Methods for operating and controlling an internal combustion engine that exhausts no gas into outside atmosphere

A method for operating and controlling an internal combustion engine system, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing an airless internal combustion engine that inducts no air from outside atmosphere and exhausts no gas to outside atmosphere, said engine including at least one cylinder, a cylinder chamber within said at least one cylinder and a piston that can reciprocate in said at least one cylinder varying volume of said cylinder chamber, said cylinder chamber containing diluent combustion gas that contains mostly carbon dioxide and water vapor, said airless engine repeatedly receiving fuel, oxygen and water into said cylinder chamber and repeatedly performing a combustion cycle that includes hot gas induction and water injection into said cylinder chamber, gas cooling, compression, combustion and expansion in said cylinder chamber and expulsion of combustion gas from said cylinder chamber into an exhaust manifold, wherein said combustion gas expelled from said cylinder chamber contains mostly carbon dioxide and water vapor, wherein said combustion gas expelled from said cylinder chamber is split into two fractions:
• a returned gas fraction and an excess gas fraction, wherein said returned gas fraction is inducted from said exhaust manifold back into said cylinder chamber and, wherein said excess gas fraction is expelled from said exhaust manifold,
• wherein specific heat of gas during combustion in said airless engine is substantially greater than specific heat of gas during combustion in an air-inducting engine, whereby a smaller mass of gas is required to absorb the heat of combustion in said at least one cylinder in said airless engine than the mass of gas required to absorb an equal amount of combustion heat in a cylinder of equal volume in an air-inducting engine with gas expansion equal to gas compression,
• said at least one cylinder including at least one exhaust valve and means for repeatedly performing openings and closings of said at least one exhaust valve, wherein timings of said openings and closings and cooling effect of water injection are such that that the gas contained in said at least one cylinder at the beginning of said gas effective compression occupies only a fraction of the full cylinder volume, and said gas compression takes up only a fraction of the piston stroke, while said gas expansion takes up the entire piston stroke, whereby said gas expansion is substantially greater than said gas compression, and whereby said airless engine operates in overexpanded cycle,
• wherein the volume of gas contained in said at least one cylinder in said airless engine at the beginning of said effective gas compression is smaller than the volume of gas contained in said cylinder of equal volume in said air-inducting engine at the beginning of gas compression,
• wherein the volume of gas contained in said at least one cylinder in said airless engine at the end of said gas expansion is equal to the volume of gas contained in said cylinder of equal volume in said air-inducting engine at the end of gas expansion, and
• wherein clearance volume in said at least one cylinder in said airless engine is substantially smaller than clearance volume in said cylinder of equal volume in said air-inducting engine, whereby said gas expansion in said airless engine is substantially greater than gas expansion in said air-inducting engine,
• whereby greater gas expansion contributes to improvement in said airless engine thermodynamic cycle efficiency, and
• whereby said improvement in said airless engine thermodynamic cycle efficiency is achieved without an increase in cylinder size,
• (b) providing a carbon-capture means for receiving and handling said excess gas fraction expelled from said exhaust manifold, said carbon-capture means comprising:
• (1) a water-condensation means for receiving said excess gas fraction from said exhaust manifold, condensing water vapor contained in said excess gas fraction and cooling the remaining gas,
• (2) a water-storage container,
• (3) a first compressor that has a constant displacement and operates with a variable speed that varies in direct proportion to changes in the speed of said engine,
• (4) a second compressor, and
• (5) a carbon-dioxide-storage container,
• (c) providing a gas flow means for flowing gas between various parts of said system,
• (d) providing a source of fuel and a source of oxygen,
• (e) providing a fuel-delivery means and an oxygen-delivery means for delivering said fuel and said oxygen to said airless engine,
• (f) providing a source of water and a water-delivery means for delivering water to said airless engine,
• (g) providing a control means for controlling the operation of said internal combustion engine system in response to operator's demand and in accordance with a control program incorporated in said control means, said control means including a manual implement for generating and varying a control signal expressing said operator's demand,
• (h) operating said airless engine by repeatedly performing said combustion cycle that includes the steps of:
• (1) inducting said return gas fraction from said exhaust manifold through said exhaust valve into said cylinder chamber during said piston first volume-increasing stroke, wherein the pressure of gas flowing into said cylinder chamber is equal to the pressure of gas in said exhaust manifold,
• (2) closing said exhaust valve when the volume of said cylinder chamber is close to its maximum,
• (3) receiving water into said cylinder chamber and cooling said returned gas fraction, whereby temperature and pressure in said cylinder chamber are reduced,
• (4) receiving fuel and oxygen into said cylinder chamber, whereby a combustion mixture is formed in said cylinder chamber,
• (5) compressing said combustion mixture in said cylinder chamber during the first part of said piston first volume-decreasing stroke, wherein the initial pressure in said cylinder chamber is restored,
