An adiabatic cycle heat engine, comprising:
- a piston chamber;
- a power piston moveable within the piston chamber for running on working fluid fed by a high
- pressure state receivable from a heating exchanger;
- and
- a power piston moveable within the piston chamber, comprising:
- a means of batching and isolating, through a conical frustum shaped inlet valve, a bolus of
- working fluid in said piston chamber, isolating said working fluid for near adiabatic expansion;
- a means of cooling said expanded working fluid in said piston chamber after the near
- complete expansion movement of said power piston, cooling receivable from cooled fluid
- released from the cooling exchanger;
- a means of separating a portion of said fluid from said piston chamber and isothermally
- cooling said fluid by compressing that portion at a constant low temperature into a cooling
- exchanger;
- a means of containing said pressurized fluid in said cooling exchanger until said isothermally
- compressed fluid is released into the working chamber when said power piston nears
- completion of its sequential expansion stroke;
- a means of removing heat energy from said sequential expanded working fluid in the working
- chamber, occurring when said cooled fluid in said cooling exchanger is released into the said
- piston chamber;
- and
- a power piston moveable within the piston chamber, comprising:
- during the compression of said cooled fluid, the isothermal and adiabatic portions of the compressed fluid are separated according to the ratio differential of their respective densities with a portion pressed isothermally into the cooling exchanger removing its heat while a portion is pressed adiabatically into said pump;
- during said compression of said cooled fluid in said working chamber, the portion of fluid that is not pressed into the cooling exchanger is adiabatically pressed into the pump volume;
- and
- as the isothermal and adiabatic portions of the fluid in the working chamber are compressed, the quantity of fluid compressed into the pump is equal to the quantity of fluid that was the initially injected into the engine at TDC from the heat exchanger beginning the cycle;
- wherein:
- the engine cycle achieves a complete and near adiabatic cycle;
- by achieving near adiabatic expansion of said working fluid in the engine by injecting a bolus of said working fluid that is momentarily batched into said engine before flow of said bolus is closed off from passing through the conical frustum spindle shaped valve;
- while said bolus in the working chamber is sequentially expanded with the movement of said working piston from Top Dead Center (TDC) to Bottom Dead Center (BDC), said cooled fluid in the cooling exchanger is held in compression from the previous upstroke and in containment;
- while the isothermally compressed and cooled fluid in said cooling exchanger was held in containment during said sequential expansion of said bolus of working fluid that was initially batched into said engine from the heat exchanger;
- while, through two valving means, said contained fluid from said cooling exchanger is rapidly released at BDC, instantly cooling said expanded working chamber at BDC;
- while adiabatically expanded working fluid is cooled by releasing said fluid from said cooling exchanger through the connection valve mounted on said conical frustum shaped spindle valve;
- while flow is opened through TDC connecting valve mounted on the conical frustum shaped spindle valve;
- while flow is also opened through BDC uniflow valve which opens and closes with the exposing action of said working piston as it bottoms out in said working chamber at BDC;
- in the heat absorption of said fluid in said cooling exchange during said compression, said TDC connecting valve between said cooling exchanger and said working chamber (mounted on said conical frustum shaped spindle frame) remains open during nearly the entire compression stroke;
- to adiabatically press out nearly all said working fluid in said working chamber, not pressed into the cooling exchanger, into said pump volume during said compression of said working piston through a direct valving means between said working chamber and said pump volume;
- to complete the engine cycle at near TDC, with the access valve between said working chamber and said pump volumes closed, allowing unidirectional flow through said pump to the heat exchanger;
- to complete the engine cycle at near TDC, with the access valve between said pump volume and said heat exchanger opened, allowing unidirectional flow from said pump volume to the heat exchanger;
- and
- to ensure efficient cycling because all said valves are tightly configured to minimize residual dead volumetric pockets of uncycled said working fluid in the cycling volumes during the heat to work conversion of said cycle.