Some more notable design criteria from John P. Rohner’s Patent Application Publication US 2011-0113772 A1, published 19 May 2011, patent pending at the time of this post (31 Aug 2012) Of course, the complete application should be read for a more thorough explanation. - kcd
The cylinder is constructed of a non-ferrous material.
The cylinder head and piston are constructed of a Ferro-magnetic material.
At TDC, the cylinder head and the head of the piston form a toroidal transition chamber.
The toroidal transition chamber is provided with a mirrored finish to increase the efficiency.
Around each cylinder are three coils; the supplemental coil, the cylinder coil, and the transition coil. In the preferred embodiment, only the cylinder coil and transition coil are used.
The supplemental coil is most preferably 220 turns (in the range of 100 to 500 turns), of 20 gauge wire and is approximately 20 centimeters long.
The cylinder coil is most preferably 600 turns (in the range of 200 to 900 turns) of 18 gauge wire and is approximately 15.0 centimeters long.
The transition coil is most preferably 80 turns (in the range of 50 to 100 turns) of 18 gauge wire and is approximately 4.5 centimeters long.
At TDC, the cylinder coil is located completely below the head of the piston and the transition coil completely surrounds the transition chamber.
The cylinder coil acts as a magnetic field generator on the interior of the cylinder.
The transition coil also acts as a magnetic field generator on the interior of the cylinder, but is primarily focused to generate a predetermined magnetic field within the expansion chamber when the piston is near TDC.
(Again, in the preferred embodiment, only the cylinder coil and transition coil are used.)
A ionization generator, such as a radio frequency generator coupled to a high frequency antenna is provided to act on the gas within the transition chamber.
The antenna is preferably constructed of 18 gauge wire most preferably 8.1 centimeters (in the range of 5.0 and 10.0 centimeters) in length wrapped 60% around the transition chamber at mid point within the toroidial structure.
[Note: The cylinder bore is not cited in the specification of the application. But given the antenna description above, the bore is on the order of 3.4 in. diameter. – I could be wrong. - kcd]
An initiator system is a high voltage coil or multiple coils such as "coil on plug" spark coils, such as those known in the art, provided with a 55 KV output sufficient to generate a arc of 140 KV and long enough duration to induce transition of the ionized gas mixture within the transition chamber.
[Note: These look like Ford (2 wire) ‘coil on plug’ coils (2005 Ford escape, 3.0 liter engine) (Duralast #1458) – I could be wrong. - kcd]
An initiator system, such as four high voltage coils and an arc return element are secured to the cylinder head The arc return element, which is a 0.6 centimeter diameter copper screw, also extends through the cylinder head into the expansion chamber. An alternate to this is to use an aluminum post with a small pod at the end within which would be strontium or a similar accelerant.
Provided on the cylinder head is a refueling port.
Also on the cylinder head is a system sensor. The sensor is an insulated length of 18 gauge copper wire that protrudes 2 mm into the transition chamber.
A sensor, such as those known in the art, is coupled to the crankshaft to indicate the position of the piston relative to the TDC position.
In this embodiment the 8-bit microprocessor can control 24 lines.
[Note: I believe that this particular processor described in the application is a Silicon Labs C8051F541 – I could be wrong. - kcd]
The battery is preferably between 9-38 VDC.
The first converter converts voltage from the battery to 12, 24, 36 or 48 VDC.
The second converter is digital programmed variable, configured to convert voltage from the battery to 6 to 48 VDC as desired to control the speed voltage used by the engine electromagnetic coils for operation of the variable speed of the motor and to accommodate various fuel mixtures wherein.
The radio frequency generator is coupled to the ECS, allowing the ECS to be programmed to generate various radio frequencies for use as speed changes and to accommodate various designs of the motor, fuel mixtures.
The second selector/buffer and ECS are coupled to a high voltage controller, which in turn is coupled to the four high voltage coils. The ECS also controls the power and frequency of the RF signal generated by the radio frequency generator to accommodate motor design, desired speed and fuel mixture requirements.
