Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
2
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
2
The present invention relates to an integrated engine system operating with
Mackay Cold-Expansion
4 Cycle, more particularly to a spark-ignition based engine system that
operates on a cycle consisting
of the first-intake-process, the hot-combustion-process, the fuel-cooling-
process, the second-intake-
6 process, the cold-expansion-process, and the exhaust-process.
8 The present invention can be used in the field of automobile,
transportation, and commercial power
generation.
12
14
16
18
22
24
26
28
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
3
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
2
The present invention is a further developed engine system based on the cold-
expansion concept in
4 the eight-stroke-cycle used in an eight-stroke-engine, which is now US Pat
No.6918358; the theory
of the eight-stroke-cycle is to reduce the heat dissipation by way of
releasing the fuel energy in two
6 processes, thereby shortening the time that the combustion-medium is heating
the cylinder wall and
the cylinder head, so a better fraction of the fuel energy is conversed in a
low-temperature oxygen-
8 rich cold-expansion-medium for producing power with the least heat-loss.
The abovementioned two processes are the hot-combustion-process and the cold-
expansion-process;
the hot-combustion-process will combust the fuel and the air at a high
temperature (about 2500
12 degree Celsius to 1700 degree Celsius) as a hot-combustion-medium, the hot-
combustion-medium
consists of nitrogen-gas, carbon-monoxide-gas, and other hot gases (except
carbon-dioxide-gas due
14 to the environment condition); the second-intake-process will mix a
controlled amount of
pressurized air with the hot-combustion-medium, thereby blocking the heat-loss
by an instant
16 cooling effect that rapidly cools the average temperature of the hot-
combustion-medium down by
30%-80%, thereafter forming a low-temperature oxygen-rich cold-expansion-
medium at a precisely
18 regulated temperature range (400-1100 degree Celsius) according to the
engine load; next the cold-
expansion-medium expands with almost no heat-loss since the temperature
difference between the
cold-expansion-medium and the cylinder wall is now reduced significantly,
which stops the heat
current from conducting throughout the cylinder wall into the cooling
circulation of the engine, and
22 the conversion of the carbon-dioxide-gas is accelerated due to high oxygen-
gas concentration
presented in the cold-expansion-medium; therefore, almost all the carbon-
monoxide-gas is
24 converted into the carbon-dioxide-gas before the up-stroke of the piston,
which yields an very high
average expansion pressure during the down-stroke of the piston with virtually
50% the heat-loss of
26 the conventional engine, in other words, the eight-stroke-cycle allows the
fuel energy to be released
in two distinctive steps (the hot-combustion-process and the cold-expansion-
process), instead of the
28 sudden and complete energy release that occurs in the conventional engine.
In a regular (medium load) operation with the optimal efficiency of the eight-
stroke-cycle, the cold-
expansion-medium is expanding at an average medium temperature about 850-600
degree Celsius
32 during the cold-expansion-process, the heat current conducing throughout
the cylinder wall is
significantly lower than that of the convention engine (gasoline type),
whereas the exhaust-gas of
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
4
the conventional engine has an average temperature of about 1500 degree
Celsius or higher during
2 the power-stroke, and an average temperature of about 1400 degree Celsius
during the exhaust-
stroke.
4
As the heat current is directly proportional to the temperature difference
between the combusting
6 medium and cylinder wall, it can be seen that the total heat-current
conducted over time (or the heat-
loss) of the eight-stroke-engine is roughly about half of that of the
conventional engine; therefore the
8 eight-stroke-cycle is capable of performing at a relatively higher energy
efficiency and power-to-
weight ratio than the conventional engine.
And a secondary advantage is that, the eight-stroke-engine requires a cooling-
system about half of
12 that of the conventional engine, which also reduces the weight of the
entire engine system.
14 However, there are a few drawbacks on the eight-stroke-engine, one of which
is the high cost of the
variable crankshaft control system of the slave-cylinder of the eight-stroke-
engine and the variable-
16 timing-coordinate-valve-system that makes it difficult for the eight-stroke-
engine to adapt to the
automobile applications.
18
As the automobile applications require a demanding power-responsive
performance that can almost
instantly accelerate from 10% of the maximum engine load to 100% of the
maximum engine load in
about 3 or 4 seconds.
22
After experimenting on improving the eight-stroke-engine for years, my
research team develops a
24 more advanced engine system named Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine System based
on the
operation concept of the eight-stroke-engine.
26
Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle takes in the idea of the two combustion processes
of the eight-stroke
28 cycle, and further controls the expansion temperature and increases the
power-to-weight ratio with
the fuel-cooling-process, wherein the hot-combusting-medium is cooled down
with the vaporization
of the fuel before the second-intake-process is initiated; and more
importantly, Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle can now respond to a change in engine load much faster and
smoother than the
32 eight-stroke-engine by a systematic control means.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine System (MCES) consists of an air-compression
means, an air-
2 buffer-system, at least two cold-expansion-chambers, and a power management
unit; wherein each
cold-expansion-chamber will operate in a Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle
consisting of the first-
4 intake-process, the hot-combustion-process, the fuel-cooling-process, the
second-intake-process, the
cold-expansion-process, and the active-exhaust-process (or the exhaust-
process).
6
Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine System may also operate each cold-expansion-
chamber in a
8 Simplified Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle, in which the fuel-cooling-process is
disabled, such that
each cold-expansion-chamber will operate in a Simplified Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle consisting
of the first-intake-process, the hot-combustion-process, the second-intake-
process, the cold-
expansion-process, and the active-exhaust-process (or the exhaust-process).
12
In comparison with the conventional engine, the MCES will have a relatively
higher average
14 expansion pressure and a relatively lower average expansion temperature
during the entire down-
stroke of the piston; therefore the heat energy dissipated in the engine
cooling system of the MCES
16 is only about 7%-15% of the total fuel energy, whereas the conventional
engine dissipates about
35% of the total fuel energy in the engine cooling system.
18
For the ease of comprehension, a MCES and a conventional engine of the
equivalent power output
are compared as follows in their respective medium load operations at their
standard energy
efficiencies:
22
The hot-combustion-medium of the MCES will be heating the chamber wall at an
average
24 temperature about 1600-2000 degree Celsius during the hot-combustion-
process (a duration of about
45 degree crankshaft rotation), and then heating the chamber wall at an
average temperature about
26 500-800 degree Celsius from the second-intake-process to the active-exhaust-
process (a total
duration of about 270 degree crankshaft rotation).
28
Whereas the working-medium of the conventional engine (4-stroke spark-
ignition) will be heating
the chamber wall at an average temperature about 1500-2000 degree Celsius
during its combustion
process (a duration of about 160 degree crankshaft rotation), and then heating
the chamber wall at an
32 average temperature about 1200-1400 degree during its exhaust-process (a
duration of about 180
degree crankshaft rotation.
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6
2 As the heat-loss of the MCES is significantly less than the conventional
engine, this converts more a
better fraction of the fuel energy into expansion force, to be more detailed,
the airflow-volume and
4 the exhaust pressure measured at the exhaust-means of the MCES are also
relatively higher than the
conventional engine, which induces the MCES to recover the energy of the cold-
expansion-medium
6 from a different approach, therefore, a heat-energy-recovering means (the
heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter) and a kinetic-energy-recovering means (the turbo-turbine and the
turbo-compressor) are
8 integrated into the MCES to maximize the overall energy efficiency.
Due to the low temperature characteristic of the expelled cold-expansion-
medium, the most widely
used steam-heat-recovery-systems nowadays which utilizes the exhaust-gas to
generate a high
12 pressure steam to drive turbine for electricity is not suitable for
collaborating with the MCES; this is
because the general steam-heat-recovery-system requires the exhaust-gas to be
at least 600 degree
14 Celsius or higher to be economically efficient in terms of the equipment
cost, whereas the
temperature of the exhaust gas from a Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine System is
only about 300-
16 400 degree Celsius in the regular operation; therefore, a configuration of
the MCES consisting of the
refrigerant-regenerator is also provided in the disclosed embodiments for the
power generation
18 purpose.
Various configurations and design concepts of Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine
System are provided
herein to the best of the applicants' knowledge, so that those skilled in the
art of the power
22 generation can maximize the potential of the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle
according to the
operation environments, and it is the earnest wish of my research team to
provide an efficient engine
24 system that can contribute to alleviate the ongoing energy crisis.
26
28
32
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7
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
2
1. The first objective of the present invention is to provide an integrated
engine system that is
4 capable of performing Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle, wherein said integrated
engine system
includes at least two cold-combustion-chambers for performing said Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle
6 in the sequence of the first-intake-process, the hot-combustion-process, the
fuel-cooling-process, the
cold-expansion-process, the active-exhaust-process.
8
2. The second objective of the present invention is to provide an integrated
engine system that can
precisely control the expansion temperature of the cold-expansion-medium in
the cold-expansion-
process, thereby improving the overall energy efficiency and ensure the
functionality of the catalytic
12 converter.
14 3. The third objective of the present invention is to provide a reliable
air-buffer-system of Mackay
Cold-Expansion Engine System that can maintain a constant operation pressure,
thereby ensuring
16 the performances of the cold-air-injection means and the reenergize-air-
injection means; wherein the
air-mass injected in the second-intake-process is adjusted according to the
engine operation
18 condition, and the actuation timing of the reenergize-air-injection means
is adjusted according to the
pressure decline rate of the hot-combustion-medium, such that the second-
intake-process is only
initiated after the pressure of the hot-combustion-medium is decreased to
lower than the operation
pressure of the reenergize-buffer.
22
4. The fourth objective of the present invention is to provide a Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine
24 System that can optimize the energy efficiency of the cold-expansion-
process by the accelerated
conversion of carbon-monoxide gas to carbon-dioxide gas, such that the thermal
energy of the
26 injected fuel can be fully released in the form of expansion force prior to
the active-exhaust-process
28 5. The fifth objective of the present invention is to provide an efficient
and reliable Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine System that can minimize the necessary compression energy for
performing
Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle; wherein the power-management-unit controls the
airflow speeds of
the heated high-boost-air in the reenergize-buffer and the cooled high-boost-
air in the cold-buffer by
32 adjusting the operation speed of the air-compression means.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
8
6. The sixth objective of the present invention is to provide an environmental-
friendly Mackay Cold-
2 Expansion Engine System that can increase energy efficiency by blocking the
heat-current
conducted from the cold-expansion-medium to the cold-expansion-chamber.
4
7. The seventh objective of the present invention is to provide a power
management unit of Mackay
6 Cold-Expansion Engine System that can adjust the amount of the cold-
expansion-medium being
expelled out of the cold-expansion-chamber according to the engine output
condition, thereby
8 controlling the ratio of oxygen and fuel for the preceding cycle.
8. The eighth objective of the present invention is to provide an efficient
air-buffer-system of
Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine that can recover the thermal energy from the
expelling cold-
12 expansion-medium to heat up the high-boost-air of the reenergize-buffer.
14 9. The ninth objective of the present invention is to provide an efficient
cold-expansion-chamber
structure of Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine System that can maximize the
expansion efficiency by
16 reducing both the heat loss and the pumping loss.
18 10. The tenth objective of the present invention is to provide an efficient
air-cool type configuration
of Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine System that can be used in the automobile
applications.
11. The eleventh objective of the present invention is to provide a subzero-
intake type Mackay
22 Cold-Expansion Engine System that can operate with high expansion
efficiency for the power
generation applications.
24
12. The twelfth objective of the present invention is to provide a Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine
26 System that can adjust ratio of the injected air-mass in the first-intake-
process to the injected air-
mass in the second-intake-process to regulate the temperature of the cold-
expansion-medium within
28 the range of 400-1100 degree Celsius, thereby accelerating the conversion
of carbon-monoxide-gas
to carbon-dioxide-gas in the cold-expansion-process.
32
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9
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
2
FIG.1 is an illustrative view of the first embodiment of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Engine System
4 (MCES), which is a basic MCES configuration preferable for mid-size
commercial applications
such as a long-distance bus with an integrated refrigerant-circuit.
6
FIG. I A-1 F shows the six processes of a Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle in the
medium load
8 operation corresponding to Process Chart.2; wherein FIG.1 A shows the
chamber condition at 285
degree crankshaft reference angle, which is in the first-intake-process;
FIG.1B shows the chamber
condition at 350 degree of crankshaft reference angle, which is in the hot-
combustion-process;
FIG.1 C shows the chamber condition at 25 degree of crankshaft reference
angle, which is in the
12 fuel-cooling-process; FIG.1 D shows the chamber condition at 55 degree of
crankshaft reference
angle, which is in the second-intake-process; FIG. IE shows the chamber
condition at 80 degree of
14 crankshaft reference angle, which is in the cold-expansion-process; FIG.1F
shows the chamber
condition at 210 degree of crankshaft reference angle, which is in the active-
exhaust-process.
16
FIG.1 G shows a breathing-effect of the active-exhaust-process, which is used
to control the amount
18 of the cold-expansion-medium being expelled, wherein the cold-air-injection
means and the exhaust-
means co-act to adjust the amount of cold-expansion-medium, such that the
actuation time of the
cold-air-injection means overlaps with the actuation time of the exhaust means
to blow out the cold-
expansion-medium with the cooled high-boost-air in a medium load operation or
a heavy load
22 operation, thereby increasing the engine power output by a higher oxygen
concentration; whereas
this breathing-effect is disabled in a light load operation, the actuation
time of the cold-air-injection
24 means is delayed to a later (greater) crankshaft reference angle to allow
more cold-expansion-
medium of the last cycle to remain in the cold-expansion-chamber, thereby
mixing an air-fuel-
26 mixture with low oxygen concentration for the light load operation, wherein
the exhaust means
complements with the cold-air-injection means to adjust the oxygen
concentration of the air-fuel-
28 mixture.
FIG.2A is an illustrative view of the second embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine System,
which is a basic MCES configuration preferable for light duty applications
such as a passenger
32 vehicle or a light-duty truck; wherein a two-stage air-compressor is used
as an air-compression
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
means to provide high-boost-air to the cold-buffer and the reenergize-buffer;
FIG.2B is a more
2 efficient MCES configuration of FIG.2A, in which a heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter is included.
4 FIG.3A is an illustrative view of the third embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine System,
which is a subzero-buffer type MCES configuration preferable for the power
generation applications,
6 wherein the air-buffer-system includes a refrigeration-circuit to lower the
temperature of the high-
boost-air buffered for the first-intake-process, thereby forming a low-
temperature hot-combustion-
8 medium in the hot-combustion-process, which will in terms form a cold-
expansion-medium at a
very low temperature for the best expansion efficiency during the cold-
expansion-process; FIG.3B is
10 another subzero-buffer type MCES configuration including a heat-transfer-
catalytic-converter.
12 FIG.4 is an illustrative view of the fourth embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine System,
which is a MCES configuration with refrigerant-regenerator for the power
generation applications,
14 wherein the refrigerant-regenerator utilizes the low temperature exhaust
gas of MCES to generate
additional electricity at low cost.
16
FIG.5A is an illustrative view of the fifth embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine System,
18 which is an air-cool type MCES configuration for the light duty vehicles
such as a bike or a small
boat or a small passenger car, wherein the cold-air-injection means and the
reenergize-air-injection
means are combined into a double-actuation-injector; FIG.5B is another air-
cool type MCES
configuration including a turbocharger system, a pre-buffer, and a pre-cooler;
FIG.5C is an
22 alternative configuration of FIG.5B, wherein a heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter is included.
24 FIG.6A is an illustrative view of the sixth embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine System,
which is a premix-intake type MCES configuration, which includes a premix-
buffer and a mixture-
26 injector to perform the first-intake-process in the high rpm applications
at a relatively lower
equipment cost; FIG.6B is an alternative configuration of FIG.6A, wherein a
heat-transfer-catalytic-
28 converter is included.
FIG.7A is an illustrative view of the seventh embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine
System, which is a series-hybrid type MCES configuration, wherein an
integrated inverter-system is
32 used to control the wheel-motor and the compressor-motor.
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11
FIG.7B is an alternative form of the seventh embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine
2 System, which is an integrated-hybrid type configuration of MCES, wherein an
integrated inverter-
system controls the operation speed of the compressor-motor and recovers brake-
force as electricity.
4
FIG.8 is an illustrative view of the eighth embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine System,
6 which is a vaporization-cooling type configuration of MCES, wherein a water-
injector is included to
lower the compression energy required for the operation of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle.
8
FIG.9 is an illustrative view of the ninth embodiment of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Engine System,
which is a MCES configuration including switching-air-injectors; wherein the
switching-air-injector
charges a flow of cooled high-boost-air from the cold-buffer in the first-
intake-process, and charges
12 a flow of heated high-boost-air from the reenergize-buffer in the second-
intake-process.
14 FIG. 1 OA is an illustrative view of the tenth embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine System,
which is a MCES configuration including triple-mode-injectors; wherein the
triple-mode-injector
16 operate in three modes, the first mode is a spray-injection-mode for
supplying an air-fuel-mixture in
the first-intake-process, the second mode is a fuel-only-mode for supplying a
fuel in the fuel-
18 cooling-process, the third mode is an air-only-mode for supplying a heated
high-boost-air in the
second-intake-process.
FIG.1 OB is an alternative form of the tenth embodiment of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Engine System,
22 which is a MCES configuration including a spray-injector, a fuel-injector
and a reenergize-air-
injector for each cold-combustion-chamber; wherein the spray-injector sprays
an air-fuel-mixture
24 containing the fuel from the fuel-reservoir and the cooled high-boost-air
from the cold-buffer in the
first-intake-process, the fuel-injector injects a fuel to mix with the hot-
combustion-medium in the
26 fuel-cooling-process, the reenergize-air-injector injects a heated high-
boost-air from the reenergize-
buffer in the second-intake-process.
28
FIG. 11A is the eleventh embodiment, which is a MCES consisting of a
specialized injection means
for the operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle; wherein a mini-buffer is
used to assist and
monitor the performance of each reenergize-air-injector, such that the power-
management-unit can
32 adjust the actuation time of each reenergize-air-injector by monitoring the
pressure/airflow data
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12
detected by a sensor means in the associated mini-buffer, thereby ensuring a
desired amount of
2 heated high-boost-air is injected into each cold-expansion-chamber during
the second-intake-process.
4 FIG. 11B is an alternative form of FIG. 11 A, wherein a central-buffer is
used to buffer the high-
boost-air for the cold-air-injector and the reenergize-air-injector; and each
reenergize-air-injector is
6 equipped with a mini-buffer and a sensor means.
8 FIG.12A demonstrates the twelfth embodiment of MCES including a specialized
air-compression
means for Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle; wherein a primary-compressor supplies a
high-boost-air
to the cold-buffer, a secondary-compressor supplies a high-boost-air to a mini-
buffer of each
reenergize-air-injector.
12
FIG. 12B is an alternative form of FIG. 12A, wherein a turbocharger system is
included to provide a
14 low-boost-air to the secondary-compressor.
16 FIG. 12C is another alternative form of FIG. 12A, wherein a turbocharger
system and a heat-transfer-
catalytic-converter are included to minimize the compression energy required
for the operation of
18 Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
FIG. 13 demonstrates the thirteenth embodiment of MCES including a specialized
combination of
air-compression means and air-buffer-system for Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine
System; wherein
22 an axial-turbine-compressor supplies a high-boost-air for the first-intake-
process and the second-
intake-process, each cold-air-injector and each reenergize-air-injector is
equipped with a mini-buffer.
24
FIG. 14 demonstrates the fourteenth embodiment of MCES including a specialized
combination of
26 air-compression means and air-buffer-system for Mackay Cold-Expansion
Engine System, which
includes multiple air-compressor in parallel configuration to output a
constant flow of high-boost-air
28 to a central-buffer; wherein the central-buffer includes free-spinning
turbines for stabilizing the air
flow velocity to ensure the functionality of each cold-air-injector and each
reenergize-air-injector,
such that the power-management-unit can adjust the injected air-mass by the
actuation time of each
cold-air-injector and each reenergize-air-injector.
