# US 11,905,836 B1 · Rotary engine with single dual-fuel injector

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- Number: US 11,905,836 B1
- Document ID: US11905836B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 18/331,295
- Filed: 2023-06-08
- Granted: 2024-02-20
- Earliest claimed: 2023-06-08
- Assignees: Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
- Applicants: Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
- Inventors: Jonathan Brulatout; Etienne Plamondon
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11905836B1

## CPC

- F01C 1/22: of internal-axis type with equidirectional movement of co-operating members at the points of engagement, or with one of the co-operating members being stationary, the inner member having more teeth or tooth- equivalents than the outer member
- F01C 21/18: Arrangements for admission or discharge of the working fluid, e.g. constructional features of the inlet or outlet
- F02B 19/10: with fuel introduced partly into pre-combustion chamber, and partly into cylinder
- F02B 53/10: Fuel supply; Introducing fuel to combustion space
- F02M 21/0203: {characterised by the type of gaseous fuel}
- F02M 43/04: Injectors peculiar thereto
- F02M 61/14: Arrangements of injectors with respect to engines; Mounting of injectors
- F02B 2053/005: {Wankel engines}
- Y02T 10/12: Improving ICE efficiencies
- F01C: ROTARY-PISTON OR OSCILLATING-PISTON MACHINES OR ENGINES (internal-combustion aspects F02B53/00, F02B55/00)
- F02B: INTERNAL-COMBUSTION PISTON ENGINES; COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL (gas-turbine plants F02C; hot-gas or combustion-product positive-displacement engine plants F02G)
- F02M: SUPPLYING COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL WITH COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURES OR CONSTITUENTS THEREOF
- Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION

## Abstract

A rotary engine, has: an outer body defining a rotor cavity; a rotor rotatable within the rotor cavity and in sealing engagement with walls of the outer body and defining at least one chamber of variable volume in the rotor cavity; a pilot subchamber defined by the outer body, the pilot subchamber having an outlet in fluid flow communication with the rotor cavity; and a fuel injector having a tip in communication with the rotor cavity at a location spaced apart from the outlet of the pilot subchamber, the tip of the fuel injector having: a first outlet in fluid communication with the rotor cavity independently of the pilot subchamber; and a second outlet in fluid communication with the rotor cavity through the pilot subchamber.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A rotary engine, comprising:
an outer body defining a rotor cavity;
a rotor rotatable within the rotor cavity and in sealing engagement with walls of the outer body and defining at least one chamber of variable volume in the rotor cavity;
a pilot subchamber defined by the outer body, the pilot subchamber having an outlet in fluid flow communication with the rotor cavity; and
a fuel injector having a tip in communication with the rotor cavity at a location spaced apart from the outlet of the pilot subchamber, the tip of the fuel injector having:
a first outlet in fluid communication with the rotor cavity independently of the pilot subchamber; and
a second outlet in fluid communication with the rotor cavity through the pilot subchamber.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The rotary engine of claim 1, wherein the outer body defines at least one passage having a passage inlet in fluid flow communication with the second outlet of the fuel injector, and a passage outlet opening to the pilot subchamber.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The rotary engine of claim 1, wherein the fuel injector is the sole fuel injector of the rotary engine, the rotary engine being devoid of a pilot injector.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The rotary engine of claim 1, wherein a distance between the tip of fuel injector and the pilot subchamber is less than a distance between two adjacent apexes of the rotor.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The rotary engine of claim 1, wherein the fuel injector has a first inlet fluidly connected to the first outlet and a second inlet fluidly connected to the second outlet, the fuel injector having:
a first configuration in which the first inlet is fluidly connected to the at least one chamber via the first outlet while the second inlet is fluidly disconnected from the second outlet; and
a second configuration in which the first inlet is fluidly disconnected from the at least one chamber while the second inlet is fluidly connected to the pilot subchamber via the second inlet.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The rotary engine of claim 1, comprising a controller having a processing unit and a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon causing the processing unit to:
inject a first fuel in the at least one chamber via the first outlet of the fuel injector; and
ignite the first fuel received in the at least one chamber via the first outlet of the fuel injector by injecting a second fuel into the pilot subchamber via the second outlet of the fuel injector.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The rotary engine of claim 6, wherein the instructions cause the processing unit to inject the second fuel into the pilot subchamber before a volume of the at least one chamber reaches a minimum volume.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The rotary engine of claim 1, comprising a first source of a first fuel and a second source of a second fuel different from the first fuel, the injector having a first inlet fluidly connected to the first source and a second inlet fluidly connected to the second source, the first inlet fluidly connected to the first outlet, the second inlet fluidly connected to the second outlet.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The rotary engine of claim 8, wherein a first energy requirement to ignite the first fuel is greater than a second energy requirement to ignite the second fuel.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The rotary engine of claim 8, wherein the first fuel has a first cetane number being less than a second cetane number of the second fuel.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The rotary engine of claim 8, wherein the first fuel is gasoline and the second fuel is a heavy fuel.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The rotary engine of claim 8, wherein the first fuel is hydrogen and the second fuel is a heavy fuel.

### Claim 13

A method of supplying fuel to a rotary engine having a pilot subchamber fluidly connected to a rotor cavity defined by an outer body, and a fuel injector, comprising:
injecting a first fuel from a first outlet of the fuel injector into the rotor cavity while bypassing the pilot subchamber; and
injecting a second fuel from a second outlet of the fuel injector into the rotor cavity through the pilot subchamber.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the injecting of the second fuel includes injecting the second fuel into the pilot subchamber via at least one passage defined by the outer body, the at least one passage fluidly connected to the second outlet of the fuel injector and opening to the pilot subchamber.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the injecting of the first fuel and the injecting of the second fuel includes injecting the second fuel being different from the first fuel.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the injecting of the first fuel and the injecting of the second fuel includes injecting the first fuel having a first energy requirement to ignite being greater than a second energy requirement of the second fuel.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the injecting of the first fuel and the injecting of the second fuel includes injecting the first fuel having a first cetane number being less than a second cetane number of the second fuel.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the injecting of the first fuel and the injecting of the second fuel includes injecting gasoline as the first fuel and injecting a heavy fuel as the second fuel.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the injecting of the first fuel and the injecting of the second fuel includes injecting hydrogen as the first fuel and injecting a heavy fuel as the second fuel.

### Claim 20 (depends on 13)

The method claim 13, wherein the injecting of the second fuel from the second outlet of the fuel injector includes injecting at least a portion of the second fuel before a volume of at least one chamber reaches a minimum volume, and auto-igniting the second fuel by compressing the second fuel with the rotor.