WO2005078257A1

WO2005078257A1 - Method of generating on-board hydrogen and supply of same

Info

Publication number: WO2005078257A1
Application number: PCT/IB2004/001817
Authority: WO
Inventors: Herman-Wolfgang Von Pagenhardt
Original assignee: Herman-Wolfgang Von Pagenhardt
Priority date: 2004-01-14
Filing date: 2004-05-24
Publication date: 2005-08-25
Also published as: CA2454166A1

Abstract

This invention relates to the method of pressure feeding any liquid fuel which in this process is being decomposed into its constituent gases, and its object is to provide gaseous fuel in an on-board installation which may be employed in connection with an internal combustion engine, turbine or jet engine to supply the gaseous fuel thereto as it is consumed in the engine through one or more fuel injectors delivering fuel to the combustion chamber(s) and / or intake duct(s) by way of one or more high voltage plasma splitter(s)* thus operating combustion driven marine, road or non-road equipment without the need for on-board holding tanks of decomposed fuel, chemical fuel cell to electricity conversion and/or the need for a hydrogen generating / dispensing infrastructure and / or vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.

Description

a) Title :

METHOD OF GENERATING ON-BOARD' HYDROGEN AND SUPPLY OF SAME.

b) Technical Field : This invention relates to the method of on-board generation of hydrogen as a gaseous fuel for internal combustion engines. It consists of pressure injecting quantities of water or any other liquid which may be enhanced to increase its electrical conductivity to be decomposed into its constituent gases directly or indirectly by means of one or more electric arcs generated in high intensity electric circuits between multiple electrodes spaced around a non-resistor type projecting center electrode in such a manner that said quantities will breach the gap(s) and close the circuit forming a plasma ring, causing the current to pass through each quantity decomposing the same instantly into its constituent gases,and then injected into the combustion chambe (s) or intake duct(s) and by the piston's action drawn in the cylinder mixing with air before ignition takes place without the need for lique ction or a chemical conversion process in a uel cell setu . The reaction is totally inorganic producing a high quality energy source without polluting emissions . It is sa e and easily controllable because hydrogen is produced only when the injected and / or vaporized matter is in contact with the plasma splitter* arc unlike any other hydrogen producing and distribution method.

c) Background of the invention :

Hydrogen is not new. It was the first element in the universe. Beginning with Paracelsus in the 16th century a flammable gas was discovered that could only have been hydrogen. In the 17th century Robert Boyle wrote about hydrogen, and Lavoisier gave it the name from the Greek ^hydrogenium' = literally : Va tezmaker' . The British chemist Cavendish identi ied hydrogen as an element in 1769. Only 10 days after the Brothers Montgolfier' s hot air balloon ascended, the first manned flight with Jaques Alexander Charles using a hydrogen balloon took off in Paris on December 10, 1783 . The first aixma.ll' was carried when Jean-Pierre-Francois Blanchard even crossed the British Channel with such a cra t in 1785. Today' s space exploration would be impossible without the use of hydrogen . The first liquefaction of hydrogen was achieved by James Dewar of London in 1898 for scientific research pro ects . The first patent or the production of combustible gas via underwater electric arcs dates back to 1898, US Patent number 603,058 to H. Eldridge. In the 20th century several patents were granted, such as US patent numbers 5,159,900 and 5,417, 817 to W.A. Dammam and D.Walkman,US Patent numbers 5,435274, 5,692,459, 5,792,325 to .H. Richardson, r. and others. Since the underwater electric arc and the combustible character of the produced gas were of public domain, these patents essentially dealt with peripheral uses and applications of the same. One reason for the insuf iciency of equipment based on preexisting patents with submerged / underwater electric arcs are the carbon-base electrodes. The process constitutes a very different and rapid way of separating water and vaporizing the carbon electrodes, resulting in a plasma of mostly H, O, and C atoms at about 7,000 degrees F to 15,000 degrees F. After the plasma cools down, the gas produced bubbles to the surface where it was collected with various means . The plasma splitter* device and the on-board' method of extracting hydrogen from water or any other liquid having electrical conductivity by way of liquid fuel injection and the vehicle' s own electrical system or the purpose of producing gaseous motor fuel operates without the necessity of ^λon-board' hydrogen storage tanks, fuel cell conversion processes, or the establishment of a nationwide hydrogen generation and / or distribution infrastructure.