32
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13
FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B together show the fifteenth embodiment of MCES
specialized for the large
2 power generation applications, wherein an inverter is used to power a
primary compressor and a
secondary compressor; the essential sensor means, and flow control means are
shown in FIG. 15B.
4
FIG.16 shows a combined-exhaust type cold-expansion-chamber specialized for
Mackay Cold-
6 Expansion Cycle, wherein the chamber-wall-port and active-exhaust-valve co-
acts to reduce the
pumping loss in the active-exhaust-process.
8
FIG.17 shows a cold-expansion-chamber specialized for Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which
includes multiple reenergize-air-injectors designed to lower the heat loss
during the second-intake-
process; wherein the reenergize-air-injectors will charge the high-boost-air
toward the chamber wall
12 in the second-intake-process, thereby pushing the hot-combustion-medium
toward the centre of the
cold-expansion-chamber with multiple flows of heated high-boost-air from the
reenergize-air-
14 injectors; thereafter, the cold-expansion-medium is expelled throughout the
chamber-wall-ports.
16 Process Chart.1 demonstrates a light load operation of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle for high-rpm-
engine applications.
18
Process Chart.2 demonstrates a medium load operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle for high-
rpm-engine applications.
22 Process Chart.3 demonstrates a heavy load operation of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle for high-
rpm-engine applications.
24
Process Chart.4 demonstrates a light load operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle with
26 chamber-wall-port, wherein the fuel-cooling-process is disabled and the
exhaust-process is
performed with a chamber-wall-port.
28
Process Chart.5 demonstrates a regular operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle with chamber-
wall-port, wherein the exhaust-process is performed with a chamber-wall-port
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
14
Process Chart.6 demonstrates a light load operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle for low-rpm
2 heavy-duty engine applications, wherein the first-intake-process is
generally commencing near the
TDC position due to the low revolution speed.
4
Process Chart.7 demonstrates a medium load operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle for low-
6 rpm heavy-duty engine applications, wherein the first-intake-process is
generally commencing near
the TDC position due to the low revolution speed.
8
Process Chart.8 demonstrates a heavy load operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle for low-rpm
heavy-duty engine applications, wherein the first-intake-process is generally
commencing near the
TDC position due to the low revolution speed.
12
Process Chart.9 demonstrates an operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle,
wherein the first-
14 intake-process is completed before the TDC position, whereas the spark-
ignition is delayed to after
the TDC position.
16
Process Chart.10 demonstrates an operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle for
the low-pressure
18 type air-buffer-system (such as 4 bar); which is specialized for the low-
end inexpensive air-buffer-
system that has an low operation pressure for both the cold-buffer and the
reenergize-buffer; in
which the second-intake-process is relatively delayed to a later crankshaft
reference angle as the
high-boost-air in the reenergize-buffer can only overcome the pressure of the
hot-combustion-
22 medium at a relatively later crankshaft reference angle; even though the
energy efficiency of this
type of MCES is much lower than a MCES operating with a high-pressure type air-
buffer-system
24 (such as 8 bar to 30 bar), the low-pressure type air-buffer-system still
serves as a less expensive
option for powering small bikes or boats.
26
Process Chart. 1 l demonstrates an operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle
for the low-pressure
28 type air-buffer-system, wherein the fuel-cooling-process is disabled.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
2
The pressure unit (bar) in the following embodiments is the gauge pressure.
4
Referring to FIG.1 for the first embodiment, this Mackay Cold-Expansion Engine
System (MCES)
6 is specifically configured for the mid-size automobiles or the power
generators that prefers a smaller
engine system capable with high power output; and this first embodiment is
most useful in a
8 commercial bus that can integrate the refrigerant-circuit of the air-
conditioning system to the
compressor-cooler 145, thereby reducing the system size and the system weight.
In FIG. 1, the components of MCES are labeled as the turbo-compressor 101, the
turbo-turbine 109,
12 the central-compressor 130, the compression-cooler 145, the refrigerant-
circuit 140, the compressor-
transmission 135, the cold-buffer 150, the cold-air-injectors 72, the
reenergize-buffer 155, the
14 reenergize-air-injectors 77, the cold-buffer-sensor 151, the reenergize-
buffer-sensor 156, the cold-
expansion-chambers 20, the pistons 22, the fuel-injectors 170, the spark-plugs
80, the active-
16 exhaust-valves 29, the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 190, the
crankshaft 100, and the output-
shaft 199.
18
The MCES includes a power-management-unit for controlling the compression-
transmission 135,
the cold-air-injectors 72, the reenergize-air-injectors 77, the fuel-injectors
170, the spark-plugs 80,
and the active-exhaust-valves 27 to perform a Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle in
each cold-
22 expansion-chamber.
24 In FIG.1, the ambient air is inhaled into the turbo-compressor 101 to
produce a flow of low-boost-
air to the central-compressor 130; next, the central-compressor 130 will
compress said low-boost-air
26 to produce a high-boost-air, and said high-boost-air is distributed to the
cold-buffer 150 and the
reenergize-buffer 155.
28
The compression-cooler 145 consists of a refrigerant-evaporator-coil that
circulates through the
central compressor 130 for cooling said low-boost-air to reduce the
compression energy required to
generate said high-boost-air.
32
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
16
The refrigerant-circuit 140 consists of a refrigerant-condenser (not shown)
and a refrigerant-
2 compressor (not shown); the refrigerant-circuit 140 is preferably integrated
with the air-conditioning
system of the vehicles to save up space for the engine compartment of the
vehicle.
4
Next, said high-boost-air is distributed from the central-compressor to the
cold-buffer 150 and the
6 reenergize-buffer 155.
8 The cold-buffer 150 will buffer and supply a cooled high-boost-air to the
cold-air-injectors 72 at a
constant operation pressure set by the power-management-unit; wherein a cold-
buffer-sensor 151
will transmit an airflow pressure data or a airflow speed data to the power-
management-unit, so that
the power-management-unit can adjust the gear ratio setting of the compression-
transmission to
12 keep said constant operation pressure of the cold-buffer 150; wherein, said
constant operation
pressure is essential for the proper functionality of the cold-air-injectors,
which is to precisely
14 control the injected air-mass for the first-intake-process.
16 The reenergize-buffer 155 will buffer and supply a heated high-boost-air to
the reenergize-air-
injector 77 at a constant operation set by the power-management-unit; wherein
a reenergize-buffer-
18 sensor 156 will transmit an airflow pressure data or a airflow speed data
to the power-management-
unit, so that the power-management-unit can adjust the gear ratio setting of
the compression-
transmission to keep said constant operation pressure of the reenergize-buffer
155; wherein, said
constant operation pressure of he reenergize-buffer 155 is essential for the
proper functionality of
22 the reenergize-air-injectors, which is to precisely control the injected
air-mass for the second-intake-
process.
24
Both the cold-buffer and the reenergize-buffer may include free-spinning
turbines or rotors to
26 stabilize the flow speed therein, which can assist the cold-air-injectors
and the reenergize-air-
injectors to generate a more constant airflow during their respective
actuations, therefore the power-
28 management-unit can have a precise control on the injected air-mass of the
first-intake-process and
the injected air-mass of the second-intake-process.
The compressor-transmission 135 will adjust its gear ratio to control the
airflow speed of the high-
32 boost-air buffered in the cold-buffer 150 and the reenergize-buffer 155,
such that the cold-buffer is
kept at a constant operation pressure in a range of 4-25 bar, and the
reenergize-buffer is kept at a
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
17
constant operation pressure in a range of 4-30 bar, wherein the reenergize-
buffer should have an
2 operation pressure equal to or higher than the operation pressure of the
cold-buffer for the best
performance.
4
The compressor-transmission may be a mechanical transmission, a hydraulic
transmission, a
6 continuous-variable-transmission or a planetary-gear-transmission; in some
other embodiment that
includes an inverter, the compression-transmission is replace with an
electrical-motor.
8
The operation pressure setting of the reenergize-buffer 155 generally depends
on the overall
compression efficiency of the air-compression means; ideally, if the air-
compression means is an
extremely high-efficient air-compressor, the power-management-unit can set a
constant operation
12 pressure of the reenergize-buffer to as high as 30 bar, which in terms
allows the second-intake-
process to be initiated at an earlier crankshaft reference angle without
losing any overall efficiency.
14
In the case of an automobile application, the operation pressures of the cold-
buffer and the
16 reenergize-buffer are preferred to be set in a range of 4-15 bar for the
public traffic safety and the
performance limitation of a small central compressor.
18
In the case of a stationary power generator application, as the air-
compression means can be an
extremely high-efficient and complex central-compressor, the operation
pressure of the reenergize-
buffer may be set to 20 bar or higher in order to perform the cold-expansion-
process more efficiently
22 because the MCES is located in a relatively stationary and controlled
environment, wherein the
injected air-mass of the second-intake-process can be as much as 350% of the
injected air-mass of
24 the first-intake-process, which results in a cold-expansion-medium forming
at a temperature just
above the operable temperature of a regular catalytic converter such as 400
degree Celsius; in other
26 words, ideally the cold-expansion-process will produce power with a cold-
expansion-medium at an
average temperature about 400 degree Celsius from about 45 degree crankshaft
reference angle to
28 180 degree crankshaft reference angle, which results in an expansion-
process with almost no heat
loss, and all the thermal energy of the supplied fuel are preserved in the
form of expansion force by
an accelerated conversion of carbon-dioxide-gas, so that the expansion
pressure is slowly decreasing
during the cold-expansion-process.
32
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
18
Now referring to FIG.I again for a regular operation with the assumption that
the power-
2 management-unit will keep a constant operation pressure of 10 bar in both
the cold-buffer 150 and
the reenergize-buffer 155; wherein, in an operation with decreasing power
output, the power-
4 management-unit commands the compression transmission 130 to be set to a
lower gear, which
decreases the airflow speeds in both the cold-buffer 150 and the reenergize-
buffer 155, however the
6 operation pressures of both the cold-buffer 150 and the reenergize-buffer
155 are still maintained at
bar, while the cold-buffer-sensor 151 and the reenergize-buffer-sensor 156
will feedback the
8 airflow conditions of said two buffers to the power-management-unit to check
if a proper gear ratio
is selected for the compression transmission 130; in an operation with
increasing power output, the
10 power-management-unit commands the compression transmission 130 to be set
to a higher gear,
which increases the airflow speeds in both the cold-buffer 150 and the
reenergize-buffer 155,
12 however the operations pressures of both the cold-buffer 150 and the
reenergize-buffer 155 are still
maintained at 10 bar, while the cold-buffer-sensor 151 and the reenergize-
buffer-sensor 156 will
14 feedback the airflow conditions of said two buffers to the power-management-
unit to check if a
proper gear ratio is selected for the compressor transmission 130.
16
In general, the compressor-transmission 130 will shift to a higher gear to
increase the airflow speeds
18 in said two buffers when the power-management-unit is requested to output
more power by the user,
inversely the compressor-transmission 130 will shift to a lower gear to
decrease the airflow speeds
in said two buffers when the power-management-unit is requested to output less
power by the user;
at the same time, the cold-buffer-sensor 151 and the reenergize-buffer-sensor
156 will feedback the
22 airflow data to the power-management-unit to check if any of their
associated buffers is under-
pressured or over-pressured; as an over-pressured condition means a loss in
the efficiency, while an
24 under-pressured causes faulty operations of the cold-air-injectors 72 and
the reenergize-air-injectors
77.
26
The power-management-unit should also include a computation circuit for
calculating the correct
28 actuation time of the reenergize-air-injector 77 that can inject a
designated amount of the heated
high-boost-air from the reenergize-buffer 155 in the second-intake-process;
wherein said designated
amount of the heated high-boost-air should have an air-mass that is at least
50% of the injected air-
mass of the first-intake-process.
32
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
19
In FIG. 1 the reenergize-buffer 155 will perform a reenergize-process to
recover the internal energy
2 of the expelled cold-expansion-medium flown through the heat-transfer-
catalytic-converter 190 and
the exhaust pipeline (not shown); wherein, the high-boost-air buffered in the
reenergize-buffer 155
4 will be heated up by the heat energy conducted from the heat-transfer-
catalytic-converter 190; in
general, the high-boost-air buffered in the reenergize-buffer 155 can be
heated up to about 80-300
6 degree Celsius depending on the engine operation condition, which
significantly decreases the
required workload of the central-compressor 130 to keep the reenergize-buffer
155 at its preset
8 operation pressure, thereby raising the overall energy efficiency of Mackay
Cold-Expansion Cycle.
It should be noted that, even though the heated high-boost-air may be heated
up to as high as 300
degree Celsius before injecting into each cold-expansion-chamber to mix with a
hot-combustion-
12 medium therein, the cooling effect of the second-intake-process is still
very effective and energy-
efficient, as said hot-combustion-medium will have an average temperature of
about 1800-1200
14 degree Celsius prior to the second-intake-process; therefore, by injecting
a heated high-boost-air to
mix with said hot-combustion-medium, it is still feasible to form a cold-
expansion-medium that is
16 regulated in the targeted temperature range of 400-1100 degree Celsius;
wherein the injected air-
mass of the second-intake-process is to be controlled by the power-management-
unit in such a way
18 that the compression energy consumed by the air-compression means does not
cause a significant
drop in the overall energy efficiency; to be more specifically defined, the
power-management-unit
should limit the injected air-mass of the second-intake-process to be within
50%-350% of the
injected air-mass of the first-intake-process, so that a hot-combustion-medium
is mixed with a
22 heated high-boost-air to form a cold-expansion-medium, wherein the
temperature of said hot-
combustion-medium will be reduced by 30%-80% as a result of the second-intake-
process, thereby
24 said cold-expansion-medium will expand with an average temperature of 400-
1100 degree Celsius
in the cold-expansion-process of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
26
Now referring to FIG.1, FIG,1 A, FIG.1 B, FIG.1 C, FIG.1 D, FIG.1 E, FIG.1 F,
and Process Chart.2 for
28 a complete and detailed explanation of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle in the
first embodiment with
the following assumed condition for a medium load operation: the central-
compressor 130 will
supply a flow of high-boost-air at about 25 degree Celsius, the cold-buffer
150 takes in said high-
boost-air to buffer a flow of cooled high-boost-air to the cold-air-injectors
72 at a constant operation
32 pressure of 10 bar, the reenergize-buffer 155 also takes in said high-boost-
air to buffer a flow of
heated high-boost-air to the reenergize-air-injectors 77 at a constant
operation pressure of 12 bar, the
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
power-management-unit will adjust the gear ratio setting of the compressor-
transmission 135 to
2 keep the cold-buffer 150 and the reenergize-buffer 155 at their respective
operation pressures, the
reenergize-buffer will heat up the high-boost-air buffered therein with the
reenergize-process to
4 about 150 degree Celsius or higher.
6 In FIG. 1, each cold-expansion-chamber 20 will perform in a Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle, this
cycle includes a first-intake-process (FIG.1 A), a hot-combustion-process
(FIG.1 B), a fuel-cooling-
8 process (FIG.1 C), a second-intake-process (FIG.1 D), a cold-expansion-
process (FIG.1 E), and an
active-exhaust-process (FIG.1F); wherein the fuel-cooling-process may be
disabled in an engine
10 idling operation or a light load operation to preserve fuel. Process
Chart.2 is used a reference to
FIG.1 A to FIG.1 F for the medium load operation, wherein FIG.1 A represents
the chamber condition
12 at 285 degree of crankshaft reference angle, FIG. 1 B represents the
chamber condition at 350 degree
of crankshaft reference angle, FIG. 1C represents the chamber condition at 25
degree of crankshaft
14 reference angle, FIG. I D represents the chamber condition at 55 degree of
crankshaft reference angle,
FIG.IE represent the chamber condition at 80 degree of crankshaft reference
angle, FIG.1F
16 represent s the chamber condition at 210 degree of crankshaft reference
angle.
18 The first-intake-process (FIG.1A) is the process to supply an air-fuel-
mixture into the cold-
expansion-chamber before the piston 22 reaches the associated TDC position (0
degree of crankshaft
20 reference angle); during this process, the cold-air-injector 72 will be
actuated to supply the cooled
high-boost-air of the cold-buffer 150 into the cold-expansion-chamber 20, the
fuel-injector 170 will
22 supply an adequate fuel to mix an air-fuel-mixture at a stoic ratio or fuel-
rich ratio in the cold-
expansion-chamber 20 before the spark-ignition.
24
The hot-combustion-process (FIG.1 B) is the process to ignite and combust said
air-fuel-mixture
26 until most oxygen content of said air-fuel-mixture are combusted into
carbon-monoxide-gas; during
this process, the spark-plug 80 ignites said air-fuel-mixture into a hot-
combustion-medium at an
28 average temperature of about 2000-1200 degree Celsius, wherein said hot-
combustion-medium has
a high concentration of carbon-monoxide-gas because the carbon-monoxide-gas
cannot be converted
into carbon dioxide due to the high combustion temperature and the absence of
oxygen-gas.
32 The fuel-cooling-process (FIG.!C) is the process to inject a highly-
pressurized fuel with the fuel-
injector 170 into said hot-combustion-medium for lowering the medium
temperature by the
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
21
vaporization process of said high-pressurized fuel; during this process, said
highly-pressurized fuel
2 should only be injected into the portion of said hot-combustion-medium that
has very little or no
oxygen content so that this highly-pressurized fuel will be vaporized by the
heat of the carbon-
4 monoxide-gas, instead of further combustion with oxygen-gas (ideally the
fuel-cooling-process
should not cause any sudden temperature surge), thereafter said hot-combustion-
medium will be
6 consisting of the vaporized fuel, the carbon-monoxide-gas and other hot
gases; generally, the fuel-
cooling-process should start at 15-50 degree of crankshaft rotation after the
spark-ignition, and this
8 process will instantly reduce the average temperature of the hot-combustion-
medium by about 100-
300 degree Celsius in the medium load operation and the heavy load operation.
In a light load operation, the fuel-cooling-process (FIG.1 C) may be disabled,
and the hot-
12 combustion-process will be followed by the second-intake-process once the
average pressure of the
hot-combustion-medium decreases to lower than the operation pressure of the
reenergize-buffer 155.
14
In some other embodiments of MCES, the first-intake-process and the fuel-
cooling-process may
16 utilize more than one fuel-supplying-means in order to control the fuel
amount more precisely, it is
because the shut-off interval between the fuel injection of the first-intake-
process and the fuel-
18 injection of the fuel-cooling-process may be as short as 2 milliseconds to
5 milliseconds for high
speed engine applications, a single fuel-injector may fail to perform said two
fuel-injections with
precise control over the injection timing and the injected fuel mass; in
addition, it can easily wear
down its mechanical service-life due to the quick shut-and-open operation.
22
It should also be noted that it is undesired to have the fuel-injector
supplying the fuel during the hot-
24 combustion-process, this is because the injected fuel will instantly
combust with any existing
oxygen gas and produce soot in a reaction environment of high pressure and
high temperature, and
26 the formation of soot will cause severe air-pollution and lower the fuel
efficiency.
28 The second-intake-process (FIG.1D) is the process to inject the heated high-
boost-air of the
reenergize-buffer 155 into the cold-expansion-chamber 20 with the reenergize-
air-injector 77; this
process will be initiated after the average pressure of the hot-combustion-
medium has decreased to
lower than the operation pressure of the reenergize-buffer 155, during this
process, a controlled
32 amount of the heated high-boost-air is injected and mixed with the hot-
combustion-medium in the
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
22
cold-expansion-chamber, thereby forming a cold-expansion-medium at an average
medium
2 temperature lower than 1100 degree Celsius by the end of the second-intake-
process.
4 It should be noted that the durations of the fuel-cooling-process and the
second-intake-process do
not overlap with each other, in other words, there should not be any more fuel
injection after the
6 second-intake-process has started.
8 For a MCES configured for large power generation applications or large
transportation applications
where the compression efficiency is optimized with cooling and multistage air-
compression, the
injected air-mass of the second-intake-process should be set to about 150%-
350% of the injected air-
mass of the first-intake-process.
