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US 11,519,378 B2Granted
Internal combustion engine with laser-assisted, compression ignition
AssigneeWisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
InventorDavid Rothamer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compression ignition engine may operate using autoignition resistant fuels by laser-assisted ignition where a focused laser beam directly heats a spray of fuel proximate to an injector nozzle to promote a lifted flame combustion avoiding knock that could occur with the ignition of premixed fuel.
Claims19
An injector assembly comprising:
- an injector having a conduit for receiving pressurized fuel leading to a nozzle directing a spray of fuel along at least one spray axis and providing a valve positioned to move between a blocking state, blocking fuel passing from the conduit to the nozzle, and an unblocking state allowing a flow of the pressurized fuel from the conduit to the nozzle to exit as the spray;
- a laser positioned with respect to the injector to direct a beam of light to a heating region intersecting the spray to ignite the spray at the heating region;
- and
- wherein the laser is adapted to ignite the spray in the heating region prior to mixing of the fuel of the spray to an average equivalence ratio of greater than 0.5 in a combustion chamber.
1 more element
An internal combustion engine comprising:
- a set of cylinders and interfitting pistons movable within the cylinders to compress air in a combustion chamber region at an end of each cylinder at a compression ratio of no less than 13:1;
- and
- an injector assembly communicating with each combustion chamber and including:
- (a) an injector having a conduit for receiving pressurized fuel leading to a nozzle directing a spray of fuel along at least one spray axis and providing a valve positioned to move between a blocking state blocking fuel passing from the conduit to the nozzle and an unblocking state allowing a flow of the pressurized fuel from the conduit to the nozzle to exit as the spray;
- (b) a laser positioned with respect to the injector to direct a beam of light to a heating region intersecting the spray to ignite that spray at the heating region;
- and
- wherein the laser is adapted to ignite the spray in the heating region prior to mixing of the fuel to above an average equivalence ratio within the cylinder of greater than 0.5.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.