Piston assembly with offset tight land profile

The present application and the resultant patent relate generally to pistons for internal combustion engines and more particularly relate to a pistons with an offset tight land profile about the top land and/or the second land so as to minimize wear and carbon deposits while meeting overall emissions targets.

Internal combustion engines typically include a piston disposed inside a cylinder that may be provided with a cylinder liner. Piston rings that fit into a groove on the outer diameter of the piston are typically provided. The main task of the piston is to convert thermal energy into mechanical work. The piston may include a piston head, a top land, a second land, a shaft, and a skirt. The piston rings seal the combustion chamber from the crankcase and distribute and control the oil. The piston rings also stabilize the piston.

In the operation of internal combustion engines, it is common to see a decrease in power resulting from unburned fuel trapped within the top land height by the clearance formed between the top land and the cylinder liner (or the cylinder bore where there is no cylinder liner). The term crevice volume may be used herein for the purpose of describing this clearance volume where unburned fuel may be trapped. This unburned fuel reduces engine efficiency and increases total hydrocarbon emissions. One approach to reduce the top land crevice volume is the implementation of a reduced top land height. However, reduced top land heights may increase top ring groove temperatures and cause ring groove deposits.

The buildup of carbon deposits in the top land of a piston also may cause wear (polishing) of cylinder liners and carbon raking (vertical lines formed on the liner wall caused by carbon being raked down the liner). Such wear may result in the need to replace the cylinder liners. The wear also may result in increased maintenance and spare parts costs. Carbon deposit buildups also may affect performance of the internal combustion engine, including a reduction in output and efficiency and an increase in oil consumption.

One approach for dealing with carbon deposits is the implementation of a tight land profile. In a tight land profile, the clearance between the land and the cylinder liner may be reduced. The tight land profile controls the fundamental factors which drive deposits, namely temperature and residence time. Piston temperatures may be reduced with a tight land profile because heat conduction out of the piston to the cylinder bore has been enabled and because the heat flux into the land has been reduced. With reduced temperatures, deposits are less likely to form. Another reason for the cleanliness of the tight land profile is because the oil which is on the land and in the ring groove is being constantly replenished with a fresh supply of oil between the land and the liner due to the tight clearances. With this replenishment, the residence time of the oil on the land and in the ring groove is reduced, and with reduced residence time, deposits also may be reduced.

The present application and the resultant patent thus provide a piston assembly for a power generation system. The piston assembly may include a cylinder bore extending from a thrust side to an antithrust side and a piston positioned within the cylinder bore. The piston may include a top land, a second land, and a skirt with an axis extending therethrough. The piston may include a tight land profile with an offset about the axis of the skirt.

The present application and the resultant patent further provide a piston assembly for a power generation system. The piston assembly may include a cylinder liner extending from a thrust side to an antithrust side and a piston positioned within the cylinder liner. The piston may include a top land and a second land and with the top land and/or the second land including an offset towards the thrust side or the antithrust side.

These and other features and improvement of the present application and the resultant patent will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the several drawings and the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of an engine-based drive system.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic side view and top view diagrams, respectively, of a piston assembly as may be described herein for use in the engine-based drive system of FIG. 1 and the like.

Turning now to the drawings, in which like numerals reflect like elements through the several views, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a portion of an engine-based drive system 10 . As described in detail below, the power generation system 10 includes an engine 15 (e.g., a reciprocating internal combustion engine) having one or more combustion chambers 20 . An air supply 25 is configured to provide a pressurized oxidant 30 , such as air, oxygen, oxygen-enriched air, oxygen-reduced air, or any combination thereof, to each combustion chamber 20 . The combustion chamber 20 is also configured to receive a fuel 35 (e.g., liquid and/or gaseous fuel) from a fuel supply 40 , and to ignite a fuel-air mixture for combustion within each combustion chamber 20 . The hot pressurized combustion gases cause a piston 45 adjacent to each combustion chamber 20 to move linearly within a cylinder 50 and convert pressure exerted by the combustion gases into a rotating motion, which causes a shaft 55 to rotate. Together, the piston 45 and the cylinder 50 may form a power cylinder system for the engine 10 . The shaft 55 may be coupled to a load 60 , which is powered via rotation of the shaft 55 . For example, the load 60 may be any suitable device that may generate power via the rotational output of the engine 15 , such as an electrical generator and the like. Other types of loads may include driving gas compressors, mechanical drives, and the like. Exemplary engines 15 may include Jenbacher Engines (e.g., Jenbacher Type 2, Type 3, Type 4, Type 6, or J920 FleXtra) or Waukesha Engines (e.g., Waukesha VGF, VHP, 275GL), for example, provided by General Electric Company of Schenectady, N.Y. and the like. Other types of engines may be used herein.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a piston assembly 100 as may be described here for use in a power generation system or other type of drive system. The piston assembly 100 includes a piston 110 , a cylinder bore 120 , and may include a cylinder liner 130 . The cylinder bore 120 and the cylinder liner 130 may define an axis along which the piston 110 travels in a reciprocating fashion. The piston 110 may include a first or a top land 140 , a second land 150 that defines a top ring groove 160 therebetween, and a third land 170 that defines a second ring groove 180 therebetween. A top ring may be disposed in the top ring groove 160 and a second ring may be disposed in the second ring groove 180 . The top ring helps to stabilize the piston 110 in the cylinder liner 130 and also may prevent the passage of oil into a firing chamber 210 . The top ring is the primary seal of the combustion gases from escaping therethrough. A skirt portion 220 extends below the third land 170 . Other components and other configurations may be used herein.

