The Britalus rotary engine was invented in 1982 by Kenneth W. Porter, P.E., M.S.A.E, of
King County, Washington. It operates on a modified
Brayton cycle, but with continuous pulsed combustion, similar to that of a
gas turbine. It can burn most commonly available hydrocarbon fuels and features the high
compression ratio
The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values.
A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...
(14:1) typical of a
Diesel cycle. The engine is patented, US Patent 4336686 of 1982.
Overview
The main feature of the Britalus engine is an enclosed barrel-shaped cylinder block carrying compressor and expander pistons and rotating within a compact three-lobed stationary housing. The pistons carry rollers that follow an internal cam, causing the reciprocal motion of the pistons for compression and expansion. The rotor is statically and dynamically balanced and thereby operates with minimal vibration. A sleeve
pinion
A pinion is a round gear—usually the smaller of two meshed gears—used in several applications, including drivetrain and rack and pinion systems.
Applications
Drivetrain
Drivetrains usually feature a gear known as the pinion, which may ...
gear on the rear of the rotor connects to a
layshaft
A layshaft is an intermediate shaft within a gearbox that carries gears, but does not transfer the primary drive of the gearbox either in or out of the gearbox. Layshafts are best known through their use in car gearboxes, where they were a ubiqui ...
spur gear and provides the output shaft drive to the connected load.
Another distinguishing feature is the stationary slotted
sleeve valve enclosing the single combustion chamber, and its co-axial slotted sleeve carried by the rotating cylinder barrel. This feature enables the charging air to enter the combustion chamber and allows evacuation later of the products of combustion to the expander cylinders and pistons.
Similar engines
Similar external combustion rotary engines have been patented by:
* Everett F. Irwin, Patents US4458480 of 1984 and US4531360 of 1985
* Tigane Rein, Patent WO2003087563 of 2003
References
* Porter, K. W., Constant Volume Continuous External Combustion Rotary Engine with Piston Compressor and Expander" U.S. Patent: 4,336,686, June 29, 198
* Porter, K,W., A Modified-Brayton Cycle Pulse Turbine Engine - AIAA-1988-3067 - AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE 24th Joint Propulsion Conference, 1988
Proposed engines
External combustion engines
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