12
For a MCES configured for mid-size automobile applications or mid-size power
generation
14 applications where the compression efficiency is limited by the size and
the operation cost, the
injected air-mass of the second-intake-process should be set to about 75%-200%
of the injected air-
16 mass of the first-intake-process.
18 For a MCES configured for light duty applications such as a portable power
generator or a
motorcycle where the compression efficiency is further limited by the
equipment cost, the injected
air-mass of the second-intake-process should be set to about 50%-120% of the
injected air-mass of
the first-intake-process.
22
It should also be noted that, in order to be energy-efficient with Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle, the
24 power-management-unit must adjust the injected fuel-mass of the fuel-
cooling-process and the
injected air-mass of the second-intake-process in such a way that, the cold-
expansion-medium is
26 mixed as an oxygen-rich medium throughout the second-intake-process and the
cold-expansion-
process; in other words, there must be excessive oxygen-gas remained in the
cold-expansion-
28 medium after all the injected fuel is converted into carbon-dioxide-gas in
the cold-expansion-process.
To be more specifically defined, during the operation of a Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle, the hot-
combustion-process may be a stoic combustion process or a rich-bum combustion
process in terms
32 of the oxygen-fuel ratio, but the cold-expansion-process will always be an
oxygen-rich expansion
process even when the MCES is operating at its maximum power output; in the
contrast, the
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
23
conventional spark-ignition engine will operate with a fuel-rich expansion
stroke at its maximum
2 power output, and the exhaust-gas of the conventional spark-ignition engine
will consist mostly
carbon-monoxide-gas at maximum power output due to the high expansion
temperature (which is
4 higher than 1200 degree Celsius at the exhaust manifold).
6 The cold-expansion-process (FIG.1 E) is the process to produce power with
the cold-expansion-
medium in the cold-expansion-chamber 20; during this process, the cold-
expansion-medium will
8 expand with a slowly-decreasing expansion pressure in a low-temperature and
oxygen-rich
condition, wherein a conversion from carbon-monoxide-gas to carbon-dioxide-gas
is accelerated to
release more thermal energy in the form of expansion force, any existing fuel-
gas is also combusted
almost spontaneously into carbon-dioxide-gas due to the low-temperature oxygen-
rich environment,
12 in addition the heat-current conducting from the cold-expansion-medium
throughout the chamber
wall of the cold-expansion-chamber 20 is minimized because of the low
temperature difference
14 between the cold-expansion-chamber 20 and the cold-expansion-medium; in
other words, the cold-
expansion-medium is releasing the thermal energy from said conversion of
carbon-dioxide-gas at
16 low temperature, and the cold-expansion-medium dissipates very little heat
energy out of the cold-
expansion-chamber 20, such that the energy of the injected fuel is fully
released in the form of
18 expansion force before the cold-expansion-medium is expelled out of the
cold-expansion-chamber
20.
In comparison to the convention spark-ignition engine, the cold-expansion-
process of MCES
22 progresses with a relatively stable expansion pressure and an accelerated
conversion of the carbon
dioxide gas at a low temperature regulated in the range of 400-1100 degree
Celsius; whereas the
24 expansion stroke of the conventional spark-ignition engine progresses with
a rapid pressure decline,
and the conversion of the carbon-monoxide-gas to the carbon-dioxide-gas
generally takes place only
26 in the catalytic converter or the exhaust tail-pipe, where the temperature
of the exhaust-gas is
decreased by dissipating a massive heat into the atmospheric air.
28
The average expansion temperature of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle is also at
least 50% lower
than that of the conventional spark-ignition engine when comparing at the
equivalent power output.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
24
The average expansion pressure of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle is also at least
50% higher than
2 that of the conventional spark-ignition engine when comparing the maximum
power output with the
equivalent size.
4
To further explain the effect of the cold-expansion-process of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle, it is
6 necessary to first identity an optimized expansion process of the internal
combustion engine (which
is not to be confused with the theoretically expansion process defined by the
ideal gas law and the
8 adiabatic expansion process).
An optimized expansion process should be an expansion process that can convert
as much energy as
possible into an expansion force, meanwhile preventing the heat energy from
dissipating into the
12 atmospheric air or the engine cooling system; in order to achieve this
optimized expansion process,
first of all, the heat current conducting out of the combustion chamber should
be minimized,
14 secondly the expansion pressure should be steady and constant through out
entire expansion process,
thirdly all the available reaction energy (which is the total energy released
until the carbon content
16 of a fuel is completely converted into carbon-dioxide-gas) should be
converted into the expansion
force before the combustion-medium has existed the combustion chamber,
fourthly the compression
18 energy exerted in the air-compression process should be minimized, fifthly
this expansion process
should not produce any soot or pollutant material.
In the conventional spark-ignition four-stroke engine, more than 1/3 of the
total reaction energy is
22 dissipated into the engine cooling system, and another 1/3 of the total
reaction energy is dissipated
into the air with the exhaust-gas, leaving merely less than 30% of the total
reaction energy to be
24 converted into the expansion force; this is because the conventional
expansion-process will have an
average gaseous temperature of 1200 degree Celsius or higher from the
beginning of the expansion-
26 stroke to the end of the exhaust-stroke, in plain words, this is equivalent
to heat up the combustion-
chamber at 1200 degree Celsius from the beginning of the expansion-stroke to
the end of the
28 exhaust-stroke; the second reason of this energy-loss is the delayed
conversion of the carbon-
monoxide-gas to carbon-dioxide-gas, which means that most of the thermal
energy released by said
delayed conversion is heating the exhaust-gas in the exhaust-tailpipe and the
catalytic converter, this
is because the carbon-monoxide-gas can hardly react with oxygen to form the
carbon-dioxide-gas at
32 high temperature with low oxygen concentration, so most of the carbon-
dioxide-gas is formed after
the combustion medium has left the combustion chamber into the exhaust-
tailpipe and the catalytic
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
converter, where the combustion-medium can reduce its temperature to about
1100 degree Celsius
2 or lower.
4 As the main purpose of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle is to perform the
expansion process as close
and effective as the previously defined optimized expansion process; Mackay
Cold-Expansion Cycle
6 breaks down the regular combustion reaction into a hot-combustion-process
and a cold-expansion-
process (which is similar to the second-combustion-stroke of eight-stroke-
engine), wherein the hot-
8 combustion-process will ignite a fuel-rich mixture to form a hot-combustion-
medium with high
carbon-monoxide-gas concentration, the fuel-cooling-process and the second-
intake-process will
10 have a cooling effect on said hot-combustion-medium and raise the oxygen-
gas concentration, so the
cold-expansion-process will produce work with a cold-expansion-medium that is
capable of fully
12 releasing the reaction energy of the injected fuel; furthermore, in order
for Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle to achieve the optimal efficiency, shortening the durations of the fuel-
cooling-process and the
14 second-intake-process will be one of the most effective approaches, which
will then require further
developments on the specialized high-speed fuel-injector and high-speed air-
injector for Mackay
16 Cold-Expansion Cycle, so that the cold-expansion-process can have a longer
duration in each
crankshaft revolution; the presented Process Chart. 1-11 are only showing the
possible forms of
18 Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle, it should be clear that Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle can perform
with higher efficiency if the fuel-cooling-process and the second-intake-
process is completed in
20 shorter durations.
22 The active-exhaust-process (FIG. 1 F) is the process to expel the cold-
expansion-medium out of the
cold-expansion-chamber 20, at the same time adjusting the amount of the
expelled cold-expansion-
24 medium according to the engine operation condition, this can be performed
in a few different
methods; in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the active-exhaust-process
will be performed with
26 an active-exhaust-valve operated with a servo-motor, a solenoid-valve, a
hydraulic-actuator or a
cam-driven-variable-timing-valve, which will adjust the valve closing time
(VCT) in such a way
28 that a controlled portion of the cold-expansion-medium will remain in the
cold-expansion-chamber
20 at the end of the active-exhaust-process in a lighter load operation, while
a lesser portion of cold-
expansion-medium will remain in the cold-expansion-chamber 20 at the end of
the active-exhaust-
process in a heavier load operation; this can be considered as a form of
conventional EGR (exhaust-
32 gas-recirculation), where the cold-expansion-medium is not recalculated but
directly remained in the
cold-expansion-chambers to mix with the cooled high-boost-air of the next
cycle, thereby lowering
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
26
the oxygen concentration of the air-fuel-mixture of the next cycle in a light
load operation; whereas
2 the active-exhaust-process should expel out all the cold-expansion-medium
therein at the maximum
power output of MCES.
4
FIG.1G further explains the effect of the active-exhaust-process, in which the
cold-air-injector 72
6 and the active-exhaust-valve 29 are both actuated to speed up the flow speed
of the cold-expansion-
medium that is expelling out of the cold-expansion-chamber 20; wherein FIG.1 G
may also use
8 Process Chart.2 as a reference to understand this effect.
Due to the high operation pressure characteristic of the cooled high-boost-air
buffered in the cold-
buffer, a portion of the cold-expansion-medium may remain in the cold-
expansion-chamber and
12 mixed with the cooled high-boost-air of the next first-intake-process
during a light load operation
because the cold-air-injector will inject a flow of cooled high-boost-air that
can overcome the
14 existing pressure in the cold-expansion-chamber, unlike the conventional
engine that has to expel
out the hot exhaust-gas before the intake of the low pressure fresh air.
16
For better performance, the active-exhaust-process (FIG.1 F) can be perform
with one or more
18 chamber-wall-ports as shown in FIG. 17, or a combination of the chamber-
wall-port and the active-
exhaust-valve as in FIG. 16 as the inertia of the cold-expansion-medium is
directed toward BDC, by
utilizing an exhaust-means such as the chamber-wall-port can greatly reduce
the pumping loss and
the heat loss.
22
In the ideal condition for automobile applications, the first-intake-process
and the active-exhaust-
24 process should complement each other to adjust the expelled amount of the
cold-expansion-medium
according to the engine operation condition; for example, in the heavy load
operation, the active-
26 exhaust-valve may delay its valve-closing-time so that all the cold-
expansion-medium of the
previous cycle can be blown out by the high-boost-air of the incoming first-
intake-process; whereas
28 in the light load operation or the idling operation, the active-exhaust-
valve may shut at an earlier
crankshaft reference angle to allow more cold-expansion-medium of the previous
cycle to remain in
the cold-expansion-chamber.
32 In the ideal condition for the power generation application or the large
engine application, where the
engine output do not change as much as in the automobile application, and the
higher fuel efficiency
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
27
is more important concern than a higher power-to-weight ratio, the chamber-
wall-port structure can
2 serve as a more preferable exhaust-means due to low pumping loss.
4 As for the first-intake-process, the actuation time of the cold-air-injector
will basically depend on
the performance of the cold-air-injector and the fuel-injector; in the large
power generation
6 application, an injection of high-boost-air at a later (greater) crankshaft
reference angle (meant
closer to TDC) is preferable for keeping the air-fuel-mixture at a low
temperature prior to the spark-
8 ignition, as long as an adequate amount of fuel is vaporized in the high-
boost-air of the first-intake-
process.
Now referring to the first embodiment again for the explanation of different
load operations with the
12 exemplary operation conditions set by the Process Chart. 1-3, wherein the
operation pressure values
and the medium temperature values assumed hereafter are only for demonstration
purpose:
14
Process Chart.1 shows an example of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle in the light
load operation,
16 Process Chart.2 shows an example of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle in the
medium load operation,
Process Chart.3 shows an example of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle in the heavy
load operation;
18 wherein the durations of each process noted in the process charts are only
for demonstrating one of
many possible control methods of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
In this light load operation shown in Process Chart. 1, the cold-air-injector
72 injects a cooled high-
22 boost-air of the cold-buffer 150 from 300 degree to 345 degree of
crankshaft reference angle, and
the active-exhaust-valve 29 shuts at 305 degree of crankshaft reference angle
to allow some cold-
24 expansion-medium of the last cycle to remain in the cold-expansion-chamber
20; the fuel of the
first-intake-process is injected with the fuel-injector 170 from 315 degree to
330 degree of
26 crankshaft reference angle; next, the air-fuel-mixture supplied by the
first-intake-process is ignited
with the spark-plug 80 at 345 degree of crankshaft reference angle to initiate
the hot-combustion-
28 process; next, the fuel-injector 170 injects the fuel again from 15 degree
to 25 degree of crankshaft
reference angle to commence the fuel-cooling-process, wherein said injected
fuel will absorb the
heat of the hot-combustion-medium and vaporize as a fuel-gas; next the average
pressure of the hot-
combustion-medium will decrease as the piston 22 moves toward bottom-dead-
center; next, as the
32 average pressure of the hot-combustion-medium decreases to lower than the
operation pressure of
the reenergize-buffer 155 (which is assumed to be set at 12 bar in the first
embodiment) at 30 degree
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
28
of crankshaft reference angle, the second-intake-process is initiated with the
reenergize-air-injector
2 77 to inject a heated high-boost-air of the reenergize-buffer 155 from 30
degree to 45 degree of
crankshaft reference angle, wherein the injected air-mass of the second-intake-
process is about 75%
4 of the injected air-mass of the first-intake-process, which forms a low-
temperature oxygen-rich cold-
expansion-medium by the end of the second-intake-process; next, the cold-
expansion-medium will
6 expand at a high expansion efficiency from 45 degree to 180 degree of
crankshaft reference angle,
wherein a high concentration of carbon-dioxide-gas is presented in the cold-
expansion-medium and
8 the average temperature of the cold-expansion-medium is reduced to about 400
degree Celsius; next
the active-exhaust-valve 29 is actuated from 180 degree to 305 degree of
crankshaft reference angle
to expel the cold-expansion-medium into the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter
190, and the thermal
energy of the expelled cold-expansion-medium will be conducted to the high-
boost-air buffered in
12 the reenergize-buffer 155.
14 In this medium load operation shown in Process Chart.2, the cold-air-
injector 72 injects the high-
boost-air of the cold-buffer 150 from 240 degree to 300 degree of crankshaft
reference angle, the
16 active-exhaust-valve 29 is shut at 260 degree of crankshaft reference
angle, thereby expelling out
almost all the cold-expansion-medium of the last cycle, the fuel of the firs-
intake-process is injected
18 from 270 degree to 300 degree of crankshaft reference angle; as the piston
22 moves up during the
first-intake-process, the air-pressure in the cold-expansion-chamber 20 may
raise to slightly higher
than the operation pressure of the cold-buffer 150 before the spark-ignition;
next, the air-fuel-
mixture is ignited with the spark-plug 80 at 350 degree of crankshaft
reference angle to initiate the
22 hot-combustion-process, wherein the air-fuel-mixture is combusted as a hot-
combustion-medium
from 350 degree (10 degree before TDC) to 20 degree (20 degree after TDC) of
crankshaft reference
24 angle; next the fuel-injector 170 injects the fuel again from 20 degree to
40 degree of crankshaft
reference angle to perform the fuel-cooling-process, wherein the injected fuel
will absorb the heat of
26 the hot-combustion-medium and vaporize as a fuel-gas; as the piston 22
moves toward bottom-dead-
center, the average pressure of the hot-combustion-medium decreases to lower
than the operation
28 pressure of the reenergize-buffer 155 (which is assumed to be 12 bar in the
first embodiment) at 50
degree of crankshaft reference angle; the second-intake-process is commenced
from 50 degree to 75
degree of crankshaft reference angle, wherein the reenergize-air-injector 77
will inject a heated high-
boost-air of the reenergize-buffer 155 into the cold-expansion-chamber 20, and
the injected air-mass
32 of the second-intake-process is about 120% of the injected air mass of the
first-intake-process,
which forms a low-temperature oxygen-rich cold-expansion-medium by the end of
second-intake-
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
29
process; next, the cold-expansion-process is commenced with a high expansion
efficiency from 75
2 degree to 180 degree of crankshaft reference angle, wherein a high
concentration of carbon-dioxide-
gas is presented in the cold-expansion-medium and the average temperature of
the cold-expansion-
4 medium is reduced to about 550 degree Celsius; next the active-exhaust-valve
29 is actuated from
180 degree to 260 degree of crankshaft reference angle to commence the active-
exhaust-process,
6 wherein the cold-expansion-medium is expelled to the heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter 190, and the
thermal energy of the expelled cold-expansion-medium will be conducted to the
high-boost-air
8 buffered in the reenergize-buffer 155.
In this heavy load operation shown in Process Chart.3, the cold-air-injector
72 injects the cooled
high-boost-air of the cold-buffer 150 from 210 degree to 270 degree of
crankshaft reference angle,
12 the active-exhaust-valve 29 is shut at 240 degree of crankshaft reference
angle, thereby expelling out
all the cold-expansion-medium of the last cycle and filling in a high amount
of cooled high-boost-air
14 from the cold-buffer 150, the fuel of the firs-intake-process is injected
from 250 degree to 300
degree of crankshaft reference angle; as the piston 22 moves toward top-dead-
center during the first-
16 intake-process, the air-pressure in the cold-expansion-chamber 20 raises to
higher than the operation
pressure of the cold-buffer 150 before the spark-ignition; next, the air-fuel-
mixture is ignited at 355
18 degree of crankshaft reference angle to initiate the hot-combustion-
process, wherein the air-fuel-
mixture is combusted as a hot-combustion-medium from 355 degree (5 degree
before TDC) to 30
degree (30 degree after TDC) of crankshaft reference angle; next the fuel-
injector 170 injects the
fuel again from 30 degree to 45 degree of crankshaft reference angle to
perform the fuel-cooling-
22 process, wherein the injected fuel will absorb the heat of the hot-
combustion-medium and vaporize
as a fuel-gas; as the piston 22 moves toward bottom-dead-center, the average
pressure of the hot-
24 combustion-medium decreases to lower than the operation pressure of the
reenergize-buffer 155
(which is assumed to be 12 bar in the first embodiment) at 60 degree of
crankshaft reference angle;
26 the second-intake-process is commenced from 60 degree to 80 degree of
crankshaft reference angle,
wherein the reenergize-air-injector 77 will inject a heated high-boost-air of
the reenergize-buffer 77
28 into the cold-expansion-chamber 20, and the injected air-mass of the second-
intake-process is about
150% of the injected air-mass of the first-intake-process, which forms a low-
temperature oxygen-
rich cold-expansion-medium by the end of second-intake-process; next, the cold-
expansion-process
is commenced with a high expansion efficiency from 80 degree to 180 degree of
crankshaft
32 reference angle, wherein a high concentration of carbon-dioxide-gas is
presented in the cold-
expansion-medium and the average temperature of the cold-expansion-medium is
reduced to about
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
700 degree Celsius; next the active-exhaust-valve 29 is actuated from 180
degree to 240 degree of
2 crankshaft reference angle to commence the active-exhaust-process, wherein
the cold-expansion-
medium is expelled to the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 190, and the
thermal energy of the
4 expelled cold-expansion-medium will be conducted to the high-boost-air
buffered in the reenergize-
buffer 155.
6
From the above description, it can be seen that the initiation-time of the
second-intake-process may
8 vary according to the operation condition of the hot-combustion-process;
generally speaking, the
initiation time of the second-intake-process will be shifted to a later
(greater) crankshaft reference
10 angle due to a hot-combustion-process with a higher average pressure,
whereas the initiation time of
the second-intake-process will be shifted to a earlier (smaller) crankshaft
reference angle due to a
12 hot-combustion-process with a lower average pressure.
14 The mass ratio between the injected air-mass of the first-intake-process
and the injected air-mass of
the second-intake-process may also vary according to the necessary amount of
air to cool down the
16 hot-combustion-medium for accelerating the conversion of carbon-dioxide-gas
and minimizing
heat-loss, wherein the average temperature of the cold-expansion-medium is to
be regulated within
18 the range of 400-1100 degree Celsius, so that a regular catalytic converter
can still maintain its
functionality, as current commercialized catalytic converters usually have an
operable temperature
20 limit designed at about 400 degree Celsius; however, a heat-transfer-
catalytic-converter capable of
operation in a even lower temperature will be more preferable because this can
further lower the
22 heat loss of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
24 In FIG. 1, the cold-expansion-medium expelled out of the cold-expansion-
chamber 20 will flow into
the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 190, and the reenergize-buffer 155 will
absorb the heat
26 conducted from the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter, so that the high-
boost-air buffered in the
reenergize-buffer 155 will have a high internal energy (temperature) with the
recovered thermal
28 energy; next the expelled cold-expansion-medium charges into the turbo-
turbine 109, which drives
the turbo-compressor 101 to provide a flow of low-boost-air into the central
compressor 130.
