Patent Publication Number: US-2012031081-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for reducing harmful emissions from combustion

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
     N/A. 
     Provisional Application for Patent No. 61/343,408 of Apr. 27, 2010 with the title of “Diesel Fuel and Gasoline Concoction for Gasoline Engines Equipped With Catalytic Converters”. Applicant claims priority for disclosed material pursuant to 35 U.S.C. Par. 119(c). 
     International PCT filing, US2011/000616, of Apr. 6, 2011 with the title of “Method and Apparatus for Reducing Harmful Emissons From Combustion”. Applicant claims priority for disclosed material. 
    
    
     COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction of the disclosure by anyone as it appears in this PCT Application and all subsequent Patent Applications related hereto, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to reduced harmful emissions from internal and external combustion engines by the use of catalytic converters by either adjusting fuel/air mixtures in the case of internal combustion diesel engines, or in other cases such as but not restricted to, internal combustion gasoline or natural gas engines, adding higher molecular weight carbon atoms, by various means such as adding some diesel fuel in the gasoline so as to provide a pulsating instantaneous high temperature flash burn in the catalytic converter. With additional oxygen induced into the catalytic converter, there is a burnout of harmful emissions such as, but not restricted to nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, and unburned hydrocarbons, or, in the case of external combustion engines, by including a rotating valve plate to homogenize exhaust gases with additives and to prolong the effectiveness of a catalytic converter in conjunction with a catalytic converter . . . . In internal combustion engines, the normal engine exhaust valve action provides the needed pulsation of gases flowing into the catalytic converter, required in the process, and additional oxygen is sucked into the catalytic converter through an exhaust pipe. 
     For external combustion engines, such as are usable in power plants, steam locomotives, and ships, a pulsating action is achievable, within exhaust ducting and a catalytic converter, by an exhaust flue pulse valve with an adjustable speed of revolution, and additional oxygen introduced into the catalytic converter to support harmful emissions burnout. 
     2. Background Information 
     Oil companies, automobile manufacturers, and automotive engineers have struggled for many years to improve internal combustion engine combustion efficiency, improve engine lubrication, and reduce carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide emissions, and tail pipe exhaust odors. 
     A basic limitation in improving combustion efficiency is the temperature limit that an engine&#39;s materials of construction can withstand. 
     In desperation, much research and development has gone into alternatives such as, but not restricted to, all electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles with flywheels for energy conservation, and hybrid hydraulic vehicles as evidenced by innumerable Society of Automotive Engineers published technical papers, professional development seminars, technical conferences, and exposition exhibits. 
     While much popular attention is paid to electric vehicles as a solution, prominent industry figures such as people associate with firms such as Ford and Toyota have made public statements that indicate electric vehicles may never be an economic solution to the current shortcomings of internal combustion engines. 
     For example, Mr. Bill Ford hinted, some seven or eight years ago, in trade magazines, that Ford was working on improvements to the gasoline automobile engine that were expected to exceed the promise of electric hybrids. Then it came out, in trade journals, and even the Wall Street Journal®, that major car companies were trying to successfully apply the diesel process to gasoline engines. Also, about that time, a high ranking executive of Toyota® stated, publicly, that electric vehicles were primarily a marketing ploy. 
     A few years after Mr. Ford&#39;s statement about expected improvements to exceed the promise of electric hybrids, the Wall Street Journal®, Oct. 25, 2005, Page D6 included an article “Honda&#39;s Experimental Hybrid May Help in Race With Toyota” where it was mentioned what is now called “homogeneous charge compression ignition” technology and that it was a hot topic with General Motors® and Ford® in the U.S., Daimler Chrysler® in Germany, and Toyota®, Honda®, and Nissan® back in Japan. The Ford Motor Company as well as other automotive manufacturing firms was doing much research and development into exploring the possibilities of an HCCI (homogeneous charge compression ignition) engine, where the diesel process is adapted to a gasoline engine. 
     “Ford®” is a registered trademark of the Ford Motor Company. Toyota®” is a registered trademark of the Toyota Motor Corp. “The Wall Street Journal®” is a registered trademark of Dow Jones &amp; Company, Inc. “Honda®” is a registered trademark of the Honda Motor Co., Ltd. “Chrysler®” is a registered trademark of the Chrysler Group LLC. “General Motors®” is a registered trademark of the General Motors Corp. “Nissan®” is a registered trademark of the Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. 
