External heat engine of the rotary vane type and compressor/expander

Abstract

A heat engine of the rotary vane type and thermodynamic cycle is disclosed. The engine converts thermal energy contained within relatively low temperature hot gasses into mechanical energy. The engine operates by expanding a hot gas to a sub-atmospheric pressure, cooling the gas at a roughly constant volume and then cooling the gas further while compressing it back to atmospheric pressure. Possible sources of hot gasses for powering the engine include exhaust gasses from other engines and air heated by solar collectors. A novel compressor and expander comprised of the primary components of the engine is also disclosed.

1 . A heat engine comprising:
 a housing enclosing a cavity, said housing having an inner and outer wall surface;   a rotatable rotor mounted within the cavity of said housing;   a plurality of slots contained within said rotor;   a plurality of sliding vanes mounted within said slots extending outwards towards the inner surface of said housing;   a plurality of variable volume gas chambers defined by the regions between said rotor, said sliding vanes and said housing;   an inlet port wherein a high temperature working gas enters said variable volume gas chambers moving past said inlet port;   an expansion section in fluid communication with said inlet port wherein said vanes moving through said expansion section slide outwards away from said rotor increasing the volume and decreasing the pressure of the gas within said section;   a compression section in fluid communication with said expansion section wherein said vanes moving through said compression section slide inwards toward said rotor decreasing the volume and increasing the pressure of the gas within said section;   a means for injecting a cooling liquid into said working gas moving through said compression section of said engine;   an outlet port in fluid communication with said compression section wherein said working gas and said cooling liquid injected into said working are expelled from said engine;   a means for transferring mechanical energy from the spinning rotor to an external apparatus.   
   
   
       2 . An engine according to  claim 1  having cooling liquid passageways within the walls of said housing wherein cooling liquid is injected in said engine. 
   
   
       3 . An engine according to  claim 1  having cooling liquid pumped through said rotor and into said engine through nozzles located on said rotor. 
   
   
       4 . An engine according to  claim 1  wherein each vane is connected to another vane on the opposite side of said rotor by a connecting linkage wherein each connecting linkage is offset from the other connecting linkages through a distance parallel to said rotors axis of rotation. 
   
   
       5 . An engine according to  claim 1  having a means to change the size of the inlet port. 
   
   
       6 . An engine according to  claim 1  having a means to change the size of the outlet port. 
   
   
       7 . An engine according to  claim 1  wherein a lubricant is injected into said engine along with said cooling liquid. 
   
   
       8 . An engine according to  claim 1  wherein the cooling liquid contains a solution capable of absorbing pollutants from said working gas. 
   
   
       9 . An engine according to  claim 1  having a section in between said expansion and said compression sections wherein said variable volume gas chambers moving through said section maintain a generally constant volume. 
   
   
       10 . An engine according to  claim 1  having a plurality of friction reducing roller means at the tips of said engine vanes in contact with the inner wall of said housing. 
   
   
       11 . An engine according to  claim 1  having a plurality of floating seals at the tips of said engine vanes making contact with the inner wall of said housing. 
   
   
       12 . A machine for changing the volume of a gas comprising:
 a housing enclosing a cavity, said housing having an inner and outer wall surface;   a rotatable rotor eccentrically mounted within the cavity of said housing;   a plurality of slots contained within said rotor;   at least four sliding vanes mounted within said slots extending outwards towards the inner surface of said housing wherein each of said vanes is connected to another vane on the opposite side of said rotor by a connecting linkage wherein each connecting linkage is offset from the other connecting linkages by a distance parallel to the axis of rotation of said rotor;   a plurality of variable volume gas chambers defined by the regions between said rotor, said sliding vanes and said housing;   a relatively large port wherein a gas enters said variable volume gas chambers moving past said relatively large port when said machine is being used to decrease the volume of a gas and wherein a gas leaves said variable volume gas chambers moving past said relatively large port when said machine is being used to increase the volume of a gas;   a relatively small port wherein a gas enters said variable volume gas chambers moving past said relatively small port when said machine is being used to increase the volume of a gas and wherein a gas leaves said variable volume gas chambers moving past said relatively small port when said machine is being used to decrease the volume of a gas;   a volume changing section in fluid communication with each of said ports wherein said vanes moving through said section slide outwards away from said rotor increasing the volume of the gas within said section when said machine is used to increase the volume of a gas and wherein said vanes moving through said section slide inwards toward said rotor decreasing the volume of the gas within said section when said machine is being used to decrease the volume of a gas;   a means for transferring rotational mechanical energy between the spinning rotor and an external apparatus.