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US 8,800,286 B2Granted
Rotary engine exhaust apparatus and method of operation therefor
OwnerMerton W. Pekrulinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention comprises a rotary engine method and apparatus configured with an exhaust system. The exhaust system includes an exhaust cut or exhaust channel into one or more of a housing or an endplate of the rotary engine, which interrupts the seal surface of the expansion chamber housing. The exhaust cut directs spent fuel from the rotary engine fuel expansion/compression chamber out of the rotary engine either directly or via an optional exhaust port and/or exhaust booster. The exhaust system vents fuel to atmosphere or into a condenser for recirculating of fuel in a closed-loop circulating rotary engine system. Exhausting the engine reduces back pressure on the rotary engine thereby enhancing rotary engine efficiency.
Claims18
A method, comprising the steps of:
- rotating a rotor in a stator, said stator comprising a first substantially elliptical inner wall, said rotor offset along both an x-axis and a y-axis relative to a center of said inner wall of said stator, wherein said x-axis and said y-axis form an x/y plane perpendicular to a rotatable shaft extending through said rotor;
- sealing a first end of said stator using a first endplate;
- sealing a second end of said stator using a second endplate;
- spanning a distance between said rotor and said stator using a set of spaced vanes, at least one of said vanes comprising a vane tip proximate said stator, wherein a twelve o'clock position of a rotation of said rotor within said stator comprises a point of rotation of said rotor at first extension of one of said set of spaced vanes;
- venting an expansion chamber between said rotor and said stator through an exhaust aperture during an exhaust phase of a cycle of said rotor;
- using a booster element to boost exhaust through said exhaust aperture using a burst of exhaust vapor through a second aperture, said second aperture comprising a cut through at least one of:
- said stator, said first endplate and said second endplate,
- said second aperture connected via a booster line to said booster element,
- said exhaust aperture connected to said booster element via an exhaust line, and
- wherein a first pressure in said booster line exceeds a second pressure in said exhaust line.
7 more elements
A method, comprising the steps of:
- rotating a rotor in a stator, said stator comprising a first substantially elliptical inner wall, said rotor offset along both an x-axis and a y-axis relative to a center of said inner wall of said stator, wherein said x-axis and said y-axis form an x/y plane perpendicular to a rotatable shaft extending through said rotor;
- sealing a first end of said stator using a first endplate;
- sealing a second end of said stator using a second endplate;
- spanning a distance between said rotor and said stator using a set of spaced vanes, at least one of said vanes comprising a vane tip proximate said stator, wherein a twelve o'clock position of a rotation of said rotor within said stator comprises a point of rotation of said rotor at first extension of one of said set of spaced vanes;
- venting an expansion chamber between said rotor and said stator through an exhaust aperture during an exhaust phase of a cycle of said rotor;
- and
- using a booster element to boost exhaust through said exhaust aperture using a burst of exhaust vapor through a second aperture,
- said second aperture comprising a cut through at least one of:
- said stator, said first endplate, and said second endplate,
- said second aperture connected via a booster line to said booster element, and
- said exhaust aperture connected to said booster element via an exhaust line;
- and
- controlling a first temperature in said exhaust line above a second temperature in said booster line.
10 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a rotor configured to rotate in a stator, said stator comprising a first substantially elliptical inner wall, said rotor offset along both an x-axis and a y-axis relative to a center of said inner wall of said stator, wherein said x-axis and said y-axis form an x/y plane perpendicular to a rotatable shaft extending through said rotor;
- a first endplate sealing a first end of said stator;
- a second endplate sealing a second end of said stator;
- a set of spaced vanes configured to span a distance between said rotor and said stator, at least one of said vanes comprising a vane tip proximate said stator, wherein a twelve o'clock position of a rotation of said rotor within said stator comprises a point of rotation of said rotor at first extension of said vanes;
- an exhaust aperture configured to vent an expansion chamber of said apparatus during an exhaust phase of a cycle of said rotor;
- an exhaust booster aperture through at least one of:
- said stator, said first endplate, and said second endplate, said exhaust booster positioned in a rotor rotation cycle prior to said exhaust aperture;
- an exhaust booster line connected at a first end to said exhaust booster aperture and at a second end to a booster;
- and
- an exhaust conduit connected at a first end to said exhaust aperture and at a second end to said booster, wherein during use vapor pressure running through said exhaust booster line accelerates exhaust flow through said exhaust conduit.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.