US1496951A - Method of and apparatus for burning gaseous oxygen in internalcombustion engines - Google Patents

Description

Jun@ 10, 1924. ummm E. M. SHINKLE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR BURNING GASEOUS OXYGEN IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed April 5, 1922 214. Mft/( www Hmuci,

Patented JuneA 1o, 1924.

UMTED EDWARD M. SHINKLE, O F THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

METHOD F AND APPARATUS FOR BURNING GASEOUS OXYGEN IN INTERNAL- COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed April 5,

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD M. SHINKLE, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army.l and a citizen of the United States. at

present stationed at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of andv Apparatus for Burning Gaseous Oxygen in Internal-Combustion Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to Abe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the sa'me.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for burning gaseous oxygen in in` ternal combustion engines, and has for its object to improve the processes heretofore proposed.

With this and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel steps and combinations of steps constituting the process, and in the novel parts and combinations of parts constituting the apparatus, all as l' ,will more fully be hereinafter disclosed .and

particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of-this specification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of an automobile with this invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partially broken away, of a lcarburetor illustrat-ingthe'application of oxygen thereto;

Figure 3 is asectional detail view of a port-ion of the dashboard ofthe automobile' and a control apparatus for the oxygen; and

Figure 4 is a sectional diagrammatic view of an oxygen containing tank illustratin howdangers from the explosions of. sai tank may be lessened., Y

1 indicates any suitable container' for gaseous exygen, provided with any suitable out: let 2 leadingv to the dashboard 3 of yan auto'- mobile and provided witha connection 4 controlled by any suitable means such as the valve 5.` vJoined to said connection, is the 50 pipe 6 leading tothe air intake 7 of the caring the engine.

1922. serial No. 549,910.

buretor 8, and having its extreme end 9 pointing away from said carburetor rather than intoit, as shown. 1Q indicates a fuel hydrocarbon tank, connected to the carburetor by a pipe 11, only a portion of which is shown in Figure 2.

The operation of this invention is as follows: The container 1 is located at any suitable and convenient point on the machine, and

the connections lwith the engine being substantially as shown, the operator, on opening the valve 5, will permit gaseous oxygen to pass into the carburetor only when a suction is created. That is to say, as soon as the air 6 5 is drawn into the carbuietorf'through the suction of the engine, the gaseous oxygen will be reversed in its normal direction of flow and drawn into said carburetor along with the air.

The extreme end' 9 of the oxygen pipe 6 i is pointed away from the carburetor 8 in order that the oxygen will not reach the in'- take manifold except when a suction exists therein. In other words, with the end 9 75 pointing in an oppositedirection, oxygen would be liable to leak into the carburetor, and thus find its way into the intake manifold when the car is left standing over-"more or less long periods of time, with the result that when the engine is started its cylinders would be at first filled with relatively pure oxygen, and therefore, the initial explosions might be so violentas to wreck the engine. By pointing the -end9of the'pipe 85' 6, however, away from the lcarburetor 8, as shown, any leaksof oxygen that may occur will not do any damage, because .the oxygen will be diffused away into the air, and thus will only a normal mixture of oxygen or less 90 than a normal mixture of oxygen,b`e found inthe initial explosive charges whenstart- Further, as it is desired to carry the gaseous oxygen 'at as higha pressure as possible, with safety, I may, 1n some 95 cases, adopt the form vof oxygen contalning tank 1 that is illustratedl in Figure 4, T hat. is, I may place inside saidtank 1. a similar tank 15, provided with numerous small perforations 16.

The operation of such a relation of parts, upon an explosion taking place, 1s as fol.- lows: When the outer wall or tank 1 is ruptured only the gas which is under pressure in the space 17 is available'as a propelling agent. In other words, this gas being relatively small in volume, its pressure is very quickly relieved, and therefore its propelling capacity is relatively small. By far the greater volume of gas may be contained 1n the space 18 and this can only escape through the relatively Asinall perforations 16, so that its explosive pressure is likewise relatively small. The result is upon explosion the propelling capacity of the main body of gas is llkewise very small. The net result of the construction therefore is that when a tank under very high-pressure explodes, the rupturing effects on the apparatus surrounding the same are reduced to a minimum.