The central-compressor 130 of FIG.1 can be a scroll type compressor, a screw-
type compressor, a
32 piston type compressor, the centrifugal type compressor, a rotary type
compressor, an axial-turbine
compressor, or any other conventional air-compressor; however the central-
compressor should be
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
31
one that can operate at high revolution speed to produce a continuous flow at
all time with variable
2 airflow speed control, so that the cold-buffer 72 and the reenergize-buffer
77 can have a constant
operation pressure regardless of the changes in power output.
4
It is also possible to have two or more central-compressors connecting in
parallel with different
6 charging phase to supply the high-boost-air to the air-buffer-system, and
this is one of the solutions
to have a more stabilized operation pressure for the cold-buffer and the
reenergize-buffer if a piston
8 type central-compressor or other low-speed central-compressor is used; this
is because the piston
type central-compressor or other low-speed central compressor will generate a
high compression
pressure surge to the air-buffer-system, which might affect the performance
and the injected air-
mass control of the cold-air-injector and the reenergize-air-injector, thereby
causing a faulty
12 operation; therefore, implementing more than one central-compressor into
MCES is a much more
logical design if the operation cost permits.
14
As it can be seen that the first embodiment of FIG.1 can have a higher power-
to-weight ratio and
16 occupy only a small engine system compartment in a vehicle, however it
requires that the vehicle to
have an large air-conditioning system such as one in a commercial long-
distance bus, so that the
18 refrigerant-circuit that co-operates with the compressor-cooler will not
increase the equipment cost.
Now referring to FIG.2 for the second embodiment of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Engine System,
which is a more suitable configuration for the passenger vehicle and the light-
duty truck because the
22 air-conditioning systems equipped in these applications are of a lesser
cooling capacity, so the
addition of the compressor-cooler will be an excessive equipment cost for both
the user and the
24 manufacturer; instead, the applications such as passenger vehicle are more
preferable to equip a
cooler utilizing the ambient air due to the constant highway usage.
26
The components in FIG.2A are labeled as the low-pressure-compressor 210, the
low-pressure-buffer
28 212, the low-pressure-cooler 213, the central-compressor 230, the cold-
buffer 250, the cold-buffer-
cooler 252, the reenergize-buffer 255, the compressor-transmission 235, the
cold-expansion-
chambers 220, the pistons 222, the cold-air-injectors 272, the reenergize-air-
injectors 277, the fuel-
injectors 270, the spark-plugs 280, the crankshaft 200 and the output shaft
299.
32
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
32
The low-pressure-compressor will compress the ambient air to generate a flow
of low-boost-air to
2 the low-pressure-buffer 212; next the low-pressure-cooler 213 utilizes an
ambient air flow to cool
said flow of low-boost-air; next the low-pressure-buffer 212 supplies the
cooled low-boost-air to the
4 central-compressor 230; next the central-compressor 230 generate a flow of
high-boost-air to both
the cold-buffer 250 and the reenergize-buffer 255.
6
The cold-buffer 250 will buffer and supply a cooled high-boost-air to the cold-
air-injectors 272 at a
8 constant operation pressure set by the power-management-unit in the range of
4-25 bar, wherein the
cold-buffer-cooler 252 will utilize a flow of ambient air to reduce the
temperature of the high-boost-
air buffered in the cold-buffer 250.
12 The reenergize-buffer 255 will buffer a heated high-boost-air to the
reenergize-air-injectors 277 at a
constant operation pressure set by the power-management-unit in the range of 4-
30 bar.
14
The compression-transmission 235 is controlled by the power-management-unit to
keep the
16 operation pressure of the cold-buffer 250 and the operation pressure of the
reenergize-buffer 255
stabilized, wherein the compression-transmission 235 adjusts its gear ratio
setting to change the
18 operation speeds of the low-pressure-compressor 210 and the central-
compressor 230 in such a way
that, the airflow speeds in said two buffers will increase proportionally to a
increase in the engine
power output while the operation pressures of said two buffers remain almost
constant.
22 For the ease of comprehension and the demonstration purpose, the pressure
values and temperature
values in a regular operation are assumed as follows: the reenergize-buffer
has an operation pressure
24 of 12 bar, and the heated high-boost-air has a temperature of about 80-200
degree Celsius, the cold-
buffer has an operation pressure of 6 bar, the cooled high-boost-air has an
average temperature has
26 an average temperature of 30 degree Celsius, the average temperature of the
exhaust-gas (the
expelled cold-expansion-medium) is at about 400-550 degree Celsius.
28
Each cold-expansion-chamber 220 will operate in a Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle
which consists
of the first-intake-process, the hot-combustion-process, the fuel-cooling-
process, the second-intake-
process, the cold-expansion-process, and the active-exhaust-process, wherein
the fuel-cooling-
32 process may be disabled in the light load operation or the engine idling
operation.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
' 33
The first-intake-process is performed by injecting a controlled flow of the
cooled high-boost-air with
2 the associated cold-air-injector 272 and a controlled fuel with the
associated fuel-injector 270,
thereby mixing an air-fuel-mixture in the cold-expansion-chamber 220 before
the TDC position (0
4 degree of crankshaft reference angle); wherein the first-intake-process and
the active-exhaust-
process will complement each other to adjust a proper oxygen-to-fuel ratio in
said air-fuel-mixture
6 by controlling the amount of the cold-expansion-medium being expelled in the
previous cycle.
8 The hot-combustion-process is initiated with the spark-plugs to produce a
hot-combustion-medium
that has a high combustion temperature and a high concentration of carbon
monoxide; wherein the
spark-ignition may be adjust from 40 degree BTDC (before top-dead-centre) to
40 degree ATDC
(after top-dead-centre) depending on the size of the cold-expansion-chamber
and the crankshaft
12 revolution speed.
14 The fuel-cooling-process is performed by injecting a second fuel into said
hot-combustion-medium
with the fuel-injector 270 after most of the oxygen-gas content of said hot-
combustion-medium has
16 combusted into carbon-monoxide-gas; wherein said second fuel should not
increase the medium
temperature of said hot-combustion-medium because of the absence of the oxygen-
gas, so said
18 second fuel is vaporized as a fuel-gas by the heat of the carbon-monoxide-
gas and hot gases in the
hot-combustion-medium, thus decreasing the overall medium temperature of the
hot-combustion-
medium.
22 The second-intake-process is performed by injecting a controlled flow of
the heated high-boost-air
into said hot-combustion-medium with the associated reenergize-air-injector
277 after the average
24 pressure of said hot-combustion-medium has decreased to lower than the
operation pressure of
reenergize-buffer 277, thereby forming a cold-expansion-medium that has an
average temperature of
26 400-1100 degree Celsius and a high concentration of oxygen-gas by the end
of the second-intake-
process.
28
The cold-expansion-process is performed by producing power with said cold-
expansion-medium;
generally, the temperature of the hot-combustion-medium is reduced by 30%-80%
after mixing with
said controlled flow of the heated high-boost-air, which forms the cold-
expansion-medium at a low-
32 temperature and high-oxygen-concentration condition ideal for generating
power, wherein the
average temperature of said cold-expansion-medium is regulated to 400-1100
degree Celsius for
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
34
accelerating the conversion of carbon-monoxide-gas to carbon-dioxide-gas, and
the low medium
2 temperature characteristic of the cold-expansion-medium will prevent the
heat energy to dissipate
throughout the chamber wall of the cold-expansion-chamber 220.
4
The active-exhaust-process is performed by controlling the actuation time of
the active-exhaust-
6 valve 229; wherein the active-exhaust-valve 229 may utilize a cam-driven
variable-timing-valve, a
servo-motor-valve, a hydraulic-valve or a solenoid-valve to adjust said
actuation time in the range of
8 135 degree to 330 degree of crankshaft reference angle according to the
control instruction from the
power-management-unit; wherein the purpose of the active-exhaust-process is to
control the amount
of the cold-expansion-medium being expelled, thereby adjusting the oxygen-to-
fuel ratio of the air-
fuel-mixture in the incoming first-intake-process.
12
In the second embodiment of MCES, the low-pressure-compressor 210 and the
central-compressor
14 230 will together perform a two-stage air-compression, and a low-boost-air
supplied by the low-
pressure-compressor is cooled with the low-pressure-cooler 213 before charging
into the central-
16 compressor 230, thereby decreasing the compression energy required to
generate a high-boost-air
from the central-compressor 230; next the high-boost-air output from the
central-compressor 230 is
18 distributed to the cold-buffer 250 and the reenergize-buffer 255, wherein
the cold-buffer 250 will
cool the high-boost-air therein by the cold-buffer-cooler 252, and generates a
cooled high-boost-air
to the cold-air-injectors 272, which in terms lower the temperature of the hot-
combustion-medium in
the hot-combustion-process, in other words, the purpose of the cold-buffer-
cooler 252 is to reduce
22 the peak temperature of the hot-combustion-medium thereby preventing the
excessive heat loss in
the hot-combustion-process; wherein the reenergize-buffer 255 do not require
further cooling since
24 the internal energy of the heated high-boost-air buffered in the reenergize-
buffer will eventually be
combined with the internal energy of the hot-combustion-medium in the second-
intake-process as
26 expansion force.
28 As a supplementary note, the second-intake-process will have a cooling-
effect that reduces the
temperature of the hot-combustion-medium by 30%-80%, this is what takes place
in the cold-
expansion-chamber thought out the second-intake-process with some assumptions
in a medium load
operation: at the beginning the of the second-intake-process, the hot-
combustion-medium is
32 expanding at an average pressure of 10 bar and an average temperature of
1500 degree Celsius, and
next a controlled flow of the heated high-boost-air is introduced into the
cold-expansion-medium,
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
A
wherein said heated high-boost-air has an average pressure of 12 bar and an
average temperature of
2 150 degree Celsius (this value changes with the heat transferred from the
expelled cold-expansion-
medium), and said heated high-boost-air has an air-mass that is at least 50%
of the injected air-mass
4 of the first-intake-process; consequently a cold-expansion-medium is formed
at a temperature
regulated between 1100 degree Celsius and 400 degree Celsius, wherein the
oxygen-gas content of
6 the heated high-boost-air will then accelerate the carbon-dioxide-gas
conversion, which in terms
releases all the reaction energy of the injected fuel in the form of expansion
force.
8
Unlike other engine system, the power-management-unit of MCES needs to further
take in the
10 factors of the pressure of the cold-expansion-medium, the temperature of
the cold-expansion-
medium, the compression energy consumed by the air-compression means (central-
compressor and
12 the low-pressure-compression in FIG.2), the heat-current conducted out of
the cold-expansion-
chambers (which can be measure by the a temperature sensor embedded in the
cold-expansion-
14 chamber or the engine cooling circulation) and the oxygen concentration in
the expelled cold-
expansion-medium, in order to correctly adjust the actuation time of each
injector and the operation
16 speed of the air-compression means.
18 One of the major difference between a MCES and a conventional engine is
that the MCES will
expel a cold-expansion-medium with a high oxygen concentration even in a high
power output
20 operation; if the oxygen sensor at the exhaust manifold of a cold-expansion-
chamber detects no
oxygen gas, it would be an obvious indication that the amount of fuel injected
in the fuel-cooling-
22 process or the amount of the heated high-boost-air injected in the second-
intake-process is incorrect
and requires adjustment to some of the operation elements of the MCES.
24
In the second embodiment of MCES, the compressor-transmission 235 can control
one of the pre-
26 compressor and the central-compressor or both of said two compressors
according to the necessary
air-mass to sustain the preset operation pressures of the cold-buffer and the
reenergize-buffer;
28 wherein the operation pressures of the cold-buffer and the reenergize-
buffer may be set in the range
of 4-25 bar for the automobile applications due to the safety concern and the
limit of the
30 compression efficiency, while said operation pressure settings could be
higher for the power
generator applications with the necessary explosion protection for the cold-
buffer and the
32 reenergize-buffer.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
36
Now referring to FIG.2B, which is an alternative form of FIG.2A, wherein the
reenergize-buffer 255
2 is receiving the heat energy conducted from the heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter 290, and this is
referred as the reenergize-process; this reenergize-process will keep the
temperature of the expelled
4 cold-expansion-medium above the operable temperature of the catalytic-
conversion means, thereby
effecting a chemical reaction to convert the toxic combustion by-products in
the expelled cold-
6 expansion-medium in the light load operation, and increase the overall
energy efficiency in the
medium load operation and the heavy load operation.
8
To clarify the effect of the reenergize-process, a light load operation is
assumed as follows: the
heated high-boost-air of the reenergize-buffer 255 is heated up to about 80-
200 degree Celsius, and
the operation pressure is kept at 12 bar by adjusting operation speed of the
air-compression means,
12 the hot-combustion-process ignites an air-fuel-mixture that combusts as a
hot-combustion-medium
at an average temperature about 1500 degree Celsius, and the pressure of this
hot-combustion-
14 medium decreases to lower than 12 bar at 30 degree of crankshaft reference
angle, and the
reenergize-air-injector 277 will open in a controlled actuation time computed
by the power-
16 management-unit, such that the injected air-mass of the second-intake-
process is just enough to keep
the temperature of the cold-expansion-medium above the operable temperature of
the catalytic
18 conversion means, which is about 400 degree Celsius to 450 degree Celsius
as of the current
technology can provide, next the cold-expansion-medium is expanding at about
700-450 degree
Celsius and then exhausting at about 450-400 degree Celsius into the heat-
transfer-catalytic-
converter 290, wherein the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 290 conducts heat
energy to the
22 reenergize-buffer 255; in other words, a more efficient heat-transfer-
catalytic-converter 290 is, the
higher the temperature of the heated high-boost-air is heated up to, at the
same time the energy
24 efficiency is maintained at a high level without causing air pollution in
the light load operation.
26 In a light load operation of the MCES without the heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter, the MCES will
have to reduce the amount of the injected air-mass of the second-intake-
process, which will cause a
28 significant drop in the overall energy efficiency, or the MCES will be
expelling a cold-expansion-
medium that has an average temperature lower than the operable temperature of
the catalytic
conversion means.
32 In a heavy load operation of the MCES with the heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter, the MCES can
recover the heat energy remained in the expelled cold-expansion-medium, which
may be at an
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
37
average temperature of up to 1100 degree Celsius, thereby heating a high-boost-
air buffered in the
2 reenergize-buffer up to 400 degree Celsius or higher; in this condition, the
power-management-unit
will need to compute the amount of the air-mass of the heated high-boost-air
is allowed to injected
4 into the cold-expansion-chamber, such that the average medium temperature of
the cold-expansion-
medium is regulated to lower than 1100 degree Celsius in order for the
conversion of carbon-
6 dioxide-gas to take place; in this scenario, the total air-mass of the
heated high-boost-air requires to
efficiently perform a Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle is greatly reduced, which in
terms decrease the
8 portion of the workload on the air-compression means used to produce the
high-boost-air to the
reenergize-buffer.
In a heavy load operation of the MCES without the heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter, the MCES still
12 controls the injected air-mass of the second-intake-process to regulate the
temperature of the cold-
expansion-medium, however this MCES will consume relatively more compression
energy to
14 provide an equivalent power output than a MCES with the heat-transfer-
catalytic-converter.
16 Now referring to FIG.3A for the third embodiment of the present invention,
which is a basic
subzero-intake type MCES configuration preferably for use in a large power
generation application;
18 wherein the required range of the engine output is relatively narrow than
the other applications, and
the engine system is to be situated in a controlled environment for the
refrigerant-circuit to operation.
The components of FIG.3A are labeled as the central-compressor 330, the
compressor-cooler 332,
22 the refrigerant-circuit 316, the subzero-buffer 350, the subzero-cooler
352, the reenergize-buffer 355,
the refrigerant-condenser 316, the fuel-injectors 370, the spark-plugs 380,
the pistons 322, the cold-
24 expansion-chambers 320, the crankshaft 300, the cold-air-injectors 372, the
reenergize-air-injectors
377, the chamber-wall-ports 328, the flow-distributor 339 and the output shaft
399.
26
The operation speed of the central-compressor 330 is controlled by a power-
management-unit of
28 MCES, such that the operation pressure of the subzero-buffer and the
operation pressure of the
reenergize-buffer are stabilized for operations of the cold-air-injectors 372
and the reenergize-air-
injectors 377.
32 The central-compressor 220 will compress the atmospheric air to generate a
high-boost-air to the
subzero-buffer 350 and the reenergize-buffer 355, wherein the compressor-
cooler 332 will cool the
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
38
air during the air-compression process in the central-compressor 330, which
then lowers the
2 compression energy required to generate said high-boost-air; wherein said
high-boost-air is
generated at a temperature about 10-50 degree Celsius.
4
The subzero-buffer 350 will receive a portion of said high-boost-air and
further cools the high-
6 boost-air therein to negative 5-30 degree Celsius by the refrigerant-
evaporation-process of the
subzero-cooler 352.
8
The subzero-cooler 352 and the compressor-cooler 332 will both absorb heat by
the refrigerant-
evaporation-process; the refrigerant-condenser 316 dissipates heat out to the
atmospheric air; the
refrigerant-circuit 315 consists of a refrigerant-compressor and the necessary
pressure regulating
12 means to perform a refrigerant-condensation-process in the refrigerant-
condenser 316 and said two
refrigerant-evaporation-processes in the subzero-cooler 352 and the compressor-
cooler 332.
14
The flow-distributor 339 will control the airflow ratio between the high-boost-
air directed into the
16 subzero-buffer and the high-boost-air directed into the reenergize-buffer.
18 Each cold-expansion-chamber 320 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, and said cycle
consists of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-
process, a second-intake-
process, a cold-expansion-process, and an exhaust-process.
22 The first-intake-process is performed by taking in a controlled flow of the
cooled high-boost-air
with the cold-air-injectors 372 and a controlled fuel with the fuel-injectors
370 before the top-dead-
24 centre (0 degree of crankshaft reference angle), thereby forming an low-
temperature air-fuel-mixture
(at a temperature lower than 0 degree Celsius) prior to the spark-ignition;
wherein it is preferable to
26 maintain a low mixture temperature, so the first-intake-process of this
particular MCES should be as
short as possible, the process duration of the first-intake-process should
also be as close to 0 degree
28 of crankshaft reference angel as possible to prevent said air-fuel-mixture
to expand prior to the
spark-ignition; an exemplary duration of the first-intake-process can be set
from 340 degree to 350
degree of crankshaft reference angle.
32 The hot-combustion-process is performed by igniting said low-temperature
air-fuel-mixture as a hot-
combustion-medium, which will have a temperature about 1200 degree Celsius or
lower.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
39
2 The fuel-cooling-process is performed by injecting a second controlled fuel
into said hot-
combustion-medium after most of the oxygen content of said low-temperature air-
fuel-mixture has
4 combusted into a carbon-monoxide-gas, so that said second controlled fuel
will absorb the heat of
the carbon-monoxide-gas and vaporize as a fuel-gas; as a supplementary note,
the large power
6 generator has a very low revolution rate (such as 10 rpm), the fuel-cooling-
process may take as short
as I degree of crankshaft rotation or less to complete.
8
The second-intake-process is performed by injecting a controlled flow of the
heated high-boost-air
of the reenergize-buffer 355 into the cold-expansion-chamber 320 within a
duration range of 30
degree to 105 degree of crankshaft reference angle; wherein the power-
management-unit will
12 compute the correct actuation-time of the reenergize-air-injector 372, such
that the injection of said
heated high-boost-air is initiated at a time that the average pressure of said
hot-combustionOmedium
14 has decreased to lower than the operation pressure of the reenergize-
buffer, and said reenergize-air-
injector will be shut after a computed amount of the heated high-boost-air is
injected to mix with
16 said hot-combustion-medium, wherein said computed amount of the heated high-
boost-air will
reduce the temperature of the hot-combustion-medium by 30%-80%; wherein the
injected air mass
18 of the second-intake-process may range from 150% to 350% of the injected
air mass of the first-
intake-process, thereby producing a cold-expansion-medium at a low-temperature
and oxygen-rich
condition.
