CA1096621A - Vaporization of electrically conductive water- hydrocarbon emulsion fuel for i.c.e. - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

An automobile engine is fueled with a mixture of air and a vapor derived by passing electric current through an el-ectrolytically conductive emulsion of gasoline and water.
Specific compositions of the conductive emulsions are disclosed as are unique designs for vaporizers for the fuel.

Description

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BACK~ROUND ~F THE INVENI!ION
1. Field o~ the Invention This invention relates to the method of and apparatus for fueling an internal combustion engine with a vapor derived from a water-hydrocarbon emulsion, to electrolytically conduc-tive emulsions useful for producing the vapor, and to vaporizers for electrolytically producing the vapor fuel from the emulsions.
2. Prior Art Hydrocarbon fueled internal combustion engines are produced in large numbers and have been the subject of inten-sive research and development over many years, but they all exhibit well recognized shortcomings in certain aspects oE
their performance. One difficulty derives from the fact that the fuel/air ratio required to produce reliable ignition fills the combustion chamber with substantially more fuel than can be consumed during the ensuing explosion. The unburned hydro-carbons substantially lower the fuel efficiency of the engine, represent a substantial pollution factor in the exhaust, and tend to adhere to the walls of the combustion chamber, causing predetonation. If the fuel/air ratio is lowered to the point where the entire fuel charge is consumed during the explosion it is difficult to sus~ain reliable ignition of the charge.
The liquid hydrocarbon, typically gasoline, is not ' :

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itself explosive; rather, only the vapor derived ~rom the liq-uid is explosive. Since the vaporization process is exothermic, past efforts have been made to warm the fuel charge before it is admitted to the combustion cylinders, in order to hasten the vaporization.
A variety of heat exchangers which warm the charge with the combustion exhaust products have been proposed as well as various electric resistant heaters. In most modern carburetors a "hot spot" is provided which is heated with the exhaust gas. Also, various ~orms of "atomizers" have been proposed to subdivide the fuel into droplet form, thereby in-creasing the surface area of a given fluid quantity to hasten its vaporization.
While all of these devices have some utility, the fact remains that in modern automotive engines much of the fuel is still in liquid form at the start of the combustion chamber explosion despite the fact that both the fuel economy of the engine and the cleanliness of its exhaust would be im-proved if the charge were in pure vapor form.
Another manner in which the eEficiency of an inter-nal combustion engine may be improved is by the mixture of water vapor with the intake fuel charge. The latent heat of vaporization of the water vapor absorbs some of the heat energy of the explosion and thus slows the combustion process.
This decreases the tendency toward pre-ignition and allows the use of a lower octane fuel for given engine compression ratio. A variety of arrangements have been proposed for in jecting water vapor into the combustion chamber with the fuel charge. The llse of a water-fuel emulsion to provide water vapor in the combustion chamber has also been proposed but despite extensive development this technique has not been ' - : ' P-30~
applied to any substantial commercial use.
SU~ARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention broadly contempla-tes achieving the advantages provided by a vaporized fuel charge containing water vapor through use of a unique liquid fuel and a novel arrangement for vaporizing that fuel to achieve a vapor fuel that may be provided directly to the combustion chamber.
- The vapor introducecl into the combustion chamber in the present invention is derived by passing electric current through a water-hydrocarbon emulsion containing appropriate electrolytes. The resulting vapor includes the vapor from the : hydrocarbon, water vapor, and may also contain some proportions of molecular hydrogen and oxygen resulting from the electrolytic decomposition of the water and hydrocarbons. This is not a fluid mist formed of droplets as are the outputs of prior art devices but is in true gaseous form.
When this vapor charge is mixed with air it is readily ignitable at fuel/air ratios substantially below those at which conventional fuel/air mixtures may be ignited, both because of its vapor nature and the presence of molecular oxygen and hydro-gen in the vapor.
Engines fueled by vapor formed in accordance ~ith the present lnvention attain higher fuel efficiencies and emit lower proportions of no~ious combustion products than do con-ventionally i-ueled engines. A prototype vehicle embodying the present invention obtained more miles per gallon using the water-fuel emulsion of the present invention than it did em-ploying the same quantities of plain gasoline.
The passage of current through the liquid fuel to produce vapor is achiaved using a vaporizer of special con-struction employing closely spaced electrodes which extencl P-302 ~6~
into a body of the liquid fuel and draw a small amount of a liquid upward between the electrodes by virtue of their surface attraction for the fuel, which is akin to that produced in a capillary tube. Most of the current flow is through this small volume of fluid, quickly vaporizing it without any heat-ing of the bulk of the fluid. The vaporizer is highly effic-ient in terms of its utilization of electricity and the current can readily be adjusted to control the rate of vapor genera-tion in response to the engine's fuel requirements.
The electric current used with the vaporizer of the present invention may be either alternating current or direct current. The direct current is believed to cause a higher degree of disassociation of the water than AC but to require substantially higher currents. The energy used in disassociat-ing the water is recovered in the burning of the resulting hydrogen in the combustion chambers.
I have found that conventional hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline cannot be vaporized even with the addition of el-ectrolytes, since these electrolytes do not homogeneously mix with the gasoline. Neither can the water-hydrocarbon emulsions - known to the prior art be vaporized. ~owever, I have discov-ered that the addition of appropriate electrolytes to certain water-hydrocarbon emulsions will produce liquid fuel that can be vaporized through the passage of electric current to produce vapor charges containing both hydrocarbons and water. The particular composition of liquid fuel disclosed subsequently, broadly consisting of water-hydrocarbon emulsions with added electrolyte, have proven highly stable over a wide range of temperature conditions and are simple to form using conven-tional mixing equipment.
The water-hydrocarbon emulsion used with the invention , 62~