By actual tests l'have found vthat gaseous oxygen introduced into the cylinders of'an internalcombustion engine in accordance with the above disclosure possesses a great many advantages of great commercial importance. lThat is to say, with a six-cylinder engine, the bore of which was 4B- inches and the stroke of which was 7 inches, and which engine was mounted on a block and connected to a d'ynamometer, it was found that when no oxygen was admitted to the cylinders, the pull was 62 pounds, at a speed of 700 revolutions per minute. When oxygen was admitted to the cylinders, the pull was 78 pounds and the speed was 840 revolutions per minute. In other words, the admission of oxygen in accordance with the disclosure above, gave an increase of power of approximately 51%. Another series of tests was then run in which the speed was held constant at 7 OO revolutions per minute. rllhe pull without oxygen was 72 pounds, while with oxygen the pull was 1111 pounds, thus giving a gain in power of slightly more than 58%. Other tests for power were run with the results that an average gain of about 54% was observed.

lin addition to the above tests, efforts were made to determine the rate of use of oxygen that would give a maximum increase of power. rlhat is, a test for aperiod ,of ten minutes was had and the consumption of oxygen was found to be at the rate 118.8 cubic feet per hour, when the revolutions per minute were found to be 700. From the disclosures at this speed, one may readily compute the consumption of oxygen of any engine at any speed, but he should allow for a possible error of, say, from to 5% in the results.

The advantages of this process of using gaseous oxygen may be found in the fol- Towing:

(a) lEcomony of fuel to a degree several times thevalue of the oxygen used;

renacer A saving in the expense of having the engine cleaned of carbon, and also a saving in the loss of time involved in thc cleaning of the engine. y

(c) The starting and the ope-ration of the engine is efficient from the start.v y y (d) Much of the present wear and tear on theengine due to carbon knocks is avoided.

(e) The use of oxygen-renders available to operators 50% additional power when required, thus enabling engineers to modify their present practice with respect to the engine horsepower per ton of weight.

(f) The present low grade of fuel is rendered quite satisfactory, and it is possible to use still lower grades of fuel than those that are now used.

Of course, it is obvious that pressure reducers and other suitable apparatus not shown or described, which will be found desirable, in the use of gaseous oxygen under pressure, may be employed in connection with this invention. These various devices being of a well known construction, it is not deemed necessary to further referto them here.

What is claimed is:

1. rlthe method of rendering safe the starting of an internal combustion engine with the aid of free gaseous oxygen which consists in leading said oxygen to the air intake of the carburetorof said engine and causing said oxygen to flow in a direction opposite to that of the entering air; reversing the direction of flow of said oxygen by sucking it along with the air into said carburetor to form a mixtureof air, oxygen, and hydrocarbon; and exploding said mixture in the engine. Y

2. The method of operating a vehicle propelled by an internal combustion engine with the aid of gaseous oxygen, which consists in carrying said oxygen under pressure on said vehicle, .leading said oxygen to the air intake of the carburetor of said engine and causing it to flow into the air in a direction opposite that of the suction of said engine; sucking said oxygen along with the outside air into and through said carburetor to form an explosive mixture: and exploding said mixture in said engine.

3. lin-an apparatus for utilizing free gas eous oxygen in an internal combustion engine, the combination of a container for said oxygen; a carburetor having an air intake; and a connection between said tank and said intake delivering oxygen in a direction opposite that of the incoming air.

4. lin an apparatus for utilizing free gaseous oxygen in an internal combustion engine, the combination of a container for said oxygen provided with an inner perforated casing to lessen the force of any explosion that might occur; a carburetor having an air intake; and a connection between said tank lid and said intakedelivering oxygen in a diine as will normally prevent said oxygen rection opposite thatv of the lncoming air. rom entering, in substantial quantities, the

5. The method of rendering safe ther startengine, when the latter is not running, and 10 ing of an internal combustion engine with will enable said oxygen under suction to en- '5 the aid of -free gaseous oxygen, which conter said engine when -the latter is running.

sists in leadingl said oxygen to suoli a point ln testimony whereof alx my si ature. in proximity to the carburetor of said env EDWARD M. SHIN

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