When it is desired to operate the motor, the expansion chamber is evacuated and the ECS is programmed using the debug/program interface to operate as follows: The ECS actuates the valve to dose the expansion chamber with fuel until the pressure within the expansion chamber is approximately one atmosphere.
The fuel may be any desired combination of the noble gases: helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and radon (Rn).
One fuel mixture known in the art is a combination by volume of
35.6% helium,
26.2% neon,
16.9% argon,
12.7% krypton
8.5% xenon.
While radon may be used, it is inherently unstable and may cause an undesirably large release of energy. Similarly, hydrogen may be used in the mixture if it is desired to speed up the reaction or generate additional power as may be the case with larger displacement engines.
The ECS begins the excitation cycle by supplying the variable or "speed" voltage to the supplemental, cylinder and transition coils creating an electro magnetic field, so that the north pole of the electro magnet over the cylinder is on the same end as the high voltage electrodes.
The change in voltage to these coils "squeezes" the fuel within the cylinder, compressing the fuel mixture within the cylinder to the center and presetting the ionic form of the lighter gases. By varying the voltage supplied to the coils the ECS controls the speed at which the motor operates.
As the piston reaches ~5 degrees from TDC, the ECS actuates the four high voltage coils, initiating a simple high voltage, 100 KV, arc within the expansion chamber.
At the same time, the ECS initiates the addition of 2.05 to 47.12 MHz radio frequency (RF) energy into the expansion chamber by providing the radio frequency generator with 12 volts at 8.2 amps (~ 100 W) to introduce RF energy into the expansion chamber via the high frequency antenna.
As the piston reaches ~45 degrees past TDC, the ECS increases or decreases the voltage applied to the (cylinder coil?) as desired to either speed up or slow down the reaction within the cylinder.
Note: this does not agree well with information posted on pesn dot com:
“At about 155 degrees after TDC, before the piston reaches bottom dead center, the containment coil(s) voltage is reset back to the resting voltage state. This is done to release the linear pressure internally within the Cylinder and allow the plasma state, which is nearly done expanding, time to finish. The majority of the power transfer is already done.”
The specific expansion coefficient is a variant of the gas mixture. Expansion for the fuel mixture listed above is about five times its original volume.
For example, if the plasma was to touch the interior of the cylinder, it would lose the ongoing ability to expand and would immediately retract, so the buffering is important.
As soon as the sensor indicates to the ECS that ignition has occurred, the ECS disables voltage to the four high voltage coils as the transformation to a plasma has started.
[Note: The ignition coils have a power-on-dwell (or charge) time. I currently use 3.5 milliseconds (I have observed current saturation in the primary winding after 4.0 ms) The coils ‘fire’ once the power is removed from the primary, and continue to ‘fire’ as long as the voltage in the primary continues to oscillate (L-C tank) until the secondary voltage drops to the point it can no longer jump the gap. If we allow 4.5ms before reapplying another 3.5ms recharge, (8ms total), then, at 1000 RPM, the next firing would be occurring 48 degrees of rotation later (or 43 Deg after TDC) A second firing is futile.. – I could be wrong. - kcd]
When power has decreased by 50%, the ECS disables voltage to the radio frequency generator. The power and wavelength of the RF energy within the transition chamber also dictates the speed of operation of the motor.
At or about BDC, the ECS removes the speed voltage from the (transition coil?) and places a recharge voltage on the three coils, if needed, for collapse.
Note: this does not agree well with information posted on pesn dot com:
“At about 17 degrees after TDC the ionization voltage provided to the reaction chamber electromagnetic coil is reduced to the resting state voltage as it is no longer needed either. The plasmic transition will continue for an instant more in the PlasmERG motor. In the Papp there may not be an equivalent. The [original] Papp chamber magnetics are very complex and difficult to simplify for explanation. In that motor several coils are switched in order to maintain a control element overall.”
If, at any point the ECS detects a decrease in energy output of the motor, the ECS triggers the valve to provide additional fuel into the expansion chamber through the refueling port.
As the RF frequency goes up, the power required to excite the fuel goes down.
I hope this info helps if there is anyone else out there cutting metal or writing code on this project. - kcd