     Difficulties in smooth performance at high and low engine speeds have kept this off the market. There are engineers of the opinion that the HCCI engines will never compete because of research into, and laboratory results from, at least one university in Sweden. 
     Currently, American automobiles capture, perhaps, 35% of the potential energy of a gallon of gasoline as useful work. Swedish engineers, in a university laboratory, have captured as much as 65%, and are striving for 75%, of the potential energy of a gallon of gasoline as useful work. While Sweden is a small country, the Swedes are world leaders in automotive technology as well as hydraulic drive technology. The Swedish engineers have a good alumni club in that they communicate with each other around the world. As a specific example of only one possible efficiency improvement, some of the efficiency losses in a gasoline engine can be attributed to less than perfect sealing for engine exhaust valves, perhaps in the order of two to four percent, at times. 
     For diesel powered internal combustion engines, in the United States, EPA mandates were written with the help of United States commercial interests, in such a way that diesel engines in automobiles made in Europe, could not be imported into the United States because of the EPA mandates. For the trucking industry, considerable amounts of money are expended in cumbersome approaches to meet the United States EPA mandates. 
     For power plants, pollution is such a concern, that the use of fossil fuels are under considerable attack, to the point that many environmentalists are pushing nuclear powered power plants. Nuclear energy also has a variety of potential problems including cost and safety issues. Both in the diesel and the coal fired power plants, a better way is highly desired. Often, in a power plant&#39;s combustion process, additives such as calcium particles are introduced into exhaust flows to remove sulfur for example, and the calcium particles coalesce, eventually plugging up the honeycombed catalysts serving as catalytic converters, in common use in power plants, reducing the effectiveness of the catalytic converters in the removal of harmful emissions, as well as resulting in back pressure on the combustion process, affecting the combustion process, as well as retarding the flow of exhaust gasses, necessitating periodic cleaning and replacement of the honeycombed catalysts. As the catalytic converters plug up, emissions increase, and the resulting required maintenance is major cost of operation for power plants. Blowers are used to try to induce sufficient turbulence into the exhaust flow to preclude the calcium particles from coalescing, but they don&#39;t work very well, and the catalytic converters degrade, because of the calcium particles plugging up the catalytic converters, reducing the effectiveness of the catalytic converters. 
     Future requirements for reduced emissions from power generating plants will only increase this cost of operations. 
     Applicant has an extensive combustion background combined with an engineering education and experience back to the early 1940&#39;s and believes he has arrived at a relatively universal solution for the aforementioned problems of pollution from both internal and external combustion engines powered by fossil fuels. 
     As will be seen, from the subsequent description, the preferred embodiments of the present invention, there is a very practical generic solution for some of the above mentioned deficiencies in the current state of the art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention is a combination of adjustment in fuel/air mixtures into a combustion engine wherein a pulsating exhaust flow is directed into a catalytic converter resulting in a reduction in harmful emissions out of an exhaust pipe into the atmosphere. 
     For a gasoline powered internal combustion engine, the addition of one fluid ounce of diesel fuel per ten gallons of gasoline as fuel for an internal combustion engine combined with a catalytic converter, and the usual pulsation in the exhaust flow from the gasoline powered internal combustion engine into the catalytic converter, results in a significant reduction in carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and overall hydrocarbon tail pipe emissions in many cases. 
     For a diesel powered internal combustion engine, adjusting the fuel/air ratio to produce a smoky exhaust from the engine, also known to truckers as a “black stack”, combined with the usual pulsation in the exhaust flow from the diesel powered internal combustion engine, through a catalytic converter, results in a significant reduction in carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and overall hydrocarbon tail pipe emissions in many cases. 
     For an external combustion engine, using coal or diesel, the combustion apparatus comprises an exhaust duct for directing exhaust fumes from an external combustion engine connected to a motor powered valve with a rotating valve plate, with perforations, that imparts a pulsation into the exhaust gases with induced calcium particles, wherein the pulsation into the exhaust gases with induced calcium particles reduces coalescence of the calcium particles, wherein the exhaust fumes with reduced coalesced calcium particles then flow through a catalytic converter wherein the unburned harmful emissions of nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, and other hydrocarbon emissions are reduced by the catalytic converter. Additional air to support the reduction of the harmful emissions is introduced into the catalytic converter. 
    
