Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a method and a device
for use in avoiding pollution of the atmosphere by noxious gases
such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons,
petroleum gases and sulphur dioxicle.
Pollution of the atmosphere with noxious gases has ass- -
umed particular importance nowadaysand a great number of attempts
have been made to reduce or eIiminate such noxious gases which
are present in the gases, smoke or fumes passed into the atmos-
phere inter alia by factory chimneys or stacks, the exhaust sys-
tems of internal combustion engines of automotive vehicles.
A great number of methods and devices are known which
- cleanse the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines. However,
these means are not entirely satisfactory for they are often com-
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.~ plex, expensive insufficiently reliable and they are not capable
~ of completely removing noxious gases such as nitrogen oxides and
ri carbon monoxide from the exhaust gases. Further these known
devices tend to eliminate or decompose the noxious gases rather
`-~ than prevent their formation.
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r: Again, it is difficult to use these known devices for
cleaning the gases, smoke or fumes passing into the atmosphere
from factory chimneys or stacks.
The present invention provides a method and a device
- for essentially avoidi~g the passage of noxious gases to the
s atmosphere which are extremely simple, inexpensive and reliable
and not subject to the aforesaid disadvantages.
~-~ According to the present invention therefore there is
- provided a method for avoiding the pollution of the atmosphere by
noxious gases which comprises introducing nascent hydrogen into a
gas containing said noxious gases or in which the noxious gases
are being formed so as to prevent the formation of or decompose
said noxious gases.
In accordance with the present invention therefore the
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formation of the noxious gases is prevented and/or the produced
noxious gases are decomposed by passing steam over an element
~- comprising cerium or germanium and by supplying this steam at
the location where the formation of the noxious gases such as
carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and unburnt
hydrocarbons takes place, for example by introducing it into the
air-intake manifold of the internal combustion engine.
According to a particular feature of the invention, the
formation of the noxious gases is prevented and/or the produced
noxious gases are decomposed by hydrogen produced by the decompos-
.~,e ition of steam by cerium or by germanium. ;-~
It has been observed that there is a complete absence
of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide in the exhaust gases
passed to the atmosphere for an internal combustion engine/ when
steam introduced for example into the intake manifold, also passes
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over a compound comprising cerium or germanium before passing
into the cylinders where the combustion and thus the formation
of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and -
sulphùr dioxide occurs. Thus, the greatest risk of pollution of
the atmosphere by the noxious gases is eliminated in an expensive
and extremely simple manner. Corollary advantages of the method
of the present invention are that the combustion of a fuel mixture
in the engine takes place more efficiently, that a small but real
reduction in fuel consumption is observed, that simultaneously
the formation of carbon deposits or soot is avoided and that the
; power delivered by the engine is slightly increased.
In a particular embodiment of the present invention, the
steam is passed over an element containing from 0.5 to 100 % cerium
and preferably from 36 to 40 % cerium, or containing from 48 to
50 % germanium.
The present invention also provides a device for carrying
' out the aforesaid method of the invention, comprising a conduit,
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duct or line through which may flow a gas mixture which may
comprise or produce the aforesaid noxious gases said means for
introducing steam into the said conduit and at least one element
comprising cerium or germanium disposed the path of the steam
through the conduit.
In a particular e~bodiment of the present invention, the
device forms an intake system for an internal combustion engine,
e.g. of an automotive vehicle, comprising an air filter and an
intake manifold leading to the cylinders, the means of introduction
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of steam opening into the said manifold or the said air filter.
The present invention will be further illustrated by
way of the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of an internal-
combustion-engine intake manifold provided with a device according
. to one embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a more detailed view of the means of intro-
duction of steam in the device of Figure l;
Figure 3 which is on the same sheet of drawings as
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a factory chimney
provided with the device according to another embodiment of the
-- present invention; and
Figure 4, 5 and 6 are graphs illustrating the effect of
the method according to the invention on the power of an internal
combustion engine, on its specific consumption and in the per cent-
age content of noxious compounds in the exhaust gases.