22 The cold-expansion-process is to produce power with said cold-expansion-
medium after the second-
intake-process has completed; wherein said cold-expansion-medium will expand
with almost no
24 heat loss due to the low medium temperature, and the average temperature of
said cold-expansion-
medium may be as low as 150 degree by the end of the cold-expansion-process
(which in terms will
26 require other type of catalytic conversion means that is capable of
operation at low temperature
range).
28
The exhaust-process is to expel said cold-expansion-medium out of the cold-
expansion-chamber
with the chamber-wall-port.
32 As it can be seen that the subzero-intake type MCES is for the large power
generation applications
or the large engine applications, the crankshaft revolution speed may range
from about 200 rpm to
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
10 rpm or lower, so the fuel-cooling-process and the second-intake-process can
be easily shorten to
2 less than I degree of crankshaft rotation with multiple injection means,
thereby extending the
process duration of the cold-expansion-process to optimize the energy
efficiency of MCES.
4
The first-intake-process should be finished before 0 degree (TDC) of
crankshaft reference angle, and
6 the hot-combustion-process is preferably to be initiated before TDC, such
that the cold-expansion-
process is to perform with relatively longer process duration.
8
The central-compressor 330 may be driven by a variable-speed electrical motor
instead of a
10 compressor-transmission coupled to the crankshaft 300 in the large power
generation applications;
wherein, regardless of the different operation speed control methods, the
power-management-unit
12 must control the operation speed of the air-compression-means to keep the
subzero-buffer 350 and
the reenergize-buffer 355 at their respective operation pressures.
14
FIG.3B is an alternative form of the subzero-intake type MCSE shown in FIG.3A,
wherein a heat-
16 transfer-catalytic-converter 390 is included to perform the reenergize-
process.
18 Now referring to FIG.4 for the fourth embodiment:
20 FIG.4 shows the fourth embodiment of the present invention, which is a MCES
with a refrigerant-
regeneration means; this embodiment is particularly for the MCES configured
for power generation
22 applications because the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle expelled a flow of
cold-expansion-medium
at a temperature much lower than the conventional combustion cycle; and the
MCES will perform
24 with a best energy efficiency when the temperature of the expelled cold-
expansion-medium is in the
range of 400-200 degree Celsius, which causes the regular heat-energy-recovery
economically
26 inefficient due to the limited operable temperature range of the multi-
stage steam type heat-energy-
recovery-system; therefore, a basic refrigerant-regeneration system for the
MCES is provided as
28 follows.
30 The components of FIG.4 are labeled as the central-compressor 430, the cold-
buffer 450, the
reenergize-buffer 455, the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 490, the cold-
expansion-chambers 420,
32 the fuel-injectors 470, the cold-air-injectors 472, the reenergize-air-
injectors 477, the chamber-wall-
port 428, the spark-plugs 480, the pistons 422, the heat-recover-circulator
493, the refrigerant-
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
41
evaporator 494, the refrigerant-condenser 496, the refrigerant-pump 495, the
refrigerant-turbine 497,
2 the turbine-generator 498, the crankshaft 400, the output shaft 499.
4 Each cold-expansion-chamber 420 will operate in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which consists
of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-process, a
second-intake-process,
6 a cold-expansion-process, and an exhaust-process; wherein the fuel-cooling-
process may be disabled
in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
8
The power-management-unit will control the central-compressor 430 to operate
at a controlled speed
to maintain the preset operation pressures in both the cold-buffer 450 and the
reenergize-buffer 455.
12 In the regular operation of MCES, a cold-expansion-medium is expelled out
of each cold-expansion-
chambers at a temperature about 600-200 degree Celsius, and this cold-
expansion-medium is
14 directed to the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 490 to perform a
reenergize-process, next this cold-
expansion-medium is directed to the heat-recover-circulator 493, and finally
this cold-expansion-
16 medium is expelled out to the atmospheric air.
18 The reenergize-buffer 455 will absorb the heat energy of the expelled cold-
expansion-medium flown
through the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 490, thereby heating up the high-
boost-air in the
reenergize-buffer 455.
22 The heat-recover-circulator 493 will transfer a heat energy to the
refrigerant-evaporator 494, which
then evaporators the liquefied refrigerant therein with said heat energy, and
the gaseous pressure of
24 the evaporated refrigerant will drive the refrigerant-turbine 497, thereby
the refrigerant-turbine 497
drives the turbine-generator 498 for generating electricity.
26
In FIG.4, the refrigerant is circulating from the refrigerant-evaporator 494
to the refrigerant-turbine
28 497, and then to the refrigerant-condenser 496, and then to the refrigerant-
pump 495, and then to the
refrigerant-evaporator 494; wherein about an additional 5% to 20% of the
remaining thermal energy
in the expelled cold-expansion-medium can be recovered by the turbine-
generator 498.
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42
The evaporator-condenser 496 will cool down the evaporated refrigerant that
has flown through the
2 refrigerant-turbine 497, and then supply a flow of liquefied refrigerant to
the refrigerant-pump 495
which delivers the liquefied refrigerant into the refrigerant-evaporator 494.
4
Said refrigerant can be a regular refrigerant used by air-conditioning
systems, such as R410A or R-
6 134A; in the cold region, it is also possible to use carbon-dioxide as a
type of refrigerant to circulate
in the refrigerant-regeneration system to prevent pollution, wherein the
refrigerant-condenser 496
8 use a cold ambient air flow (within a temperature range of 240-280 degree
Kelvin is ideal) to
condense the carbon-dioxide-gas into liquid form, and then the heat conducted
from the heat-
recover-circulator 493 will generate pressure in the refrigerant-evaporator
494 by the evaporation of
carbon-dioxide, thereby driving the refrigerant-turbine 497 to generate
additional electricity.
12
Now referring to FIG.5A for the fifth embodiment:
14
FIG.5A is an air-cool type MCES configuration with specialized air-injection
means, which can be
16 used in small passenger vehicle application or motorcycle applications,
wherein the manufacture
cost and the weight are the major user concerns instead of an extremely high
energy efficiency.
18
The components of FIG.5A are labeled as the central-compressor 530, the
central-buffer 551, the
central-buffer-cooler 552, the compressor-transmission 535, the cold-expansion-
chambers 520, the
fuel-injectors 570, the double-actuation-injectors 578, the spark-plugs 580,
the crankshaft 500, the
22 chamber-wall-port 528 and the output shaft 599.
24 The power-management-unit of MCES will control the central-compressor 530
to operate at a
controlled speed to maintain a constant operation pressure in the central-
buffer 551; wherein the
26 central-buffer 551 will supply a cooled high-boost-air to the double-
actuation-injectors 578.
28 The central-buffer-cooler will cool the high-boost-air in the central-
buffer 551 by dissipating the
heat with a flow of ambient air.
Each double-actuation-injector 578 will inject the cooled high-boost-air of
the central-buffer twice
32 for every revolution of the crankshaft 500, wherein each double-actuation-
injector will perform a
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
43
first injection before the top-dead-centre of the associated piston, and a
second injection in the range
2 of 30 degree to 105 degree of crankshaft reference angle.
4 The first injection of the cooled high-boost-air will be complement with a
fuel-injection by the
associated fuel-injector 570, so that an air-fuel-mixture is formed in the
associated cold-expansion-
6 chamber 520 before 0 degree of crankshaft reference angle.
8 The second injection of the cooled high-boost-air will be performed only
after the average pressure
of the hot-combustion-medium in the cold-expansion-chamber has decreased to
lower than the
operation pressure of the central-buffer 551; wherein the second injection of
the cooled high-boost-
air will reduce the temperature of the hot-combustion-medium by 30%-80%, so
that a cold-
12 expansion-medium will expand within a regulated temperature range of 400-
1100 degree Celsius.
14 Each cold-expansion-chamber 520 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which consists
of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-process, a
second-intake-process,
16 a cold-expansion-process, and an exhaust-process; wherein the fuel-cooling-
process may be disabled
in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
18
For the maintenance cost consideration and a longer service-life of the fuel-
injector 570, the fuel-
cooling-process may also be disabled in a the red-line rpm operation (such as
6000 rpm), however it
reduces the maximum power output; one solution is to implement two fuel-
injectors, in such a way
22 that a first fuel-injector will perform the fuel-injection in the first-
intake-process, while a second
fuel-injector will perform the fuel-injection in the second-intake-process.
24
Process Chart.4 and Process Chart.5 are two of typical process durations of
the Mackay Cold-
26 Expansion Cycle that corresponds to this fifth embodiment shown in FIG.5A
(as well as the
alternative form, FIG.5B and FIG.5C).
28
For a regular operation that enables the fuel-cooling-process of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle,
MCES shown in FIG.5A operates in the following order (Process Chart.5): the
first-intake-process is
commenced from about 270 degree to 350 degree of crankshaft reference angle,
the hot-combustion-
32 process is commenced from about 350 degree (10 degree BTDC) to 30 degree
(30 degree ATDC) of
crankshaft reference angle, the fuel-cooling-process is commenced from about
30 degree to 40
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
44
degree of crankshaft reference angle, the second-intake-process is commenced
from about 40 degree
2 to 60 degree of crankshaft reference angle, the cold-expansion-process is
commenced from about 60
degree to 135 degree of crankshaft reference angle, the exhaust-process is
from about 135 degree to
4 225 degree of crankshaft reference angle.
6 The first-intake-process is the process to supply an air-fuel-mixture in the
cold-expansion-chamber
520, wherein the associated double-actuation-injector 578 perform a first
injection of cooled high-
8 boost-air (270-315 degree of crankshaft reference), and the associated fuel-
injector 570 perform a
first injection of fuel (290-320 degree of crankshaft reference).
The hot-combustion-process is the process to combust said air-fuel-mixture
with the spark-plugs
12 580 as a hot-combustion-medium, which expands in the cold-expansion-chamber
(350-30 degree of
crankshaft reference angle) until most of the oxygen-gas content is combusted
to form a carbon-
14 monoxide-gas.
16 The fuel-cooling-process is the process to cool said hot-combustion-medium
with a second injection
of fuel (30-35 degree of crankshaft reference angle) after most of the oxygen-
gas content in said air-
18 fuel-mixture is combusted, so that the fuel injected in this process is
vaporized as a fuel-gas.
The second-intake-process is the process to perform a second injection of the
cooled high-boost-air
with the double-actuation-injector 578 (40-60 degree of crankshaft reference
angle) after the average
22 pressure of the hot-combustion-medium has decreased to lower than the
operation pressure of the
central-buffer 551; wherein the temperature of the hot-combustion-medium will
reduce by 30%-
24 80% by the end of the second-intake-process, thereby forming a cold-
expansion-medium in the
cold-expansion-chamber 520.
26
The cold-expansion-process is the process to produce power with said cold-
expansion-medium in
28 the cold-expansion-chamber 520; wherein said cold-expansion-medium is
expanding in a controlled
condition, such that the expansion temperature is regulated in the range of
400-1100 degree Celsius,
and the oxygen-gas concentration in the cold-expansion-medium is high enough
to spontaneously
convert carbon-monoxide-gas into carbon-dioxide-gas, thereby fully releasing
the reaction energy of
32 the injected fuel in the cold-expansion-process.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
The exhaust-process is the process to expel said cold-expansion-medium out
through the chamber-
2 wall-port 528, the cold-expansion-medium in the cold-expansion-chamber 520
will be expelled in
this process (135-225 degree of crankshaft reference angle); as a
supplementary note, when the
4 piston 522 reciprocates over the chamber-wall-port 528 in lower portion of
the cold-expansion-
chamber 520, the cold-expansion-medium will still be generating power to
crankshaft 500 since
6 there is an adequate pressure for pushing the piston 522 downward, and the
inertia of the cold-
expansion-medium is actually toward the bottom of the cold-expansion-chamber
520, as a result, the
8 cold-expansion-medium will require less energy to change direction of the
airflow, which means the
pumping loss is relatively lower than those exhaust the cold-expansion-medium
only from the
10 engine head.
12 In this fifth embodiment as shown in FIG.5A, since this type of MCES
configuration is generally for
use in a light duty application that operate in high-rpm, the spark-ignition
timing is preferred to be
14 set in the range between 325 degree and 0 degree (TDC) of crankshaft
reference angle; unlike the
other MCES configured for the large engine application that prefers a spark-
ignition commenced
16 just at about the top-dead-centre for the best efficiency.
18 In a high-rpm operation or a light load operation that requires the fuel-
cooling-process to be disabled,
a simplified Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle will operate in an order as shown in
Process Chart.4,
20 wherein the first-intake-process is from about 270 degree to 350 degree of
crankshaft reference
angle, the hot-combustion-process is from about 350 degree (10 degree BTDC) to
45 degree (45
22 degree ATDC), the second-intake-process is from about 45 degree to 60
degree of crankshaft
reference angle, the cold-expansion-process is from 60 degree to 135 degree of
crankshaft reference
24 angle, the exhaust-process is from 135 degree to 225 degree of crankshaft
reference angle.
26 After the first-intake-process has taken in an air-fuel-mixture before TDC,
the hot-combustion-
process will generate with a hot-combustion-medium until the average medium
pressure of the hot-
28 combustion-medium has decreased to lower than the operation pressure of the
central-buffer 551;
next, the double-actuation-injector 578 will perform a second injection of the
cooled high-boost-air
30 into the cold-expansion-chamber 520, thereby reducing the temperature of
the hot-combustion-
medium by 30%-80% and increasing the oxygen-gas concentration; thereafter
forming a cold-
32 expansion-medium in the cold-expansion-chamber 520 by the end of the second-
intake-process.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
46
In this simplified Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle, the first-intake-process will
supply an air-fuel-
2 mixture that is fuel-rich in terms of the oxygen-fuel ratio, such that said
air-fuel-mixture will
combust as a hot-combustion-medium consisting of excessive vaporized fuel-gas;
however, there is
4 an air-fuel ratio limit for the spark-ignition (more specifically speaking,
the oxygen-to-fuel ratio), as
the air-fuel-ratio is 50% lower than the stoichiometric ratio (for example
with fresh air and gasoline,
6 which will be about 7 to 1), the spark-ignition becomes difficult and may
result in ignition-failure;
therefore this simplified Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle will have a relatively
lower power-to-
8 weight ratio than that of the regular Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle due to
this limitation.
Now referring to FIG.5B for a more complex air-cool type MCES configuration
preferable for use
in the high performance passenger vehicle applications or the commercial truck
applications,
12 wherein this configuration is an alternative form of the fifth embodiment.
14 The components of FIG.5B are labeled as the turbo-compressor 501, the turbo-
turbine 509, the low-
pressure-buffer 513, the low-pressure-cooler 512, the central-compressor 530,
the cold-buffer-cooler
16 552, the cold-buffer 550, the reenergize-buffer 555, the compressor-
transmission 535, the cold-
expansion-chambers 520, the fuel-injectors 570, the cold-air-injectors 572,
the reenergize-air-
18 injectors 577, the pistons 522, the chamber-wall-port 528, the crankshaft
500 and the output shaft
599.
The turbo-compressor is driven by the turbo-turbine to generate a low-boost-
air into the low-
22 pressure-buffer 513; the low-pressure-buffer 513 then directs a cooled low-
boost-air into the central-
compressor 530.
24
The low-pressure-cooler 512 will cool the low-boost-air of the low-pressure-
buffer with a flow of
26 ambient air; wherein a variable-speed fan may be installed to enhance the
cooling effect.
28 The central-compressor 530 receives the cooled low-boost-air and generates
a high-boost-air to the
cold-buffer 550 and the reenergize-buffer 555.
The power-management-unit of MCES will control the central-compressor 530 to
operate at a
32 controlled speed, such that the cold-buffer 550 will have a constant
operation pressure in the range
of 4-25 bar to ensure the performance of the cold-air-injectors 572, the
reenergize-buffer 555 will
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
47
have a constant operation pressure in the range of 4-30 bar to ensure the
performance of the
2 reenergize-air-injectors 577.
4 The cold-buffer-cooler 552 will cool the high-boost-air of the cold-buffer
by with a flow of ambient
air; wherein a variable-speed fan may be installed to enhance the cooling
effect.
6
Each cold-expansion-chamber 520 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle,
which consists
8 of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-process,
a second-intake-process,
a cold-expansion-process, and an exhaust-process; wherein the fuel-cooling-
process may be disabled
in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
12 In this alternative form of the fifth embodiment shown in FIG.5B, since the
turbo-compressor 501
cannot provide a constant compression capacity because its compression
capacity depends on the
14 pressure of the expelled cold-expansion-medium flown through the turbo-
turbine 509, sensor means
will be installed in said three buffers to detect the airflow data
(pressure/temperature/flow mass),
16 thereby informing the power-management-unit to correct the operation speed
of the central-
compressor 530 by the compressor-transmission 535.
18
Now referring to FIG.5C for a more completed air-cool type MCES configuration,
which is another
alternative form of the fifth embodiment, wherein a heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter 590 is included
to perform the reenergize-process, which will reduce the compression energy
required to sustain the
22 operation pressure of the reenergize-buffer 555.
24 In the embodiment of FIG.5C, it is possible to set the operation pressure
of the reenergize-buffer
555 to as high as 30 bar in the heavy load operation due to the reenergize-
process, so that the
26 second-intake-process will perform in a relatively earlier crankshaft
reference angle; this is more
energy-efficient because this results in a longer cold-expansion-process (the
second-intake-process
28 is to be initiated only after the average pressure of the hot-combustion-
medium has decreased to
lower than the operation pressure of the reenergize-buffer).
Now referring to FIG.6A for the sixth embodiment:
32
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
48
The sixth embodiment is a premix-intake type configuration of MCES, wherein
the fuel-supplying
2 means of the first-intake-process and the fuel-supplying means of the fuel-
cooling-process are
operated independently from each others, so that the injected fuel mass of the
fuel-cooling-process
4 and the air-fuel-ratio of the air-fuel-mixture of the first-intake-process
is controlled with high
precision to raise the overall energy efficiency; wherein this also enables
the MCES to perform in a
6 high-rpm operation with better performance at low cost.
8 The components of FIG.6A are labeled as the central-compressor 630, the cold-
buffer 650, the
reenergize-buffer 655, the non-return-regulator 653, the premix-buffer 654,
the buffer-fuel-injector
670, the cold-expansion-chambers 620, the mixture-injectors 673, the cooling-
fuel-injectors 675, the
pistons 622, the spark-plugs 680, the chamber-wall-ports 628, the crankshaft
600 and the output
12 shaft 699.
14 The power-management-unit of MCES will control the central-compressor 630
to operate at a
controlled speed, such that the cold-buffer 650 will have a constant operation
pressure in the range
16 of 4-25 bar, the reenergize-buffer 655 will have a constant operation
pressure in the range of 4-30
bar; wherein the power-management-unit control the operation speed of the
central-compressor 630
18 by the compressor-transmission 635.
The compressor-transmission 635 can be a mechanical transmission, a hydraulic
transmission, a
continuous-variable-transmission or a planetary-gear-transmission; if an
inverter system is included
22 in the MCES, the compressor transmission 635 may be replaced by a variable-
speed electrical-motor.
24 The cold-buffer 650 will supply a cooled high-boost-air into the premix-
buffer 654 via the non-
return-regulator 653.
26
The cooled high-boost-air in the premix-buffer 654 is then mixed with the fuel
injected by the
28 buffer-fuel-injector 670, thereby forming an air-fuel-mixture in the premix-
buffer 654.
The non-return-regulator 653 will prevent the air-fuel-mixture buffered in the
premix-buffer 654
from flowing back into the cold-buffer 650; this component is crucial in this
embodiment because a
32 malfunctioned non-return-regulator 653 may cause explosion or fire hazard
in the cold-buffer 650.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
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The reenergize-buffer 655 will supply a heated high-boost-air into each
reenergize-air-injector 677,
2 which will inject a controlled amount of said heated high-boost-air into the
associated cold-
expansion-chamber 620 during the second-intake-process.