Water droplets created by the fuel injector (s) are being separated into its constituent gases by way of passing a high electric current between two or more insulated electrodes of a plasma splitter * device. The water droplets close the gap(s) of the open circuit permitting the electric circuit to close thus instantly transforming H20 into its constituent gase . The water delivery and control from the fuel holding tank is accomplished by means of a conventional fuel injection system accompanied with electronically regulated air mass and flow sensors for varying load conditions. Hydrogen fuel provided by this invention method can be used for numerous applications ranging from road vehicles to non-road equipment such as lawn mowers, chain saws and other home uses to powering marine or jet engines and improving fossil fuel to run on leaner mixtures .

Present uses of hydrogen may not be a completely 'green' source after all as new findings suggest— at least, not with today's leaky fuel cell systems. Scientists considered the amount of hydrogen that escapes to the atmosphere and estimated that replacing all oil- and gas-burning technologies with hydrogen fuel cells would lead to roughly four to eight times more hydrogen emitted to the atmosphere. When they modeled the effects of this increase, they found that it would make the overlying stratosphere cooler and cloudier. The lower temperatures would encourage chemical reactions that eat away at the ozone layer making the ozone hole deeper, wider and more persistent in the spring, according to the authors.

Article # 20 : "Potential Environmental Impact of a Hydrogen Economy on the Stratosphere " by T.K. Tromp, R-L Shia, J.M. Eiler and Y. L. Yung at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA; M.Alan at Jet Propulsion Laboratory- Caltech in Pasadena, CA.

According to official data released by the US Department of Energy (see http:// www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international / energy.html) by ignoring the world wide consumption of natural gas and coal we consume nowadays about 74 million barrels of crude oil per day, which correspond to the consumption of about four (4) trillion gallons of gasoline per day ! The use of hydrogen as fuel for internal combustion engines is significantly more polluting than gasoline when hydrogen is generated via regenerating methods and / or use of electricity from fossil powered power plants, at least 60 % MORE polluting than the direct combustion of the fossil fuels themselves . The use of hydrogen in fuel cells is afflicted by similar problems which are inherent in the low specific weight of hydrogen as well as polluting methods for its production, (see e. g. EPA certified laboratory Liphardt & Associates of Long

Island, New York) d) Technical problem and solution:_

1. The use of new f els must avoid the alarming environmental problems identified above.

2. New fuels must be usable in existing internal combustion engines, since they are the source of existing problems .

3. New fuels need not be 'friends' of fossil fuels. Continued profits are generated from fossil sources by the chemical industry without producing motor fuels.

4. New f els must be cost competitive with respect to vehicle and engine production, vehicle maintenance and the repair trade in general .

5. New fuels must be safer than gasoline , such as avoid spills, environmental damage, explosion or avoid cryogenic liquefaction with consequential dangerous changes of state.

6. The new fuel, internally rich in oxygen , must produce clean burning results thus permitting a reduction of the oxygen depletion caused by fossil fuels burning.

