US-20260126001-A1 - SYSTEMS, APPARATUS, AND METHODS FOR INDUCING ENHANCED RADICAL IGNITION IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES USING A RADICAL CHEMICALS GENERATOR

US20260126001A1US 20260126001 A1US20260126001 A1US 20260126001A1US-20260126001-A1

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods described herein provide one or more radical chemicals generators (RCGs) and/or mini-chambers (M-Cs) that can be used to provide enhanced radical ignition (ERI) in an internal combustion engine. RCGs as described herein can include quenching systems (QSs) that can be configured to quench a flame of combustion products to produce a jet of partial combustion products containing radical species (RS). The jet of partial combustion products can be injected to a main combustion chamber (MCC) of an engine to induce ERI. ERI can proceed under leaner fuel conditions and lower temperatures compared to those needed for conventional thermally induced, fuel oxidation chain initiation reaction processes.

Inventors

Michael J. MANFREDI
Daniel B. Olsen
Randall R. RAYMER
Michael P. Whelan

Assignees

RADICAL COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGIES, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251107

Claims (14)

1 . An apparatus, comprising: a housing defining a radical chemicals generator volume (RCGv); a fuel delivery control device coupled to a passageway extending into the RCGv, the fuel delivery control device configured to control delivery of a portion of fuel into the RCGv via the passageway; a spark device configured to ignite a mixture of air and the portion of fuel in the RCGv to generate a flame that produces combustion intermediates and combustion products; and a quenching system (QS) including a plurality of orifice sets, each orifice set from the plurality of orifice sets including: a plurality of sub-orifices configured to quench the flame to produce partial combustion products containing radial species (RS); and an exit orifice configured to inject a jet of the partial combustion products produced by each of the plurality of sub-orifices into a main combustion chamber (MCC) of an engine containing a fuel-air charge to induce ignition of the fuel-air charge, each of the plurality of sub-orifices having (1) a first end that opens into the RCGv and is spaced from that of the remaining sub-orifices of the plurality of sub-orifices and (2) a second end that merges together with that of the remaining sub-orifices of the plurality of sub-orifices to form the exit orifice.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the exit orifice has an end that opens into the MCC with a cross-sectional area that is equal to a sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of sub-orifices.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the exit orifice of each orifice set from the plurality of orifice sets has a first end where the plurality of sub-orifices merge together and a second end that opens into the MCC, with the first end having a greater cross-sectional area than the second end.
4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the exit orifice of each orifice set from the plurality of orifice sets has a cross-sectional area that decreases from the first end of the exit orifice to the second end of the exit orifice.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the exit orifice of each orifice set from the plurality of orifice sets has an end opening into the MCC that is angled relative to a longitudinal axis of the QS.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the exit orifice of a first orifice set from the plurality of orifice sets opens into the MCC at a predetermined angle relative to the exit orifice of a second orifice set from the plurality of orifice sets, the predetermined angle being between about 20 and about 70 degrees.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second end of each sub-orifice from the plurality of sub-orifices of each orifice set from the plurality of orifice sets has a non-circular cross-section.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a sleeve configured to fit within an opening in a head of the engine and to attach to the head of the engine, the sleeve defining an opening for receiving the housing.
9 . An apparatus, comprising: an engine including: a head defining a plurality of openings that open into a main combustion chamber (MCC); a cylinder coupled to the head and defining a channel; and a piston disposable within the channel and configured to reciprocate along a length of the channel during a plurality of combustion cycles, the piston including a crown that forms a seal against an inner surface of the cylinder, the head, the cylinder, and the crown collectively defining the MCC; and a plurality of radical chemical generators (RCGs), each RCG from the plurality of RCGs configured to couple to a different opening of the plurality of openings, each RCG from the plurality of RCGs including: a housing defining a radical chemicals generator volume (RCGv); a fuel delivery control device configured to control delivery of fuel into the RCGv; a spark device configured to ignite a mixture of air and fuel in the RCGv to generate a flame that produces combustion intermediates and combustion products; and a quenching system (QS) configured to quench the flame to produce jets of partial combustion products that can be injected into the MCC of the engine.
10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the QS of each RCG from the plurality of RCGs is further configured to inject the jets of partial combustion products into the MCC of the engine at the same time to induce ignition of a fuel-air charge in the MCC.
11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the jets of partial combustion products are angled or offset from one another to avoid overlapping with one another and to increase volumetric distribution of RS within the MCC.
12 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the QS of a first RCG from the plurality of RCGs is configured to inject a first set of jets of partial combustion products into the MCC before the QS of a second RCG from the plurality of RCGs injects a second set of partial combustion products into the MCC.
