Ducted fuel injection with ignition assist
AssigneeSandia Corporation
InventorCharles J. Mueller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various technologies presented herein relate to enhancing mixing inside a combustion chamber to form one or more locally premixed mixtures comprising fuel and charge-gas to enable minimal, or no, generation of soot and/or other undesired emissions during ignition and subsequent combustion of the locally premixed mixtures. To enable sufficient mixing of the fuel and charge-gas, a jet of fuel can be directed to pass through a bore of a duct causing charge-gas to be drawn into the bore creating turbulence to mix the fuel and the drawn charge-gas. The duct can be located proximate to an opening in a tip of a fuel injector. An ignition assist component can be located downstream of the duct to facilitate ignition of the fuel/charge-gas mixture.
Claims20
A fuel injection system, comprising:
- a fuel injector comprising a first opening, wherein a fuel is injected through the first opening into a combustion chamber;
- a duct formed from a hollow tube, wherein the duct is aligned such that the fuel exiting the first opening of the fuel injector is injected through the hollow tube and into the combustion chamber;
- and
- an ignition assist component located at a discharge end of the duct, wherein the ignition assist component is configured to ignite the fuel exiting the duct.
A method for igniting a mixture comprising fuel and charge-gas, the method comprising:
- injecting fuel through an opening in a fuel injector, the opening is located in a combustion chamber;
- mixing the injected fuel with the charge-gas in a duct, wherein the duct comprises a hollow tube and is aligned such that the injected fuel travels through the hollow tube, the passage of the fuel through the hollow tube causing turbulent flow of the fuel and charge-gas mixture within the hollow tube and causing charge-gas present in the combustion chamber to be drawn into the hollow tube thereby mixing the injected fuel with the charge-gas;
- and
- igniting the mixture of fuel and charge gas with an ignition assist component.
A fuel injection system, comprising:
- a fuel injector comprising a first opening and a second opening, wherein a first jet of fuel is injected through the first opening into a combustion chamber, and a second jet of fuel is injected through the second opening into the combustion chamber;
- a first duct formed from a first hollow tube, wherein the first duct is aligned such that the first jet of fuel exiting the first opening is injected through the first hollow tube and into the combustion chamber;
- a second duct formed from a second hollow tube, wherein the second duct is aligned such that the second jet of fuel exiting the second opening is injected through the second hollow tube and into the combustion chamber;
- a first ignition assist component located at a discharge end of the first duct, wherein the first ignition assist component is configured to ignite the fuel exiting the first duct;
- and
- a second ignition assist component located at a discharge end of the second duct, wherein the second ignition assist component is configured to ignite the fuel exiting the second duct.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.