Apparatus, systems, and methods to address evaporative cooling and wet compression for engine thermal management

摘要

An apparatus including a reciprocating internal combustion engine with at least one piston and cylinder set and an intake stream; at least one liquid atomizer in fluid communication with the intake stream operable to provide a plurality of liquid droplets with a diameter less than 5 μm to the intake stream; and a controller where the controller is able to adjust an index of compression for the engine by: calculating a wet compression level in response to an engine operating limit and adjusting the at least one liquid atomizer in response to the wet compression level.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising:
an internal combustion engine with at least one piston and at least one cylinder and an intake stream; one or more liquid atomizers in fluid communication with the intake stream structured to provide a plurality of liquid droplets with a mean diameter less than 30μm to the intake stream, wherein the liquid droplets comprise a solution that includes water and a surface tension reducing fluid to reduce a surface tension of the water; a controller structured to calculate a wet compression level in response to an engine operating limit, wherein the liquid droplets undergo a phase change from a liquid to a vapor during a compression stroke; and wherein the one or more liquid atomizers are responsive to the controller to adjust the wet compression level, and wherein the wet compression level corresponds to an amount of liquid determined to force a transition to a dry compression state after the amount of liquid fully vaporizes during compression of the intake stream in the at least one cylinder.