The piston 110 and cylinder liner 130 may form a tight land profile 225 . The tight land profile 225 may extend from a thrust side 230 to an antithrust side 240 . A tight land profile 225 is a configuration where the clearance between the top land 140 and/or the second land 150 and the cylinder liner 130 (or the cylinder bore 120 where there is no cylinder liner 130 ) is reduced to limit the amount of unburned hydrocarbon emissions generated in the firing chamber 210 . The top land 140 and/or the second land 150 (i.e., lands 138 ) of the piston 110 may be defined as having a summation of orders of ovality. Specifically, the top land 140 and/or the second land 150 (i.e., lands 138 ) may be defined herein as an ellipse 142 (see FIG. 3 ) as the summation of orders of ovalities 0, 1, and 2 with an offset 250 represented by the first (1st) order ovality. The offset 250 may be, but is not limited to, directed towards either the thrust side 230 or the antithrust side 240 . The exact direction of the offset 250 may depend on the cumulative clearance of the assembly based on assembly loads, thermal deformations, secondary motion, and the like. The offset 250 extends from an axis 260 of the skirt portion 220 , which axis 260 aligns with a pin axis 262 in the skirt portion 220 . The ellipse 142 has an ellipse axis 144 , such that the ellipse axis 144 is offset 250 from the axis 260 of the skirt portion 220 , as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 . The ellipse 142 may include a true circle shape. The axis 260 of the skirt portion 220 shall be based on the center as defined by the Minimum Circumscribed Circle (MCC). This center is that of the smallest circle which will just contain the measured profile. This is also known as the ring gage center and is generally used for external diameters. For symmetric profiles, an acceptable alternate method to define center is the Least Squares Center (LSC, Gauss). This center is that from which the sum of the squares of the radial ordinates of the measured polar profile has a minimum value.

The offset may include an amplitude constant and wherein the amplitude constant may be ≥0.03% of a diameter of the cylinder bore 120 . The variation in geometry around the circumference of a piston may be modeled by a general Fourier series for the entirety of the land or for sections of the land by piecewise Fourier series:

R ⁡ ( ϕ ) = ∑ i = 0 i = n ⁢ ⁢ ( A i ⁢ cos ⁡ ( i ⁢ ⁢ ϕ ) + φ )

R(ϕ)=radial coordinate

ϕ=angular coordinate

φ=angular offset

A i =amplitude constant

i=order represented as a set of integers

n=highest order to be considered

The use of the offset 250 of the piston 110 towards the thrust side 230 or antithrust side 240 thus reduces the clearance between the piston top land 140 and the liner 130 in one direction or the other. As described above, this clearance may be a crevice volume that negatively impacts hydrocarbon emissions. Additional clearance also may allow for localized hot spots on the piston 110 that may cause carbon deposits to form over time. Carbon deposits may be undesirable because they can lead to conditions such as carbon raking or bore polishing that adversely affect the power cylinder performance. The offset 240 also may reduce wear on the top land 140 and/or the second land 150 in the thrust direction which negatively impacts friction and reduces bottom-end overhaul life.

When the piston 110 thrusts due to combustion pressure, the reciprocating nature of the piston causes secondary motion of the piston 110 into the direction of the liner 130 (i.e., perpendicular) as opposed to parallel to the primary direction of travel for useful mechanical work generation. This secondary thrust motion may cause reduced clearance on one side of the piston (the thrust side 230 ) leading to wear and increase clearance on the opposite side of the piston (the antithrust side 240 ) and an increasing crevice volume. Moreover, against additional crevice volume from thermal deformations (of the piston (like from an asymmetric combustion bowl) or liner (cylinder head intake/exhaust position or varying jacket water cooling) respectively). Also, non-uniform assembly loading of any of the system components, especially the cylinder head. Additional clearance may have negative consequences of increased hydrocarbon contributions due to crevice volumes for unburned fuel and the ability for oil to be exposed to hotter combustion temperatures and for hard carbon deposits. Implementing the offset 240 to the tight land profile 225 enables improved crevice volume control and minimizes wear on the top and/or the second land.

A tight piston profile is defined as having a land diametral cold (i.e., room temperature) clearance of less than 0.46% of the nominal bore diameter for aluminum pistons in a lean burn engine. The tight piston profile for an aluminum piston in a stoichiometric burn engine would have a diametral cold clearance of less than 0.53% of the nominal bore diameter. A tight piston profile is defined as having a land diametral cold of less than 0.29% of the nominal bore diameter for steel pistons in a lean burn engine. The tight piston profile for a steel piston in a stoichiometric burn engine would have a diametral cold clearance of less than 0.33% of the nominal bore diameter. The cold clearances should be tight enough to provide a minimum clearance preferably between 0 microns and 35 microns and more preferably between 5 microns and 25 microns radially when the engine operates at rated temperatures. Clearances will vary during engine operation due to piston secondary motion, piston thermal, pressure, and inertial distortions, and bore distortions both circumferentially and axially for the liner.

Moreover, the clearance needs to be reduced in a simple geometric manner so as to reduce manufacturing complexity, to be robust in cylinder-to-cylinder variations (of pistons, liners, etc.), and to reduce the amount of metal-to-metal asperity contact to avoid undo frictional losses. The ability to effectively and simply reduce hydrocarbon emissions and carbon deposits directly leads to the ability of engines with this technology to meet or maintain hydrocarbon emissions targets and increase cylinder robustness, i.e., longevity of service before requiring retrofit or overhaul maintenance/replacement. The offset 240 thus makes use of the simple geometry construct of the piston shape to address the issue of crevice volume and carbon deposits

It should be apparent that the foregoing relates only to certain embodiments of the present application and the resultant patent. Numerous changes and modifications may be made herein by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the general spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims and the equivalents thereof.