Improvements in Internal Combustion Engines.
Year: 1895

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Internal Combustion Engines.
I, LLEWELYN BIRCHALL ATKINSON, of Bank Buildings, St. Mary Street,
Cardiff, in the County of Glamorgan, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in internal combustion engines and has
for its object the provision of means whereby the temperature of the working fluid
may be the full temperature obtainable by the combustion, and for the utilization
of such heat as remains in the working fluid after it has been cooled so far as it
can be by expansion in the engine. In internal combustion engines as hithertoo
used, the working fluid is expanded in a cylinder and in order to provide for the
proper working aud lubrication of the piston, one or two methods have been
adopted.
Either the cylinder wall is kept cool, as in most gas engines by water, in which
case about half of the whole heat of combustion is wasted in the cooling water, or
the cylinder is lined with a fire resisting and non conducting substance, and the
sliding contact between piston and cylinder is maintained as far as possible out of
reach of the temperature of the working fluid, and in this case the difficulty arises
of the porosity of the non-conducting lining, by which as the pressure in the
cylinder varies, loss of power results.
In my improvement these difficulties are obviated. My improvements consist in
utilizing the heat developed by the combustion, not for the purpose of raising the
pressure of the working fluid, to be used in a cylinder, but for the purpose of
communicating a velocity to, or increasing the velocity of the working substance,
and then abstracting the motion from the working substance by means of turbine
or reaction wheels.
The working substances may be solid or gaseous, in the first instance, provided
that the product of combustion is gaseous.
The cycle of operations is as follows. The working substances say for example,
gas and air, are passed into a receiver or receivers, either at atmospheric pressure
or at a higher pressure by pumps. They then pass through a regenerator heated
by the rejected heat of the engine, and are raised in temperature to the temperature
of rejection of the fluid by the engine, by combustion the temperature is now raised
to the highest possible temperature for the particular substances. The result of
these rises, of temperature are that if the pressure is not raised the volume of
working fluid leaving the receiver is greater than that entering, in other words a
velocity has been communicated to the particles. The working fluid now passes
into a turbine engine, or reaction wheel, which may be made of any suitable
material, and lined with non-conducting substance to stand any available tempera-
ture, and as every part of the engine is always at the same state of pressure, the
porosity of the non-conducting substances is not of importance, whilst the bearings
which are the only parts requiring lubrication need not be in contact with the
working fluid. After the working fluid leaves the engine, still retaining some heat,

page_text: it passes through a regenerator which abstracts the heat and from which the heat
is ultimately recovered by the incoming working substance, as before described
described.
Dated this 19th day of June 1895.
FELL & WILDING,
1 Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Agents for the Applicant.
I, LLEWELYN BIRCHALL ATKINSON of Bank Buildings, St. Mary Street,
Cardiff, in the County of Glamorgan, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in internal combustion engines, and has
for its object the provision of means, whereby the temperature of the working fluid
may be of any desired amount up to the full temperature of combustion, and for
the utilization of such heat as remains in the working fluid after it has been cooled,
so far as it can be, by expansion in the engine.
In internal combustion engines as hitherto used, the working fluid is expanded in
a cylinder, and in order to provide for the proper working and lubrication of the
piston, one or two methods have been adopted.
Either the cylinder wall is kept cool, as in most gas engines by water, in which
case about half of the whole heat of combustion is wasted in the cooling water, or
the cylinder is lined with a fire resisting and non conducting substance, and the
sliding contact between piston and cylinder is maintained as far as possible out of
reach of the temperature of the working fluid, and in this case the difficulty arises
of the porosity of the non-conducting lining, by which as the pressure in the
cylinder varies, loss of power results.
In my improvement these difficulties are obviated. My improvements consist in
utilizing the beat developed by the combustion, not for the purpose of raising the
pressure of the working fluid, to be used in a cylinder, but for the purpose of
communicating a velocity to, or increasing the velocity of, the working substance,
and then abstracting the motion from the working substance by means of turbine
or reaction wheels.
The working substances inay be solid or fluid, in the first instance, provided that
the product of combustion is gaseous.
The cycle of operations is as follows.
The working substances, say for example gas and air, are passed into a receiver,
or receivers, under some pressure by means of pumps or other contrivances. They
are then passed through a regenerator, heated by the exhaust gases of the engine,
and are raised in temperature nearly to the temperature of the rejection of the
fluid by the engine, then by the combustion of the heated gases the temperature is
raised to whatever temperature is required, up to the highest temperature obtainable
by the combustion of the particular gases used.
The gases have so far been at constant pressure with increasing volume, and are
now allowed to expand by passing out by a jet or jets or aperture, so that the
pressure falls to about atmospheric pressure, the temperature at the same time
failing, and the gas receiving the energy thus expended, in the form of velocity.
The working fluid now passes into a turbine engine or reaction wheel, which may
be made of any suitable material, and lined with non conducting substances, to
stand the temperature. The working fluid, after having communicated most of its
velocity to the turbine wheel, passes through the regenerator before mentioned,