preferably contains not more than about one-third by volume of water I have determined that at least about 2% to 3~ by volume of ~ater is required in the emulsion to attain a vapor-izable liquid. The emulsion is achieved through use of rela-tively small quantities of surfactants. Within the range of surfactants capable ~f achieving a water emulsion in gasoline, known to the prior art, including those surfactants disclosed in my previous application referred to abo~e, the choice iS
based upon the viscosity of the emulsion produced and the com-patability of the surfactants with the electrolyte used.
The electrolyte is preferably chosen from the group o~ mono-basic alkali metal organic compounds having an alkyl-aryl radical. These compounds are yreferably modi~ied by the addition of a base such as sodium hydroxide, to attain an alkaline nature. Other additives, such as dispersants, anti-icers, anti-rust agents and the like may be combined with the emulsion. The dispersants act to prevent agglomeration of the electrolytes, to promote emulsion and to lower the viscosity.
The inventive fuel could also be formed by mixing an additive containing the surfactants and electrolyte, and water, with gasoline in a fuel tank.
The increases in fuel economy which result from the vaporized state of the fuel charge and the presence of water vapor in the uel charge, outweigh the energy consumption of the system in vaporizing the fuel, thus increasing the fuel economy of engines fueled in accordance with the present in-vention. Additionally, these engines remain exceedingly clean internally and provide an exhaust containing relatively small proportions of atmospheric pollutants.
In one embodiment of the invention, which will sub-sequently be described in detail, a vaporizer-carburetor P-302 '~
receives the liquid electrolytic emulsion, generates the vapor and allows the vapor to be withdrawn into a throat carrying air as a function of the engine manifold pressure. This embodiment includes a solid state sensor positioned to monitor the volLlme of fluid in the vaporizer and to control the fuel flow to the vaporizer to maint:ain a relatively constant liquid level.
In another embodiment the automobile accelerator pedal directly controls the current flow through the vaporizer and the vapor fills up a chamber having an outlet to the car-buretor throat. Thus the flow o~ vapor through the orifice into this throat is a function Of the accelerator setting. An auxiliary ~ri~ice between the vapor chamber and the throat is normally closed and is opened for short periods when the accel-erator is suddenly depressed to quickly increase the vapor flow to the engine, in a manner analogous to the acceleration jet in a conventional liquid carburetor.
In still another embodiment a conventional carburetor employing the water-gasoline emulsion is used to start the engine which then runs on the output of the vaporizer.
Other objectives, advantages and applications of the present invention will be made apparenk by the following de-tailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.
The description makes reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIGURE 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for fueling an internal co~bustion engine in accordance with the present invention;
FIGURE 2 is a sectional view through a combination fuel vapori2er and carburetor formed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

