a working medium (WM) expands.[0004]Unless otherwise separately set forth herein, hereinabove and hereinafter, the term “supercharger” is used to designate any device, in which the WM is injected and / or compressed, for example, a compressor, a pump, a vacuum pump and a gas pump.[0005]Unless otherwise separately set forth herein, hereinabove and hereinafter, the term “working medium” is used to designate any WM inv...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018]To compare perfection of structures of different types of EM, a number of specific parameters is used. Certain engine specific parameters, such as power-to-weight ratio measured in the units of kW / kg (engine power divided by weight thereof) or kW / m3 (engine power divided by displacement thereof) preclude the assessment of the engine structure perfection since at different efficiencies (E) of one and the same engine the above parameters would differ. Given that the WM expands in an engine of any structure, the higher the degree of expansion thereof, with similar initial parameters being equal, the higher the engine efficiency and lower the power thereof or the lower the degree of the WM expansion and higher the WM average cyclic pressure, the higher the power and lower the efficiency of the same engine. It is reasonable to take specific expansion space (SES), l / skg (per-second expansion space divided by engine weight) as a more universal indicator of the engine perfection, with the SES being constant for one and the same engine operating at different efficiencies and at different capacities respectively, with the DS running at a nominal speed.

[0019]Both internal and external combustion PEs and also piston expanders are characterized by limited power-to-weight ratio and / or E because of lower piston or cross head speeds compared to the speed of the turbine's working members.

[0020]Currently, GTPs are most perfect in terms of the SES indicator. Disadvantages of turbines reside in high sensitivity of the first stages to high WM temperatures due to high loads on the material of working members, which results in the need of introducing additional quantity of air into the cycle to be mixed with the GCP exhausting from the CC before it is fed to the GT first stage. It is noteworthy that the excess-air factor (a) in the mixture of GCP with ballast air is within the range of 4-8, thereby leading to power circulation inside the GTP (between the compressor and GT of the compressor drive) which exceeds net power thereof. The given problem is partially solved in the GT with ceramic working members and also in GTs with steam-cooled blades. However, high-power ceramic turbines are still difficult to manufacture, while turbines with steam-cooled blades are characterized by high aggregate power and imply the use of the gas-steam cycle which is preferable to be used at powerful power industry's facilities. High power-to-weight ratio of the turbine is associated with a high DS rotational frequency which in the majority of cases requires the use of a reduction gear unit for the load drive and special structural materials working at the limit of parameters thereof. It is worth noting that the turbine is not capable of operating in principle at high pressures, therefore, it is unreasonable to further increase pressures and hope for a substantially higher E, since the E of high-pressure cylinders of the state-of-the-art turbines is extremely low and the total E, in particular, of supercritical STP is not higher than the E of SE of the first quarter of the twentieth century.

[0021]Existing ring ICEs and non-trunk or non-crosshead ICEs are provided with a WC combined with a CC of a noncircular or variable shape, thereby leading to non-optimal fuel combustion process and to less environment-friendly exhaust than those of classic PICE. Positive displacement ICEs comprising an external CC and operating, for example, according to the Brighton cycle, for example, gerotor ICEs include working members with a complex shape and require extreme precision to positioning thereof.

[0022]STPs using steam, binary WM, for example, ammonia-water mixture or two-phase WM, for example, wet steam, are characterized by a reduced life if droplets are available in the WM that results in underutilization of a portion of energy in the backpressure or condensing cycle or requires intermediate WM heating with different methods, thereby complicating the structure and / or reducing flexibility thereof. In addition, to operate engines using the WM containing a liquid-phase component, modern versions of the eolipil invented by Heron of Alexandriya equipped with de Laval nozzles are used. Piston SEs are free from this disadvantage, but they are characterized by high unit weight and are not capable of achieving economically efficient thousands-fold expansion ratios when the WM of supercritical parameters is fed, for example, similar to STP.

[0023]Currently, the share of such fuels used in the power industry as synthetic fuels, water-fuel emulsions and non-standard gases such as biogas, associated gas, mine gas, dumpsite gas, synthesis gas and different process gases, for example, blast-furnace gas is increasing. A specific feature of the majority of synthetic and composite fuels is an unstable composition, availability of large quantity of hazardous impurities and hydrocarbon mist, variable ignition delay and relatively lengthy period of combustion time which leads to deposits on the ICE WC and causes premature engine failure.

Problems solved by technology

This resulted in the reduced mass-to-power ratio compared to piston engines (PE) at high turbine rotor speeds limited predominantly by sound speed in the WM and strength of structural materials.