• (6) further compressing said combustion mixture in said cylinder chamber during the second part of said piston first volume-decreasing stroke,
• (7) igniting said combustion mixture when the volume of said cylinder chamber is close to its minimum,
• (8) performing expansion and combustion of said combustion mixture during the first part of said piston second volume-increasing stroke, whereby said combustion mixture converts into combustion gas containing carbon dioxide and water vapor,
• (9) expanding said combustion gas during the second part of said piston second volume-increasing stroke,
• (10) opening said at least one exhaust valve when the volume of said cylinder chamber is close to its maximum again,
• (11) expelling said combustion gas from said cylinder chamber into said exhaust manifold during the second volume-decreasing stroke of said piston,
• (12) expelling said excess gas fraction from said exhaust manifold into said carbon capture-means, wherein the pressure of gas flowing into said carbon-capture means is equal to the pressure of gas in said exhaust manifold,
• wherein the mass of gas flowing into said carbon-capture means is equal to the mass of said fuel, oxygen and water flowing into said airless engine,
• wherein the mass of carbon dioxide contained in said excess gas fraction flowing into said carbon-capture means is proportional to the mass of fuel inducted into said engine,
• (i) operating said carbon capture means by performing the steps of:
• (1) repeatedly receiving said excess gas fraction expelled from said exhaust manifold into said water-condensation means, condensing water vapor contained in said excess gas fraction, collecting water in said water-storage container and cooling the remaining gas to a pre-determined temperature, wherein the remaining gas is mostly carbon dioxide gas,
• wherein pressure of excess gas received into said water condensation means remains equal to gas pressure in said exhaust manifold, and wherein the average mass of gas received into said water condensation means is equal to the average mass of said fuel, oxygen and water received into said airless engine,
• (2) receiving said carbon dioxide gas from said water condensation means into said first compressor, wherein the average mass of said carbon dioxide gas received into said first compressor is proportional to said average mass of said fuel received into said airless engine,
• wherein the gas pressure at the inlet to said first compressor is equal to the pressure of said excess gas fraction,
• wherein the gas pressure at the inlet to said first compressor is equal to the gas pressure in said exhaust manifold, and
• wherein the mass of said returned gas flowing back into said cylinder chamber varies in direct proportion to changes in the mass of said fuel flowing into said airless engine,
• whereby the gas-to-fuel ratio in said airless engine remains constant,
• (3) compressing said carbon dioxide gas in said first compressor and flowing compressed carbon dioxide gas into said second compressor,
• (4) receiving said compressed carbon dioxide gas from said first compressor into said second compressor,
• (5) further compressing said compressed carbon dioxide gas in said second compressor and, discharging further compressed carbon dioxide gas into said carbon-dioxide-storage container, and
• (6) cooling and storing said further compressed carbon dioxide gas in said carbon-dioxide-storage container, wherein carbon dioxide is stored as a liquid or as a supercritical fluid,
• (j) controlling the operation of said internal combustion engine system by manually varying said control signal, wherein said control means responds to the change in said control signal by performing the steps of:
• (1) varying the mass of said fuel received into said cylinder chamber to satisfy said operator's demand for said airless engine speed and power,
• (2) varying the mass of said oxygen received into said cylinder chamber to satisfy the conditions for efficient combustion of said fuel in accordance with said control program incorporated in said control means,
• (3) varying the mass of said water received into said cylinder chamber to satisfy the conditions for proper gas temperature in said cylinder chamber in accordance with said control program incorporated in said control means,
• (4) varying other operating factors in said airless engine in accordance with said control program incorporated in said control means, said operating factors including ignition timing and injection timing,
• whereby, thanks to reduced volume of gas contained in said at least one cylinder at the beginning of said effective compression and a proportional reduction in clearance volume in said at least one cylinder, an increase in expansion ratio is achieved, while the effective compression ratio remains unchanged,
• whereby said increase in expansion ratio is accomplished without an increase in the volume of said at least one cylinder,
• whereby said increase in expansion ratio leads to improvement in efficiency of said airless engine,
• whereby said improvement in efficiency in said airless engine is achieved without a reduction in said engine power density,
• whereby, thanks to flowing said carbon dioxide gas into a compressor that has a constant displacement and operates with a speed that is proportional to the speed of said airless engine, the mass of said gas returned to said cylinder chamber varies in direct proportion to changes in the mass of said fuel flowing into said airless engine,
• whereby gas-to-fuel ratio in said airless engine remains constant regardless of changes in said engine load and there is no need for throttling,
• whereby elimination of throttling leads to further improvement in said airless engine efficiency,
• and whereby induction of hot gas brings back to said cylinder chamber some of the heat that escapes from said cylinder chamber in other engines, which adds to the heat of combustion,
• whereby there is a net reduction in heat loss during the cycle and whereby the efficiency of said airless engine is further improved.

