Rotary energy converter with retractable barrier

A rotary internal combustion engine, comprising:

• an outer housing and an inner housing disposed within the outer housing so as to form an enclosure between an inner peripheral surface of the outer housing and an outer peripheral surface of the inner housing, the inner housing being rotatable relative to the outer housing so as to define a drive member;
• first and second side housings disposed on opposite sides of the outer housing;
• at least one retractable barrier pivotally mounted to one of the outer and inner housings along a pivot axis and at least one fixed barrier non-moveably secured to another of the outer and inner housings, the at least one retractable barrier and the at least one fixed barrier disposed in the enclosure so as to divide the enclosure into a combustion chamber and an exhaust chamber;
• an intake port for introducing a combustion fluid into the combustion chamber;
• an exhaust port for exhausting combustion gases from the exhaust chamber;
• an ignition source disposed in the combustion chamber for igniting a mixture of fuel and combustion fluid;
• and
• an exhaust duct extending from within the enclosure to outside the outer housing in a direction tangent to flow in the enclosure;
• wherein the at least one retractable barrier is pivotable between an extended position in which the at least one retractable barrier extends into the enclosure and a retracted position in which the at least one retractable barrier retracts from the extended position.