CA1199165A - Alcohol dissociation process for automobiles - Google Patents

Abstract

ALCOHOL DISSOCIATION PROCESS FOR AUTOMOBILES

ABSTRACT
A reactor apparatus comprising a reaction chamber wall, a reactor chamber inlet means, a reaction chamber outlet means, an inner fins, and catalyst bed material;
said reaction chamber wall enclosing said catalyst bed material, and defining a reaction chamber therewithin;
said inner fins being attached to said reaction chamber wall and extending therefrom into said reaction chamber;
said inlet means and said outlet means each being connected to said reaction chamber wall.
A method of fuel treatment and distribution for an internal combustion engine comprising the sequence of steps as follows:
(a) heating a catalyst bed reactor to a start-up temperature using exhaust gas from an internal com-bustion engine being operated on atomized alcohol; said catalyst bed reactor comprising a partial combustion catalyst and a methanol dissociation catalyst;
(b) vaporizing liquid alcohol to form alcohol vapor;
(c) mixing said alcohol vapor with air to form a partial combustion mixture;

(d) contacting said partial combustion mixture and said partial combustion catalyst whereby a dis-sociation mixture is formed and heat is evolved;
(e) contacting said dissociation mixture and said dissociation catalyst to form a hydrogen-rich fuel;
(f) mixing air and said hydrogen rich fuel to form a total combustion mixture;
(g) burning said total combustion mixture in an internal combustion engine.

Description

Case: ICR 3061 S

A~COHOL DISSOCIATION PROCESS FOR AUTOMOBILES
.... . . _ .. _ _ BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIO

Kosaka et al U.S. Pa-tent ~lo. 4,088,450 discloses a plurality of catalysts arranged iII a desirable order based on the temperature gradient existing in the chamber for reaction. The operating temperature of the catalysts and the temperature of the portion of the reaction chamber it is in, are matched so a~ to avoid a catalytic degradation and/or catalytic inactivity.
Peterson et al U.S. Patent No. 4,282,835 provides for synthesizing CO and H2 fuel from methanol and water in a second synthesizer. The methanol is confined in an alcohol tank as a liqui~. The water is confined in a water tank. A fuel pump and a water pump force fuel and water to a mixing valve. A heat exchanger heats the fuel and water to a gas which passes through nickel on alumina catalyst at 500C where the methanol dissociates to CO+H2. The gas passes to a second synthesizer containing Fe on Alumina catalyst above 500C where water and carbon monoxide form hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The gas is then mixed with air and passes to the engine.

._ . ~

Case: ~CR 3061 SUMMARY OF ~HE INVENTION

According to the present invention, one embodiment consists of a reactor for providing fuel vap~r to and for treatin~ exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine, which reactor comprises:
(a) elongated reaction chamber means having inlet and outlet means disposed at substantially opposed ends of said chamber means;
(b) a plurality of longitudinal fins on the interior wall of said chamber means;
(c) a mass of particulate dissociation catalyst arran-ged within said chamber means and in heat exchange contact with said fins;
(d) means for supplying methanol to said inlet means, and means for conveying gaseous dissociation product from said outlet means to the fuel intake of said engine;
(e) housing means surrounding said chamber means and having a gas supply opening and a gas discharge opening, said openings being disposed in substantially opposed faces of said housing means; and (f) means for conveying exhaust gas from said engine to said yas supply opening.

According to another aspect of the invention is pro-viding a reactor for providing fuel vapor to and for treating exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine, which reactor comprises:
(a) elongated reaction chamber means having inlet and outlet means disposed at substantially opposed ends of said chamber means;
(b) a plurality of longitudinal fins on the interior wall of said chamber means;

Case: ICR 3061 6~

(c) a mass of particulate dissociation catalyst arranged within said chamber means and in heat exchange contact with said fins;
(d) means for supplying methanol to said inlet means, and means for conveying gaseous dissociation product from said outlet means to the fuel intake of said engine;
(e) housing means surrounding said chamber means and having a gas supply opening and a gas discharge opening, said openings being disposed in substantially opposed faces of said housing means;
(f) combustion catalyst within the space between said chamber means and said housing means; and (g) means for conveying exhaust gas from said engine to said gas supply opening.

