Back to results
US 9,353,680 B2Granted
Rotary internal combustion engine with pilot subchamber
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorsBruno Villeneuve, Jean-Gabriel Gauvreau, David Gagnon-Martin, André Julien, Jean Thomassin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotary engine with an outer body having an insert located in the peripheral offset from the rotor cavity such that a portion of the peripheral wall extends between the insert and the cavity. The insert has a pilot subchamber defined therein and the portion of the peripheral wall has at least one opening defined therethrough in communication with the at least one outlet opening of the insert and with the cavity. A method of combusting fuel into a rotary engine is also discussed.
Claims20
A rotary engine comprising:
- an outer body having an internal cavity defined by two axially spaced apart end walls and a peripheral wall extending between the end walls;
- a rotor body rotatable within the cavity in sealing engagement with the peripheral and end walls and defining at least one chamber of variable volume in the cavity around the rotor body;
- an insert made of a material different from that of the peripheral wall, the insert having opposed inner and outer ends, the insert located in the peripheral wall of the outer body with the inner end closer to the internal cavity than the outer end, the inner end offset from the cavity with a portion of the peripheral wall extending between the inner end and the cavity, the insert having a pilot subchamber defined therein and at least one outlet opening defined therein in communication with the pilot subchamber, the portion of the peripheral wall extending between the inner end and the cavity having at least one opening defined therethrough in communication with the at least one outlet opening of the insert and with the cavity to provide communication between the pilot subchamber and the cavity;
- a pilot fuel injector having a tip in communication with the pilot subchamber;
- an ignition element positioned to ignite fuel within the pilot subchamber;
- and
- a main fuel injector having a tip in communication with the cavity at a location spaced apart from the insert.
4 more elements
An outer body for a rotary engine comprising:
- two axially spaced apart end walls;
- a peripheral wall extending between the end walls and defining an internal cavity therewith for receiving a rotor therein;
- an insert made of a material different from that of the peripheral wall, the insert surrounded by the peripheral wall and having an inner end outwardly offset from an inner surface of the peripheral wall defining the cavity, the insert having a pilot subchamber defined therein and at least one outlet opening defined therein in communication with the pilot subchamber, the peripheral wall having at least one opening defined therethrough in communication with the at least one outlet opening of the insert and with the cavity to provide communication between the pilot subchamber and the cavity;
- and
- the outer body further having:
- a pilot injector hole defined therethrough in communication with the pilot subchamber and sized to receive a pilot fuel injector,
- an ignition element hole defined therethrough sized to receive an ignition element in communication with the pilot subchamber, and
- a main fuel injector hole defined therethrough in communication with the cavity, spaced apart from the insert and sized to receive a main fuel injector.
5 more elements
A method of combusting fuel in a rotary engine having a rotor rotating in a cavity, the method comprising:
- injecting a minor portion of the fuel into a subchamber defined in an insert surrounded by a peripheral wall of the engine, the insert having an inner end offset from the cavity with a portion of the peripheral wall extending between the inner end and the cavity, the insert and peripheral wall being made of different materials;
- igniting the fuel within the subchamber with an ignition element;
- partially restricting a flow of the ignited fuel from the subchamber by circulating the ignited fuel out of the subchamber and of the insert through an opening of the insert spaced apart from the ignition element;
- circulating the ignited fuel from the opening to the cavity through a portion of the peripheral wall extending between the insert and the cavity;
- and
- injecting a remainder of the fuel into the cavity independently of and spaced apart from the subchamber.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.