Patent ID: 6951111

Claim:
A combustion engine for combusting hydrocarbon fuel, the combustion engine comprising: an engine housing having a combustion chamber; an air intake port fluidly connected to the engine housing and being configured to provide air thereto; a mixed conductor having a retentate side and a permeate side, the retentate side being fluidly connected to the air intake port, the permeate side being exposed to the combustion chamber, the mixed conductor being configured to conduct oxygen ions from the retentate side to the permeate side when a partial pressure of oxygen in the air on the permeate side is less than a partial pressure of oxygen on the retentate side for providing an oxygen-pure fraction of the air to the combustion chamber; a water intake port fluidly connected to the combustion chamber and being configured to provide pressurized water to the combustion chamber for subsequent combustion with the hydrocarbon fuel and the oxygen-pure fraction of the air to produce exhaust fluid; an exhaust turbine having an exhaust turbine inlet, an exhaust turbine outlet and a turbine rotor rotatably coupled to the engine housing, the exhaust turbine inlet being fluidly connected to the combustion chamber for receiving the exhaust fluid, the turbine rotor being configured to rotate upon expansion of the received exhaust fluid from the exhaust fluid inlet, the exhaust turbine outlet being configured to receive the expanded exhaust fluid from the turbine rotor; and a hydrogen compressor assembly fluidly connected to the exhaust turbine outlet for receiving the exhaust fluid, the hydrogen compressor assembly being configured to extract hydrogen from the exhaust fluid and pressurize the extracted exhaust fluid, the hydrogen compressor assembly being further configured to deliver the extracted pressurized hydrogen to the exhaust turbine inlet for recirculation through the exhaust turbine.