摘要 |
A gas-turbine engine receives no air from outside atmosphere. Instead, combustion gas expelled from the engine is cooled and recycled back into the engine. That gas contains no nitrogen and consists mostly of carbon dioxide and water vapor. Oxygen and fuel are added to the recycled gas, and the resulting mixture is used to perform an internal-combustion process. A small amount of the expelled combustion gas is discharged into outside environment, and the rest is recycled. Since no nitrogen is present, no nitrogen oxides are produced. The amount of other harmful exhaust emissions, including particulate matter, is greatly reduced too, since most of them are recycled back into the engine. The engine is inherently supercharged with controllable combustion-gas pressure and, in some cases, can operate without a compressor. Since the combustion gas is heavier than air, the engine can be substantially smaller than a conventional engine of equal power. Complete elimination of nitrogen oxide emissions and a significant reduction in particulate matter can substantially increase appeal of gas-turbine engines based on the above concept.
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