7. Avoidance of the set up of an entirely new liquid hydrogen infrastructure; generating and distributing system.

8. Elimination of hugely expensive, heavily insulated 70 layers liquid hydrogen vacuum storage bottles for automobiles in steel, aluminum or carbon fiber plastics or combinations thereof, certain materials lose their elasticity and will break without showing significant prior signs of deformation due to extremely deep temperatures or chemical processes present

The low specific density of hydrogen prevents its automotive use in compressed form. For instance, gasoline contains about 115,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) per U.S.gallon, while hydrogen has an energy content of about 300 BTU per standard cubic foot (scf) . As a result the gasoline gallon equivalent of hydrogen is given by 115,000 ./.300 BTU= 383 scf. Therefore, the equivalent of a 20 gallon gasoline tank would require 7 , 660 scf of hydrogen which is a prohibitive volume for storage in an ordinary car. As proved by hydrogen fueled automobiles built by BMW, GM , and other car manufacturers, a sufficient range requires the liquefaction of hydrogen employing their method. By recalling that hydrogen begins to liquefy at a temperature of -252 ,8 degrees Celsius, it is evident that the transportation and the permanent storage of such a liquid at a temperature of -320 degrees C in a car implies dramatic expenditures . In addition an entirely new infrastructure would have to be built to provide liquid hydrogen at a corner filling station. While hydrogen by itself is harmless, the combination with air is very much so. The automotive use of liquid hydrogen is not only costly but also dangerous because of the possible accidental transition of state from liquid to gas, in the event of a malfunction of the cryogenic equipment or other reasons restricted to the liquid state such as power outages while in public parking garages and overnight home garages if they are so equipped.

The solution:

Plasma heating was originally developed for the metallurgy industry as an efficient alternative to conventional heating. A plasma torch is a tubular device that conducts electricity into heat via a resistance of a plasma. Plasma is the state of matter where gases are ionized. At this stage they are highly conductive and generate considerable heat. The very high heat (3,000 to 15,000 degrees Celsius) achievable with plasma arc torches make this technology a viable and powerful tool for thermal destruction. Within an internal combustion engine each cylinder has one or more plasma splitter* device (s) employing a ^Λcoil-on-pencil' (COP) arrangement or due to limited installation space they are mounted away from the heat of exhaust pipes . The separately installed igniter plug is of conventional design,due to high heat generated preferably also made from platinum and also used as a COP layout to increase 28 % more spark energy than non COP capacitance discharge (CD) ignition setups . Due to the reduced energy output from hydrogen compression within the cylinder may be increased.

To increase power of the engine considerably higher compression ratios can be obtained since to date ratios were limited to the quality of the fossil fuels available. 8:1 to 12 : 1 in spark ignition engines expressed as "octane" number and up to 20:1 ratios in compression ignition engines expressed as "Cetane" number (Diesels) . The only limiting factor in raising the ratio is the mechanical ability to make a large ratio. An increase of 50% work output, however, can be achieved with just a 30:1 ratio. Auto makers don' t have to make any drastic changes to their engine designs to use the plasma splitter* device and method of generation and supply system.

e) Drawings/diagrams Liquid fuel injection and operation: the fuel injector is nothing but an electronically controlled electro magnetic valve. It is supplied with pressurized fuel by the fuel pump and capable of opening and closing many times per second as required. There are two main types of control for ulti port systems : the fuel injectors can open all at the same time, or each one or sets of injectors for each cylinder can open just before the intake valve (s) for each cylinder opens. This is called sequential multiport fuel injection. The advantage of sequential fuel injection is that if the driver makes a sudden change, the system can respond more quickly because from the time the change is made, it only has to wait until the next intake valve opens, instead of for the next complete revolution of the engine. When the injector is energized, an electro magnet moves a plunger that opens the valve, allowing the pressurized fuel to squirt out through a tiny nozzle. The nozzle is designed to atomize the liquid fuel to make as dense a mist as possible in a specific angle pattern so that it can be separated /split by the plasma splitter ring easily and efficiently. The amount of fuel supplied to the engine is determined by the amount of time the fuel injector stays open and the number of injectors for each cylinder. That is called the pulse width , and it is controlled by the engine control unit (ECU) . The injectors are mounted in the intake duct(s) so that they spray fuel directly at the intake valves or also directly into the combustion chambers . A pipe called the fuel rail supplies pressurized fuel to all of the injectors in order to provide the right amount of fuel . The engine control unit is equipped with sensors which are retained in existing installations: a) the mass airflow sensor telling the ECU the mass of air entering the engine, b) throttle position sensor monitoring the throttle valve position, which determines how much air goes into the engine, so the ECU can respond quickly to changes, increasing or decreasing the fuel rate necessary, σ) coolant temperature sensor, allowing the ECU to determine when the engine has reached its proper operating temperature, d) voltage sensor monitoring the system voltage so the ECU can raise the idle speed if voltage is dropping, which could indicate a high electrical load. e) manifold absolute pressure (MAP) sensor monitoring the pressure of the air in the intake manifold. The amount of air drawn into the engine is a good indication of how much power it is producing; and the more air that goes into the engine, the lower the manifold pressure, so this reading is used to gauge how much power is produced, f) engine speed sensor monitoring engine speed, which is one of the factors used to calculate the pulse width.

