Autonomous Satellite Docking System

Not Available The heating of high pressure sub-cooled liquid coupled with liquid-injected two-phase expansion is proposed as a pathway to a compact and high-efficiency combined cycle diesel engine. The concept is a novel and non-obvious departure from earlier industry efforts to develop high efficiency diesel engines. This new engine concept avoids the high temperature materials problems of prior high-efficiency engine concepts and has significant thermodynamic advantage over earlier combined diesel and Rankine cycle engines. The liquid injected expander eliminates the liquid-vapor phase separation requirement of conventional Rankine bottoming cycles and enables the miniaturization of system components. Also, the liquid injection cycle has a significant thermodynamic efficiency advantage over Rankine bottoming cycles in this combined cycle and enables the miniaturization of system components. Also, the liquid injection cycle has a significant thermodynamic efficiency advantage over Rankine bottoming cycles in this combined cycle application. This thermodynamic advantage stems from the ability to utilize the waste heat of the diesel engine over a wide temperature range. The combined diesel and liquid-injected expander engine concept allows for an economic breakthrough to a practical and highly efficient combined cycle diesel engine with a minimum of technical development. The economic feasibility of this new engine concept is an outgrowth of technology developments in compact heat exchanges, two-phase expanders, small high pressure pumps, and electronic controls. The power-to-weight ratio of the combined cycle engine should exceed that of conventional diesel engines.