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Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation

Aerodyne Research, Inc.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Jack L Kerrebrock

Jeremy Scott Hollman

David B Stickler

James Charles Sisco

Alan H Epstein

Jean-Charles Lede

A combustion system for performing stable combustion and flame stabilization at high altitudes is described. A primary liquid hydrocarbon fuel is atomized and vaporized within the main combustor chamber to produce a primary fuel vapor. When the combustion system operates at a high altitude, a secondary gaseous fuel is fed into the inlet air port such that the secondary fuel mixes with air, thereby enabling the mixture of the air and the secondary fuel to combust in a catalytic reactor to produce high temperature, oxygen-rich gases that flow into the main combustor chamber. Proper proportional amounts of the two fuels are determined as a function of altitude.

High altitude combustion system

An engine for use in operating an aircraft is disclosed, the engine comprising a decomposition chamber configured to decompose into at least one combustible constituent element a first chemically unstable substance in the presence of a catalyst, wherein the decomposition of the first chemically unstable substance releases a first amount of heat; a first turbine configured to accept the constituent elements and the first amount of heat from the decomposition chamber and thereby rotate; a compressor rotationally connected to the first turbine, and configured to compress air when the first turbine rotates; and a combustion chamber configured to accept the compressed air and constituent elements and combust the combination, substantially regardless of an altitude above sea level and ambient air pressure, and output the combustion products into a power turbine, causing it to rotate, whereby the rotation of the first turbine and/or the power turbine rotate a propeller rotationally coupled to the first and power turbines. Alternately, a nozzle can be used in place of the power turbine, thereby creating a jet engine.

Hydrazine monopropellant decomposition air turboprop engine

A piston/cylinder internal combustion unit has opposed pistons connected to a common rod and driven in an oscillatory and reciprocating movement. The pistons operate out of phase with each other, such that the power stroke of one drives the compression stroke of the other, and a spring acts on the rod storing energy or exerting a restorative force as the rod is displaced with piston movement. Preferably, the moving rod carries a coil assembly near a stationary magnet (or a magnet near a stationary coil assembly) to produce electricity at the oscillatory frequency. The engine may employ a mechanical spring, an electromagnetic or a magnetic spring, or combinations thereof to stabilize or establish oscillation of the piston and rod assembly. The coil itself may fill this function and act to exert restoring force by coupling to an external control system that applies a control a signal to the coil in accordance with piston position to create an electromagnetic restoring force of appropriate level. The piston rod may couple to a first coil that acts as a spring, and a second coil that functions as an alternator to generate power. By driving the pistons in opposite phase, or by providing a magnetic/electromagnetic spring mechanism, a higher constant k is achieved, raising the frequency of oscillation and increasing power output of the engine.

Opposed piston linearly oscillating power unit

A radial flow engine has at least one rotor with an internal cavity that includes a vaporization section and a condensation section. The condensation section is disposed radially inward toward the shaft and the vaporization section extends radially outward adjacent to the surface of the rotor blade. The vaporization section includes a series of pockets for dispersing the cooling fluid within each blade, and a cascaded series of capture protrusions to distribute the liquid coolant to the successive radially-arrayed pockets. A working system includes a centrifugal compressor which feeds a compressed air fuel mixture to an annular combustion chamber that, in turn, feeds the combustion gases along a radial direction to impinge on the surface of the cooled radial flow rotor. Optionally, the system is a regenerative system including a heat exchange sub-assembly which couples heat from the exhaust stream to a position between the compressor and combustion chamber. The invention also includes a compressor, or a turbine, or both a compressor and a turbine with a rotor cooled by internal vaporization and condensation of a recirculating medium, and systems wherein such a cooled compressor and cooled turbine assembly operate together, either as a stand-alone engine or combustion system, or as a core engine between other input and output stages. The core engine may be retrofitted to improve the efficiency or increase the power of an existing plant.

Turbine or system with internal evaporative blade cooling

A radial flow turbine has a rotor with an internal cavity that includes a vaporization section and a condensation section. The condensation section is disposed radially inward toward the shaft and the vaporization section extends radially outward adjacent to the surface of the rotor blade. The vaporization section includes a series of pockets for dispersing the cooling fluid within each blade, and a cascaded series of capture protrusions to distribute the liquid coolant to the successive radially-arrayed pockets. A working system includes a centrifugal compressor which feeds a compressed air fuel mixture to an annular combustion chamber that, in turn, feeds the combustion gases along a radial direction to impinge on the surface of the cooled radial flow rotor. Optionally, the system is a regenerative system including a heat exchange sub-assembly which couples heat from the exhaust stream to a position between the compressor and combustion chamber.

Radial flow turbine with internal evaporative blade cooling

An evaporatively cooled rotor for a gas turbine engine. Each rotor defines an internal cavity which includes a vaporization section that corresponds generally to the blade section of the rotor and a condensing section that corresponds generally to the hub section of the rotor. A radial array of circumferentially disposed capture shelves is provided in the vaporization section for capturing cooling fluid contained within the internal cavity and flowing radially outward under the centrifugal field generated during rotation of the rotor. A barrier disposed along the inner surface of the rotor wall in the condensing section slows or temporarily stops the flow of cooling fluid prior to reaching the vaporization section and a perforated baffle attached to the capture shelves prevents cooling fluid from splashing out of the shelves.

Evaporatively cooled rotor for a gas turbine engine

Improved performance of counter-rotating turbo machines and compressors. An increase in the thermodynamic efficiency of the compression process is obtained by removing the boundary layer in locations where separation is likely to occur.

Counter-rotating compressors with control of boundary layers by fluid

An evaporatively cooled internal combustion engine includes a compressor, a combustion chamber and a turbine for transmitting work performed by the rapid expansion of combusted working fluid. The turbine includes an arrangement of stators and rotors. Each of the rotors defines an internal cavity which includes a vaporization section which corresponds roughly to the rotor blade and a condensing section which corresponds roughly to the rotor disc. A radial array of circumferentially disposed capture shelves is provided in the vaporization section for capturing cooling fluid contained within the internal cavity and flowing radially outwardly in a centrifugal field generated during rotation of the rotor. The capture shelves restrict the flow of the cooling fluid to distribute the fluid over the inner surface of the rotor in the vaporization section.

Evaporatively cooled internal combustion engine

An engine in which the compression and expansion functions are separated to enable: higher efficiency by eliminating inlet throttling, providing stable lean combustion of premixed or injected fuel, by allowing more complete expansion and reduced heat transfer during both compression and expansion; wide fuel compatibility by elimination of detonation and autoignition requirements of spark ignition engines and Diesel engines; lower emissions achieved in combustion of uniform fuel-air mixtures by mixing into hot recompressed combustion products.

Growing community of inventors

Lincoln, MA, United States of America

Jack L Kerrebrock