Britalus rotary engine

The Britalus rotary engine was invented in 1982 by Kenneth W. Porter, P.E., M.S.A.E, of King County, Washington.

It operates on a modified Brayton cycle, but with continuous pulsed combustion, similar to that of a gas turbine. It can burn most commonly available hydrocarbon fuels and features the high compression ratio (14:1) typical of a Diesel cycle.

The main feature of the Britalus engine is an enclosed barrel-shaped cylinder block carrying compressor and expander pistons and rotating within a compact three-lobed stationary housing. The pistons carry rollers that follow an internal cam, causing the reciprocal motion of the pistons for compression and expansion. The rotor is statically and dynamically balanced and thereby operates with minimal vibration. A sleeve pinion gear on the rear of the rotor connects to a layshaft spur gear and provides the output shaft drive to the connected load.

Another distinguishing feature is the stationary slotted sleeve valve enclosing the single combustion chamber, and its co-axial slotted sleeve carried by the rotating cylinder barrel. This feature enables the charging air to enter the combustion chamber and allows evacuation later of the products of combustion to the expander cylinders and pistons.

Please be aware that the most significant improvements to the rotor design and gas seal technology on the Wankel engine at Curtiss Wright were done by myself in 1960 as the Project Engineer responsible. My disclosures were subsequently patented by Curtiss Wright after I resigned in July 1960 and included afterwards The narrow width seals and the turned slots instead of the previously milled slots were the key breakthrough for effectively sealing the combustion chamber in the Curtiss-Mazda engine rotor.

References

• Porter, K. W., Constant Volume Continuous Combustion Rotary Engine with Piston, Compressor and Expander" U.S. Pat.4,336,686, June 29, 1982.
• Porter, K,W., A Modified-Brayton Cycle Pulse Turbine Engine - AIAA-1988-3067 - AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE 24th Joint Propulsion Conference, 1988