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US 12,565,865 B2Granted
Engine having hotspot fuel igniter and piston and methodology using same
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsChad P. Koci, Dana R. Coldren
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An engine includes a piston movable within a combustion cylinder, a direct fuel injector, and a hotspot fuel igniter. The hotspot fuel igniter includes a core exposed to the combustion cylinder, to ignite fuel spray plumes of a directly injected fuel, and an insulator insulating the core from heat transfer with a material of the piston. Applications include igniting a range of fuels, including lower cetane number fuels.
Claims19
An engine comprising:
- an engine housing including a cylinder block and a cylinder head, and having a combustion cylinder formed therein;
- a piston movable within the combustion cylinder;
- a direct fuel injector extending into the combustion cylinder and including a plurality of spray orifices;
- and
- a hotspot fuel igniter within the piston including a core exposed to the combustion cylinder, and an insulator extending at least partially around the core.
2 more elements
A piston comprising:
- a piston crown formed of a piston crown material, and including a piston crown surface forming an annular piston rim extending circumferentially around a piston center axis;
- and
- a plurality of hotspot fuel igniters mounted in the piston crown and each including a core positioned so as to be impinged by an attached flow of a fuel along the piston crown surface, and an insulator insulating the core from the piston crown material.
A method of operating an engine comprising:
- directly injecting a fuel into a combustion cylinder in an engine;
- impinging a plurality of plumes of the directly injected fuel upon a plurality of hotspot fuel igniters in a piston crown of a piston in the combustion cylinder and insulated from heat transfer with a material of the piston;
- and
- igniting the plurality of plumes of the directly injected fuel based at least in part upon retained heat of the plurality of hotspot fuel igniters.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.