Having potentially higher energy coefficient compared to that of the ICE these engines as a whole have not surpassed them by specific energy parameters due to structural complexity impeding achievement of maximum energy parameters and lack of optimal structural materials and precise mathematical models.

However, this is difficult to achieve since the above engines are characterized by lengthy sealing elements of working chambers (WC) and large area of walls thereof, thereby invalidating all advantages thereof in the majority of the structures over piston engines in implementing Otto, Diesel, Trinkler or Stirling cycles, as well as any cycle in which fuel or at least one of components thereof is pre-compressed in the engine WC.

The structures allowing potentially higher efficiency to be achieved are characterized by relatively complex manufacturing technology, for example, such as that of the gerotor engine.

Both internal and external combustion PEs and also piston expanders are characterized by limited power-to-weight ratio and / or E because of lower piston or cross head speeds compared to the speed of the turbine's working members.

Disadvantages of turbines reside in high sensitivity of the first stages to high WM temperatures due to high loads on the material of working members, which results in the need of introducing additional quantity of air into the cycle to be mixed with the GCP exhausting from the CC before it is fed to the GT first stage.

However, high-power ceramic turbines are still difficult to manufacture, while turbines with steam-cooled blades are characterized by high aggregate power and imply the use of the gas-steam cycle which is preferable to be used at powerful power industry's facilities.

It is worth noting that the turbine is not capable of operating in principle at high pressures, therefore, it is unreasonable to further increase pressures and hope for a substantially higher E, since the E of high-pressure cylinders of the state-of-the-art turbines is extremely low and the total E, in particular, of supercritical STP is not higher than the E of SE of the first quarter of the twentieth century.

Existing ring ICEs and non-trunk or non-crosshead ICEs are provided with a WC combined with a CC of a noncircular or variable shape, thereby leading to non-optimal fuel combustion process and to less environment-friendly exhaust than those of classic PICE.

STPs using steam, binary WM, for example, ammonia-water mixture or two-phase WM, for example, wet steam, are characterized by a reduced life if droplets are available in the WM that results in underutilization of a portion of energy in the backpressure or condensing cycle or requires intermediate WM heating with different methods, thereby complicating the structure and / or reducing flexibility thereof.

Piston SEs are free from this disadvantage, but they are characterized by high unit weight and are not capable of achieving economically efficient thousands-fold expansion ratios when the WM of supercritical parameters is fed, for example, similar to STP.

A specific feature of the majority of synthetic and composite fuels is an unstable composition, availability of large quantity of hazardous impurities and hydrocarbon mist, variable ignition delay and relatively lengthy period of combustion time which leads to deposits on the ICE WC and causes premature engine failure.

Low-calorie fuels require a relatively large clearance space in the PICE which inevitable results in the reduced efficiency.

The above problems of burning low-calorie gases in the PICEs resulted in widespread utilization thereof in the GTP.

However, in the majority of cases, non-standard gases are characterized by relatively low output and unstable parameters, for example, the caloric content of the synthesis gas fluctuates within an extensive range depending on the composition of a gasifiable fuel, for example, municipal solid waste (MSW).

Moreover, it is undesirable to filtrate the above high-molecular compounds being predominantly hydrocarbons because this may lead to significant reduction in the caloric content of the fuel and poses problems of utilizing these compounds, which, nevertheless, are valuable chemical raw materials in large quantities, although they are potent carcinogens.

In operating gas turbines, which are more sensitive to the above impurities than the PICE, the cost of gas purification systems is comparable to that of power-generating equipment, therefore, it is unreasonable to fire certain types and / or quantities of gas in gas turbines and, as a result, MSW gasification products, for example, are not used in GTP.

Using STPs is not effective at such efficiency level.

However, using the GTP as a CR leads to rapid failure of working members thereof because of high aggressiveness of chemical weapon), in particular, chlorine-containing compounds.

Availability of a clearance space accounting for not less than 2% of the working space is the disadvantage of positive displacement superchargers, for example, piston superchargers, in particular, piston engines.

For example, the disadvantage of screw or similar superchargers is a relatively low degree of pressure increase in the stage at an optimal efficiency.

Disadvantages of dynamic type superchargers, in particular, turbines include sensitivity of working members to the WM composition and parameters and also substantial dependence of the efficiency on supercharger load percentage.

High working space-total volume ratio of the supercharger is characteristic of cam-driven vacuum pumps of different designs, however, all of them have very large clearance space and, thus, they are not suitable to be converted into compressors and engines with specifications substantially exceeding those of the similar equipment based on classical solutions.

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