Further, in one embodiment, a method of methyl alcohol treatment and distribution for an automobile internal com-bustion engine is provided, including the sequence of steps as follows:
(a) heating a catalyst bed reactor to a start-up temperature using exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine being operated on atomized methyl alcohol, said catalyst bed reactor comprising a partial combustion catalyst and a methanol dissociation catalyst;
(b) isolating said catalyst bed reactor from said exhaust;
(c) vapori~ing liquid methyl alcohol to form alcohol vapor;

(d) mixing said alcohol vapor with air in a constant ratio of oxygen to alcohol at variable alcohol flow rates, to form a partial combustion mi~ture;
(e) contacting said partial combustion mixture and said partial combustion catalyst to exothermically form a 9~
- 3ta) -dissociation mixture, said dissociation mixture comprising methanol vapor, water vapor, earbon monoxide, and hydrogen each in substantial proportion;
(f) eontaeting said dissoeiation mixture and said dissociation eatalyst to endothermieally form a hydrogen-rieh fuel, said hydrogen-rich fuel comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide each in substantial proportion, said hydrogen-rich fuel being formed from said alcohol vapor substantially adiabatieally;
(g) mixing air and said hydrogen-rich fuel to form a total eombustion mixture; and (h) burning said total eombustion mixture in an internal eombustion engine.

Case: ICR 3061 1~99~5 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a reactor in accordance with the present invention.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a reactor in accordance with the present invention.
Figure 3 is a schematic flow diagram of an automobile fuel system in accordance with the present invention.

Case: ICR 3061 DETAILED DESCRIPTION O~' TH~ INVENTION

With more particular reference to the drawings, it is seen in Figure 1 that a reaction chamber 10 is supported within the reactor 3 by supports 16 and/or by springs 14 and 14'. The reactor chamber wall 10 encloses the catalyst bed material 11. Inner fins 9 extend from the reaction chamber wall 10 to which they are attached.
The inner fins extend from the reaction chamber wall inwardly into the reaction chamber defined by the reaction chamber wall. Outer fins 13 are connected to the reaction chamber wall 10. Outer fins 13 extend outwardly from the reaction chamber wall 10 into the heat exchange chamber 12. The heat exchange chamber 12 is defined by the inner surface of the hea-t exchange wall 17 and the outer surface of the reaction chamber wall 10.
As shown in Figure 2, the heat exchange wall 17 encloses the reaction chamber wall 10. The sup-porting spring means 14 and 14l are connected to the inner surface of the heat exchange wall 17 and the outer surface of the reaction chamber wall 10.
As shown in Figure 3, the reactor 3 is connected by conduit 19 to a super-heater 5. The superheater 5 receives vapor phase alcohol from the vaporizer 2 through line 20. Air is pumped through line 15 from compressor 21 into line 20. The mixture of air and methanol vapor passes through line 20 to the superheater 5. Alcohol from the alcohol tank 1 is pumped thxough line 22 by pump 23 to the vaporizer 2.
Valve 24 in line 22 is provided to limit the flow of Case: ICR 3061 ~ 5 liquid alcohol to the vaporizer 2 from the alcohol tank 1. The mixture of air and alcohol vapor passes through line 19 into the reactor 3. The reactor 3 is heated by exhaust gas from the engine 4. The exhaust gas passes through line 25 to the reactor 3. The line 25 has valve 26 therein to limit the flow of exhaust gas to the reactor 3. Exhaust gas leaves the reactor 3 through line 27. The vaporizer 2 is provided with a line 29 through which hot engine coolant is passed from the engine to the vaporizer 2. Engine coolant passes from the vaporizer 2 through line 30. Line 30 is connected to engine 4. The filter 6 is connected to the reactor 3 by line 31. The filter 6 removes solids from the hydrogen rich gaseous mixture passing there-through. The filter 6 is connected by line 32 to theengine 4. Valve 36 in line 32 is provided to limit the flow of the hydrogen rich gaseous fuels in the engine. The valves 24 and 36 completely block the dissociation system including vaporiz.er to the filter when the system is not in operation. Line 8 is connected to the line 33. Line 33 is connected to the engine 4.
Hydrogen rich gas in line 32 mixes with air from line 8 in the line 33~ Liquid alcohol passes through line 7 to ].ine 33. The valve 34 in line 7 limits the flow of liquid alcohol therethrough. The liquid alcohol passing through line 7 is atomized prior to being fed to the engine 4.
The preferred alcohol for use as the alcohol fuel in the alcohol tank 1 is methanol.

