This may be a clever innovation on introducing air and fuel into the combustion chamber.
(tease)
"Georgia Tech researchers have created a new combustor (combustion chamber where fuel is burned to power an engine or gas turbine) designed to burn fuel in a wide range of devices ― with next to no emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO)..."
(URL)
http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=1020
The cartoon show fixed combustion chambers (for heat) rather than pistons etc. (for gas expansion).
DAS