339 results about "Afterburner" patented technology

An afterburner apparatus that utilizes a novel swirl generator for rapidly and efficiently atomizing, vaporizing, as necessary, and mixing a fuel and an oxidant. The swirl generator converts an oxidant flow into a turbulent, three-dimensional flowfield into which the fuel is introduced. The swirl generator effects a toroidal outer recirculation zone and a central recirculation zone, which is positioned within the outer recirculation zone. These recirculation zones are configured in a backward-flowing manner that carries heat and combustion byproducts upstream where they are employed to continuously ignite a combustible fuel / oxidizer mixture in adjacent shear layers. The recirculation zones accelerate flame propagation to allow afterburning to be completed in a relatively short length. Inherent with this swirl afterburner concept are design compactness, light weight, lower cost, smooth and efficient combustion, high thrust output, wide flammability limits, continuous operation at stoichiometric fuel / oxidizer mixture ratios, no combustion instabilities, and relatively low pressure losses.

A combination internal combustion and steam engine includes a cylinder having a piston mounted for reciprocation therein with an internal combustion chamber and a steam chamber in the cylinder adjacent the piston and at least one steam exhaust port positioned to communicate with the steam chamber through the wall of the cylinder for exhausting steam at a location in the cylinder wall adjacent to an engine cylinder cap surface that is heated externally to assist in reducing chilling or condensation of steam entering the steam chamber from a boiler fired by waste combustion heat. The invention also permits steam admitted from a steam chest jacketing the cylinder cap to be exhausted from the engine when the steam chamber is in an expanded state whereupon residual steam is then recompressed prior to admitting the next charge of steam with the stream in the steam chamber being heated directly by the combustion chamber as well as by heat from the steam chest. An I.C. exhaust powered heater is a part of an I.C. exhaust manifold which functions as an afterburner with supplemental air injection for promoting combustion of unburned exhaust constituents to superheat steam that is piped through it to the steam chest. The invention provides valves for balancing steam engine displacement with boiler output and for cylinder compounding with a boiler, heat exchange and control arrangement for efficiently recovering waste heat.