Engine Crankcase Breathing Passage With Flow Diode
An internal combustion engine is disclosed which includes an improved crankcase drain back system. A set of drain flow diodes are disposed in each of the drain lines to direct fluid flow in a direction from the head portion to the crankcase. Likewise, a set of breather flow diodes are disposed in the breather lines to direct fluid flow in a second direction from the cylinder portion to the head portion. The flow diodes include a series of stacked flow diode elements which allow flow in one direction, while resisting flow in the opposite direction.
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The present disclosure relates to flow control for crankcase draining and breathing of an internal combustion engine, and more specifically to the use of flow diodes in the crankcase drain and breather passageways for generating flow in the direction of intended oil drain back and/or direction of intended breather flow.
BACKGROUNDThis section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Under certain operating conditions gases from the cylinders of an internal combustion engine get past the piston rings and leak into the engine crankcase. These blow-by gases typical include intake air, unburned fuel, exhaust gas, oil mist and/or water vapor. It is desirable to ventilate the crankcase and re-circulate the blow-by gases to the intake side of the engine for combustion to enhance performance and improve emissions.
To this end, conventional engine blocks have a series of breathers that allow the blow-by gases to circulate from the crankcase to the inlet side of the engine and a series of drains that allow oil to drain from the top of the cylinder head to the crankcase. These passages are typically plain tubes or passages which flow equally in both directions. However, reciprocating engines often create a pulsating pressure differential in the crankcase which overrides the desired flow direction in the crankcase making drain back and breathing difficult to control. Generally, the average flow is against the oil flow direction due to the presence of blow-by gases. In addition, a pulsating flow due to piston movement generates significantly higher velocities than blow-by gases alone could achieve with flow velocities both with and against the oil drain direction, all within one engine revolution. Excessive oil may be retained in the valve covers and there is a highly likelihood that fine oil mist/droplets are created.
In addition to affecting drain back and breathing, conventional systems may create pressure waves in the crankcase which excite natural resonant frequencies of the engine, in the crankcase cavity or PCV system. The interaction between the pressure waves and the engine components when driven at these resonant frequencies can reduce power output and generate unwanted noise and vibration from the engine. These interactions will also hinder oil drain back and cause higher oil pullover into the intake region.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop a means for promoting directional flow of crankcase gases for improved drain back and breathing and generating directional flow while simultaneously reducing the pulsating (i.e., oscillating or unsteady) flow, as well as the crankcase pressure resonance.
SUMMARYThis section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
An internal combustion engine having a crankcase drain back system is disclosed. The system includes a set of drain lines defined by passageways providing fluid communication between the cylinder head and the crankcase of an engine block, and a set of breather lines defined by passageways extending between an upper region of a cylinder block and the cylinder head. A flow diode is disposed in the drain lines and oriented to provide a preferential flow in one direction from the cylinder head to the crankcase. Another flow diode is disposed in the breather lines and oriented to direct fluid flow in a direction from the cylinder block to the cylinder portion. These flow diodes use fluid flow created by the unsteady pressure pulsations in the crankcase bays to pump flow in a preferential direction. In other words, directional flow of crankcase gases and oil in the oil drain passageway is generated in a direction from the top of the engine block back down to the crankcase.
As a result, the crankcase drain back system improves oil drain back and overall lubrication and ventilation of the engine. In addition, the crankcase drain back system reduces pressure pulsations within the interior volumes defined by the crank bays and cylinder heads, thereby reducing the excitation of resonant modes of the engine. Added benefits further include better draining of lubricant to the oil pan, reduced oil aeration, reduced oil-to-air mass fraction (oil mist), reduced oil pullover through the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve, reduced oil migration up oil-drain passageways under high g-force handling maneuvers, and increased power output from the engine. The crankcase drain back system may be formed within existing structure and passageways of an engine block and without the use of any moving parts. Alternately, the crankcase drain back system may be formed as a separate, formed component which is inserted within an existing passageway or adapted as an external passageway or piping.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONExample embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope of this disclosure to those who are skilled in the art. Specific details may be set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of recited structure(s) or step(s); for example, the stated features, integers, steps, operations, groups elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of additional structure(s) or step(s) thereof. The methods, steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring performance in the stated or any particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional, alternative or equivalent steps may be employed.
When structure is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” other structure, it may be directly or indirectly (i.e., via intervening structure) on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other structure. In contrast, when structure is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” the other structure, there may be no intervening structure present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent”). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated referenced items.
