Two-Cycle Diesel Engine Configured for Operation with High Temperature Combustion Chamber Surfaces

Abstract

A 2-cycle, direct-injection diesel engine configured to accommodate low cetane diesel and jet fuels. The engine includes combustion chambers having surfaces which are operable at high temperatures during engine operation to increase the combustion rate of low cetane fuels. The engine is further configured to reduce starting times in cold and/or low pressure situations such as those experienced during attempts to restart a plane engine at relatively high altitudes.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An engine, comprising:
 a piston;   an engine block assembly with a cylinder having a sleeve within which the piston is located, an intake port, and an exhaust port;   a head assembly coupled to the engine block assembly; and   a fireplate fixed between the sleeve and the head assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The engine of  claim 1 , wherein the engine block assembly and the cylinder are made from aluminum and the fireplate is made from a stainless steel. 
     
     
         3 . The engine of  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve is a metal composite and includes a second intake port and a second exhaust port proximate to a bottom end of the cylinder. 
     
     
         4 . The engine of  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve is a composite sleeve that is solution and precipitation heat treated and wherein the composite sleeve has a minimum tensile strength of 33 KSI and a minimum yield of 27 KSI. 
     
     
         5 . The engine of  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve is a metal composite that includes a silicon carbide particulate and a nickel coated graphite, and wherein the sleeve is fabricated from aluminum and has a steel coated internal surface. 
     
     
         6 . The engine of  claim 1 , further comprising female threads on the engine block assembly and male threads on the head assembly, wherein the head assembly is theadedly coupled to the engine block assembly. 
     
     
         7 . The engine of  claim 1 , further comprising a fluid flow channel in the head assembly, wherein a first branch in the fluid flow channel passes over the exhaust port and a second branch in the fluid flow channel passes under the exhaust port. 
     
     
         8 . The engine of  claim 1 , further comprising a head spring between the head assembly and the fireplate, the head spring creating a biasing force on the fireplate. 
     
     
         9 . The engine of  claim 8 , wherein the head spring is made from a stainless steel and is a Belleville spring with a shallow conical disk having a hole through a center of the Belleville spring. 
     
     
         10 . An engine, comprising:
 an engine block having a cylinder with an intake port and an exhaust port;   a fluid flow channel that cools the engine block and is located within the engine block adjacent to one of the intake port and the exhaust port;   a head assembly including a fuel flow channel to cool the head assembly;   a fuel reservoir coupled to the fuel flow channel;   a fuel injector assembly coupled to the fuel flow channel on the head assembly, to transport a fuel to an injector tip in the intake port and return excess fuel from the injector tip to a fuel reservoir; and   a piston positioned to oscillates within the cylinder.   
     
     
         11 . The engine of  claim 10 , further comprising a cooling cap with a substantially annular coolant groove that couples to the head assembly, wherein the cooling cap is adjustably positioned around the head assembly. 
     
     
         12 . The engine of  claim 11 , further comprising an inlet port and an outlet port on the cooling cap, wherein the inlet port and the outlet port are not diametrically opposed around the substantially annular coolant groove. 
     
     
         13 . The engine of  claim 12 , further comprising a first cooling passageway in the substantially annular coolant groove extending in a first direction from the inlet port to the outlet port, and a second cooling passageway in the substantially annular coolant groove extending in a second direction from the inlet port to the outlet port, wherein the first cooling passageway is shorter than the second cooling passageway. 
     
     
         14 . The engine of  claim 13 , wherein a flow rate of the fuel through the first cooling passageway is restricted, and wherein the flow rate through the substantially annular coolant groove in the first direction is correlated to a length of the first cooling passageway in the first direction relative to a length of the second cooling passageway in the second direction of the substantially annular coolant groove. 
     
     
         15 . The engine of  claim 11 , further comprising a cooling jacket in the engine block, wherein the fuel is transported from the fuel source to the cooling jacket to remove heat from the engine block, and then from the cooling jacket to the substantially annular coolant groove of the cooling cap on the head assembly to remove heat from the head assembly. 
     
     
         16 . The engine of  claim 15 , wherein the fuel returns to the cooling jacket in the engine block before the fuel flows back to the fuel source. 
     
     
         17 . The engine of  claim 16 , wherein the fluid flow channel includes a first branch passing over the exhaust port and a second branch passing under the exhaust port, and wherein the fuel flow channel includes a third branch passing in a first substantially annular direction between the intake port and an outlet port and a fourth branch passing in a second substantially annular direction between the intake port and the outlet port. 
     
     
         18 . An engine, comprising:
 an engine block having four or more cylinders, each cylinder has an intake port and an exhaust port;   a fluid flow channel located adjacent to one of the cylinders within the engine block adjacent to one of the intake port and the exhaust port that cools the engine block;   a sleeve fixed within each cylinder of the engine block;   a head assembly having a fuel flow channel to supply fuel to each cylinder, the fuel flow channel supplies fuel to the intake port of the cylinder such that the fuel cools the head assembly;   a fuel injector assembly coupled to the fuel flow channel on the head assembly, the fuel injector assembly transports a fuel to an injector tip in each cylinder and returns excess fuel from the injector tip to a fuel source;   a fireplate located between the sleeve on each cylinder and the head assembly; and   a piston within the sleeve of each cylinder, the piston configured to oscillate within the sleeve.   
     
     
         19 . The engine of  claim 18 , wherein the fluid flow channel includes a first branch passing over the exhaust port and a second branch passing under the exhaust port and the fuel flow channel includes a third branch passing in a first substantially annular direction between an inlet port and an outlet port on the head assembly and a fourth branch passing in a second substantially annular direction between the inlet port and the outlet port. 
     
     
         20 . The engine of  claim 18 , further comprising a supercharger coupled to each intake port that compresses air prior to entering each cylinder.