    
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts an internal combustion engine with a catalytic converter to which the present invention is applicable. 
         FIG. 2  depicts an external combustion engine with a catalytic converter with modifications enabling the application of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , which illustrates a source of combustion gases such as an internal combustion engine  1  connected to an engine exhaust pipe  4  which is connected to a catalytic converter  2  which is connected to an exhaust tail pipe  3 . 
     The preferred embodiment of the present invention as applied to an internal combustion engine  1  wherein the engine  1  is a gasoline powered engine, comprises a binary fuel concoction comprising an addition of a modest amount of diesel fuel, such as, but not restricted to, one fluid ounce of diesel fuel to ten gallons of gasoline powering the engine  1 . 
     The one fluid ounce of diesel fuel to ten gallons of gasoline was determined using an aspirating bubble chamber while maximizing engine performance. An aspirating bubble chamber is well known to the chemical laboratory equipment trade. 
     The Appendix is a summary of the test results at the Southern Illinois University, in Carbondale, Ill., on their dynamometer testing of an F150 Ford engine, said test results being measurements on an MD™ Mustang MD-GAS-5C gas analyzer system (a model MD-GAS-5C gas analyzer, commercially available from Mustang Dynamometer of Twinsburg, Ohio) which meets or surpasses accuracies for BAR 90, BAR/TAS 84, BAR 80, EPA 2078. 
     The inward pointing arrows indicate direction of air flow through the exhaust tail pipe  3  into the catalytic converter  2  through the exhaust tail pipe  3 . The outward pointing arrow indicates the direction of exhaust gas flow while the inward pointing arrows indicate the direction of oxygen flow FLOWING in from atmosphere as the diesel fuel that is not consumed in the engine  1  combustion cycle is flash burned in the catalytic converter  2 . 
     The normal action of the engine  1  valves imparts a pulsation in combustion products flowing through the catalytic converter into the exhaust tail pipe  3 . The pulsation action is critical to the process of flash burning the diesel fuel not previously ignited in the engine  1  in the catalytic converter  2 . 
     When the concoction undergoes combustion in the engine  1 , lighter volatiles in the diesel burn off, increasing the combustion efficiency of hydrocarbons. The diesel fuel in the engine lubricates the upper part of the engine  1 , reducing friction and aiding in exhaust valve seating for better seating, internally in the engine. Improved exhaust valve seating reduces engine lubricating oil dilution from fuel seeping into the engine lubricating oil. 
     If there were no catalytic converter, the primary advantage of the concoction would be an improved combustion efficiency of hydrocarbons, in a gasoline engine, as evidenced by, referring to the Appendix, a hydrocarbon rating of 152.750 without the binary concoction of diesel and gasoline, shown on the top line, versus a hydrocarbon rating of 144.781 with the binary concoction of diesel and gasoline, with the one fluid ounce of diesel fuel to ten gallons of gasoline. However, with a gasoline engine and a catalytic converter, the hydrocarbon exhaust drops down to 10.005. 
     The engine  1  exhaust passes to the catalytic converter  2  through the engine exhaust pipe  4 . The third and fourth lines of the Appendix gives the before and after the catalytic converter, exhaust gases composition and quantity. The catalytic converter  2  serves as a flash chamber, wherein the unburned diesel from the engine  1  is ignited by the high operating temperature in the catalytic converter  2 , in a pulsing manner, in time with the exhaust valve action (not shown) within the engine  1 . The reductions shown in the nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide are dramatic. A noticeable result, in testing, both laboratory and field, was an absence of any exhaust gases odor, even in an enclosed space. The catalytic converter has to be warmed up to normal operating temperatures for the unburned diesel to experience the desired ignition, which can be described as a high temperature flash burn. 
     Before the testing at Southern Illinois University, there was also a test conducted, with similar results, at the John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill., in their five gas tester, of Applicant&#39;s 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt LS, with a four cylinder engine, at idle and at 2,000 rpm, with the following reported results: 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Idle 
                 2,000 RPM 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 HC 
                   1 ppm 
                 7 ppm 
               
               
                   
                 CO 
                     0% 
                 0.00% 
               
               
                   
                 CO 2   
                 14.7%  
                 15.00%  
               
               
                   
                 O 2   
                 0.3% 
                  0.9% 
               
               
                   