Terms of degree (e.g., first, second, third) which are used herein to describe various structure or steps are not intended to be limiting. These terms are used to distinguish one structure or step from other structure or steps, and do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context of their usage. Thus, a first structure or step similarly may be termed a second structure or step without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments. Likewise, spatially relative terms (e.g., “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper”) which are used herein to describe the relative special relationship of one structure or step to other structure or step(s) may encompass orientations of the device or its operation that are different than depicted in the figures. For example, if a figure is turned over, structure described as “below” or “beneath” other structure would then be oriented “above” the other structure without materially affecting its special relationship or operation. The structure may be otherwise oriented (e.g. rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
Referring now to
Flow diodes 30 disposed in the breather lines 26 are oriented to promote flow in a direction from the crankcase 24 to the valve case 22. Flow diodes 32 disposed in the drain lines 28 are oriented to promote flow in a direction from the valve case 22 to the crankcase 24. As used herein, the term “flow diode” refers to an element formed or disposed within a passageway that has a highly directional flow characteristic resulting in a pressure loss across the element in one direction which is much greater than the pressure loss across the element in the opposite direction as represented in the plot 600 shown in
Each flow diode 30, 32 has a Q value greater than 1.1 and preferably in the range of 1.5 to 5.0, as dictated by the overall pressure drop which maximizes the flow rate effect and minimizes the pressure drop in the forward or preferred direction, particularly in the high pressure range. As presently preferred, flow diode 28 is a series of flow diode elements 30.1-30.6 and flow diode 32 is a series of flow diode elements 32.1-32.5. These flow diode elements are disposed in a stacked relationship within the respective passageways to achieve the preferred Q value. These flow diode elements may be inserted into an engine block assembly having conventional breather and drain lines or may be integrally formed in the passageways.
Referring now to
where
-
- deff=the effective diameter;
- A=cross-sectional area at the inlet; and
- P=perimeter at the inlet.
An exemplary flow diode satisfying these criteria would include 7 flow diode elements, each having an inlet diameter of 24 mm, an outlet diameter of 16 mm and a length of 27.5 mm. Another exemplary flow diode satisfying these criteria would include 7 flow diode elements, each having an inlet diameter of 20 mm, and outlet diameter of 13 mm and a length of at least 20 mm. While the inlet and outlet may be readily determined for simple flow diode geometries such as that illustrated in
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
It will be noted that the average mass flow rate through most of the operating range (<8000 rpm) of the conventional system (curves 702.1-702.4) is negative, or in other words against the oil draining direction. In contrast, the average mass flow rate through the same operating range for the embodiment of the improved system (curves 704.1-704.4) are positive or in the oil draining direction.
It should be noted that the mean velocity curve 802M, 902M for the conventional system is less than or equal to zero indicating an average flow in opposition to the oil draining direction. Furthermore, the maximum and minimum velocity curves 802H, 802L, 902H, 902L in the drain and breather lines of the conventional system show velocities of up to ±55 m/s around 6000 rpm indicating a back-and-forth flow pattern which hampers proper oil draining and crankcase ventilation. By comparison, the mean velocity curves 804M, 806M, 904M, 906M for the system with flow diodes is positive indicating an average flow in the oil draining direction. In addition, the maximum and minimum velocity curves 804H, 804L, 806H, 806L, 904H, 904L, 906H, 906L, in the drain and breather lines of the system with flow diodes show up to about 66% reduction in the velocities indicating a more stable flow pattern.
While specific flow diodes are illustrated and described herein, one skilled in the art should appreciate that other flow diodes may be used in a crankcase drain back system without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure and claims set forth herein. To wit, the crankcase drain back system may be tuned by modifying the Q values for flow diodes in the breather and drain lines associated with different crank bays depending on the mass flow and velocity profiles associated with the location of the drain and breather lines. Alternately, flow diodes could be used in less than all of the breather and drain lines. Likewise, the flow diodes illustrated and described herein are a plurality of identical flow diode elements within a passageway. The present disclosure should be understood to encompass other flow diode configuration in which the flow diode elements arranged in a passageway are not identical in their geometry and/or Q values. In summary, the improved system uses flow diode to direct air flow in a preferred direction using the pressure pulsations in the crankcase to create pumping action with no moving parts. The improved system has the additional benefit of reducing pressure amplitude resonances in the crankcase resulting in some gain at peak power.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
Claims
1. An oil drain back system for an internal combustion engine comprising:
- a drain line extending between an upper region and a lower region of an engine, the drain line having a preferred direction of drain flow from the upper region to the lower region;
- a breather line extending between the lower region and the upper region, the breather line having a preferred direction of breather flow from the lower region to the upper region; and
- a preferential flow passageway associated with at least one of the drain line and the breather line, the preferential flow passageway having a flow diode disposed therein and oriented to direct fluid flow in the preferred direction of the at least one of the drain line and the breather line;
- wherein a pressure differential across the flow diode for flow in preferred direction is less than the pressure differential across the flow diode for flow in a direction opposite the preferred direction.
2. The crankcase drain back system of claim 1 wherein the flow diode comprises a plurality of diode elements stacked in the preferential flow passageway such that a Q value for the flow diode is greater than the Q value for any of the plurality of diode elements.
