US 5,472,645 AGranted

Cyclone vortex system and process

AssigneeCyclone Technologies, Inc.

InventorsHoward P. Rock, Kelly P. Rock, Grant R. Wood

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Abstract

This invention relates to a system and process for fuel or liquid preparation including a plurality of vortex stacks of sequential vortex elements operationally coupled with an integrated pre-manifold centrifuge type-cyclone scrubber. Each vortex stack comprises a base vortex element having a fuel-air mixture input followed by varying arrangements of air-accelerator vortex elements. An electronic fuel injection managed fuel-air mixture enters each base vortex element creating a vortical (spinning) column, which is enhanced and accelerated by transonic-sonic velocity air inflows in the accelerator vortex elements. Entrained fuel aerosol droplets are sheared into a viscous vapor phase, and then into a gas-phase state. The vortical column containing turbulently vaporized fuel and any residual aerosols in the air mixture is then passed through a venturi to the scrubber where the mixture is homogenized and any collected aerosols are returned as liquid and re-processed by the system. This allows only the vaporized, chemically stoichiometric (oxygen balanced) and combustion ready gas-phase fuel to exit the system.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A method of preparing a gas-phase fuel-air mixture for an internal combustion engine, comprising the steps:

providing a plurality of fuel-air mixture flow paths;
selectively controlling the flow of fuel and air along said fuel-air mixture flow paths;
vortically spinning said fuel in a portion of each of said fuel-air mixture flow paths for creating vortically spinning columns of fuel and air;
continuously delivering air tangentially into each of said vortically spinning columns of fuel and air;
turbulently and vortically commingling said air delivered into each of said vortically spinning columns of fuel and air for vortically shearing said fuel into a substantially vaporized fuel-air mixture;
vortically homogenizing and mixing said fuel-air mixture and causing unvaporized fuel to impinge upon a separating surface;
returning said liquid to the beginning of one of said fuel vaporizing flow paths for vaporizing said liquid;
and
exiting the vaporized fuel-air mixture as a gas-phase fuel-air mixture for use in an internal combustion engine,
wherein the step of vortically spinning the fuel is carried out in plurality of consecutive portions of each of said fuel vaporizing flow paths for creating a plurality of vortically spinning columns of fuel and air,
air is continuously delivered tangentially into each of said vortically spinning columns of fuel and air, and
turbulently and vortically commingling said delivered air with each vortically spinning column of fuel and air for vortically shearing said fuel into a substantially vaporized fuel-air mixture.

9 more elements

A cyclone vortex system for vaporizing a fluid into a gas-phase fluid, comprising:

a fluid vaporizing cylindrical vortex configuration having at least one vortex unit with a chamber, an input to said chamber and an output from said chamber for allowing a fluid to flow between said input and said output,
wherein said input includes a plurality of apertures located in a rim at one end of said vortex configuration and said output is a constricted opening located in another end of said vortex configuration, and
wherein said fluid vaporizing cylindrical vortex configuration has another plurality of apertures for inputting air tangentially to the flow of fluid between said input and said output for vaporizing said fluid into a gas-phase fluid-air mixture.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 08/346,257Filed 23 Nov 1994
Granted: 5 Dec 1995
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification14 codes

F02M 29/06
Having screens, gratings, baffles or the like: generating whirling motion of mixture
B01F 25/10
Flow mixers; Mixers for falling materials, e.g. solid particles: mixing by creating a vortex flow, e.g. by tangential introduction of flow components
B01F 25/102
Mixing by creating a vortex flow, e.g. by tangential introduction of flow components: wherein the vortex is created by two or more jets introduced…
F02M 19/035
Fuel atomising nozzles; Arrangement of emulsifying air conduits: mushroom-shaped atomising nozzles