page_text: heating the incoming fluids, whilst in certain cases, where for example steam or
water gas is used, the gases may be further cooled by heating water before being.
finally rejected.
In order that my invention may be the better understood I will now explain the
cycle of operations described in relation to the diagrams hereunto annexed, reference.
being had to the letters and figures marked thereon.
Figure 1 shows in diagram the apparatus included in my invention, thus A is the
air inlet to compressing pump C, B is either a gas holder or gas producer with or
without coolers and scrubbers leading to compressing pump D, the compressed..
gases pass through regenerators E F. shown here of the transmission type, but.
they may be of the storage type with reversing valves as well understood. G is
the combustion chamber, which is lined with any suitable non conducting and heat.
resisting material. H is the jet, allowing the expansion of the gases, and allowing.
them when expanded and moving at a high velocity to impinge on the turbine
wheel K. L is the exhaust outlet the gases passing through the regenerator M,...
and exhausting at N either to the atmosphere or through a boiler or heater as
already described.
Figures 2 and 3 show the diagrams of the operations of such an engine, in
accordance with usual conventions, where ordinates exhibit pressure, and abscissæ
volumes, the base line being the atmospheric pressure. Starting with unit volume
of substance at A it is compressed either isothermally as A B or adiabatically.
as A B¹, the former being preferable, from B (or B,) to C it is expelled at the-
working pressure from the pump into the regenerator, and the area A B C D
or A B, C D is the work done on the fluid by the pump.
The gas passes into the regenerator (see Fig. 3) with a normal volume as
delivered by the pump, say E K, is expanded from K to J by the regenerator-
heating, heated and expanded from J to F in the combustion chamber, expanded
and cooled along the adiabatic curve F G as it issues from the jet into the turbine-·
wheel, and cooled in the regenerator or boiler with decreasing volume to some-
point along the line. G H, say L, which may be greater than or equal to the
volume of admission as at A Figure 2.
The area E. F. G H Figure 2 is the whole work appearing in the jet, and.
deducting the area of the pump cycle Figure 2 as previously described the energy
available is given. The proportion of this energy delivered will depend on the-
efficiency of the pump and turbine.. The turbine will necessarily run at a high
velocity, since it is essential to my invention that the whole velocity due to.
expansion be given to the jet before it reaches the turbine wheel, so that the full.
fall of temperature due to expansion may have taken place. This velocity depends.
on the pressure, but will be about 2000-3000 feet per second, and depending on the
shaping of the vanes of the turbine etc., the velocity of the turbine periphery must.
be from 0.5 to about 0.75 of this velocity. The speed may be reduced for
application to power purposes either direct by gearing, or by conversion by dynamo
electric machinery into electric energy to be then reconverted into mechanical.
energy by electric motors.
The source of heat may be either as described, that is producer gas, or may be.
coal gas, or oil gas, in which case the oil is gasified after leaving the pump D, by
which means less power is expended in compression, and the gasification may be
effected wholly by the regenerator, or partly by the application of external heat,.
or by its injection into the combustion chamber G.
In arranging such a cycle, it is necessary to first determine the maximum
temperature at which the turbine wheel may be worked. Then to fix the working
pressure, and from the difference of pressure between the working pressure and the-
atmospheric pressure, the fall of temperature from the combustion chamber to the
turbine wheel may be calculated. This gives the maximum allowable combustion
temperature determining the relative weights of air and heating fluid. From these:
the pumps necessary are determinable.
It may be pointed out that even with considerable frictional losses in the passage:

page_text: of the fluid through the turbine wheel, since the only effect is to heat the escaping
gases, a large part of this loss is recoverable in the regenerator.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1st. In internal combustion engines, adapted to work with combustible fluid, in
combination, a compressing device or devices to compress. the motive fluid before
combustion, a regenerator or regenerators for heating the said fluid by the rejected
heat, a combustion chamber, an expansion orifice or orifices, and a motor mechanism
adapted to absorb the motion of the particles of the motive fluid, the exhaust of
the motor being connected to the regenerator, or boiler or other cooling device,
substantially for the purpose of carrying out the cycle of operations as described.
2nd. In internal combustion engines, a cycle of operations, consisting of, the
compression by compressing device or devices, either independently or together, of
two or more fluids forming a combustible mixture; the combustion of the mixture
in a chamber; the expansion of the gas due to combustion; the absorption of the
kinetic energy of the expanding gas by a motor mechanism; and the regenerative
transfer of the heat of the exhaust gases to the gases before combustion in the
combustion chamber, or to other equivalent conserving device, substantially as
described.
Dated this 10th day of March 1896
FELL & WILDING,
1 Queen Victoria Street, E.C., Agents for the Applicant.