3. The crankcase drain back system of claim 1 wherein the flow diode has a Q value greater than or equal to 1.1.
4. The crankcase ventilation system of claim 1 wherein the flow diode comprises an inlet having an inlet cross-sectional area and an outlet having an outlet cross-sectional area which is less than the inlet cross-sectional area.
5. The crankcase drain back system of claim 4 wherein the flow diode comprises a tapered wall extending from the inlet to the outlet.
6. The crankcase drain back system of claim 4 wherein the tapered wall comprises a fin extending from a sidewall of the preferential flow passageway toward a centerline thereof.
7. The crankcase drain back system of claim 4 wherein the tapered wall comprises a frusto-conical surface formed in a sidewall of the preferential flow passageway.
8. The crankcase ventilation system of claim 1 further comprising:
- a first preferential flow passageway associated with the drain line and having a first flow diode disposed therein and oriented to direct fluid flow in the preferred direction of drain flow; and
- a second preferential flow passageway associated with the breather line and having a second flow diode disposed therein and oriented to direct fluid flow in the preferred direction of breather flow.
9. The crankcase drain back system of claim 8 wherein each of the first flow diode and the second flow diode have a Q value greater than or equal to 1.1.
10. The crankcase drain back system of claim 8 further comprising:
- a first plurality of diode elements stacked in the first preferential flow passageway such that a Q value for the first flow diode is greater than the Q value for any of the first plurality of diode elements; and
- a second plurality of diode elements stacked in the second preferential flow passageway such that a Q value for the second flow diode is greater than the Q value for any of the second plurality of diode elements.
11. An internal combustion engine in combination with a crankcase drain back system comprising:
- an engine block including a crankcase, a cylinder portion, and a head portion, the engine block having a drain line extending between the head portion and the crankcase and a breather line extending between an upper region of the cylinder portion and the head portion;
- first flow directing means for directing fluid flow in a first preferred direction from the head portion to the crankcase, the first flow directing means being formed in a first preferential flow passageway associated with the drain line; and
- second flow directing means for directing fluid flow in a second preferred direction from the cylinder portion to the head portion, the second flow directing means being formed in a second preferential flow passageway associated with the breather line.
12. The combination of claim 11 further comprising:
- a plurality of first diode elements stacked in the first preferential flow passageway in the first preferred direction to define the first flow directing means; and
- a plurality of second diode elements stacked in the second preferential flow passageway in the second preferred direction to define the second flow directing means.
13. An internal combustion engine having a crankcase drain back system comprising:
- an engine block including a crankcase, a cylinder portion, and a head portion;
- a plurality of drain lines, each drain line extending between the head portion and the crankcase and having a preferred direction of drain flow from the head portion to the crankcase;
- a plurality of breather lines, each breather line extending between an upper region of the cylinder portion and the head portion and having a preferred direction of breather flow from the head portion to the crankcase; and
- a preferential flow passageway associated with at least one drain line and/or breather line, the preferential flow passageway having a flow diode disposed therein and oriented to direct fluid flow in the preferred direction thereof;
- wherein a pressure differential across the flow diode for flow in preferred direction is less than the pressure differential across the flow diode for flow in a direction opposite the preferred direction.
14. The internal combustion engine of claim 13 wherein the flow diode comprises a plurality of diode elements stacked in the drain line in the preferred direction of drain flow and forming a drain flow diode.
15. The internal combustion engine of claim 13 wherein the flow diodes comprises a plurality of diode elements stacked in the breather line in the preferred direction of breather flow and forming a breather flow diode.
16. The internal combustion engine of claim 13 wherein the preferential flow passageway comprises:
- a first preferential flow passageway associated with the drain line and having a drain flow diode disposed therein and oriented to direct fluid flow in the preferred direction of drain flow; and
- a second preferential flow passageway associated with the breather line and having a breather flow diode disposed therein and oriented to direct fluid flow in the preferred direction of breather flow.
17. The internal combustion engine of claim 16 wherein the drain flow diode has a Q value greater than or equal to 1.1.
18. The internal combustion engine of claim 17 wherein the breather flow diode has a Q value greater than or equal to 1.1.
19. The internal combustion engine of claim 16 wherein the breather flow diode has a Q value greater than or equal to 1.1.
20. The internal combustion engine of claim 17 further comprising:
- a plurality of diode elements stacked in the drain line in the preferred direction of drain flow and forming the first flow diode; and
- a plurality of diode elements stacked in the breather line in the preferred direction of breather flow and forming the second flow diode.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 30, 2013
Publication Date: Mar 5, 2015
Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC (Detroit, MI)
Inventors: Mark R. CLAYWELL (Birmingham, MI), Bryan K. PRYOR (Waterford, MI)
Application Number: 14/015,456
International Classification: F01M 13/00 (20060101);