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FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of the device of ~IGURE
2 taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;
FIGURE 4 is a schematic drawing o~ an alternative form of vaporizer and means for feeding fuel to the vaporizer;
and FIGURE 5 is a schematic drawing of another alterna-tive embodiment of the invention employing a conventional car-buretor for starting the engine.
Fuel systems for internal combustion engines, formed in accordance ~ith the present invention, pre~erably have ~he form indicated in FIGURE 1. The fuel supply for the engine, stored in the tank 10, broadly comprises a water-gasoline emulsion, containing less than about one-third and more than 2% to 3% by volume of water and having a finite electrical resistance by virtue of the addition of an electrolyte. Spec-ific compositions for such fuel will be subsequently described.
The pump 12, driven by the engine, provides a stream of fluid from the tank 10 to a vaporizer 14. As in conven-tional automobile engines the pump is preferably of the posi-tive displacement type and produces an output flow proportional to the engine speed.
The vaporizer 14 passes electric current through the fluid provided by the pump to form a vapor. Switch means 16 connect the vaporizer 14 to the output of an inverter 18 powered from the vehicle battery 20 during the starting of the engine. After the engine is running the switch 16 is controllecl to provide the vaporizer with power from an alternator 22 driven by the engine.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention the power passed through the fluid fuel is alternating current.
In other embodiments of the invention direct current could be . -used to power the vaporizer. This could be derived directly from the battery 20 or might alternatively employ appropriate voltage changing circuitry. I'he voltage output of the alter-nator 22 is proportional to the engine speed, thus the current passed through the vaporizer 14 and the resultant rate of gen-eration of the vapor is proportional to engine speed. The power from the alternator is derived directly from the alter-nator field and is not rectified. In a prototy~e unit a three-phase alternator sold by Ford Motor Company for heating elec-trically conductive auto windows was used to provide the vapor-izing current. This unit has an output from 180-1500 Hz and up to 120 volts as a function of engine speed.
Tl~e vapor formed from the fuel is provided to a car-buretor 24 which mixes the vapor with incoming air and provides the resulting explosive charge to manifold 26 connecting to the input valves of the engine cylinders 28. The carburetor throttle is controlled by an accelerator 30 which controls the charge flow to the cylinders and thus the speed of the engine.
~ preferred embodiment of the combination vaporizer and carburetor is illustrated in FIGURE 2. he unit employs three concentric metal tubes 32, 34 and 36, preferably cylin-drical in cross-section and formed of a relatively inert metal such as titanium. The inner diameter of the outer tube 32 exceeds the outer diameter of the middle tube 3~ and four plàs~ic insulator strips 38 separate the two tubes. Similarly, the inner diameter of the middle tube 3a exceeds the outer diameter of the inner tube 36 and four vertically extending plastic insu:Lator strips 40 separate these two tubes. The outer tube 32 and the inner tube 36 are both welded to a disc-shaped plate 42 at their lower ends so as to support them rela-tive to one another and connect them electrically. The center ~q~

