Split cycle reciprocating piston engine
AssigneeRicardo UK Limited
InventorsNeville Stuart Jackson, Andrew Farquhar Atkins
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A split cycle reciprocating piston engine includes a compression cylinder (2) accommodating a compression piston (4) and an expansion cylinder (12) accommodating an expansion piston (14). The compression cylinder (2) has an inlet port (30) for the admission of air and an outlet port (36) which communicates with a first path of a heat exchanger (5). The expansion cylinder (12) has an inlet port (52), which communicates with the first path of the heat exchanger (5), and an outlet port (56), which communicates with a second path of the heat exchanger (5) in heat exchange relationship with the first path. The method of operating the engine includes injecting a liquefied, non-oxidizing, non-combustible gas, such as nitrogen, into the compression cylinder (2).
Claims12
A method of operating a split cycle reciprocating piston engine including a compression cylinder accommodating a compression piston, an expansion cylinder accommodating an expansion piston, the compression cylinder having an inlet port for the admission of air and an outlet port which communicates with a first path of a heat exchanger, the expansion cylinder having an inlet port, which communicates with the first path of the heat exchanger, and an outlet port which communicates with a second path of the heat exchanger in heat exchange relationship with the first path, the method including injecting a liquid into the compression cylinder, characterised in that the liquid is a liquefied, non-oxidising, non-combustible nitrogen gas.
A split cycle reciprocating piston engine including a compression cylinder accommodating a compression piston, an expansion cylinder accommodating an expansion piston, the compression cylinder having an inlet port for the admission of air and an outlet port which communicates with a first path of a heat exchanger, the expansion cylinder having an inlet port, which communicates with the first path of the heat exchanger, and an outlet port, which communicates with a second path of the heat exchanger in heat exchange relationship with the first path, a liquid injector for injecting a liquid into the compression cylinder and a liquid reservoir communicating with the liquid injector for storing the liquid to be injected, characterised in that the liquid reservoir is a liquefied gas reservoir, the split cycle reciprocating piston engine further including a liquid nitrogen generator which is connected to be driven by the output of the engine and is arranged to produce liquid nitrogen from the atmosphere and to supply it to the gas reservoir.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.