# US 12,760,680 B2 · Apparatus and methods for plasma assisted combustion

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- Number: US 12,760,680 B2
- Document ID: US12760680B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/927,153
- Filed: 2024-10-25
- Published: 2025-05-01
- Granted: 2026-10-13
- Earliest claimed: 2023-10-27
- Assignees: Vieletech Inc.
- Applicants: Vieletech Inc.
- Inventors: Matthew Viele; Taylor F. Linker
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12760680B2

## CPC

- F02B 19/10: with fuel introduced partly into pre-combustion chamber, and partly into cylinder
- F02B 19/12: with positive ignition (engines with non-timed positive ignition, and with incandescent chambers F02B9/08)
- F02B 51/04: involving electricity or magnetism
- F02B: INTERNAL-COMBUSTION PISTON ENGINES; COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL (gas-turbine plants F02C; hot-gas or combustion-product positive-displacement engine plants F02G)

## Abstract

Apparatus and methods for plasma assisted combustion are disclosed. An apparatus includes a pre-combustion chamber including a pre-combustion chamber neck having a pre-combustion chamber orifice and the pre-combustion chamber neck including a non-conductive substrate and an electrode embedded in the non-conductive substrate. A method includes introducing a fuel into a pre-combustion chamber of an engine having a main combustion chamber, generating a plasma in the pre-combustion chamber, over-fueling the pre-combustion chamber to form a mixture in the pre-combustion chamber, ceasing the generation of the plasma; igniting the mixture in the pre-combustion chamber through radical induced ignition to produce a combustion gas in the pre-combustion chamber, and channeling the combustion gas via the pre-combustion chamber orifice into the main combustion chamber.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method comprising:
introducing a fuel into a pre-combustion chamber of an engine having a main combustion chamber;
generating a plasma in the pre-combustion chamber;
over-fueling the pre-combustion chamber to form a mixture in the pre-combustion chamber;
ceasing the generation of the plasma;
igniting the mixture in the pre-combustion chamber through radical induced ignition to produce a combustion gas in the pre-combustion chamber; and
channeling the combustion gas via the pre-combustion chamber orifice into the main combustion chamber.

### Claim 2

A method comprising:
introducing a fuel into a pre-combustion chamber of an engine having a main combustion chamber, the pre-combustion chamber having a pre-combustion chamber orifice fluidically coupling the pre-combustion chamber to the main combustion chamber;
during engine compression, introducing a lean air/fuel mixture from the main combustion chamber into the pre-combustion chamber to form a substantially stoichiometric gas mixture in the pre-combustion chamber;
generating a plasma in the pre-combustion orifice;
igniting a spark plug in the pre-combustion chamber to ignite the substantially stoichiometric gas mixture to form a combustion gas in the pre-combustion chamber;
channeling the combustion gas via the pre-combustion chamber orifice into the main combustion chamber; and
ceasing the generation of the plasma.