Mass-flux actuator with high frequency response
US6065688A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 14, 1999 |
| Grant date | May 23, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 14, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF23C2205/00
- WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
The present invention relates to an electric valve capable of producing podic mass-flow modulation of a gaseous, liquid, or mixed-phase medium over wide ranges of frequencies, pressure, and flow rates. Such mass-flow modulation can be used to periodically shed large-scale vortices at the outlet and to manipulate their dynamics allowing the user to actively control fluid mixing and transport further downstream. The device has a piezoelectric wafer that in a relaxed state abuts the upstream end of the outlet tube separating the pressurized fluid in the plenum with the outlet. The device has an apparatus for applying electric field to the wafer, which distorts the wafer and ruptures the seal forming a throat area that controls the fluid mass flux. Due to the fast response of the piezoelectric material to an electric field, the throat area can be modulated rapidly in time making the device operable even at high frequencies. The present invention is particularly useful for actively controlling fuel-air mixing in a combustor. However, it may be utilized in other applications such as in medical drug administration for inhalation therapy.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.