Fuel combustion system, method, and nozzle member therefor

In a fuel combustion system for a gas engine capable of burning a relatively lean combustible mixture of gaseous fuel and air and defining a main combustion chamber above a reciprocating piston and a precombustion chamber assembly including a head member and a nozzle member cooperatively defining a prechamber, a separate source of a gaseous fuel for the prechamber, and igniting means for igniting a mixture of gaseous fuel and air admitted to the prechamber and forming expanding burning gases, wherein the improvement comprises:

• the nozzle member defining a plurality of geometric profiled ejection passage means for directing and controllably expanding the burning gases as flamefronts from the prechamber into the main combustion chamber at a velocity greater than the speed of sound in order to penetrate and cause ignition and burning of the combustible mixture in the main combustion chamber in multiple locations simultaneously.

A nozzle member for a precombustion chamber assembly of an engine comprising:

• a tubular body having a central axis defining a cavity and including in generally serially related order, an internal cylindrical surface, an internal generally conical converging surface, an internal reduced diameter cylindrical surface, and a distal end wall having an internal surface connected in closing relation to the third internal surface;
• and
• the tubular body defining a plurality of ejection passages of a preselected geometric profile individually having a preselected length and a central axis, each ejection passage including a throat portion and an outwardly diverging portion having a preselected length.

A precombustion chamber assembly adapted or use in an engine, comprising:

• a prechamber of a preselected geometric shape and volume adapted when in use for igniting a combustible mixture therein;
• and
• a plurality of ejection passages individually having a central axis defined in the precombustion chamber assembly, each ejection passage having a preselected length including a throat portion having a generally cylindrical internal surface defining a throat diameter having a preselected cross-sectional area and a conical outwardly diverging portion having a preselected length and a conical internal surface defining an exit diameter having a preselected cross-sectional area, the ejection passages being of a construction sufficient for directing and controllably expanding the burning gases from the prechamber at a velocity greater than the speed of sound.