Carbon Dioxide Engine Cooling Heat Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Internal-combustion engines face inefficiencies in energy conversion and heat management, leading to significant waste heat that is not recovered, which affects engine performance and environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus utilizing carbon dioxide as a cooling medium to recirculate and recover waste heat from the engine, incorporating a cooling system that circulates carbon dioxide to convey heat away from the heat-generating assembly and transport it for reuse, enhancing temperature control and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional cooling systems are used to remove waste heat from the engine, then engine temperature control is maintained, but significant energy is lost without recovery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful waste heat that is normally discarded into a beneficial resource by capturing it through the cooling system and recirculating it back to the combustion chamber, where it preheats the intake air-fuel mixture, thereby improving combustion efficiency and reducing overall energy loss
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of discarding the waste heat through conventional exhaust or cooling systems, the patent implements a recovery mechanism that captures the thermal energy from the cooling medium and redirects it to preheat the intake charge, transforming a discarded resource into a useful input for combustion
2Productivity
If carbon dioxide is used as a cooling medium to recirculate waste heat, then energy efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system performs multiple functions: it cools the engine components to maintain proper operating temperature, captures waste heat for recovery, and recirculates the thermal energy back to the combustion chamber, thereby eliminating the need for separate heat recovery systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the cooling function with the heat recovery function by using the same carbon dioxide-based cooling medium to both cool engine components and capture waste heat for recirculation, combining what would traditionally be separate systems into a unified thermal management approach
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Improves engine efficiency by reusing previously wasted heat energy, reducing environmental impact through efficient heat recovery and management, and potentially reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
Implementation Method 1
the carbon dioxide conveys heat from the heat-generating assembly to the cooling medium
Implementation Method 2
the cooling medium transports the heat away from the heat-generating assembly
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An apparatus, comprising an engine, and an energy-management system configured to recirculate, at least in part, carbon dioxide relative to the engine in such a way that the carbon dioxide exchanges, at least in part, energy relative to the engine once the carbon dioxide is made to recirculate, at least in part, along the energy-management system.