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~ Referring to Figure 1 the application of the method
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; and device according to the invention to the intake system of
an internal combustion engine, e.g. for an automotive vehicle
~` is illustrated.
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~- 30 The said intake system comprises, in a conventional
`-~ manner a conduit 1, thé internal wall of which is provided with
a venturi 2 and which forms~the inlet of the intake manifold 3 of
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the internal combustion engine. The inlet of the conduit 1 is
provided at its top with an air filter 4, and the air supplied
- to the engine therefore passes through the air filter 4 into the
conduit 1 and flows in the direction indicated by arrow 5.
A carburettor 6 conventionally supplied with liquid
fuel, such as gasoline, is-arranged in immediate proximity to
the conduit 1 and passes thereof liquid fuel atomized into fine
droplets into the venturi 2 through a jet (not shown). The arrow -
7 indicates the passage of the said atomized fuel into the venturi
2 of the conduit 1. The intake system also comprises a gas thro-
ttle 8 disposed downstream of the venturi 2 allowing the flow of
the air and atomized fuel mixture to the cylinders to be adjusted.
According to the invention, the said intake system also
comprises a device 9 for the introduction of steam into the venturi
2, as indicated by arrow 10, or upstream of the venturi, as i~dic-
ated at 22. A grate or other element 11 of cerium or of a compound
comprising cerium is disposed downstream of the venturi 2, for
example at the inlet of the intake manifold 3, so that the mixture
of air, atomized fuel and steam passing into the intake manifold
2Q 3 passes through the grate 11.
The device 9 provided for the introduction of steam into
the venturi 2 or into the air filter 4 depending upon the running
speed of the engine, for example in the same manner as the carbur-
- ettor 6 allows the fuel intake into the venturi 2 to be adjusted. -
~ Figure 2 shows an embbdiment of the device for supplying -
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steam into the conduit 2 which comprise essentially a sealingly
closed watertank 13 connected, through a dip-tube 14 provided
with a cock 15, with the internal space of a heat exchanger 16 in
contact with the exhaust pipe or pipes 17 of the engine. The heat
exchanger 16 is provided with an air inlet 18 and a steam outlet
i pipe l9 which opens into the internal space of the conduit 1
- through a nozzle or injector 21 extending longitudinally within
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the said conduit in the air flow direction 5.
The device 9 operates as follows:-
The arrangement of the closed tank 13 above the heatexchanger 16 ensures a substantially constant level of the water
in the exchanger 16 and an automatic replacement of the volume
of water converted into steam by heat exchange with the exhaust
; gases passing in the pipe 17. The longitudinal arrangement of
the nozzle or injector 2I in the conduit 1 ensures that the rate
of flow of the steam admitted into the said conduit 1 as a result
of suction by the flow of air depends upon the rate of flow of the
air passing into the cylinders, thus resulting in automatic con-
trol and regulation of the amount of steam passing into the conduit
i 1 according to the various running speeds of the engine.
The steam flow can be initially adjusted by suitably
selecting the dimensions of the pipe 19 and the injector 21, or
by means of a valve 20 mounted on the pipe l9 upstream of the ;
inlet of the conduit l.
The air, the atomized fuel and the steam introduced
into the venturi 2 are sucked into the intake manifold 3 and thus
flow through the grate ll of cerium or germanium. This mixture
is thereafter distributed into the various engine cylinders in
order to be burned therein in the conventional manner, the com-
bustion gases produced being thereafter exhausted to the atmos-
phere through the exhaust system of the engine.
It will be noted the device 9 for introducing steam
- into the engine may be connected directly through the air filter 4
through a conduit 22, as shown in dotted lines in Figure l, instead
of the conduit 10 opening into the venturi 2 of the conduit 1.
Instead of the grate ll, a twisted wire of thread of
cerium or containing cerium may be used which is arranged either
in the conduit 10 or in the conduit 22 and which will thus be
readily replaceable when spent. It has been observed that the
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cerium or the germanium used in the element slowly disappear t
` during the operation of the engine.