A method for operating and controlling an internal combustion engine system, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing an airless internal combustion engine that inducts no air from outside atmosphere and exhausts no gas to outside atmosphere, said engine including at least one cylinder, a cylinder chamber within said at least one cylinder and a piston that can reciprocate in said at least one cylinder varying volume of said cylinder chamber, said cylinder chamber containing diluent combustion gas that contains mostly carbon dioxide and water vapor, said airless engine repeatedly receiving fuel, oxygen and water into said cylinder chamber and repeatedly performing a combustion cycle that includes hot gas retention in said cylinder chamber, water injection into said cylinder chamber, gas cooling, compression, combustion and expansion in said cylinder chamber and expulsion of excess gas fraction of said combustion gas from said cylinder chamber into an exhaust manifold, wherein said excess gas fraction is expelled from said exhaust manifold, wherein said excess gas fraction contains mostly carbon dioxide and water vapor,
• wherein specific heat of gas during combustion in said airless engine is substantially greater than specific heat of gas during combustion in an air-inducting engine, whereby a smaller mass of gas is required to absorb the heat of combustion in said at least one cylinder in said airless engine than the mass of gas required to absorb an equal amount of combustion heat in a cylinder of equal volume in an air-inducting engine with gas expansion equal to gas compression,
• said at least one cylinder including at least one exhaust valve and means for repeatedly performing openings and closings of said at least one exhaust valve, wherein timings of said openings and closings and cooling effect of water injection are such that the gas contained in said at least one cylinder at the beginning of said gas effective compression occupies only a fraction of the full cylinder volume, and said gas compression takes up only a fraction of the piston stroke, while said gas expansion takes up the entire piston stroke, whereby said gas expansion is substantially greater than said gas compression, and whereby said airless engine operates in overexpanded cycle,
• wherein the volume of gas contained in said at least one cylinder in said airless engine at the beginning of said effective gas compression is smaller than the volume of gas contained in said cylinder of equal volume in said air-inducting engine at the beginning of gas compression,
• wherein the volume of gas contained in said at least one cylinder in said airless engine at the end of said gas expansion is equal to the volume of gas contained in said cylinder of equal volume in said air-inducting engine at the end of gas expansion, and
• wherein clearance volume in said at least one cylinder in said airless engine is substantially smaller than clearance volume in said cylinder of equal volume in said air-inducting engine, whereby said gas expansion in said airless engine is substantially greater than gas expansion in said air-inducting engine,
• whereby greater gas expansion contributes to improvement in said airless engine thermodynamic cycle efficiency, and
• whereby said improvement in said airless engine thermodynamic cycle efficiency is achieved without an increase in cylinder size,
• (b) providing a carbon-capture means for receiving and handling said excess gas fraction expelled from said exhaust manifold, said carbon-capture means comprising:
• (1) a water-condensation means for receiving said excess gas fraction from said exhaust manifold, condensing water vapor contained in said excess gas fraction and cooling the remaining gas, wherein the remaining gas is mostly cooled carbon dioxide,
• (2) a water-storage container,
• (3) a first compressor that has a constant displacement and operates with a variable speed that varies in direct proportion to changes in the speed of said engine,
• (4) a second compressor, and
• (5) a carbon-dioxide-storage container,
• (c) providing a gas flow means for flowing gas between various parts of said system,
• (d) providing a source of fuel and a source of oxygen,
• (e) providing a fuel-delivery means and an oxygen-delivery means for delivering said fuel and said oxygen to said airless engine,
• (f) providing a source of water and a water-delivery means for delivering water to said airless engine,
• (g) providing a control means for controlling the operation of said internal combustion engine system in response to operator's demand and in accordance with a control program incorporated in said control means, said control means including a manual implement for generating and varying a control signal expressing said operator's demand,
• (h) operating said airless engine by repeatedly performing said combustion cycle that includes the steps of:
• (1) closing said at least one exhaust valve at the end of the first part of said piston volume-decreasing stroke,
• (2) receiving water into said cylinder chamber and cooling said hot gas retained in said cylinder chamber, whereby temperature in said cylinder chamber is reduced,
• (3) receiving fuel and oxygen into said cylinder chamber, whereby a combustion mixture is formed in said cylinder chamber,
• (4) compressing said combustion mixture in said cylinder chamber during the second part of said piston volume-decreasing stroke,
• (5) igniting said combustion mixture when the volume of said cylinder chamber is close to its minimum,
• (6) performing expansion and combustion of said combustion mixture during the first part of said piston volume-increasing stroke, whereby said combustion mixture converts into combustion gas containing carbon dioxide and water vapor,
