Rotary heat engine

A jet-propelled rotary engine comprising:

• a housing;
• a rotor journalled in said housing for rotation of the rotor about an axis, said rotor having a rotor periphery;
• at least one jet assembly secured to the rotor periphery and adapted for combustion of a pressurized oxygen-fuel mixture, said jet assembly including a hollow body having a closed leading end and an open trailing end downstream of the leading end, said hollow body defining a chamber having a combustion region in which the pressurized oxygen-fuel mixture reacts during combustion to form combustion reaction products, a throat region downstream of the combustion region, a converging region extending from the combustion region to the throat region, and a diverging region extending from the throat region to the trailing end, said combustion reaction products forming at least a part of thrust matter passing through the hollow body and discharged therefrom, said converging and diverging regions configured for increasing the kinetic energy of and expanding the thrust matter, said trailing end defining a discharge port for supersonic discharge of a jet stream of the thrust matter from the discharge port generally along a line tangent to the rotor periphery for turning the rotor;
• a generally annular duct containing the path traversed by said jet assembly, said duct being defined at least in part by a radially inwardly opening annular channel adjacent to and disposed generally radially outwardly of said jet assembly, said inwardly opening annular channel being generally concentric with said rotor and having a generally arcuate shape as viewed in a cross-section taken along a plane containing said axis.

A method of operating a jet-propelled rotary engine, said engine comprising a housing, a rotor journalled in the housing, and at least one jet assembly secured to the rotor and adapted for combustion of a pressurized oxygen-fuel mixture and for rotating the rotor relative to the housing, said jet assembly including a hollow body having a closed leading end and an open trailing end downstream of the leading end, said hollow body defining a chamber having a combustion region where the pressurized oxygen-fuel mixture reacts during combustion to form combustion reaction products, a throat region downstream of the combustion region, and a converging region extending from the combustion region to the throat region, said matter passing through the hollow body and discharged therefrom, said converging region configured for increasing the kinetic energy of and expanding the thrust matter, said trailing end defining a discharge port for high speed discharge of a let stream of the thrust matter from the discharge port, the method comprising:

• introducing a pressurized oxygen-fuel mixture to the combustion region of the chamber via a conduit;
• burning the oxygen-fuel mixture in the combustion region to form hot thrust matter;
• introducing water into the chamber, said water being vaporized prior to exiting the throat region of the chamber and becoming a part of the thrust matter;
• increasing the kinetic energy of and expending the thrust matter through the converging region of the chamber;
• and
• hydroxylating the fuel of the oxygen-fuel mixture before combustion of the oxygen-fuel mixture in the combustion region of the chamber.

A jet-propelled rotary engine comprising:

• a housing;
• a rotor Journalled in said housing for rotation of the rotor about an axis, said rotor having a rotor periphery;
• at least one jet assembly secured to the rotor periphery and adapted for combustion of pressurized oxygen-fuel mixture, said jet assembly including a hollow body having a closed leading end and an open trailing end downstream of the leading end, said hollow body defining a chamber having a combustion region in which the pressurized oxygen-fuel mixture reacts during combustion to form combustion reaction products, a throat region downstream of the combustion region, a converging region extending from the combustion region to the throat region, and a diverging region extending from the throat region to the trailing end, said combustion reaction products forming at least a part of thrust matter passing through the hollow body and discharged therefrom, said converging and diverging regions configured for increasing the kinetic energy of and expanding the thrust matter, said trailing end defining a discharge port for supersonic discharge of a jet stream of the thrust matter from the discharge port generally along a line tangent to the rotor periphery for turning the rotor;
• a generally annular duct containing the path traversed by said jet assembly, said duct being defined at least in part by a channel adjacent to and disposed generally radially outwardly of said jet assembly, said channel being generally concentric with said rotor;
• at least two openings through said inwardly opening annular channel for passage of the thrust matter discharged from said jet assembly;
• and
• at least two conduits adjacent the channel, each conduit comprising a converging-diverging nozzle having an entrance end adjacent to and in fluid communication with a corresponding one of the openings, a discharge end external of the duct, a throat region, a converging region extending from the entrance end to the throat region, and a diverging region extending from the throat region to the discharge end.