It has also been observed that the same result was ob-
tained by using germanium instead of cerium. Either pure cerium
or pure germanium, or a compound or an alloy containing from 0.5
to 100 % cerium, and preferably from 36 to 40 % cerium, or a com-
- pound or an alloy containing from 45 to 80 % germanium preferably,
the rest of the alloy or the compound being constituted for ex-
ample by iron may be used.
The results provided by the method and the device
according to the invention has been diagrammatically illustrated
in Figures 4, 5 and 6, in com~arison with the results provided
by the prior devices. In all three Figures, the curves obtained
in an engine equipped with the device according to the invention
are shown in full lines whereas the curves obtained with a conven-
tional engine, not equipped with the device of the invention,
are shown in dotted lines.
Figure 4 shows the horse-power delivered by an engine
as a function of its running speed (in r.p.m.), Figure 5 shows
the specific consumption (in grams) as a function of the running ~
speed of the engine (in r.p.m.) and Figure 6 shows the per centage `
content of carbon monoxide in the engine exhaust gases as a func-
tion of the running speed of the engine (in r.p.m.), the said
content being determined by analyzing the exhaust gases by way
of gas chromatography. It is found that in an internal combustion
engine which is not equipped with the device according to the pre-
sent invention the per centage content of carbon monoxide varies '
between 4 and 5.5. % depending upon the running speed of the -
engine, whereas no carbon monoxide is found in the case of an
engine equipped with the device according to the invention. Like-
wise, it has been found that the per centage contents of the
following gases : unburnt hydrocarbons, NO + NOX, SO2, which are
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- generally comprised between 1 and 3 %, are near to zero in the
- case of an internal combustion engine equipped with the device
- according to the invention.
The cerium or the germanium on which the steam passes
~ causes a decomposition of the steam, as a result of which hydrogen
- is obtained, and it is assumed that the said hydrogen comprises
~- nascent or atomic hydrogen. This prevents the formation or causes
-, the decomposition of the noxious gases such as nitrogen oxides,
~ carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and sulphur dioxide, which
.i 10 generally are present in the combustion gases exhausted to the
atmosphere. ;
The method and device according to the invention can be
used for internal combustion engines with carburettor or with
direct fuel injection, for Diesel engines, turbines engines,
~ turbo-jets, domestic heating and factory chimneys.
;~- By way of example, Figure 3 diagrammatically illustrates
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`; the application of the invention to the cleaning of gases or fumes
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- passed to the atmosphere by a factory chimney.
- The chimney 25 is provided with device 26 passing steam
as shown at 27, into the chimney. The gases or fumes exhausted
by the chimney mix with steam at 28 and pass through a grate 29
-- of cerium or germanium or a compound or alloy containing cerium
; or germanium, which is disposed downstream of the location of the
introduction 27 of the steam into the chimney 25. It is also
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possible to place, within the conduit 27 for the introduction of
steam, a twisted wire of cerium of germanium or of an alloy con-
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,` taining cerium or germanium. It has been observed that by such
a device it is possible to reduce to a great extent and practic-
ally eliminate the carbon monoxide and the nitrogen oxides present
in the~gases and the fumes passed to the atmosphere, as well as
other noxi-ous gases including fluorine and fluorine-containing
; compoundsand sulphur dioxide.
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The introduction of steam, in association with its
passage over cerium or germanium, may also advantageously be
effected at the point of formation of the noxious gases or
- slightly upstream of their point of formation.
The cerium or germanium grate may be replaced by a
~ coating or layer of cerium or germanium or a compound containing
.; cerium or germanium on the walls of the conduit.
In some cases, the steam used may be replaced hy a
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suitable medium capable of producing hydrogen by simple decomp~
~; 10 osition.
In an internal combustion engine, the best results with ~-
-' the device of the present invention are obtained when the idling `~
~; needle of the carburettor is so adjusted as to form a poor fuel
- mixture and the adjustment of the power-jet remains normal.
This is not an impoverishment of the fuel mixture but an enrich-
ment thereof, resulting in a better carburation and combustion
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not only at the normal running speed of the engine but also at
; idling speed, in spite of the poor idling adjustment. This ad-
- vantage is impossible to obtain without the device according to
the invention.
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