METHOD OF OXIDIZING FUELS IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES

METHODE D'OXYDATION DES CARBURANTS POUR MOTEURS A COMBUSTION INTERNE

English Abstract

SPECIFICATION
DONALD E. VIERLING and
HOWARD S. ORR
A METHOD OF OXIDIZING FUELS
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A method of substantially completely oxidizing a
fuel in a combustion chamber of an engine in which a mixture of
oxygen, air and exhaust gases is added to the fuel. The proportions
by weight in the mixture are between 4 and 16% oxygen, between
85 and 25% air and between 11 and 59% exhaust gases from the
combustion chamber. The fuel and mixture in these proportions
are fed to the combustion chamber during substantially all
operation of the engine.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN
EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. The method of substantially completely oxidizing
a fuel in an engine having a combustion chamber which
comprises adding to said fuel a mixture of oxygen, air
and exhaust gases, individually controlling the flow of
oxygen, air and exhaust gases, so as to provide a mixture
in which the proportions by weight are between 4 and 16%
oxygen, between 85 and 25% air, and between 11 and 59%
exhaust gases from said combustion chamber, feeding said
fuel and controlled mixture to said combustion chamber and
burning the fuel and mixture therein, and continuing
addition of said fuel and controlled mixture to said
combustion chamber during substantially all operation of
said engine.
2. The method of claim (1) in which the fuel is
hydrogen.
3. The method of claim (1) in which the fuel is of
the class consisting of hydrocarbons, hydrogen, carbon
and carbon monoxide.
4. The method of claim (3) in which the fuel is
hydrogen.

Description

This invention relates to a method of oxidizing fuels
such as hydrocarbons, hydrogen, carbon and carbon monoxide and
more particularly to burning gasoline or hydrogen in an automobile
engine with a reduction in the amount of toxic substances produced.
It is well known that toxic nitric oxides are formed when fuels
are oxidized in the presence of air. When hydrocarbons are
oxidized other toxic substances, particularly carbon monoxide
and unburned hydrocarbons are also usually formed. The situation
is such that legal standards have been adopted by the United States
Government limiting the percentage of nitric oxides, carbon
monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons which may be discharged from
automobile engines to the air. To meet these standards numerous
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¦ devices and methods have been proposed and some have been installed
¦ on automobiles. Those commonly used consist mainly of catalysts
¦ and filters which are costly to install and maintain. In addition
¦ they reduce the engine efficiency so that the gasol~ne consumption
¦ per mile increases as much as 50%. Thus the reduction in air
pollution is much less than hoped for and the energy crisis is
expanded.
Other systems have been suggested such as shown in
Cettin et al Patent No. 3,709,203 dated January 9, 1973,
1~ Cooper ~ atent No. 3,792,690 dated February 19, 1974 and Nakajima
et al~Patent No. 3,817,232 dated June 18, 1974. The systems
disclosed therein overcome some of the disadvantages of the other
systems, but they are relatively expensive to install and operate.
It is therefore an object of our invention to provide
a method of oxidizing hydrocarbons, particularly in a gasoline
~; engine, which reduces the total amount as well as the percentage
of toxic materials produced without reducing engine efficiency.
, Another object is to provide such a method which is
relatively inexpensive to install and operate.
These and other objects will become more apparent
after referrlng to the following specification and drawings,
in which the single Figure shows apparatus suitable for carrying
out our method.
Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference
numeral 2 indicates an oxidizing or combustion chamber, such as
a gasoline engine. Fuel, such as gasoline, is fed from a tank 3
. through a temperature control 4 and valve 5 to a proportional
mixer 6. Commercially pure oxygen is also fed to the mixer 6
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¦ throuqh valve 7 from an oxygen storage tank 8, having a heating
chamber 9 which is used to vaporize the oxygen when it is in
liquid form. Exhaust gases pass from chamber 2 through a conduit
l 12. A pressure control valve 14 in conduit 12 bypasses part of
the hot exhaust gases from conduit 12 to the heating chamber 9
of tank 8 through conduits 16 and 18 in order to vaporize the
oxygen. The operation of valve 14 is controlled by a pressure
control line 20 leading from the tank 8.
An air conduit 24 with a shut-off valve 26 therein leads
to the mixer 6. A pressure control valve 28 in conduit 12 controls
flow of exhaust gases through conduit 30 and cooler 32 to a tank
34. A pump 35 is installed in conduit 30 to obtain the desired
pressure. Pressure in tank 34 controls operation of valve 28
through lead 36. A conduit 38 having a shut-off valve 40 therein
leads from tank 34 to mixer 6. If desired, the flow of the fuel
may be controlled by a temperature control valve 42 operated
by the temperature in chamber 2 to prevent overheating.
In operation, valves 26 and 40 are opened. The mixer 6
and the flow of fuel, oxygen, air and exhaust gases thereto are
adjusted so that the amount of nitric oxide in the exhaust gases
i will be within acceptable limits and so that the heat produced
in chamber 2 will be sufficiently low to prevent deterioration
of the chamber. The fuel-oxygen ratio is adjusted so that most
of the fuel will burn to carbon dioxide and steam. In order to
reduce the amount of nitric oxide to acceptable limits it is
necessary that the mixture of air, oxygen and exhaust gases which
are substantially inert must be in the proportions of 85%, 4% and
, 11~ by weight. In order to operate at acceptable temperatures
and also to have efficient operation it is necessary that
these proportions be changed to 25% air, 16% oxygen and 59%
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exhaust gases and that the engine be run substantially at all
times within the two limits. Any combination within the upper
and lower limits of each addition may be used. Operation for any
extended period outside the ranges will result in too much pollutic n,
high costs or engine damage. It will be seen that in this
operation the inert gases are partially in the form of nitrogen
and partially in the form of exhaust gases, while a large part
of the oxygen is supplied in the air. In addition if the fuel
is not completely burned it will be recycled through the chamber 2,
thus giving it additional chances to burn and reducing the amount
of carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons exhausted to the
atmosphere.
While one embodiment of our invention has been shown
and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and
modifications may be made without departing from the scope of
the f 1~wing claims.
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