The invention utilizes existing conventional fuel injection technology in the regulation of supply, volume and frequency of injection of the base liquid to the projected multiple point electrodes of each plasma splitter* device to control the amount of gas produced, all hereinafter more fully described and particularly set forth in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings , which is in diagrammatic view illustrating method and means for carrying out the invention. While a specific arrangement and construction is shown in the drawings, it will be understood that the same are merely illustrative of one form and arrangement of apparatus or arrangement thereof for performing my invention. Drawing 'A' : fuel supply tank(l), fuel supply line (2) ,fuel supply pressure pump (3), fuel distribution pipe or rail (4), fuel injector (5) , plasma splitter*device (6) , igniter plugs (7) . Drawing ^ΛB' shows a part of an internal combustion engine (8) , the location of valves (9) the combustion chamber (10) , twin igniter plugs (7) , location of camshafts (11) , fuel rail (4) , fuel injector (5) , plasma splitter device (6) , intake duct (8) coil-on-pencil COP (12), exhaust pipe (13). In a typical system a fuel pump (3) directs fuel from the water supply tank (1) into the cylinder combustion chamber (10 ) or intake duct(s) (8) via a pressure fuel injector (5) .The hydrogen produced by the plasma splitter* device (6) can then be consumed in a hydrogen-burning internal combustion engine, the hydrogen burned leaves through the exhaust pipe (13) as water vapor.The invention idea and method eliminates the need for compression or liquefaction of hydrogen gas requiring dangerous hydrogen storage tanks . There is also no need to supply external heat to access hydrogen; the heat generated by the plasma splitter* device is sufficient to decompose the water mist present, and as a result the hydrogen is supplied with cogenerated moisture. The moisture in the hydrogen stream is an added benefit for the internal combustion process improving compression and reducing auto ignition and slowing the combustion flame speed. The reaction is energy completely carbon free producing a high quality source source without polluting emissions. The resulting energy powers the vehicle while the hydrogen is returned to the environment as water. Harmful emissions are virtually eliminated.

f) Contemplated mode of operation .

The decomposition plasma splitter* device is installed in such a way that the pressurized fuel mist is directed towards the intake valve or directly into the combustion chamber(s) forming a specialized pattern. The fuel is decomposed by the plasma splitter* device in the combustion chamber (s) / intake duct(s) . The liquid fuel is injected from a supply tank before decompositio , in which case it decomposes in the cylinder chamber (s) of the engine or intake duct(s) in free communication with the cylinder chamber. The cycle begins with the fuel injection as the piston approaches top dead center (TDC) in the cylinder. As the fuel mist is injected into the combustion chamber itis instantly decomposed(split) by the plasma splitter* ring together with the air stream is drawn into the cylinder by the piston' s down stroke at about 15 degrees before the piston reaches top dead center (TDC) . After ignition by the igniter plug the exhaust valve opens at or near bottom dead center (BDC) so that gases may be pushed out of the cylinder as the piston rises back to the top.As the piston approaches TDC the exhaust valve closes at about 15 degrees before TDC and fresh decomposed fuel is injected to start the next cycle. Decomposition of the fuel in the combustion chamber occurs in a very short time , less than about 10 or 15 degrees of engine rotation by the heat source / plasma

