Internal Combustion Engine Air Hybrid Operation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Internal combustion engines face ongoing challenges in reducing fuel consumption, exhaust gas pollution, and operational efficiency, particularly in vehicles like trucks, where existing engine concepts do not fully leverage power utilization or efficiently switch between propulsion modes.
Innovation Solution
An internal combustion engine arrangement featuring a combustion cylinder, an expansion cylinder, and a pressure tank, allowing operation in multiple modes: engine braking, air hybrid, and normal modes, where the expansion cylinder acts as a gas pump to compress and store gas in the pressure tank, enabling efficient power delivery and reduced fuel consumption by utilizing compressed gas from the tank when needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional power cylinders are combined with pre-compression stage and expansion stage, then engine efficiency and power utilization are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the compression cylinder and expansion cylinder into a single integrated engine unit, where the compression cylinder serves dual purposes: compressing air for combustion and storing compressed air for later expansion. This merging of functions reduces the number of separate components while maintaining the multi-stage process benefits, thereby improving engine efficiency without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The compression cylinder is designed to perform multiple functions: it compresses air during the power stroke, stores the compressed air in an associated tank, and can later expand the stored air to drive the expansion piston. This multi-functionality allows a single component to replace what would traditionally require separate components, improving productivity while managing complexity.
2Productivity
If additional engine propelled by another type of propellant is combined, then power utilization is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the combustion engine's own compressed air output to serve the expansion stage, eliminating the need for a separate external power source. The compressed air generated during normal combustion operation is captured and stored, then reused to drive the expansion piston, creating a self-sufficient system that improves power utilization without requiring additional complex propulsion systems.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of discarding the compressed air after the power stroke, the system recovers and stores it in an associated tank. This recovered compressed air is then later used to drive the expansion piston, converting what would be wasted energy into useful work and improving overall power utilization without adding external propulsion systems.
3Loss of energy
If compressed gas is stored in pressure tank for later use, then energy utilization is improved, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary compression of air during the power stroke and stores the compressed air in an associated tank before it is needed for the expansion stage. This preliminary action allows the expansion piston to be driven by pre-stored compressed air, improving energy utilization by capturing and retaining energy that would otherwise be lost, while the tank serves as a simple storage medium rather than a complex energy management system.
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
This configuration reduces fuel consumption, allows for efficient energy utilization, and enables the engine to operate as both an internal combustion engine and air hybrid vehicle, optimizing power delivery and reducing overall vehicle cost and weight by combining with electric motor propulsion.
Implementation Method 1
compressed gas generated in the expansion cylinder is delivered to the pressure tank
Implementation Method 2
compressed gas contained in the pressure tank is delivered from the pressure tank to the expansion cylinder
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine arrangement (100) for a vehicle (1), said internal combustion engine arrangement (100) comprising a combustion cylinder (106) housing a reciprocating combustion piston, and an expansion cylinder (110) housing a reciprocating expansion piston, said expansion cylinder (110) being arranged in downstream fluid communication with the combustion cylinder (106) for receiving combustion gases exhausted from the combustion cylinder (106), wherein the internal combustion engine arrangement (100) further comprises a pressure tank (112) arranged in fluid communication with the expansion cylinder (110), wherein the internal combustion engine arrangement (100) is further arranged to be operated in a first operating mode in which compressed gas generated in the expansion cylinder (110) is delivered to the pressure tank (112), and a second operating mode in which compressed gas contained in the pressure tank (112) is delivered from the pressure tank (112) to the expansion cylinder (110).