                 NO 
                 0.00 ppm 
                 0 ppm 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     This was within a closed space and the testers were amazed at no exhaust odor. 
     Applicant has over 70,000 test miles on the above tested vehicle experiencing up to a 20/25% miles per gallon improvement in actual fuel economy. At 55 miles per hour on a level stretch of highway in Southern Illinois, Applicant achieved a 35% improvement over the vehicle manufacturer&#39;s mile per gallon rating. Other people with other vehicles may achieve considerable less. This works on trips where there is time for the catalytic converter  2  to achieve normal operating temperatures. It does not work as well for short trips under one mile in below freezing temperatures. Applicant experienced an overall efficiency improvement in the range of 20 to 25% under normal driving conditions. 
     The main thrust of Applicant&#39;s invention is to clean up the environment. The improved miles per gallon is a pleasant bonus. 
     Another benefit is that the diesel addition raises the octane (i.e., antiknock) rating of the gasoline, which enables the replacement of premium gasoline with regular gasoline without impairing engine performance. Between substituting of regular gasoline with the diesel added for premium gasoline and the unexpected improvement in fuel efficiency, this is an economic benefit for consumers who need cars with more cargo space or more passenger seats than is available with small cars. This also reduces dependence on imported oil. Also, the diesel fuel addition of one ounce per ten gallons of gasoline appears to improve the octane (antiknock) rating of the gasoline, enabling one to downgrade from premium to regular gasoline, with no reduction in vehicle performance. This helps explain significant improvement in engine operation on a 1983 Chrysler K car after adopting the invention. Also, the preferred embodiment of the invention works with 85/15 gasoline/ethanol blends, in the Applicant&#39;s experience. 
     This works with commercially available gasolines and diesel fuels. 
     Gasoline seem to be mostly hydrocarbons between 6 and 12 carbon atoms in each molecule, with a good average of 8 carbon atoms and 18 hydrogen atoms, written as C8-H18. Typically, there is no oxygen atom in the gasoline molecules, as the Applicant understands it. 
     Petroleum diesel fuel molecules range, as the Applicant understands it, from C10-H20 to C15-H28, with a typical average of C12-H23 with at least one oxygen atom in the chain. 
     The at least one oxygen atom in the chain is useful in the diesel ignition process, which involves compression of the diesel fuel fumes. 
     The at least one oxygen atom in the diesel molecular structure is a major factor in how Applicant&#39;s invention for gasoline powered engines with catalytic converters improves the ignition process in gasoline powered engines. 
     Applicant includes bio-diesel (or simply biodiesel) or Ester of Glycerol in the term diesel. 
     Biodiesel has a chemical formula of C14-C24, typically C19-H36-O2. 
     When the internal combustion engine  1  is a gasoline powered internal combustion engine  1 , combustion burns the lighter atomic weight elements of the diesel fuel followed by a carbonizing effect of the heavier elements of the diesel fuel as the heavier elements go into the catalytic converter  2 . 
     As the gasoline powered engine  1  reciprocates and rotates through its cycles through its timing order, and after each exhaust valve closes, the exhaust flow stops going into the catalytic converter  2 , so pressures of any gas flows going into the catalytic converter  2  drop. 
     This results in a pulsating flow of the exhaust gases from the engine  1 . However, when this occurs, there is a gas burnout within the catalytic converter  2  which leaves a partial vacuum, or void. Just before an exhaust valve closes, there is an incomplete burn of diesel fuel vapor, resulting in a flow of carbon soot (trace amount) that goes into the catalytic converter  2 . The carbon ignites with a very bright and high temperature flash. 
     During the ignition occurrence, the oxides are taken into a burning flash, accompanied by a flow of oxygen flowing upstream, into the exhaust tail pipe  3  from the outside, of the exhaust tail pipe  3 , atmosphere. The vacuum that occurs is caused by a flash high temperature burnout, plus the closing of the exhaust valve just before the burnout. This is a frequent, pulsating flash burn within the catalytic converter  2  during the rotation of the engine. A pulsating harmonious voidal flash burn is the means of eliminating virtually all nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide emissions, whether it be an internal combustion engine application or an external combustion engine such as may be found in a power plant burning of fuels utilizing a catalytic converter. Utilizing the principal of a constant and repetitive burnout has been continuously used in Applicant&#39;s automobiles for the last 70,000 miles of use with no damage to the engine  1  or the catalyst Having the high temperature flash burn in the catalytic converter  2  is sustainable as the materials of construction in a catalytic converter  2  as such as to sustain such momentary high temperatures. 