splitter* device. Injection into the engine cylinder head is the most efficient way of running the engine.A spark is formed by discharging a capacitor into a coil primary circuit. The coil steps this voltage up to approximately 40,000 volts within a micro second (luS) .This causes the spark to jump the ulti point electrode's gap, similar to typical capacitance discharge ignition. (CD) . The spark reaches 1 amp and then decays for about 40 uS. Additional current will be achieved by previously biasing an extra capacitor, located inside each coil's secondary circuit. If this extra capacitor is not biased then the CD ignition is not disturbed. However, if this extra capacitor is biased, then the added energy will discharge into the spark gap(s) . This discharge will occur as soon as the spark is created. Since the energy delivery does not have to go through the ignition coil it generates up to 100 amps for the spark gap(s), only for a couple of micro seconds. Therefore, the remaining 38 uS only consist of the 1 amp decay. The special plasma splitter* process takes full advantage of all spark and arc characteristics matched to the circuit producing the required plasma arc for fuel decomposition in the injector mist.

Drawings :

Drawing 'A' FIGURE 1 illustrates a diagram of a typical fuel supply system consisting of fuel supply tank 1, being connected by a fuel line 2 to the fuel supply pressure pump 3 leading to the fuel distribution pipe or rail 4 ending at and with the fuel injector 5 next to the plasma splitter* device(s) 6 and igniter plug(s) 7.

Drawing B' FIGURE 2 shows part of an internal combustion engine indicating the location of intake valve (s) 9 and combustion chamber(s) 10, here equipped with twin igniter plugs 7 shown here between two cam shafts 11 , as well as the fuel rail sectional cut 4 together with one or more fuel injectors 5, linked to a plasma splitter* device 6 connected to the intake duct(s) 8.

The coil-on-penσil (COP) 12 is mounted well away rom the heat of the exhaust pipe. In a typical system a fuel pump 3 directs fuel from the water / fuel supply tank 1 into the cylinder combustion chambe (s) 10 or intake duct(s) via a pressure fuel injector(s) 5 and on to the fuel plasma splitter* device 6 for decomposition to be consumed in the internal combustion chamber (s) 8 and, after ignition remains leaving the engine through the exhaust pipe 13.

Drawing ^C FIGURE 3 shows a coil-on-plug (COP) 12; FIGURE 4 the fuel injector 5 ; FIGURE 5 the plasma splitter* device 6; and FIGURE 6 the igniter plug 7.

Claims

Claims : The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive or privilege is claimed are defined as follows

1. A method or process for generating and ^λon-board' hydrogen, its improvement and supply of same for consumption in an internal combustion engine.

2. The method or process of Claim 1 , wherein said process further includes the employment of one or more injectors in any specific arrangement as may be required depending on the type of combustion volume and application to accommodate varying engine designs .

3. The method or process of Claims 1 and 2, wherein said process further includes a multiple setup of plasma splitters * installations as may be required by varying engine designs and load requirements .

4. A method or process of Claims 1 through 3, wherein the enhancement of any liquid fuel is included for improving the electrical conductivity of same.

5. A method or process of Claims 1 through 4 , wherein further the design and choice of materials of fuel injectors such as pulse width, or frequency of operation and spray angle or pattern is included to improve also fossil fuel burning.

6. A method or process of Claims 1 through 5, wherein further the design and choice of materials of the plasma splitters* such as shape, spacing, number of electrodes and spark characteristics is included.

7. A method or process of Claims 1 through 6, wherein further comprising the location and installation of injectors and / or plasma splittes* is included.