Prevention of deposits on engine components
AssigneeDelavan Inc.
InventorsRhonda R. Willigan, Haralambos Cordatos
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel and/or lubricant system for an engine can include an engine component configured to be in fluid communication with the fuel and/or lubricant, and an alternating current (AC) source electrically connected to the engine component to create an electric field of alternating polarity to subject particles within the fuel and/or lubricant to dielectrophoresis as the fuel and/or lubricant passes through the electric field to prevent deposits from forming on the engine component. In certain embodiments, the engine component can be a filter screen configured to filter the fuel and/or lubricant to subject particles within the fuel and/or lubricant to dielectrophoresis as the fuel and/or lubricant passes through the filter screen.
Claims14
A fuel and/or lubricant system for an engine, comprising:
- an engine component configured to be in fluid communication with the fuel and/or lubricant;
- and
- an alternating current (AC) source electrically connected to the engine component to create an electric field of alternating polarity to subject particles within the fuel and/or lubricant to dielectrophoresis as the fuel and/or lubricant passes through the electric field to prevent deposits from forming on the engine component, where the engine component is a filter screen configured to filter the fuel and/or lubricant to subject particles within the fuel and/or lubricant to dielectrophoresis as the fuel and/or lubricant passes through the filter screen.
A method for preventing deposits from forming on one or more engine components exposed to a fuel and/or lubricant, the method comprising:
- providing an alternating current (AC) to the one or more engine components to create an electric field of alternating a polarity around the one or more engine components, wherein providing the AC includes providing a high voltage, low amperage current.
A method for preventing deposits from forming on one or more engine components exposed to a fuel and/or lubricant, the method comprising:
- providing an alternating current (AC) to the one or more engine components to create an electric field of alternating a polarity around the one or more engine components, wherein the one or more engine components include a fuel filter, wherein providing the AC includes providing the AC to the fuel filter of a turbomachine.
A method for preventing deposits from forming on one or more engine components exposed to a fuel and/or lubricant, the method comprising:
- providing an alternating current (AC) to the one or more engine components to create an electric field of alternating a polarity around the one or more engine components, wherein the one or more engine components include a fuel pipe, wherein providing the AC includes providing the AC to the fuel pipe that is electrically isolated from a fuel filter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.