• (7) expanding said combustion gas during the second part of said piston volume-increasing stroke,
• (8) opening said at least one exhaust valve when the volume of said cylinder chamber is close to its maximum,
• (9) expelling excess fraction of said combustion gas from said cylinder chamber into said exhaust manifold during the first part of said piston volume-decreasing stroke,
• (10) expelling said excess gas fraction from said exhaust manifold into said carbon capture-means, wherein the pressure of gas flowing into said carbon-capture means is equal to the pressure of gas in said exhaust manifold,
• whereby said combustion cycle is completed in two piston strokes and whereby said airless engine is a two-stroke engine,
• wherein the mass of gas flowing into said carbon-capture means is equal to the mass of said fuel, oxygen and water flowing into said airless engine,
• wherein the mass of carbon dioxide contained in said excess gas fraction flowing into said carbon-capture means is proportional to the mass of fuel inducted into said engine,
• (i) operating said carbon capture means by performing the steps of:
• (1) repeatedly receiving said excess gas fraction expelled from said exhaust manifold into said water condensation means, condensing water vapor contained in said excess gas fraction, collecting water in said water-storage container and cooling the remaining gas to a pre-determined temperature, wherein the remaining gas is mostly carbon dioxide gas,
• wherein pressure of excess gas received into said water condensation means remains equal to gas pressure in said exhaust manifold, and wherein the average mass of gas received into said water condensation means is equal to the average mass of said fuel, oxygen and water received into said airless engine,
• (2) receiving said carbon dioxide gas from said water condensation means into said first compressor, wherein the average mass of said carbon dioxide gas received into said first compressor is proportional to said average mass of said fuel received into said airless engine,
• wherein the gas pressure at the inlet to said first compressor is equal to the pressure of said excess gas fraction,
• wherein the gas pressure at the inlet to said first compressor is equal to the gas pressure in said exhaust manifold, and
• wherein the mass of said gas retained in said cylinder chamber varies in direct proportion to changes in the mass of said fuel flowing into said airless engine,
• whereby the gas-to-fuel ratio in said airless engine remains constant,
• (3) compressing said carbon dioxide gas in said first compressor and flowing compressed carbon dioxide gas into said second compressor,
• (4) receiving said compressed carbon dioxide gas from said first compressor into said second compressor,
• (5) further compressing said compressed carbon dioxide gas in said second compressor and, discharging further compressed carbon dioxide gas into said carbon-dioxide-storage container, and
• (6) cooling and storing said further compressed carbon dioxide gas in said carbon-dioxide-storage container, wherein carbon dioxide is stored as a liquid or as a supercritical fluid,
• (j) controlling the operation of said internal combustion engine system by manually varying said control signal, wherein said control means responds to the change in said control signal by performing the steps of:
• (1) varying the mass of said fuel received into said cylinder chamber to satisfy said operator's demand for said airless engine speed and power,
• (2) varying the mass of said oxygen received into said cylinder chamber to satisfy the conditions for efficient combustion of said fuel in accordance with said control program incorporated in said control means,
• (3) varying the mass of said water received into said cylinder chamber to satisfy the conditions for proper gas temperature in said cylinder chamber in accordance with said control program incorporated in said control means,
• (4) varying other operating factors in said airless engine in accordance with said control program incorporated in said control means, said operating factors including ignition timing and injection timing,
• whereby, thanks to reduced volume of gas contained in said at least one cylinder at the beginning of said compression and a proportional reduction in clearance volume in said at least one cylinder, an increase in expansion ratio is achieved, while the compression ratio remains unchanged,
• whereby said increase in expansion ratio is accomplished without an increase in the volume of said at least one cylinder,
• whereby said increase in expansion ratio leads to improvement in efficiency of said airless engine,
• whereby said improvement in efficiency in said airless engine is achieved without a reduction in said engine power density,
• whereby, thanks to flowing said carbon dioxide gas into a compressor that has a constant displacement and operates with a speed that is proportional to the speed of said airless engine, the mass of said gas retained in said cylinder chamber varies in direct proportion to changes in the mass of said fuel flowing into said airless engine,
• whereby gas-to-fuel ratio in said airless engine remains constant regardless of changes in said engine load and there is no need for throttling,
• whereby elimination of throttling leads to further improvement in said airless engine efficiency,
• whereby operating in two-stroke cycle reduces the friction loss, which leads to improved efficiency of said airless engine, and
• whereby retention of hot gas retains in said cylinder chamber some of the heat that escapes from said cylinder chamber in other engines, which adds to the heat of combustion, whereby there is a net reduction in heat loss during the cycle and whereby the efficiency of said airless engine is further improved.