Rich fuel mixture super-turbocharged engine system

An engine system that operates with a rich fuel mixture comprising:

• a super-turbocharger having a turbine and a compressor;
• an additional compressor that supplies an amount of compressed air in response to a control signal;
• a mixing chamber that mixes exhaust gases from said engine system with said amount of compressed air to produce a gaseous mixture of said exhaust gases and said compressed air;
• a catalytic converter coupled to said mixing chamber that receives said gaseous mixture;
• an oxygen sensor that senses oxygen levels of said gaseous mixture entering said catalytic converter and generates an oxygen sensor signal;
• a temperature sensor that senses said temperature levels of said gaseous mixture exiting said catalytic converter and generates a temperature sensor signal;
• a controller that generates said control signal in response to said oxygen sensor signal and said temperature sensor signal so that said amount of compressed air supplied by said additional compressor to said catalytic converter is sufficient for said catalytic converter to substantially oxidize hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide in said gaseous mixture while maintaining a predetermined substantially optimal temperature level of said gaseous mixture exiting said catalytic converter;
• supplying said gaseous mixture to said turbine to drive said super-turbocharger.

A method of improving performance of an engine system having a super-turbocharger comprising:

• providing a catalytic converter that receives exhaust gases from said engine system and produces an exothermic reaction that adds heat to said exhaust gases to generate converted hot exhaust gases at an output of said catalytic converter;
• providing compressed air from a compressor;
• mixing a portion of said compressed air with said converted hot exhaust gases from said catalytic converter to create a gaseous mixture having a temperature that does not exceed a predetermined maximum temperature so as to prevent damage to said turbine of said super-turbocharger;
• driving said turbine with said gaseous mixture;
• transferring excess turbine rotational mechanical energy from said turbine to a propulsion train that would otherwise cause said turbine to rotate at a speed which would cause damage to said compressor.

A method of improving performance of a super-turbocharged engine system comprising:

• providing an engine;
• providing a catalytic converter that is connected to an exhaust outlet proximate to said engine that receives engine exhaust gases from said engine that activate an exothermic reaction in said catalytic converter which adds additional energy to said engine exhaust gases and produces catalytic converter exhaust gases at an output of said catalytic converter that are hotter than said engine exhaust gases;
• providing a flow of compressed air to an intake of said engine;
• providing a flow of additional compressed air;
• mixing said additional compressed air with said catalytic converter exhaust gases downstream from said catalytic converter to produce a gaseous mixture of said catalytic converter exhaust gases and said additional compressed air;
• generating a control signal to regulate said flow of said additional compressed air into said mixing chamber to maintain said gaseous mixture below a maximum temperature;
• supplying said gaseous mixture to a turbine that produces turbine rotational mechanical energy in response to flow of said gaseous mixture;
• transmitting said turbine rotational mechanical energy from said turbine to said compressor that uses said turbine rotational mechanical energy to compress a source of air to produce said compressed air when said flow of said gas mixture through said turbine is sufficient to drive said compressor;
• extracting at least a portion of said turbine rotational mechanical energy from said turbine and applying said portion of said turbine rotational mechanical energy to a propulsion train when said portion of said turbine rotational mechanical energy from said turbine is not needed to run said compressor;
• providing propulsion train rotational mechanical energy from said propulsion train to said compressor to prevent turbo-lag when said flow of said gaseous mixture through said turbine is not sufficient to drive said compressor.

A super-turbocharged engine comprising:

• an engine;
• a catalytic converter connected to an exhaust conduit proximate to an exhaust outlet of said engine such that hot exhaust gases from said engine activate an exothermic reaction in said catalytic converter that adds energy to said hot exhaust gases and produces converted exhaust gases;
• a compressor connected to a source of air that provides compressed air that is applied to an intake of said engine;
• an additional compressor that provides an amount of additional compressed air that has a pressure that is greater than a pressure level of said exhaust gases;
• a conduit that supplies said additional compressed air to said converted exhaust gases so that said additional compressed air is mixed with said converted exhaust gases to produce a gaseous mixture;
• a turbine that is mechanically coupled to said compressor and generates turbine rotational mechanical energy from said gaseous mixture;
• a controller that generates a control signal that regulates said amount of said additional compressed air to maintain said gaseous mixture below a maximum temperature;
• a transmission that provides propulsion train rotational mechanical energy from a propulsion train to said compressor to reduce turbo-lag when said flow of said exhaust through said turbine is not sufficient to drive said compressor to a desired boost level, and extracts excess turbine rotational mechanical energy from said turbine to maintain rotational speeds of said compressor below a predetermined maximum rotational speed at which damage would occur to said compressor.

A method of increasing the performance of a piston engine system having a super turbocharger:

• applying exhaust gases from said piston engine system to an NOX converter, which converts said exhaust gases to produce NOX converted gases;
• generating an amount of compressed air from a compressor in response to a control signal;
• mixing said amount of said compressed air with said NOX converted gases to produce a gaseous mixture of said NOX converted gases and said compressed air;
• supplying said gaseous mixture to a hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converter to produce hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gases;
• detecting said temperature level of said hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gases;
• adjusting said amount of compressed air to adjust said temperature level of said hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gases to a desired temperature level.

A method of increasing the performance of a piston engine system having a super turbocharger:

• applying exhaust gases from said piston engine system to an NOX converter, which converts said exhaust gases to produce NOX converted gases;
• generating a first amount of compressed air;
• mixing said first amount of said compressed air with said NOX converted gases to produce a first gaseous mixture of said NOX converted gases and said compressed air;
• supplying said first gaseous mixture to a hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converter to produce hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gases;
• generating a second amount of compressed air;
• mixing said second amount of compressed air with said hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gases to cool said hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gases to a desired temperature to produce cooled hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gases;
• driving a turbine of said superturbocharger with said cooled hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gases.

A super-turbocharged engine system comprising:

• a piston engine that generates exhaust gases;
• a NOX converter coupled to receive said exhaust gases and produce NOX converted gases;
• a compressor connected to a source of air that provides compressed air that is applied to an intake of said engine;
• a feedback valve that supplies a portion of said compressed air that is mixed with said NOX converted gases to produce a gaseous mixture;
• a hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converter connected to receive said gaseous mixture and oxidize hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide in said gaseous mixture to produce a hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gaseous mixture;
• a turbine that is coupled to receive said hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide gaseous mixture and generate turbine rotational mechanical energy from said hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gaseous mixture.

A super-turbocharged engine system comprising:

• a piston engine that generates exhaust gases;
• a NOX converter coupled to receive said exhaust gases and produce NOX converted gases;
• a compressor that generates a source of compressed air;
• a conduit that supplies said compressed air to said NOX converted gases so that said NOX converted gases are mixed with said compressed air to produce a gaseous mixture;
• a hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converter coupled to receive said gaseous mixture and oxidize hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide present in said gaseous mixture to produce a hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gaseous mixture;
• a turbine that is coupled to receive said hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide gaseous mixture and generate turbine rotational mechanical energy from said hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide converted gaseous mixture.