tube 34 is supported above a plastic ring 44 which insulates the center tube from the inner and outer tubes. ~he central hole in the disc 42 is -the same diameter of the inner tube 36.
In a preferred arrangement the three tubes may each have 0.065 inch thick walls; the outer tube 32 may have an outer diameter of 1.50 inches; the center tube 34 may have an outer diameter of 1.25 inches; and the inner tube 36 may have an outer diameter of 1 inch. ~hus the space between ~he outer tube 3~ and the center tube 34 and the space betw~en the center tube 34 and the inner tube 36 are each about 0.185 inches. These tubes, with the base, form two cylindrical volumes, closed at their lower ends and open at their top ends.
In the preferred embodiment o~ the invention the center tube is slightly shorter than the outer tube and the inner tube is slightly shorter than the center tube. This arrange~ent sim-plifies the attachment of electrical leads 48 and 46 to the outer and central tubes respectively.
The fuel feed line 50 from the pump 12 is connected to an aperture in the outer tube 32 slightly above the bottom of that tube. Liquid fuel is admitted through this tube into the volume between the inner and outer tubes. Four holes 52 ; are formed through the center tube 34 at the level of the fuel feed tube 50 allowing fuel admitted through the line 50 to pass to the volume between the inner and middle tubes.
When a potential difference is applied to the -two -lines 4% and 4~, which connect to the switch means in the cir-cuit of FIGU~ 1, a potential difference is created between the center tube 34 and the inner and outer tubes 32 and 36.
Because of the electrolytic nature of the liquid fuel the current that flows will be a function of the instantaneous voltage imposed between the plates and the conductivity of _9_ the fuel. When the output o~ a conventional automo-tive alter-nator, of the type used with a 12 volt electric system, is applied to the leads 46 and 48, the electric current causes the liquid fuel to vaporize and to fill the volume between the tubes, abo~e the fluid level.
The narrow cross-sections of the volumes between the tubes act in the manner of capillary tubes to raise the fluid level at the free fluid surfaces between the spacers 38 and 40.
The primary current flow through the fluid is at this surface, resulting in a vaporizing of the fluid without a heating of the bulk of the fluid.
The space between the tubes is minimized to prevent the formation of bubbles which might burs~ to wet ana thereby con~ense already generated vapor thereby diminishing the total productivity of the vaporizer. Additionally, if the space between the tubes is too wide, the bulk of the liquid between the electrodes is heated, unnecessarily wasting power. Additionally, the greater the spacing between the electro~es the greater concentration of electrolyte required.
This increases the possibility that heavy current flow through a localized concentration of the electrolyte will create sparking and an explosion within the vaporizer.
The rate of generation of the vapor is a function of the alternator voltage. Vaporization occurs because of the heating of the fluid (I2R loss) and the electrolytic `
decomposition of the components of the emulsion, which gen-erate hydrogen and oxygen.
The vapor produced by the apparatus of FIGURE 2 is not steam-like in appearance but is rather exceedingly dry to the touch and has little tendency to condense within the normal range of temperatures encountered in driving in this country.
The center o~ the inner tube 36 acts like the throat of a carburetor. It is equipped with a pivotable choke valve 5~, preferably controlled by a conventional automatic choke mechanism. A plastic air intake tube 56 is connected to the bottom of the tube 36 and a conventional air filter 58 closes off the bottom of the tube 55.
At the upper end of the vaporizer a plastic output tube 60 is attached to the outer diameter of the tube 32. A
butterfly throttle valve 62 is supported centrally in the tu~e 60 above the vaporizer structure. The tube 60 leads ~o the intake manifold o~ the engine.
To start the engine the switch 16 is connected to the inverter 18 so that alternating current derived from the battery 20 may be used to genera~e initial vapor for starting.
The inverter may provide about 50 volts at 2,000 cycles. Sim-ultaneously the engine is turned over by a conventional starter motor, feeding fuel from the pump 12 through the line 50 into the base of the vaporizer 14. The manifold vacuum will tend to draw this vapor into the combustion chambers to start the engine. Once the engine is started the switch 16 may be thrown to its run position so that the unrectified output of the alternator is applied directly to the vaporizer. In this manner the output of the vaporizer and the rate of generation of vapor will both be a function of the engine speed. The vaporizer may be powered at all times since, in the absence of fuel, no current flows through the vaporizer and accordingly no electrical energy is spent. The flow of air through the interior of the tube 36 as a result of the engine vacuum will draw the vapor into the combustion chamber at a rate propor-tional to the engine speed. The air/fuel ratio will be a function of the rate o~ vapor generation and the diameter of the inner tube 36. The diameters of the tubes 32, 34 and 36, and in particular the inner diameter of the inner tube 36, may be varied in other embodiments of the inven~ion to achieve different air/fuel ratios. Alternatively, the output of the air tube 60 might be provided to an additional carburetor de-vice, which mixes the overly rich vapor derived therefrom with additional air to produce the desired air/fuel ratio.
An alternate form of vaporizer is illustrated in FIGUR~ 4. The vaporizer employs a pair of metal plates 64, which are disposed parallel to one another and separated by approximately 1/16 of an inch by plastic spacers 65 there-between. The plates are supported relative -to one another and enclosed at their free ends, by a plastic housing 66, shown broken away for purposes of illustration, which surrounds the outer sides of the plates and encloses the volume between - them. Liquid fuel to be vaporized is introduced to the space between the plates by a feedline 68 that extends through the side casing 66 adjacent to the bottom of one side wall. The fuel is driven through the feedline 68 by an electric fuel pump 70 connected by an input line 71 to a fuel supply.
A liquid level sensor 72 extends into the volume between the plates 64 through the sidewall 66, about halfway up its height. The sensor may take any one of a variety of forms. It m:;ght be a solid-state sensor or it might employ a float or other well-known technique. The electrolyte in the gasoline allows the use of a conductive liquid level sen-; sors which could not be employed with conventional gasoline fuel. The sensor 72 is connected to the pump 70 and controls the applicatlon of power to the pump to maintain a constant level of liquid fuel volume between the plates 64.

