Air assisted injector for wet compression atomization

An apparatus comprising:

• an internal combustion engine including an intake stream, at least one piston and at least one cylinder;
• an air assisted injector configured to insert a plurality of liquid droplets into at least one of an intake stream and the cylinder of the engine, the air assisted injector comprising:
• a gas injection portion configured to deliver a gas to a mixing chamber included in the air assisted injector at a first pressure and a first pulse width;
• a liquid injection portion configured to deliver a liquid to the mixing chamber at a first temperature and a second pulse width, the liquid delivered to the mixing chamber after a predetermined delay relative to the gas to generate the plurality of liquid droplets having a mean diameter of up to 5 microns;
• and
• a nozzle configured to deliver the plurality of liquid droplets to at least one of the intake stream and the cylinder, wherein the gas and the inserted liquid droplets are compressed during a compression stroke in the at least one cylinder;
• and
• a controller electrically coupled to at least one of the air assisted injector and the engine, the controller configured to determine an amount of the liquid droplets which is to be inserted into the cylinder based on an operating condition of the engine, the amount of inserted liquid droplets determined to fully vaporize throughout the compression stroke of the at least one cylinder.

A method of generating liquid droplets for wet compression in an engine using an air assisted injector comprising a liquid injection portion, a gas injection portion, a mixing chamber, and a nozzle, the method comprising:

• operating an internal combustion engine which includes at least one piston and at least one cylinder;
• delivering a gas via the gas injection portion to the mixing chamber at a first pressure and a first pulse width;
• delivering a liquid via the liquid injection portion to the mixing chamber at a second pulse width after a predetermined delay;
• generating a plurality of liquid droplets having a mean diameter of up to 5 microns;
• communicating the plurality of liquid droplets to the at least one cylinder;
• and
• compressing the plurality of liquid droplets in the cylinder, the compressing causing the liquid droplets to fully vaporize during the compressing within the cylinder.