     When the internal combustion engine  1  is a diesel fuel powered internal combustion engine  1 , the process is simplified by adjusting the quantity of air in an air fuel mixture to produce a fuel rich mixture as indicated by a smoky exhaust from the engine  1 , also known as a “black stack” by truckers. This is a slight reduction in the air to fuel ratio, in the order of one part per thousand, for purposes of enablement. Adjusting the mixture by means of altering computer controlled fuel/air mixtures for a diesel powered engine  1  is a preferred approach, however, as an alternate approach to altering fuel air mixtures, in field testing, adding a trace amount of six tenths of an ounce of gasoline to twenty gallons of diesel fuel, resulted in the virtual elimination of the harmful emissions of nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide. The diesel odor of the exhaust was eliminated. Also, there was a noticeable reduction in diesel engine noise. Applicant believes that as emission particles are reduced, the sound wave carried by the emission particles is reduced. The hydrocarbon molecules of gasoline have a lower flash point than the hydrocarbon molecules found in diesel. Presence of a trace amount of gasoline with the lower flash point hydrocarbon molecules in the diesel fuel causes a smoky exhaust from the diesel powered engine  1  into the catalytic converter  2 , resulting in the flash burning of the harmful emissions in the catalytic converter  2 . 
     For a vehicle with diesel powered engine  1 , there has been a discernable mileage improvement approaching  30  percent detected in Applicant&#39;s field testing. Again, as in the case of when the internal combustion engine  1  was a gasoline powered internal combustion engine, air, containing a normal component of oxygen, is forced into the catalytic converter  2  through the exhaust tail pipe  3  as needed to support a burnout of the harmful emissions of carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , for an external combustion engine (not shown) with an exhaust flow  10   a  in an exhaust duct  10  with a sequence timed motor powered pulse valve  11  with a rotating valve plate  12  with valve plate perforations  12   a,  a monolithic honeycomb catalytic converter  13 , and a blower  14 , wherein the exhaust flow  10   a  from the external combustion engine passes through the pulse valve  11 , the rotating valve plate  12  which imparts a fluctuating turbulence into the exhaust flow  10   a,  wherein the exhaust flow  10   a  just past the valve  11  is turbulent, keeping induced calcium particles from coalescing and lodging within the monolithic honeycomb catalytic converter  13 , reducing the effectiveness of the catalytic converter  13  in removing harmful emissions such as, but not restricted to nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide. Additional air is introduced, as needed to support burnout of the harmful emissions such as, but not restricted to, nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide, by the blower  14 . 
     Repairing and replacing the catalytic converter  13  is a too frequent, considerable maintenance expense, as mentioned in the discussion of the prior art. 
     A directional arrow indicates the direction of the exhaust flow  10   a.    
     The exhaust flow  10   a  comprises exhaust from either a coal fired, or an oil fired external combustion engine. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, as pertains to an external combustion engine, rotation of the valve plate  12  is approximately 800 revolutions per minute. A distance d is shown in  FIG. 2  as the distance of the catalytic converter  13  from the valve plate  12 . Distance d is within a range of 10 to 30 feet in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     The catalytic converter  13  is a catalytic monolithic honeycomb apparatus, well known to the power plant trade. 
     It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     For example, the description describes using diesel fuel in the gasoline for a gasoline powered internal combustion engine. As obvious to anyone skilled in the art, it is the heavier carbon/hydrogen molecules that are achieving the benefit of reduced emissions. 
     Consequently, while commercially available diesel fuel works, at the refinery, one can achieve the results by the selective addition of only some of the heavier carbon/hydrogen molecules in the C10-C24/H20-H36-O. The actual number of oxygen atoms in the diesel used in this invention is not a critical number, and can be varied, as the oxygen supporting the flash burning process for the internal combustion engine  1  comes in from the tail pipe  3 . For purposes of the invention, diesel fuel that lacks some of the commercial additives that are on the market, but will burn in a diesel engine is still a diesel fuel. 
     Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims in the formal application and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given. 
     For example, any commercially available diesel fuel or gasoline works for the purposes of this invention. However, there are diesel fuels and gasolines that are either not on the market at this time, or were at one time but are no longer available, or wilt be on the market some day in the future. These will probably work also. 
     Also; while one ounce of diesel fuel was used with ten gallons of gasoline, obviously good results can be obtained by varying the ratio of diesel fuel elements to a given amount of gasoline. While diesel fuel works added to gasoline for a gasoline powered internal combustion engine  1 , it is the elements of the diesel fuel heretofore described that are doing the work. So, conceivably, one could leave out additives normally added to commercially available diesel fuel, in the refining process, and achieve essentially the same or similar results. If a fuel has enough diesel elements to function in a diesel engine as a diesel fuel, Applicant calls it a diesel fuel, whether or not it is a commercially available diesel fuel (i.e. if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, acts like a duck, Applicant calls it a duck). 
     The Applicant has taken care to describe the results obtained from the elements of the diesel fuel believed to be doing the work. However, it is the Applicant&#39;s understanding that it is not necessary to understand just how it works, as it is to know it works and describe and define what it takes to do the job. 
     Also, while the testing and development of the invention as applied to internal combustion engines, the invention is also applicable to stationary power units powered by internal combustion engines. 
     Although the description above contains specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention.