Patent ID: 6935283

Claim:
A fuel system for an internal combustion (IC) engine, said system comprising: a housing defining a thermal cracking chamber, and provided with an air inlet opening upstream of said chamber and an outlet opening downstream of said chamber; a fuel injector that injects a fuel mist into said chamber; an air heater that heats air flowing through said inlet opening into said chamber to a temperature in the range of 110°-260° C.; a controller coupled with said fuel injector to control the injection of said fuel mist into said chamber; and, an air temperature sensor for providing a first signal to said controller indicative of the temperature of air flowing into said chamber through said inlet opening, and wherein said controller is programmed to vary the volume of fuel in said fuel mist inversely with variations in said air temperature; whereby, in use, said fuel is thermally cracked in said chamber by collision with molecules of said heated air to form a thermally cracked fuel and heated air mixture, which is supplied to a fuel intake manifold of said IC engine via said outlet opening.