Combustion and steam engine system and methods

A combustion-and-steam engine system comprising:

• a heat engine having a combustion chamber, a power-take-off means, a means for providing fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber and means for ignition of the fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber;
• a phase-change water injector having a steam tube in fluid communication between a water-injector orifice at an injector end of the steam tube and an inlet orifice positioned in a wall of the combustion chamber of the heat engine;
• an electrical-resistance heater on the phase-change water injector for transmitting a design phase-change level of heat from the heat engine to walls of the steam tube for phase-change heating water that is injected into the steam tube through the water-injector orifice;
• the electrical-resistance heater being powered by current generated from an electrical system of the heat engine;
• the internal periphery of the steam tube having a design cross-sectional area and a design length;
• and
• the design cross-sectional area of the internal periphery of the steam tube being designedly small in proportion to the design length of the internal periphery of the steam tube in order to position atomized water emerging under pressure from the injector orifice designedly close to the walls of the steam tube and in order to consume design time for travel of water from the injector orifice where the water is atomized en route to the combustion chamber at a combustion-chamber end of the steam tube while the water in the atomized state is being heated for phase-change of the water to designedly gaseous steam in the steam tube, such that phase-change of atomized water to designedly gaseous steam in the steam tube is designedly complete and the gaseous steam reaches the combustion chamber at a design time relative to occurrence of combustion of fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber.

A combustion-and-steam engine system comprising:

• a heat engine having a combustion chamber, a power-take-off means, a means for providing fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber and means for ignition of the fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber;
• a phase-change water injector having a steam tube in fluid communication between a water-injector orifice at an injector end of the steam tube and an inlet orifice in a wall of the combustion chamber of the heat engine;
• an electrical-resistance heater positioned internally in the steam tube;
• an internal periphery of the steam tube having a cross-sectional configuration that is generally non-restrictive of linear flow of fluid in the steam tube;
• the internal periphery of the steam tube having a design length;
• the cross-sectional configuration of the internal periphery of the steam tube being designedly small in proportion to design length of the internal periphery of the steam tube for positioning atomized water emerging under pressure from an injector orifice designedly close to internal walls of the steam tube in order to consume design time for travel of phase-changing water from the injector orifice where the water is atomized to the combustion chamber at a combustion-chamber end of the steam tube while the water in a progressively gaseous and atomized state is being heated to combustion-supportive heat levels which also phase-change the water to initially high-pressure gaseous steam in the steam tube;
• a heat tube having an electrical-resistance heater positioned internally in the heat tube for providing ignition heat to fuel in fluid communication between a fuel-injector orifice at an injector end of the heat tube and an internal periphery of the combustion chamber of the heat engine;
• the heat tube having an internal periphery with a design length and cross-sectional area;
• and
• the cross-sectional area of the internal periphery of the heat tube being proportioned to length and an internal heat of the heat tube for providing desired completeness of ignition, combustion and generation of combustion heat in the heat tube prior to achieving desired levels of completeness of combustion and resulting combustion heat in the presence of compressed air in the combustion chamber and in the presence of steam conveyed from the steam tube to the combustion chamber at combustion-supportive heat levels and gaseous fineness which avoid dousing of combustion flame, such that combustion gases in the heat tube provide a designedly fuel-rich pilot combustion that encounters pressurized oxidizer with which it reacts rapidly to generate sufficiently high heat in the combustion chamber to provide peak combustion pressure initially and then to superheat the steam for high pressure that is utilized for power take off throughout remaining major portions of stroke lengths.

A method comprising the following steps for generating both combustion power and steam power with a heat engine having a combustion chamber and a power-take-off means in power-take-off relationship to the combustion chamber:

• providing a means for combustion of fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber to generate a design heat of combustion and having a design power-take-off means in power-take-off relationship to the combustion chamber;
• providing a phase-change water injector having a steam tube with a design level of heat added to the steam tube from the heat engine with an electrical-resistance heater powered by an electrical system of the heat engine
• providing a design cross-sectional area of an internal periphery of the steam tube that is designedly small in proportion to a design length of the internal periphery of the steam tube in order to position atomized water emerging under pressure from the injector orifice designedly close to internal walls of the steam tube and in order to consume design time for travel of water from the injector orifice where the water is atomized en route to the combustion chamber at a combustion-chamber end of the steam tube while the water in an atomized state is being heated for phase-change of the water to designedly gaseous steam in the steam tube, such that phase-change of atomized water to gaseous steam in the steam tube is designedly complete and the gaseous steam reaches the combustion chamber at a design time relative to occurrence of combustion of fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber;
• positioning the phase-change water injector in fluid communication with an inside periphery of a wall of the combustion chamber;
• combusting a design quantity of fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber to generate combustion heat for expansion pressures of products of combustion and steam in the combustion chamber;
• spray-injecting a design quantity of water having a design fineness of atomization into the steam tube from the injector orifice;
• phase-changing the design quantity of water spray-injected with the design fineness into the steam tube of the phase-change water injector into designedly gaseous steam within the steam tube with a design level of heat added to the steam tube;
• directing the designedly gaseous steam from the steam tube into the combustion chamber through the fluid communication means intermediate the combustion end of the steam tube and the internal periphery of the combustion chamber;
• further phase-changing the designedly gaseous steam directed from the steam tube into the combustion chamber into designedly high-pressure steam in the combustion chamber with heat of combustion of the fuel and oxidizer combusted in the combustion chamber;
• taking off output work from expansion pressure of products of combustion of the fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber with the power-take-off means of the heat engine;
• taking off output work from expansion pressure of the designedly high-pressure steam in the combustion chamber with the power-take-off means of the heat engine in addition to taking off output work from expansion pressure of the products of combustion of the fuel and oxidizer;
• and
• cooling the heat engine to engine-tolerable levels of heat by absorbing heat from heat of combustion of the fuel and oxidizer in the combustion chamber with phase-change of the designedly gaseous steam into designedly high-pressure steam.