4
Each cooling-fuel-injector 675 will supply a fuel to mix with the hot-
combustion-medium in the
6 associated cold-expansion-chamber 620 during the fuel-cooling-process.
8 Each cold-expansion-chamber 620 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which consists
of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-process, a
second-intake-process,
a cold-expansion-process, and an exhaust-process; wherein the fuel-cooling-
process may be disabled
in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
12
In the sixth embodiment shown in FIG.6A, the first-intake-process is performed
by injecting an air-
14 fuel-mixture (of the premix-buffer 654) with the mixture-injector 673,
while the fuel-cooling-
process is performed by injecting a fuel with the cooling-fuel-injector 675;
therefore the power-
16 management-unit will be able to regulate the amount of the injected fuel
more precisely in the fuel-
cooling-process by adjusting only the actuation time of the cooling-fuel-
injector 675, whereas the
18 air-fuel-ratio in the premix-buffer 654 is regulated only by the buffer-
fuel-injector 670, thus
providing a better and more constant power output in the high-rpm operation of
MCES.
FIG.6B is a more completed configuration of the premix-intake type MCES,
wherein the heat-
22 transfer-catalytic-converter 690 is provided to enhance overall energy
efficiency by the reenergize-
process.
24
In addition the fuel-injectors of FIG.6A and FIG.6,B can also be used to
supply the fuel of a lower
26 octane, in other words, the fuel supplied during the fuel-cooling-process
can be of a different type of
fuel other than the fuel supplied in the premix-buffer 654; for example, the
premix-fuel-injector 670
28 is injecting gasoline to form an air-fuel-mixture in the premix-buffer 654,
while the cooling-fuel-
injector 675 injects diesel, ethanol, natural gas, or other fuel to mix with
the hot-combustion-
medium in the fuel-cooling-process.
32 Now referring to FIG.7A and FIG.7B for the seventh embodiment, wherein
FIG.7A provides a
series-hybrid type MCES configuration, FIG.7B provides an integrated-hybrid
type MCES
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
configuration; both configurations are preferable for the automobile
applications due to the current
2 highly-efficient power transistor technology.
4 The components of FIG.7A are labeled as the central-compressor 730, the
compressor-motor 736,
the cold-buffer 750, the reenergize-buffer 755, the cold-expansion-chambers
720, the cold-air-
6 injectors 772, the reenergize-air-injectors 777, the fuel-injectors 770, the
pistons 722, the spark-
plugs 780, the crankshaft 700, the inverter-system 798, the wheel-motor 795
and the battery 797.
8
Each cold-expansion-chamber 720 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle,
which consists
10 of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-
process, a second-intake-process,
a cold-expansion-process, and an exhaust-process; wherein the fuel-cooling-
process may be disabled
12 in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
14 The inverter-system 798 will harvest the mechanical power from the
crankshaft as electricity, which
is distributed to the wheel-motor 795 and the compressor-motor 736; wherein
the battery may store
16 excessive electricity from the power output by the Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, or the power
regenerated from the wheel-motor 795 in a braking operation of the vehicle.
18
The compressor-motor 736 will be supplied with said electricity to operate at
a controlled speed
20 requested by the power-management-unit of the MCES, thereby sustaining the
cold-buffer 750 and
the reenergize-buffer 755 at their respective operation pressures; wherein the
operation pressure of
22 the cold-buffer 750 is set in a range of 4-25 bar, the operation pressure
of the reenergize-buffer 755
is set in a range of 4-30 bar.
24
The wheel-motor 795 will be supplied with said electricity from the inverter-
system 798 to provide
26 power to the vehicle wheel at the speed demanded by the user.
28 During a brake operation of this series-hybrid type MCES, the compressor-
motor 736 may stop its
operation to preserve energy, and the wheel-motor 795 will recover the brake-
power as an electricity
30 to charge the battery 797 through the inverter-system 798.
32 The components of FIG.7B are labeled as the central-compressor 730, the
compressor-motor 736,
the cold-buffer 750, the reenergize-buffer 755, the cold-expansion-chambers
720, the cold-air-
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injectors 772, the reenergize-air-injectors 777, the fuel-injectors 770, the
spark-plugs 780, the
2 pistons 722, the crankshaft 700, the regeneration-motor 796, the output
shaft 799, the inverter-
system 798 and the battery 797.
4
The regeneration-motor 796 and the inverter-system 798 together will harvest a
portion of the
6 mechanical power from the crankshaft 700 during a regular operation of
Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle that powers the vehicle to move; wherein the inverter-system 798 will
output a controlled
8 amount electricity to the compressor-motor 736, so that the compressor-motor
736 will operate at a
controlled speed requested by the power-management-unit of the MCES, thereby
sustaining the
cold-buffer 750 and the reenergize-buffer 755 at their respective operation
pressures; wherein the
operation pressure of the cold-buffer 750 is set in a range of 4-25 bar, the
operation pressure of the
12 reenergize-buffer 755 is set in a range of 4-30 bar.
14 During the brake-operation of MCES, the compressor-motor may stop its
operation, and the
regeneration-motor 798 will recover the brake power directly from the
crankshaft 700, thereby
16 charging the battery 797 through the inverter-system 798.
18 The seventh embodiment shown in FIG.7A (or FIG.7B) operates on the same
principles as the other
previously mentioned embodiments of MCES; wherein the Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle operated
in each cold-expansion-chamber 720 is basically explained by Process Chart.4-
5, while Process
Chart.6-11 are also applicable if this embodiment is used in a more particular
field; whereas if an
22 active-exhaust-valve is used as the exhaust-means in this ninth embodiment
for performing an
active-exhaust-process (instead of the exhaust-process), Process Chart.1-3 are
adequate to
24 demonstrate the possible process variations of the Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle.
26 Now referring to FIG.8 for the eighth embodiment, which is a vaporization-
cooling type MCES
configuration that includes a water-injection means for minimizing the
compression energy required
28 to produce the high-boost-air.
The components of FIG.8 are labeled as the turbo-compressor 801, the turbo-
turbine 809, the
central-compressor 830, the water-injector 807, the low-pressure-buffer 805,
the cold-buffer 850, the
32 collecting-passage 808, the water-reservoir 806, the cold-expansion-
chambers 820, the pistons 822,
the cold-air-injectors 872, the reenergize-air-injectors 877, the fuel-
injectors 870, the spark-plugs
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
52
880, the crankshaft 800, the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter, the chamber-
wall-ports 828 and the
2 output shaft 899.
4 Each cold-expansion-chamber 820 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which consists
of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-process, a
second-intake-process,
6 a cold-expansion-process, and an exhaust-process; wherein the fuel-cooling-
process may be disabled
in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
8
The turbo-compressor 801 is driven by the turbo-turbine 809 to produce a low-
boost-air into the
low-pressure-buffer 805; the water-injector 807 injects water in a spray
pattern that cools the low-
boost-air, so that the low-boost-air will have a high humidity before charging
into the central-
12 compressor 830.
14 As the low-boost-air is being compressed in the central-compressor 830,
some of the water vapor
condenses in the low-boost-air, and the condensed water is drained to the
collecting-passage 808,
16 which then delivers the condensed water to the water-reservoir 806; wherein
the amount of the water
stored in the water reservoir 805 may decrease in time, so a water level
sensor is also required in the
18 water-reservoir 806 to provide an indication to the user.
The central-compressor 830 will produce a flow of high-boost-air to the cold-
buffer and the
reenergize-buffer at a controlled operation speed set by the power-management-
unit, in order to
22 sustain a constant operation in each of said two buffers.
24 The ninth embodiment shown in FIG.9 operates on the same principles as the
other previously
mentioned embodiments of MCES; wherein the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle
operated in each
26 cold-expansion-chamber 820 is basically explained by Process Chart.4-5,
while Process Chart.6-11
are also applicable if this embodiment is used in a more particular field;
whereas if an active-
28 exhaust-valve is used as the exhaust-means in this ninth embodiment for
performing an active-
exhaust-process (instead of the exhaust-process), Process Chart. 1-3 are
adequate to demonstrate the
possible process variations of the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
32 The purpose of cooling said low-boost-air by an addition of water-vapor is
that, the compression
energy consumed by the central-compressor 830 can greatly reduced without
installing an air-type
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53
intercooler that uses a flow of ambient air to carry out the heat; as there
are many drawbacks for an
2 air-type intercooler, such as the size and the inconstant cooling
capability.
4 Now referring to FIG.9 for the ninth embodiment, which is a MCES consisting
of the specialized
air-injectors for the operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
6
The components of FIG.9 are labeled as the central-compressor 930, the cold-
buffer 950, the
8 reenergize-buffer 955, the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 990, the cold-
expansion-chamber 920,
the spark-plugs 980, the switching-air-injectors 979, the fuel-injectors 970,
the pistons 922, the
chamber-wall-ports 928, the crankshaft 900 and the output shaft 999.
12 The power-management-unit of MCES will control the central-compressor 930
to operate at a
controlled speed, such that the cold-buffer 950 will have a constant operation
pressure in the range
14 of 4-25 bar, the reenergize-buffer 955 will have a constant operation
pressure in the range of 4-30
bar; wherein the power-management-unit control the operation speed of the
central-compressor 930
16 by the compressor-transmission 935.
18 Each cold-expansion-chamber 920 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which consists
of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-process, a
second-intake-process,
a cold-expansion-process, and an exhaust-process; wherein the fuel-cooling-
process may be disabled
in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
22
The cold-buffer 950 will buffer a cooled high-boost-air to the cold-inlet of
the switching-air-
24 injectors 979; the reenergize-buffer will buffer a heated high-boost-air to
the hot-inlet of the
switching-air-injectors 979.
26
Each switching-air-injector 979 will switch its air-source to the cold-inlet
during the first-intake-
28 process of the associated cold-expansion-chamber 920; wherein the switching-
air-injector will inject
a flow of cooled high-boost-air (from the cold-buffer 950) into the associated
cold-expansion-
chamber, thereby forming an air-fuel-mixture with a fuel injected by the
associated fuel-injector 970.
32 Each switching-air-injector 979 will switch its air-source to the hot-inlet
during the second-intake-
process of the associated cold-expansion-chamber 920; wherein the switching-
air-injector will inject
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
54
a flow of heated high-boost-air (from the reenergize-buffer 955) into the
associated cold-expansion-
2 chamber 920, thereby mixing a heated high-boost-air and a hot-combustion-
medium to form a cold-
expansion-medium.
4
The ninth embodiment shown in FIG.9 operates on the same principles as the
other previously
6 mentioned embodiments of MCES; wherein the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle
operated in each
cold-expansion-chamber 920 is basically explained by Process Chart.4-5, while
Process Chart.6-11
8 are also applicable if this embodiment is used in a more particular field;
whereas if an active-
exhaust-valve is used as the exhaust-means in this ninth embodiment for
performing an active-
exhaust-process (instead of the exhaust-process), Process Chart.1-3 are
adequate to demonstrate the
possible process variations of the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
12
Now referring to FIG.1OA for the tenth embodiment, which is a MCES consisting
of another
14 specialized injectors (triple-mode-injectors 1079) for the operation of
Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle.
16
The components of FIG.1OA are labeled as the central-compressor 1030, the
compressor-
18 transmission 1035, the cold-buffer 1050, the reenergize-buffer 1055, the
heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter 1090, the cold-expansion-chambers 1020, the pistons 1022, the fuel-
reservoir 1078, the
triple-mode-injectors 1079, the spark-plugs 1080, the active-exhaust-valves
1029, the crankshaft
1000 and the output shaft 1099.
22
Each cold-expansion-chamber 1020 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which
24 consists of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-
cooling-process, a second-intake-
process, a cold-expansion-process, and an active-exhaust-process; wherein the
fuel-cooling-process
26 may be disabled in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
28 The power-management-unit of MCES will control the central-compressor 1030
to operate at a
controlled speed, such that the cold-buffer 1050 will have a constant
operation pressure in the range
of 4-25 bar, the reenergize-buffer 1055 will have a constant operation
pressure in the range of 4-30
bar; wherein the power-management-unit control the operation speed of the
central-compressor
32 1030 by the compressor-transmission 1035.
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
Each triple-mode-injector 1079 will shift in three injection modes according
to the operation of
2 Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle, wherein said three injection modes are the
spray-injection-mode,
the fuel-only-mode and the air-only-mode.
4
The triple-mode-injector 1079 will operate in the spray-injection-mode during
the first-intake-
6 process, wherein a fuel (from the associated fuel-reservoir) and a cooled
high-boost-air (from the
cold-buffer) are mixed and sprayed at a high pressure into the associated cold-
expansion-chamber,
8 thereby forming an air-fuel-mixture before the top-dead-centre position of
the associated piston
1022.
The triple-mode-injector 1079 will operate in the fuel-only-mode during the
fuel-cooling-process,
12 wherein a fuel (from the associated fuel-reservoir) is injected into a hot-
combustion-medium in the
associated cold-expansion-chamber, thereby absorbing heat energy by the
vaporization of said fuel.
14
The tripe-mode-injector 1079 will operate in the air-only-mode during the
second-intake-process,
16 wherein a heated high-boost-air (from the reenergize-buffer 1055) is
injected into the associated
cold-expansion-chamber, thereby mixing said heated high-boost-air with the hot-
combustion-
18 medium to form a cold-expansion-medium.
The advantage of implementing the triple-mode-injector is that, the MCES can
be applied in a
smaller engine configuration and the regular maintenance procedure of the cold-
expansion-chamber
22 is made simpler.
24 Now referring to FIG. 1OB for an alternative form of the tenth embodiment,
which is a MCES
consisting of another specialized injectors (spray-injectors 1073) for the
operation of Mackay Cold-
26 Expansion Cycle.
28 The components of FIG.IOB are labeled as the central-compressor 1030, the
compressor-
transmission 1035, the cold-buffer 1050, the reenergize-buffer 1055, the heat-
transfer-catalytic-
converter 1090, the cold-expansion-chambers 1020, the pistons 1022, the fuel-
reservoir 1078, the
spray-injectors 1079, the fuel-injectors 1070, the reenergize-air-injectors
1077, the spark-plugs 1080,
32 the active-exhaust-valves 1029, the crankshaft 1000 and the output shaft
1099.
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56
Each spray-injector 1079 will be actuated during the first-intake-process of
the associated cold-
2 expansion-chamber 1020, wherein a fuel (from the fuel-reservoir 1078) and a
cooled high-boost-air
(from the cold-buffer 1050) is mixed and injected into the cold-expansion-
chamber at high-pressure,
4 thereby forming an air-fuel-mixture before the top-dead-centre position of
the associated piston
1022.
6
Each fuel-injector 1070 will be actuated during the fuel-cooling-process of
the associated cold-
8 expansion-chamber 1020, wherein a fuel is injected into a hot-combustion-
medium in the associated
cold-expansion-chamber, thereby absorbing heat energy by the vaporization of
said fuel.
Each reenergize-air-injector 1077 will be actuated during the second-intake-
process of the
12 associated cold-expansion-chamber 1020, wherein a heated high-boost-air
(from the reenergize-
buffer 1055) is injected into the associated cold-expansion-chamber 1020,
thereby mixing said
14 heated high-boost-air with the hot-combustion-medium to form a cold-
expansion-medium.
16 The tenth embodiment shown in FIG.1 OA (or FIG. IOB) operates on the same
principles as the other
previously mentioned embodiments of MCES; wherein the Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle operated
18 in each cold-expansion-chamber 1020 is basically explained by Process
Chart. 1-3, and Process
Chart.6-1 1; whereas if a chamber-wall-port is used as the exhaust-means in
this tenth embodiment
for performing an exhaust-process (instead of the active-exhaust-process),
Process Chart.4-5 are
adequate to demonstrate the possible process variations of the Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle.
22
Now referring to FIG.11A for the eleventh embodiment, which is a MCES
consisting of another
24 specialized injection means (mini-buffer) for the operation of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle.
26 The components of FIG.11 A are labeled as the central-compressor 1130, the
compressor-
transmission 1135, the cold-buffer 1150, the reenergize-buffer 1155, the heat-
transfer-catalytic-
28 converter 1190, the cold-expansion-chambers 1120, the pistons 1122, the
cold-air-injectors 1172,
the fuel-injector 1170, the reenergize-air-injectors 1177, the spark-plugs
1180, the mini-buffers 1057,
the active-exhaust-valve 1129, the crankshaft 1100 and the output shaft 1199.
32 Each cold-expansion-chamber 1120 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which
consists of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-
process, a second-intake-
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57
process, a cold-expansion-process, and an active-exhaust-process; wherein the
fuel-cooling-process
2 may be disabled in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
4 The power-management-unit of MCES will control the central-compressor 1130
to operate at a
controlled speed, such that the cold-buffer 1150 will have a constant
operation pressure in the range
6 of 4-25 bar, the reenergize-buffer 1155 will have a constant operation
pressure in the range of 4-30
bar; wherein the power-management-unit control the operation speed of the
central-compressor
8 1130 by the compressor-transmission 1135.
Each mini-buffer 1157 is installed near the associated reenergize-air-injector
1177 for buffering an
adequate amount of heated high-boost-air, thereby preventing an inconstant
airflow during the
12 actuation time of the associated reenergize-air-injector 1177; and each
mini-buffer 1157 has a built-
in buffer-sensor for reporting the airflow data (pressure/airflow mass)
therein to the power-
14 management-unit of MCES, so the power-management-unit takes in this airflow
data for calculating
a corrected actuation time of the reenergize-air-injectors 1177, in order to
inject a designated amount
16 of heated high-boost-air during the second-intake-process to form a cold-
expansion-medium at a
precisely regulated temperature for the best expansion efficiency.
18
The advantage of this mini-buffer is that, the MCES will have a better control
on the injected air-
mass of the second-intake-process, in addition, the flow resistance of the air-
passages from the
reenergize-buffer to each reenergize-air-injector can be almost neglected from
the computation in
22 the power-management-unit, and this also ensures the second-intake-process
to be completed in the
shortest time possible with the an air-injection of the designated air-mass.
24
Now referring to FIG. 11B for an alternative form of the eleventh embodiment,
which is another
26 MCES consisting of the mini-buffers for the operation of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle.
28 The components of FIG.11B are labeled as the turbo-compressor 1101, the
turbo-turbine 1109, the
central-compressor 1130, the compressor-transmission 1135, the central-buffer
1151, the mini-
buffers 1157, the cold-expansion-chambers 1120, the pistons 1122, the cold-air-
injectors 1172, the
fuel-injectors 1170, the reenergize-air-injectors 1177, the spark-plugs 1180,
the active-exhaust-valve
32 1129, the crankshaft 1100 and the output shaft 1199.
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The power-management-unit of MCES will control the central-compressor 1130 to
operate at a
2 controlled speed, such that the central-buffer 1151 will have a constant
operation pressure in the
range of 4-25 bar, wherein the power-management-unit control the operation
speed of the central-
4 compressor 1130 by adjusting the gear ratio setting of the compressor-
transmission 1135.
6 Each cold-expansion-chamber 1120 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which
consists of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-
process, a second-intake-
8 process, a cold-expansion-process and an active-exhaust-process; wherein the
fuel-cooling-process
may be disabled in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
In FIG. 1113, the central-buffer 1151 will buffer a high-boost-air, which is
distributed to all the cold-
12 air-injectors 1172 and the mini-buffers 1157.
14 Each mini-buffer 1157 is installed near the associated reenergize-air-
injector 1177 for buffering an
adequate amount of heated high-boost-air, thereby preventing an inconstant
airflow during the
16 actuation time of the associated reenergize-air-injector 1177; and each
mini-buffer 1157 has a built-
in buffer-sensor for reporting the airflow data (pressure/airflow mass)
therein to the power-
18 management-unit of MCES, so the power-management-unit takes in this airflow
data for calculating
a corrected actuation time of the reenergize-air-injectors 1177, in order to
input a designated amount
of heated high-boost-air during the second-intake-process to form a cold-
expansion-medium at a
precisely regulated temperature for the best expansion efficiency.