The plates 64 are connected to a suitable electric power source by a pair of electric wires 74. The power source may be the devices indicated in FIGURE 1 or an appropria-te source of DC power.
The vapor generated bet~een the plates 64 as a re-sult of passage of electric current through the fluid fuel accumulates in the volume above the fluid interface and the pressure of the vapor forces it through a line 76 to an appro-priate carburetor mechanism, generally indicated at 78 r which mixes the vapor with air for feeding to the engine combustion chambers.
The volume between the plates 64 and above the free level of the fluid fuel is also connected to the carburetor 78 by a separate second conduit 80. A normally closed valve 82 supported in the conduit may be opened by an appropriate mechanical or electronic control signal from the accelerator 84 upon sudden depression of the accelerator to instantaneously increase the rate of flow of the vapor into the combustion chamber. This acts in a manner analogous to the acceleration jet of liquid fuel carburetors.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes the forms of vaporizers shown it should be recognized that other forms of vaporizers may be used with other embodi-ments of the invention.
An alternate embodiment of the invention which eliminates the need for an inverter to power the vaporizer during the start of the engine is illustrated in FIGURE 5.
A valve 90 diverts fuel provided from a tank 92 by a pump 94, ; to either a conventional form of carburetar 96 or to a vapor- -izer/carburetor 98 formed in accordance with the present invention. An engine 100 is adapted to receive fuel from .

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either the carburetor 96 or the vaporizer/carburetor 98. The engine in turn drives an alternator 102 which provides power to the vaporizer/carburetor 98.
During starting of the engine the valve 90 is con-trolled to provide fuel to the carburetor 96 and the engine isstarted in a normal manner. After starting, the valve 90 is switched to provide fuel to the vaporizer/carburetor 98 and the engine 100 begins to run on that vapor. I have found that the generation of vapor commences sufficiently rapidly that the discontinuity of fuel ~upply resulting from the process is not noted.
This arrangement requires a water-hydrocarbon emul-sion containing an electrolyte which is suitable for use in a nor,mal carburetor as well as in the vaporizer. The fuel of Example 1, following, has been found to meet this require-ment.
The fuel used with the engine basically consists of an electrolytically conductive water-gasoline emulsion. The water is preferably present in percentages by volume of less than about one-third and in excess of 2% to 3% by volume.
Approxima~ely 26% water appears to provide optimum engine per-formance in a conventional automotive engine. The water-gasoline emulsion may be formed in accordance with the teach-ings of the prior art. For example, my U.S. Patent No. 4,158,551 25 discloses an emulsion formed using non-ionic ethoxylated alkyl- , phenols as the surfactant. However, I have found that when appropriate electrolytes are added to these emulsions the re-sulting mixture has such a high viscosity as to make it difficult to design an efficient vaporizer. I preferably employ fuels of the following composition in connection with the invention:

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Example 1 .60% by volume of butyl naphthalene sodium sul-~onate (BNS, by Emkay, anionic, modified by sodium hydroxide) .60% by volume of modified sodium sulfonate (#9~, by Petrochem, anionic, dispersant) .60% by volume of alcohol sodium sulfate (Rexowet NF, by Emkay, anionic) .60% by volume of alkyl terpene (B, by Emkay, non-ionic) 25.60~ by volume of tap water 72.00% by volume of commercially available gasoline 100. 00~
The alkyl terpene and the alcohol sodium sulfate form the basic surfactant system for emulsifying the water and the gasoline. These surfactants provide a proper hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance and provide an emulsion having a higher viscosity than the gasoline which is well suited for use with the preferred embodiments of the vaporizer.
The dispersant is commonly employed with surfactant systems and produces a smooth homogeneous emulsion, preventing agglomeration of the components of the emulsion. The modified sodium sulfate is a water solution containing two grams of the sodium sulfate per 100 milliliters of water.
The butyl naphthalene sodium sulfonate acts as an electrolyte. It is modified by the addition of sodium hydroxide to provide a basic Ph. It is a member of the class of organic materials known as the mahogany acids. Other mono-basic sul-fonates might be employed with other embodiments of the inven- ~-tion and as a broad class any organic alkaline metal compound that is solublle in the emulsion can be used as an electrolyte.