13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the QS of the first RCG is configured to inject the first set of jets of partial combustion products into the MCC to increase a quantity of RS in the MCC, and the QS of the second RCG is configured to inject the second set of jets of partial combustion products into the MCC to induce ignition of a fuel-air charge in the MCC.
14 . The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of mini-chambers (M-Cs) configured to: receive a portion of gases from the MCC during a combustion event or a compression phase of a first combustion cycle from the plurality of combustion cycles; allow generation and storage of RS in the portion of gases; and release the portion of gases including the generated RS into the MCC during a second combustion cycle from the plurality of combustion cycles immediately subsequent to the first combustion cycle.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/313,603, filed May 8, 2023, titled “SYSTEMS, APPARATUS, AND METHODS FOR INDUCING ENHANCED RADICAL IGNITION INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES USING A RADICAL CHEMICALS GENERATOR,” which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/962,660, filed Oct. 10, 2022, now abandoned, titled “SYSTEMS, APPARATUS, AND METHODS FOR INDUCING ENHANCED RADICAL IGNITION INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES USING A RADICAL CHEMICALS GENERATOR,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/680,074, filed Feb. 24, 2022, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,466,608, titled “SYSTEMS, APPARATUS, AND METHODS FOR INDUCING ENHANCED RADICAL IGNITION INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES USING A RADICAL CHEMICALS GENERATOR,” which is a continuation-in-part of International (PCT) Patent Application No. PCT/US2021/013624, filed Jan. 15, 2021, titled “SYSTEMS, APPARATUS, AND METHODS FOR INDUCING ENHANCED RADICAL IGNITION IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES USING A RADICAL CHEMICALS GENERATOR,” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/961,515, filed Jan. 15, 2020, titled “SYSTEMS, APPARATUS, AND METHODS FOR INDUCING ENHANCED RADICAL IGNITION IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES USING A RADICAL CHEMICALS GENERATOR,” the disclosure of each of which is incorporated by reference herein. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to systems, apparatus, and methods for improving combustion of internal combustion engines. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to using a radical chemicals generator (“RCG”) to induce enhanced radical ignition (“ERI”) in internal combustion engines. BACKGROUND Existing internal combustion engines or legacy engines have relied heavily on low and medium speed 2-cycle and 4-cycle natural gas fueled engines with integral compressors for compressing and transporting natural gas through pipelines or with shafts that extend to a separate compressor, generator, and/or propulsion device. These legacy engines are the mainstay of the natural gas transmission infrastructure in the contiguous United States. Approximately 75% of the horsepower in the ‘midstream’ natural gas segment derives from these legacy engines. These engines also have broader applications, including, for example, for driving shafts to provide mechanical energy to compressors, electric generators, or propulsion devices. Legacy engines, however, suffer from certain disadvantages. For example, such legacy engines have lower combustion stability, higher pollutant emissions (e.g., nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and other Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions) and greater fuel consumption, etc. e.g. Many of these engines have undergone significant modifications to attain federal and/or individual state emissions limits. There remains a need for improved engine design to achieve improved combustion stability, lower emissions, and/or higher fuel efficiency. SUMMARY Systems, apparatus, and methods described herein can overcome some of the disadvantages associated with existing internal combustion engines. In particular, systems, apparatus, and methods described herein relate to improving the combustion efficiency and stability of internal combustion engines by inducing enhanced radical ignition (“ERI”) using an RCG. The RCG can operate on various liquid and gaseous fuels used for combustion in a main combustion chamber (“MCC”) of the engine or can operate using an alternate or dual source of fuel including hydrogen. In some embodiments, systems, apparatus, and methods described herein can be augmented with the use of mini-chambers (“M-Cs”) positioned in a head or piston bowl face of an engine, which can further augment the storage and generation of combustion-enhancing radical chemical species. In some embodiments, the RCG can produce a quenched hot jet of partial combustion products containing a high concentration of highly reactive radicals and intermediate species or molecules (herein referred to as radical species (RS)) that can be used for initiating combustion in the MCC. Examples of such RS include, among others, the hydroxyl radical (OH), hydroperoxyl radical or perhydroxyl radical (HO2), formaldehyde (CH2O), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), methyl (CH3), methylidyne (CH), monotomic oxygen (O), and monotomic hydrogen (H). Such RS can each have reactive unbalances in their electronic structure that make them suitable for enhancing combustion. Internal combustion engines have been broadly used in a number of industries and applications. Such use has subjected internal combustion engines to various regulatory requirements including those relating to emissions. Existing internal combustion engines equipped with existing emissions reduction technologies may fail to meet certain emission standards. Such existing emission-reduction technology can degrade engine operational stability, reliabili