22
The eleventh embodiment shown in FIG. 11A (or FIG. 11 B) operates on the same
principles as the
24 other previously mentioned embodiments of MCES; wherein the Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle
operated in each cold-expansion-chamber 1120 is basically explained by Process
Chart. 1-3, and
26 Process Chart.6-11; whereas if a chamber-wall-port is used as the exhaust-
means in this eleventh
embodiment for performing an exhaust-process (instead of the active-exhaust-
process), Process
28 Chart.4-5 are adequate to demonstrate the possible process variations of
the Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle.
Now referring to FIG. 12A for the twelfth embodiment, which is a MCES
consisting of a primary-
32 compressor and a secondary-compressor for the operation of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle.
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59
The components of FIG.12A are labeled as the primary-compressor 1205, the
secondary-compressor
2 1230, the compressor-transmission 1235, the cold-buffer 1250, the mini-
buffers 1257, the cold-
expansion-chambers 1220, the pistons 1222, the cold-air-injectors 1272, the
fuel-injectors 1270, the
4 reenergize-air-injectors 1277, the spark-plugs 1280, the active-exhaust-
valve 1229, the crankshaft
1200 and the output shaft 1299.
6
The primary-compressor 1205 is directly powered by the crankshaft 1200, and
the primary-
8 compressor generates a high-boost-air into the cold-buffer 1250.
The secondary-compressor 1230 is couple to the crankshaft 1200 by the
compressor-transmission
1235; wherein the power-management-unit of MCES will control the operation
speed of the
12 secondary-compressor 1230 by adjusting the gear ratio setting of the
compression-transmission 1235,
such that each mini-buffer 1257 will have a constant operation pressure in the
range of 4-30 bar.
14
Each mini-buffer 1257 is installed near the associated reenergize-air-injector
1277 for buffering an
16 adequate amount of heated high-boost-air, which is injected into the
associated cold-expansion-
chamber 1220 via the associate reenergize-air-injector 1277 during the
associated second-intake-
18 process.
Each cold-expansion-chamber 1220 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which
consists of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-cooling-
process, a second-intake-
22 process, a cold-expansion-process and an active-exhaust-process; wherein
the fuel-cooling-process
may be disabled in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
24
The advantage of utilizing a primary-compressor and a secondary-compressor is
the simplification
26 of the computation in the power-management-unit of the MCES, this is
because the first-intake-
process has an airflow mass that is nearly proportional to the revolution of
the crankshaft, while the
28 second-intake-process has an airflow mass that depends on the amount of the
air required to cool the
hot-combustion-medium to 400-1100 degree Celsius for the best expansion
efficiency; wherein the
injected air-mass of the second-intake-process may range from 50% to 350% of
the injected air-
mass of the first-intake-process; therefore, by independently controlling a
secondary-compressor to
32 supply a source of high-boost-air to the reenergize-air-injector 1277, the
power-management-unit of
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
the MCES can compute with less variable for each injector's actuation time and
the gear ratio
2 setting of the compressor-transmission 1235.
4 Now referring to FIG.12B for an alternative form of the twelfth embodiment,
which is a MCES
consisting of a turbocharger, a primary-compressor and a secondary-compressor.
6
The components of FIG.12B are labeled as the turbo-compressor 1201, the turbo-
turbine 1209, the
8 primary-compressor 1205, the secondary-compressor 1230, the compressor-
transmission 1235, the
cold-buffer 1150, the mini-buffers 1257, the cold-expansion-chambers 1220, the
pistons 1222, the
10 cold-air-injectors 1272, the fuel-injectors 1270, the reenergize-air-
injectors 1277, the spark-plugs
1280, the active-exhaust-valve 1229, the crankshaft 1200 and the output shaft
1299.
12
The turbo-compressor 1201 is driven the turbo-turbine 1209 to provide a low-
boost-air into the
14 secondary-compressor 1230; this configuration can greatly reduce the size
of the secondary-
compressor 1230 because the efficiency of the turbo-turbine 1209 is higher in
a heavier load
16 operation; in other words, the turbo-compressor 1201 is capable of
efficiently providing a much
higher airflow in the heavy load operation, which is ideal for operation of
Mackay Cold-Expansion
18 Cycle, since the injected air-mass required for the second-intake-process
is generally higher in the
heavy load operation; for example, in order to operation the MCES at high
energy efficiency, the
20 injected air-mass of the second-intake-process may be set to about 50% of
the injected air-mass of
the first-intake-process in a light load operation, whereas the injected air-
mass of the second-intake-
22 process may be set to as high as 350% of the injected air-mass of the first-
intake-process in a heavy
load operation; this is because the temperature of the hot-combustion-medium
is much higher in a
24 heavy load operation than a light load operation, which in terms requires a
much greater amount of
heated high-boost-air to cool the hot-combustion-medium.
26
Now referring to FIG.12C for another alternative form of the twelfth
embodiment, which is a MCES
28 further consisting of a turbo-compressor 1201, a turbo-turbine 1209, a
reenergize-buffer 1255 and a
heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 1290; wherein the heat-transfer-catalytic-
converter 1290 further
30 increases the overall energy efficiency of the MCES by the reenergize-
process.
32 The twelfth embodiment shown in FIG.12A (or FIG.12B or FIG.12C) operates on
the same
principles as the other previously mentioned embodiments of MCES; wherein the
Mackay Cold-
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61
Expansion Cycle operated in each cold-expansion-chamber 1220 is basically
explained by Process
2 Chart.1-3, and Process Chart.6-11; whereas if a chamber-wall-port is used as
the exhaust-means in
this tenth embodiment for performing an exhaust-process (instead of the active-
exhaust-process),
4 Process Chart.4-5 are adequate to demonstrate the possible process
variations of the Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle.
6
Now referring to FIG. 13 for the thirteenth embodiment, which is a MCES
consisting of an axial-
8 turbine-compressor and mini-buffers for the operation of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle; wherein
since this type of MCES is generally used for power generation, a compressor-
transmission is
optional due to the narrow power output range if the injected air-mass of the
first-intake-process and
the injected air-mass of the second-intake-process are at a fixed ratio.
12
The components of FIG. 13 are labeled as the axial-turbine-compressor 1330,
the reenergize-buffer
14 1355, the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 1390, the hot-mini-buffers
1357, the cold-mini-buffers
1352, the cold-expansion-chambers 1320, the pistons 1322, the cold-air-
injectors 1372, the fuel-
16 injectors 1370, the reenergize-air-injectors 1377, the spark-plugs 1380,
the chamber-wall-port 1328,
the crankshaft 1300 and the output shaft 1399.
18
The axial-turbine-compressor 1330 is directly powered by the crankshaft 1300,
and the axial-
turbine-compressor 1330 generates high-boost-air into the reenergize-buffer
1355 and all the cold-
mini-buffers; wherein each cold-mini-buffer may include an airflow regulator
to keep the operation
22 pressure therein in the range of 4-25 bar.
24 The reenergize-buffer 1355 will buffer a heated high-boost-air, which is
supplied into all the hot-
mini-buffers; wherein each hot-mini-buffer may include an airflow regulator to
keep the operation
26 pressure therein in the range of 4-30 bar.
28 The heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 1390 transfers the heat energy
remained in the expelled cold-
expansion-medium, thereby heating up the high-boost-air buffered in the
reenergize-buffer 1355.
Each cold-expansion-chamber 1320 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which
32 consists of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-
cooling-process, a second-intake-
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process, a cold-expansion-process, and an exhaust-process; wherein the fuel-
cooling-process may be
2 disabled in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
4 The thirteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 13 operates on the same principles
as the other previously
mentioned embodiments of MCES; wherein the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle
operated in each
6 cold-expansion-chamber 1320 is basically explained by Process Chart.4-5;
whereas if an active-
exhaust-valve is used together with the chamber-wall-port for further
increasing the energy
8 efficiency (as shown in FIG.16 with a combined exhaust means), Process
Chart.6-9 are adequate to
demonstrate the possible process variations of the Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle.
Now referring to FIG.14 for the fourteenth embodiment, which is a MCES
consisting of a
12 continuous-flow-compressor, a cold-buffer, a reenergize-buffer and a heat-
transfer-catalytic-
converter.
14
The components of FIG.14 are labeled as the continuous-flow-compressor 1430,
the compressor-
16 piston 1437, the compressor-crankshaft 1436, the compressor-transmission
1435, the cold-buffer
1450, the cold-buffer-turbine 1454, the reenergize-buffer 1455, the reenergize-
buffer-turbine 1459,
18 the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 1490, the hot-mini-buffers 1457, the
cold-expansion-chambers
1420, the pistons 1422, the spark-plugs 1480, the fuel-injectors 1470, the
reenergize-air-injectors
1477, the active-exhaust-valve 1429, the crankshaft 1400 and the output shaft
1499.
22 The continuous-flow-compressor 1430 is consisting of multiple air-
compressors in a parallel
configuration, such that each compressor-piston is charging a high-boost-air
at different portion of
24 the compressor-crankshaft rotation (for example the continuous-flow-
compressor 1430 uses three
piston type air-compressors to charge high-boost-air every 120 degree of the
compressor-crankshaft
26 rotation); wherein the continuous-flow-compressor 1430 generates a
continuous flow of high-boost-
air into the cold-buffer 1450 and the reenergize-buffer 1455.
28
The advantage of the continuous-flow-compressor is that, this configuration
provides a source of
high-boost-air that is constant in pressure and flow speed regardless of the
gear setting of the
compressor-transmission 1435, and this configuration also the compressor-
transmission 1435 to
32 operate in a lower gear ratio for Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
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The reason is that, if only one air-compressor is presented, it will output
the high-boost-air in only
2 about 30-60 degree of the compressor-crankshaft rotation, which will cause
an desired high pressure
surge in a low-rpm operation and decrease efficiency; to be more specifically,
it means that the
4 reenergize-buffer and the cold-buffer will have to received a short flow of
high-boost-air that is at
about 25-40 bar if the reenergize-buffer and the cold-buffer are set to have a
constant operation
6 pressure of 8-12 bar; and the compressor-crankshaft also needs to rotate
much faster than the
crankshaft of the cold-expansion-chamber to keep a more constant airflow in
both the reenergize-
8 buffer and the cold-buffer.
Ideally, the MCES will operate the air-compression means at its most efficient
load with a variable
operation speed that depends on the amount of the high-boost-air required to
perform the first-
12 intake-process and the second-intake-process, wherein the air-pressures in
the cold-buffer and the
reenergize-buffer are stabilized to ensure the best performance of the
reenergize-air-injectors and the
14 cold-air-injectors.
16 The cold-buffer-turbine 1454 is a set of free-spinning turbine-fins which
will keep the airflow speed
constant during the actuation time of each cold-air-injector 1472, thereby
injecting an cooled high-
18 boost-air that has an air-mass almost directly linear to the associated
actuation time during the first-
intake-process.
The reenergize-buffer-turbine 1459 is a set of free-spinning turbine-fins
which will keep the airflow
22 speed constant during the actuation time of each reenergize-air-injector
1477, thereby injecting an
heated high-boost-air that has an air-mass almost directly linear to the
associated actuation time
24 during the second-intake-process.
26 Each hot-mini-buffer 1457 is installed near the associated reenergize-air-
injector 1477 for buffering
an adequate amount of heated high-boost-air, thereby preventing the flow
resistance of the air-
28 passages from affecting the performance of the associated reenergize-air-
injector 1477 in a heavy
load operation.
Each cold-expansion-chamber 1420 will perform in a Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, which
32 consists of a first-intake-process, a hot-combustion-process, a fuel-
cooling-process, a second-intake-
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process, a cold-expansion-process, and an active-exhaust-process; wherein the
fuel-cooling-process
2 may be disabled in a light load operation or an engine idling operation.
4 The fourteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 14 operates on the same principles
as the other previously
mentioned embodiments of MCES; wherein the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle
operated in each
6 cold-expansion-chamber 1420 is basically explained by Process Chart.l-3;
whereas if a chamber-
wall-port is used together with the active-exhaust-valve 1429 for further
increasing the energy
8 efficiency (as shown in FIG.16 with a combined exhaust means), Process
Chart.4-5 are adequate to
demonstrate the possible process variations of the Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle.
Now referring to FIG.15A and FIG.15B for the fifteenth embodiment, which
presents one of the
12 best mode of the MCES specialized for the power generation purpose, wherein
the MCES includes a
large set of cold-expansion-chambers (such as a set of 12-chambers or 24-
chambers, wherein this
14 embodiment only shows a set of 5 cold-expansion-chambers for the
demonstration purpose), a
generator, an inverter-system, a heat-transfer-catalytic-converter, air-
compression means, flow-
16 regulators and sensor means for operating a highly-efficient Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle.
18 FIG.15A is the schematic view of the MCES, showing the airflow distribution
and the energy
distribution between each components of the MCES.
FIG.15B is the schematic view of the components associated with a set of 5
cold-expansion-
22 chambers; wherein said 5 cold-expansion-chambers are labeled as 1530a-
1530e.
24 The components of FIG.15A are labeled as the primary-compressor 1511, the
secondary-compressor
1521, the cold-buffer 1515, the reenergize-buffer 1525, the turbo-compressor
1520, the turbo-
26 turbine 1590, the cold-expansion-chamber set 1530, the heat-transfer-
catalytic-converter 1580, the
inverter-system 1560, the generator 1540, and the power-output 1570.
28
The primary-compressor 1511 is driven by an electrical motor to operate at a
controlled speed, such
that the operation pressure of the cold-buffer 1515 is sustained at a constant
pressure within the
range of 4-25 bar.
32
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The turbo-compressor 1520 is driven by the turbo-turbine 1590 to produce a low-
boost-air to the
2 secondary-compressor 1521.
4 The secondary-compressor 1521 is driven by an electrical motor to operate at
a controlled speed,
such that the operation pressure of the reenergize-buffer 1525 is sustained at
a constant pressure
6 within the range of 4-30 bar.
8 The cold-buffer 1515 will buffer a cooled high-boost-air, which is supplied
in to the cold-air-
injection means of the cold-expansion-chamber set 1530 for performing the
first-intake-process of
10 Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle; wherein the cold-buffer 1515 may include a
cooling means for
dissipating the high-boost-air buffered in the cold-buffer 1515.
12
The reenergize-buffer 1525 will buffer a heated high-boost-air, which is
supplied into the
14 reenergize-air-injection means of the cold-expansion-chamber set 1530 for
performing the second-
intake-process of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle; wherein the reenergize-buffer
1525 receives the
16 heat energy transferred from the heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 1580 to
heat up the high-boost-air
buffered in the reenergize-buffer 1525.
18
The heat-transfer-catalytic-converter 1580 receives a flow of cold-expansion-
medium expelled from
20 the cold-expansion-chamber set 1530; wherein the heat energy of the
expelled cold-expansion-
medium is transferred to the reenergize-buffer 1525.
22
The cold-expansion-chamber set 1530 includes at least two cold-expansion-
chambers; wherein the
24 cooled high-boost-air is injected into each cold-expansion-chamber during
its associated first-intake-
process (FIP); the heated high-boost-air is injected into each cold-expansion-
chamber during its
26 associated second-intake-process (SIP); a flow of cold-expansion-medium is
expelled from each
cold-expansion-chamber during its associated active-exhaust-process (AEP); the
mechanical power
28 produced during the operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle is harvested
by the generator 1540.
30 The generator 1540 produces electricity to the inverter system 1560 and the
power-output 1570.
32 The inverter-system 1560 will power the electrical motor of the primary-
compressor 1511 and the
electrical motor of the secondary-compressor 1521.
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2 The power-management-unit of the MCES will control the operation speed of
the electrical motor of
the primary-compressor 1511 by adjusting the electrical power output from the
inverter-system 1560,
4 thereby regulating an operation pressure of the cold-buffer 1515 for the
best overall energy
efficiency, wherein the power-management-unit may include a buffer-sensor
installed in the cold-
6 buffer 1515 to monitor the airflow data (pressure/flow mass/temperature)
therein.
8 The power-management-unit of the MCES will control the operation speed of
the electrical motor of
the secondary-compressor 1525 by adjusting the electrical power output from
the inverter-system
1560, thereby regulating an operation pressure of the reenergize-buffer 1525
for the best overall
energy efficiency, wherein the power-management-unit may include a buffer
sensor installed in the
12 reenergize-buffer 1525 to monitor the airflow data (pressure/flow
mass/temperature) therein.
14 Now referring to FIG.15B for the sensor means and the flow regulators
associated with the power-
management-unit of the MCES.
16
FIG.15B shows a set of 5 cold-expansion-chambers which are labeled as 1530a,
1530b, 1530c,
18 1530d and 1530e.
The components associated with the first-intake-process include the primary-
compressor 1511, the
cold-buffer 1515, one first-regulator (FR) for adjusting the airflow from the
cold-buffer 1515 to
22 each cold-expansion-chamber, and one first-airflow-sensor (FAS) for
monitoring the airflow data
from the cold-buffer 1515 to each cold-expansion-chamber.
24
Each first-airflow-sensor (FAS) reports the airflow data of the associated air-
passage to the power-
26 management-unit, so that the power-management-unit can adjust the airflow
speed of the associated
air-passage by the correspondent first-regulator (FR) to prevent an uneven
airflow distribution
28 caused by the flow resistance or other factors during the operation of the
MCES.
The first-regulator (FR) is a normally-open airflow regulator, which is used
to ensure an evenly
distribution of the cooled high-boost-air to each cold-expansion-chamber of
the cold-expansion-
32 chamber set 1530 during its associated first-intake-process.
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The components associated with the second-intake-process include the secondary-
compressor 1521,
2 the reenergize-buffer 1525, one second-regulator (SR) for adjusting the
airflow from the reenergize-
buffer 1525 to each cold-expansion-chamber, and one second-airflow-sensor
(SAS) for monitoring
4 the airflow from the reenergize-buffer 1525 to each cold-expansion-chamber.
6 Each second-airflow-sensor (SAS) reports the airflow data of the associated
air-passage to the
power-management-unit, so that the power-management-unit can adjust the
airflow speed of the
8 associated air-passage by the correspondent second-regulator (SR) to prevent
an uneven airflow
distribution caused by the flow resistance or other factors during the
operation of the MCES.
The second-regulator (SR) is a normally-open airflow regulator, which is used
to ensure an evenly
12 distribution of the heated high-boost-air to each cold-expansion-chamber of
the cold-expansion-
chamber set 1530 during its associated first-intake-process.
14
The cold-buffer 1515 includes a buffer-temperature-sensor (BTS) and a buffer-
pressure-sensor
16 (BPS), which report the airflow data to the power-management-unit.
18 The reenergize-buffer 1525 includes a buffer-temperature-sensor (BTS) and a
buffer-pressure-
sensor (BPS), which report the airflow data to the power-management-unit.
Each cold-expansion-chamber (1530a-1530e) includes a chamber-temperature-
sensor (CTS) and a
22 surge-pressure-sensor (SPS), which reports the combustion condition to the
power-management-unit.
24 Each chamber-temperature-sensor (CTS) reports the average temperature of
the associated cold-
expansion-chamber; this is an indication of the heat loss rate of that cold-
expansion-chamber, the
26 power-management-unit takes in this data to compute if the injected air-
mass of the second-intake-
process requires adjustment or the process durations of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle requires
28 adjustment to lower the heat loss rate for the best energy efficiency.
Each surge-pressure-sensor (SPS) reports the surge pressure of the associated
cold-expansion-
chamber; this indicates if the hot-combustion-process is initiated with an air-
fuel-mixture of the
32 designated ratio set by the power-management-unit; for the best energy
efficiency, the air-fuel-
mixture taken in during the first-intake-process should be at a ratio equal to
the stoichiometric ratio
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or lower than the stoichimoetric ratio, so that the reaction energy of the
injected fuel is released at a
2 controlled speed and combustion temperature; whereas a particular high surge
pressure is an
indication that the hot-combustion-process releases the reaction energy too
fast and causes excessive
4 heat loss, therefore, the power-management-unit will then adjust the
injected fuel-mass and the
injected air-mass of the first-intake-process for better energy efficiency.