The volume of tap water in the above formula may be varied from 3% to 33% and the balance oE the gasoline adjusted accordingly without varying the other chemical constituents.
Any of these fuels provide satisfactory results. Anti-icers, corrosion resistant agents and other additives known to the art may be added as conditions warrant.
To combine the ingredients of the above formula the surfactants are first introduced into the water phase and the gasoline is then added by continuously stirring with an air 10driven mixture motor at 1,000 r.p.m. for 3-10 minutes. It is important that as little air as possible be entrained in this emulsion as the thicker mass will require higher pressure for pumping and air bubbles cause an intermittent fuel flow.
This emulsion remains stable over long periods with no separation at extremes of temperature and will not freeze if commonly used gasoline de-icers are used.
Example 2 .60~ by volume of butyl naphthalene potassium sulfonate 20 .60% by volume of modified potassium sulfonate .60~ by volume o alcohol potassium sulfonate "
.60~ by volume of alkyl terpene 2.80~ by volume of butyl ether (sold under the trade mark "~VTYL CELLUSOLVE" by Union Carbide) 252.80~ by volume of alkynolamide (sold under the trade mark "CALAMIDE C" by Pilot Chemical Co.) 1.00% by volume of ethylene oxide condensate (sold under the trade mark "MACON 4" by Stepan Chemical Co.) 24.00% by volume of tap water 3067.00% by volume of commercially available ga,oline 100. 00%

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P-302 ~ 6~
The butyl ether acts as a solvent to provide the emul-sion with a lower viscosity. I have found that the lower the vis-cosity of the water-fuel emulsiorl, the more easily the manifold pressure acts to draw the fluid into the vapori~er, without the need for pumping, thereby achieving a flow which varies in direct proportion to the engine demand.
Sirnilarly, the ethylene oxide condensate acts as a thinner and the alkynolamide acts as an emulsifier.
The emulsion is best formed by mixing the chemicals with either the gasoline or the water and then mixing in the other component. That is, if the chemicals are first added to the gasoline, the mixture of the chemicals and gasoline is then added to the water, or vice versa.
The following formula represents an additive intended to be mixed with water and gasoline to form a fuel for use in con-nection withthe present invention.
Example 3 16.00~ by volume of alcohol sodium sulfate (sold under the trade mark"REXOWET NF" by Emkay, anionic) 35.00~ by volume of alkanolamine, super (sold under the trade mark "WITGAMIDE #82" by Witco Chemical Co.) 20.00% by volume of a solvent emulsifier blend (sold un-der the trade mark "SCHERCOMUL F" by Scherer Chemical Company) 25.00% by volume of butyl ether (sold under the trade mark "BUTYL CELLUSOLVE" by Union Carbide) .67~ by volume of alkyl terpene (sold under the trade mark "B" by Emkay, non-ionic) .67~ by volume of butyl naphthalene sodiu~ sulfonate (sold under the trade mark "BNS" by Emkay, anlonic, modified by sodium hydroxide) .66~ by volume of modified sodium sulfonate (sold under the trade mark "#98"
. ',', ~,, ' ' .'.' ' ' ' , ' ' ' ' , . ', . : , ' by Pe-trochem, anionic, dispersant) 2.00% by volume of tap water ~, 100. 00%
10% by volume of this additive is used with 65% by volume of gasoline and 25% by volume of water to form an elec-trolytic water-gasoline emulsion for use in connection with the ~resent invention.
~aving thas described my invention, I claim:

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Claims (8)

The embodiments of the invention in which an ex-clusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An internal combustion engine comprising; a source of electrolytically conductive waterhydrocarbon emulsion; a source of electric current; a vaporizer including means adapted to pass electric current through a quantity of said emulsion to generate a vapor from the emulsion; a combustion chamber; means for intro-ducing the vapor produced by the passage of said electric cur-rent through said emulsion into said combustion chamber; means for introducing air into said combustion chamber; and means for igniting the air-vapor mixture.

2. The internal combustion engine of claim 1 wherein the hydrocarbon constitutes gasoline.

3. The internal combustion engine of claim 2 wherein the water-hydrocarbon emulsion is rendered electrolytically conductive by an electrolyte.

4. The internal combustion engine of claim 1 wherein the vaporizer includes electrodes separated from one another to form a volume adapted to receive the electrolytically con-ductive water-hydrocarbon emulsion.

5. The internal combustion engine of claim 1 wherein the source of electric current constitutes an alternator driven by the internal combustion engine.

6. The internal combustion engine of claim 1 wherein the Vaporizer comprises a pair of cylindrical concentric tubes, insulated from one another and forming a volume between their walls adapted to receive said quantity of said emulsion.

7. The internal combustion engine of claim 1 wherein the vaporizer employs a pair of planar electrode plates sup-ported in parallel close spacing- to one another, and insulated from one another and forming a volume between their walls adapted to receive said quantity of said emulsion.

8. The internal combustion engine of claim 6 wherein said means for introducing air into said chamber includes means for passing said air through the inner tube of said vaporizer in order to draw vapor out of the vaporizer and mix it with the air.