A liquid air engine and a method of operating a liquid air engine, and a method of operating an engine and a method and system for liquefying air

摘要

The invention provides a cryogen engine, comprising a first rotor rotatable about a first axis and having at its periphery a recess bounded by a curved surface, and a second rotor counter-rotatable to said first rotor about a second axis, parallel to said first axis, and having a radial lobe bounded by a curved surface, the first and second rotors being coupled for intermeshing rotation, wherein the first and second rotors of each section intermesh in such a manner that on rotation thereof, a transient chamber of variable volume is defined, the transient chamber having a progressively increasing volume between the recess and lobe surfaces; a cryogen injector arranged to inject an amount of cryogenic fluid into the transient chamber once it has formed, such that expansion of the cryogen drives the engine. The invention also provides a method of operating an engine and a method of and system for liquefying air.