6
Each exhaust-air-passage of the cold-expansion-chamber (1530a-1530e) includes
an oxygen-sensor
8 (OS) and an exhaust-temperature-sensor (ETS), which reports the data of the
expelled cold-
expansion-medium to the power-management-unit.
Each oxygen-sensor (OS) reports the oxygen-gas concentration in the expelled
cold-expansion-
12 medium from the associated cold-expansion-chamber, which is an indication
that if the cold-
expansion-process is performed in an oxygen-rich condition; wherein, for the
best expansion
14 efficiency during the cold-expansion-process, an adequate amount of heated
high-boost-air should
be introduced into the cold-expansion-chamber to accelerate the conversion of
carbon-monoxide-gas
16 to carbon-dioxide-gas; in other words, the cold-expansion-medium expelled
from the associated
cold-expansion-chamber should always have a high oxygen concentration
regardless of the engine
18 load condition or the power output condition.
If the oxygen-sensor (OS) reports a particular low oxygen concentration for
that particular operation
condition, the power-management-unit will need to adjust the mass ratio
between the injected air-
22 mass of the first-intake-process and the injected air-mass of the second-
intake-process, or the power-
management-unit will need to adjust the amount of the injected fuel in the
fuel-cooling-process,
24 thereby ensuring a cold-expansion-medium is expanding in an oxygen-rich
condition for said
accelerated conversion.
26
Each exhaust-temperature-sensor (ETS) reports the temperature of the expelled
cold-expansion-
28 medium from the associated cold-expansion-chamber, which is an indication
that if the cold-
expansion-medium is expanding within the temperature range (400-1100 degree
Celsius) for said
accelerated conversion.
32 By taking in the data from abovementioned sensor means, the power-
management-unit of the MCES
adjust the operation speed of the primary-compressor, the operation speed of
the second-compressor,
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the actuation time of the cold-air-injection means of each cold-expansion-
chamber, the actuation
2 time of the reenergize-air-injection means of each cold-expansion-chamber,
the first-regulator (FR)
of each cold-expansion-chamber, the second-regulator (SR) of each cold-
expansion-chamber, the
4 electrical power distributed to the inverter-system 1560, and the electrical
power distributed from
the generator 1540 to the power-output 1570, thereby ensuring a highly-
efficient operation of
6 Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
8 The fifteenth embodiment shown by FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B operates on the same
principles as the
other previously mentioned embodiments of MCES; wherein said at least two cold-
expansion-
chambers of said cold-expansion-chamber set 1530 can employ the active-exhaust-
valves or the
chamber-wall-ports or a combination of said two exhaust means to expel the
cold-expansion-
12 medium; wherein Process Chart. I -11 are the reference on how to configure
a Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle for any particular applications range from high-rpm light-duty
applications to low-
14 rpm heavy-duty applications.
16 Now referring to FIG.1A-1F again for additional details of each process of
Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle:
18
The first-intake-process as shown in FIG. IA is the process to supply an air-
fuel-mixture into a cold-
expansion-chamber, wherein this process may be performed within the range of
210 degree to 360
degree of crankshaft reference angle for high-rpm applications, whereas this
process may be
22 performed within the range of 330 degree to 360 degree of crankshaft
reference angle for the low-
rpm applications.
24
At the end of the first-intake-process, the air-fuel-mixture can be at a
pressure lower than the
26 operation pressure of the cold-buffer in a light load operation; whereas
the air-fuel-mixture can be at
a pressure higher than the operation pressure of the cold-buffer in the heavy
load operation.
28
The hot-combustion-process as shown in FIG.1 B is the process to ignite an air-
fuel-mixture with the
spark-plugs or other available spark-ignition means, thereby forming a hot-
combustion-medium to
expand in the cold-expansion-chamber; wherein this process may be performed
within the range of
32 325 degree (35 degree before TDC) to 60 degree of crankshaft reference
angle; as for the low-rpm
power generation applications, it is more preferable to trigger the spark-
ignition at a crankshaft
CA 02699647 2010-04-12
reference angle near TDC (such as 10 degree BTDC to 10 degree ATDC) for the
best efficiency; as
2 for the high-rpm general applications, the spark-ignition has to be
triggered at an earlier crankshaft
reference angle (such as 35 degree BTDC to 5 degree BTDC) due to the burning
speed of the air-
4 fuel-mixture.
6 The spark-ignition can be initiated in the range of 35 degree BTDC to 45
degree ATDC to perform a
Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle, however, the first-intake-process should be
completed before the
8 top-dead-centre of the associated piston (0 degree of crankshaft reference
angle).
10 The fuel-cooling-process as shown in FIG.1 C is the process to reduce the
temperature of the hot-
combustion-medium by the vaporization process of a second fuel-injection, and
this process should
12 start only after most of the oxygen-gas content of the hot-combustion-
medium is combusted into a
carbon-monoxide-gas, so that the second fuel-injection will not cause
temperature surge within the
14 hot-combustion-medium because the injected fuel of this process is
vaporized into a fuel-gas,
instead of causing further combustion; wherein the process should be performed
in the range of 15
16 degree to 50 degree of crankshaft reference angle.
18 The fuel-cooling-process may also be disabled if necessary, the reason for
disabling this process can
be that the MCES is operating in a light load operation or a engine idling
operation, therefore the
20 fuel-cooling-process is disabled to save fuel consumption; another reason
for disabling this process
can be that the MCES is operating in a high-rpm operation that the equipped
fuel-injection means is
22 not capable of injecting a precisely controlled amount of fuel within the
designated actuation time,
therefore the fuel-cooling-process is disabled in a high-rpm operation to
prevent the air-pollution or
24 a loss in the energy efficiency.
26 Process Chart.4 provides an example of a simplified Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, wherein the
fuel-cooling-process is disabled; it should be noted that, in a operation that
the fuel-cooling-process
28 is disabled, the second-intake-process is started only after the average
pressure of the hot-
combustion-medium has decreased to lower than the operation pressure of the
reenergize-buffer.
A simplified Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle will operate in the following order:
the first-intake-
32 process, the hot-combustion-process, the second-intake-process, the cold-
expansion-process, and the
active-exhaust-process (exhaust-process).
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2 The second-intake-process as shown in FIG.1D is the process to inject a
heated high-boost-air to
mix with the hot-combustion-medium after the average pressure of the hot-
combustion-medium has
4 decreased to lower than the operation pressure of the reenergize-buffer;
wherein this process may be
performed within the range of 30 degree to 105 degree of crankshaft reference
angle.
6
The temperature of the hot-combustion-medium will be reduced by 30%-80% by the
end of the
8 second-intake-process, wherein the injected air-mass of the second-intake-
process may range from
50% to 350% of the injected air-mass of the first-intake-process.
The power-management-unit of the MCES is preferably to adjust the operation
pressure of the
12 reenergize-buffer and the actuation time of the reenergize-air-injector,
such that this second-intake-
process is completed at the earliest possible crankshaft reference angle with
a injection of adequate
14 amount of heated high-boost-air; wherein, by setting a higher operation
pressure of the reenergize-
buffer will enable the reenergize-air-injector to perform the second-intake-
process at an earlier
16 crankshaft reference angle, however the power-management-unit should also
take in the
compression efficiency of the air-compression means into account for adjusting
the operation
18 pressure, so that the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle will not lose energy
efficiency due to an
excessive workload on the air-compression means.
For a MCES configuring with a low-pressure air-buffer-system, the second-
intake-process may take
22 up to 60 degree of crankshaft rotation to complete, since it takes a longer
time for the reenergize-air-
injector to finish injecting the designated amount of heated high-boost-air
for the best energy
24 efficiency.
26 The second-intake-process is preferably performed with a specialized
reenergize-air-injector capable
of high-speed operation and precise airflow control, so that the second-intake-
process can be
28 completed in the shortest time possible with the designated amount of
heated high-boost-air; it
should be noted that, if a insufficient amount of heated high-boost-air is
injected, it will delay
conversion of the carbon-monoxide-gas to the carbon-dioxide-gas, thereby
significantly lowering
the energy efficiency of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle.
32
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The cold-expansion-process as shown in FIG.1 E is the process to produce power
with the cold-
2 expansion-medium after the completion of the second-intake-process; wherein
this process may be
performed within the range of 45 degree 180 degree of crankshaft reference
angle.
4
The power-management-unit will control components of the MCES in such a way
that, the cold-
6 expansion-medium is always expanding in an oxygen-rich low-temperature
condition regardless of
the engine load condition; wherein the oxygen-gas concentration in the cold-
expansion-medium will
8 be high enough that the almost all the carbon-monoxide-gas is converted into
the carbon-dioxide-gas
before the completion of the cold-expansion-process, thereby transforming as
much the reaction
energy of the fuel as possible into a expansion force to generate power in the
cold-expansion-
process; at the same time, the heat current conducting from the cold-expansion-
chamber into the
12 engine cooling system is minimized, since the temperature of the cold-
expansion-medium is
regulated within the range of 400-1100 degree Celsius.
14
In a light load operation or a medium load operation, the expansion
temperature of cold-expansion-
16 medium will be about 400-700 degree Celsius during the cold-expansion-
process; in the contrast,
the conventional engine will generally have an expansion temperature about
1200-1600 degree
18 Celsius during the entire power-stroke.
In a heavy load operation, the expansion temperature of cold-expansion-medium
will be about 700-
1100 degree Celsius during the cold-expansion-process; in the contrast, the
conventional engine will
22 generally have an expansion temperature about 1600-1800 degree Celsius
during the entire power-
stroke.
24
The active-exhaust-process (or the exhaust-process) as shown in FIG. IF is the
process to expel the
26 cold-expansion-medium out of the cold-expansion-chamber with the exhaust-
means; wherein, this
process may be performed in the range from 120 degree to 345 degree of
crankshaft reference angle
28 depending on the applications and the types of the exhaust-means.
For an exhaust-process that uses only the chamber-wall-port to expel the cold-
expansion-medium,
the chamber-wall-port will generally configured in such a way that, the
exhaust-process is
32 performed within the range of 105 degree to 225 degree of crankshaft
reference angle.
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For a combined-exhaust-process that utilize both the chamber-wall-port and the
active-exhaust-
2 valves as the exhaust means to expel the cold-expansion-medium, the chamber-
wall-port may expel
the cold-expansion-medium within the range of 105 degree to 225 degree of
crankshaft reference
4 angle, in the same cycle the active-exhaust-valve may expel the cold-
expansion-medium within the
range of 180 degree to 330 degree of crankshaft reference angle.
6
Now referring to FIG.16 for a cold-expansion-chamber 1620 specialized for the
operation of
8 Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle, which utilizes a combination of the active-
exhaust-valve 1629 and
the chamber-wall-port 1628 for performing the combined-exhaust-process of
Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle; an exemplary control method is provided as follows:
12 The components are labeled as the cold-expansion-chamber 1620, the chamber-
wall-port 1628, the
active-exhaust-valve 1629, the spark-plug 1680, the cold-air-injector 1672,
the reenergize-air-
14 injector 1677, the fuel-injector 1670, the piston 1622, and the crankshaft
1600.
16 In a light load operation of the MCES, the active-exhaust-valve 1629 is
shut during the entire cycle
of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle, so the cold-expansion-medium will flow out of
the cold-
18 expansion-chamber from 135 degree to 225 degree of crankshaft reference
angle; therefore a portion
of the cold-expansion-medium is remained in the cold-expansion-chamber 1620 by
the end of the
combined-exhaust-process, and the remained cold-expansion-medium will be mixed
with the cooled
high-boost-air of the next first-intake-process.
22
In a heavy load operation of the MCES, the active-exhaust-valve 1629 will open
from about 180
24 degree to 300 degree of crankshaft reference angle, therefore the cold-
expansion-medium is expelled
through the chamber-wall-port 1628 from 135 degree to 225 degree of crankshaft
reference angle,
26 while the cold-expansion-medium is also expelling through the active-
exhaust-valve 1629 from 180
degree to 300 degree of crankshaft reference angle, thereby the cold-expansion-
medium is expelled
28 with a minimized pumping loss and the cooled high-boost-air can be
completely filled into the cold-
expansion-chamber 1620 for the next first-intake-process to produce a high
power output.
In the abovementioned two operations of the MCES, the pumping loss of the
combined-exhaust-
32 process is minimized for a better energy efficiency.
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Now referring to FIG.17 for another specialized cold-expansion-chamber 1720
for the operation of
2 Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle, wherein the cold-expansion-chamber consists of
multiple chamber-
wall-ports and multiple reenergize-air-injectors for further reducing the heat-
loss and the pumping-
4 loss.
6 The components are labeled as the cold-expansion-chamber 1720, the chamber-
wall-ports 1728, the
spark-plug 1780, the cold-air-injector 1772, the reenergize-air-injectors
1777, the fuel-injector 1770,
8 the piston 1722, and the crankshaft 1700.
During the cold-expansion-process, the reenergize-air-injectors 1777 will
inject the heated high-
boost-air at multiple points, which increases the airflow speed and shorten
the time required for the
12 second-intake-process, and the hot-combustion-medium will be cooled at a
faster rate.
14 During the exhaust-process, the cold-expansion-medium is expelled out
through the chamber-wall-
ports in multiple directions.
16
The embodiments shown from FIG.1 to FIG. 15 may interchange the components to
develop further
18 advanced embodiment, wherein Process Chart. 1-11 may serve as references to
configure a MCES
for any particular applications range from the high-rpm light-duty application
to the low-rpm heavy-
duty application:
22 The abbreviations used in the process charts are:
First-Intake-Process: FIP
24 Second-Intake-Process: SIP
Hot-Combustion-Process: HCP
26 Fuel-Cooling-Process: FCP
Cold-Expansion-Process: CEP
28 Active-Exhaust-Process: AEP
Exhaust-Process: EP
Spark-Ignition: SI
Top-Dead-Centre: TDC
32 Bottom-Dead-Centre: BDC
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Process Chart.1 to Process Chart.3 demonstrate the change in the process
duration that may be
2 required to set a MCES for a high-rpm application; wherein the second-intake-
process is shifted due
to the different actuation time of the reenergize-air-injectors, as the
reenergize-air-injector can only
4 be initiated at a time that the average pressure of the hot-combustion-
medium has decreased to lower
than the operation pressure of the reenergize-buffer.
6
Process Chart.4 demonstrates a Simplified Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle with
chamber-wall-port,
8 this chart can be used as a reference for the MCES utilizing a chamber-wall-
port without the fuel-
cooling-process.
Process Chart.5 demonstrates a Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle with chamber-wall-
port, this chart
12 can be used as a reference for the MCES utilizing a chamber-wall-port.
14 Process Chart.6 demonstrates a light load operation of Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle, this chart can
be used as a reference for the low-rpm heavy duty MCES; wherein, it can be
noted that the first-
16 intake-process is relatively close to the TDC position, while most of the
cold-expansion-medium is
expelled out of the cold-expansion-chamber due to the late closing of the
active-exhaust-valve.
18
Process Chart.7 demonstrates a medium load operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, this chart
can be used as a reference for the low-rpm heavy duty MCES; wherein, it can be
noted that the
closing timing of the active-exhaust-valve is overlapping with the cold-air-
injectors to expel out all
22 the cold-expansion-medium; this cause the cold-expansion-medium to be
pushed out by the cooled
high-boost-air at the beginning of the first-intake-process.
24
Process Chart.8 demonstrates a heavy load operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion
Cycle, this chart
26 can be used as a reference for the low-rpm heavy duty MCES; wherein, it can
be noted that the cold-
air-injector is opened from an earlier crankshaft reference angle, and the
active-exhaust-valve is
28 closed at an earlier crankshaft reference angle, thereby filling in more
fresh cooled high-boost-air to
produce a higher power output.
Process Chart.9 demonstrates an operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle with
the spark-ignition
32 delayed to after the top-dead-centre; wherein it can be noted that the cold-
air-injector finishes the
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air-injection of the first-intake-process before the top-dead-centre of the
piston, and the spark-
2 ignition is performed after the top-dead-centre.
4 Process Chart. 10 demonstrates an operation of Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle
for the MCES that
utilize a low-pressure type air-buffer-system; wherein, it can be noted that
the first-intake-process
6 has to be started relatively earlier due to low airflow speed of the cold-
air-injector, the second-
intake-process is also taking relatively longer to complete than other MCES
configuration due to the
8 low airflow speed of the reenergize-air-injector.
Process Chart. 1 l demonstrates an operation of the simplified Mackay Cold-
Expansion Cycle for the
MCES that utilize a low-pressure type air-buffer-system and disables the fuel-
cooling-process.
12
To summarize the concept and the effects of the Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle,
the MCES will
14 operate with an extremely low heat loss, which is about 7%-15% of the total
fuel energy, wherein
the temperature of the exhaust-gas will also reduce by more than 50% in
comparison with the
16 conventional engine, and the most significant difference is that the MCES
performs the earlier
portion of the power-stroke in a stoic (or rich-burn) condition, and performs
the later portion of the
18 power-stroke in a low-temperature oxygen-rich condition that allows the
oxygen-gas to react
spontaneously with the carbon-monoxide-gas to produce more expansion force; in
the contrast, a
large portion of the fuel energy is dissipated in the catalytic converter and
the exhaust tailpipe of the
conventional engine.
22
As a supplementary note, Mackay Cold-Expansion Cycle is capable of operating
with multiple fuel
24 sources; as in the example shown in the sixth embodiment, the first-intake-
process can supply an
air-fuel-mixture consisting of gasoline, and the fuel-cooling-process can
inject a fuel of diesel or
26 natural gas or other combustible fuel with lower octane.
28 The fuel source of a MCES can be gasoline, natural gas, CNG, ethanol,
hydrogen, diesel, or any
other types of spark-combustible fuel.
The operation pressure of the reenergize-buffer may be adjusted to a higher
pressure, thereby
32 increase the airflow speed and initiate the second-intake-process at an
earlier crankshaft reference
angle in a heavier load operation; it should be noted that this operation
pressure should be constant
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during the entire actuation-time of the reenergize-air-injectors but this
operation pressure may be set
2 higher a smoother operation of the second-intake-process, an example is
provided as follows:
4 In a light load operation of the MCES, the power-management-unit sets the
operation pressure of the
reenergize-buffer at 8 bar, therefore, during the actuation time of the
reenergize-air-injector from 30
6 degree to 40 degree of crankshaft reference angle, the pressure in the
reenergize-buffer is maintained
at 8 bar in the entire duration of the second-intake-process.
8
In a heavy load operation of the MCES, the power-management-unit sets the
operation pressure of
the reenergize-buffer at 12 bar, therefore, during the actuation time of the
reenergize-air-injector
from 45 degree to 55 degree of crankshaft reference angle, the pressure in the
reenergize-buffer is
12 maintained at 12 bar in the entire duration of the second-intake-process;
this also increases the
airflow speed to enable the reenergize-air-injector to inject more heated high-
boost-air in the heavy
14 load operation.
16 The computation circuit of the power-management-unit may take in the
parameters such as the
compression efficiency of said air-compressor means, the crankshaft rpm, the
spark-ignition timing,
18 the oxygen-gas concentration of the expelled cold-expansion-medium, the
airflow data
(pressure/airflow-volume/temperature) of the expelled cold-expansion-medium,
the airflow data
(pressure/temperature) of the reenergize-buffer, the surge-pressure data
(surge pressure during the
entire down-stroke), and the chamber temperature data (an indication of the
heat-loss), thereby
22 configuring the component settings of the MCES for the optimal energy
efficiency.
24 The air-compression means of the MCES may be a scroll-type air-compressor,
a screw-type air-
compressor, a rotary-type air-compressor, a piston-type air-compressor, a vane-
type air-compressor,
26 an axial-turbine type air-compressor, or a centrifugal-turbine type air-
compressor; wherein air-
compression means requires to be operate at a controlled speed requested by
the power-
28 management-unit of the MCES to sustain the operation pressures in the air-
buffer-system; wherein
said air-compression means can be powered by a transmission coupled to the
crankshaft of the cold-
expansion-chamber or powered by an electrical motor and an inverter-system.