6~i Case~ R 3061 The fins 9 and 13 extend the length of the reaction chamber wall. Both the inner fins 9 and the outer fins 13 serve to distribute heat along the reaction chamber wall. Inner fins 9 serve to distribute heat into the reactor bed 11 from the reaction chamber wall 10. The outer fins 13 serve to transfer heat from the heat exchange chamber 12 into the reaction chamber wall 10.
The ends of reaction chamber wall 10 are preferably covered by a screen or wire mesh (not shown) to retain the catalyst bed 11 therein.
The engine is started by methods known in the art for starting internal engines for example by use of an alternate fuel such as liquid methanol delivered through line 7 or a gaseous fuel like propane. After starting the engine, the hot exhaust gases heat the r~actor 3 by passing through the heat exchange chamber 12. The outer fins 13 conduct heat from those hot exhaust gases and transmit it to the reaction chamber wall 10. The fins 9 transfer heat from the reaction chamber wall 10 into the reaction bed 11. When the initial operating temperature is reached, the mixture of air and methanol vapor are fed to the reactor.
Preferably the reactor contains a dual catalyst bed.
The initial catalyst contacted by the mixture of air and methanol vapor being a partial oxidation catalyst for example copper/nickel. The subsequent catalyst contacted by the alcohol and partial combustion product mixture bein~ a dissociation catalyst such as copper/
zinc catalyst. Partial combustion occurs between the methanol and the air in the initial stage of the reactor 18. This paxitial combustion produces heat.
The heat produced in the initial stage o~ the reactor 3 is transferred to the subsequent stage by the inner fins 9.

Case: ICR 3061 ~ 5 Once the catalyst bed is preheated to -the initial reaction temp~rature by the engine exhaust gas, valve 26 is closed and valves 24, 35 and 36 are opened by temperature switch. Valve 28 is line 38 is first opened to send hot exhaust gas to the superheater 5 before closing valve 26. The reaction temperature within the reactor 3 is maintained by the rate o~
partial combustion. The rate of partial combustion is controlled by the amount of air injected through line 15 by control of valve 35. Valve 35 is temperature responsive to the outlet gas temperature in line 31.
Valve 35 is connected to line 31 by temperature control signal. The temperature control in line 31 is not shown. Valve 35 is also connected to line 22 by flow rate sensor signal. The flow rate sensor signal sets the maximum opening of valve 35 at the measured alcohol flow rate. The temperature control signal reduces the opening of valve 35 to lower the air ~low rate from the maximum if the temperature is over the specified upper limit of the product gas temperature. This air flow control may be done by microprocessor which is not shown in Figure 3.
During cold start ot exhaust from the engine passes into the heat exchange chamber of reactor 3 through line 25 and valve 26. The exhaust leaves the heat exchange chamber through line 27. While the reactor is being heated up to the operational temperature, valve 28 in line 38 is closed so that exhaust from line 37 passes into line 25 and into the heat exchange chamber of the reactor 3. The exhaust ga~ leaving the reactor 3 through line 27 enters the superheater 5 through line 39 and leave the superheater through lines 40 and 74 to vent. Valve 44 in line 45 is closed during this period. During this period the vaporizer 2 Case: ICR 3061 ;5 is heated with engine coolant. When the reactor has reached its operating temperature, valve 28 in line 38 is opened by a temperature switch so that exhaust no longer passes from line 37 into line 25 but rather the exhaust from line 37 is channelled into line 39. The valve 26 is then closed. Thus, the reactor 3 is isolated from exhau~t heat and adiabatic dissociation begins in the reactor. The valve 44 controls the exhaust gas flow to the superheater 5 to give the temperature of the methanol vapor from the superheater 5 at the specified inlet temperature for the adiabatic reactor 3. The vaporizer 2 is optional. Thus, li~uid methanol may be fed directly into the superheater 5 from the methanol or alcohol storage tank 1. Altexna-tively engine exhaust may be passed from the outputline 40 of the superheater 5 into the feedline 29 of the vaporizer 2. In which case, engine coolant would not be fed into the feedline 29 of vaporizer 2.
The air being fed through line 15 may be preheated by preheater 41. The preheater ~1 may be fed exhaust from line 37 to provide the preheating heat for air being fed through line 15 into line 20~ Beneficially the preheated air does not lower the temperature of the liquid alcohol and/or alcohol vapor being fed to the superheater 5 through line 20.
The reactor 3 preferably is provided with insulation over the heat exchange wall 17 to maintain the temperature therewithin and minimize the transfer of heat therefrom. As an alternative to valve 26, a restricting orifice may be provided. ~uring cold start hot exhaust gas flows through the orifice to the reactor to preheat the catalyst bed in reactor 3 to operating Case: ICR 3061 ~9~

temperature by closing the valve 28 in line 38. When the reactor 3 is in operation, the orifice allows only a portion of hot exhaust gas to flow to the reac-tor 3 with the balance of the exhaust gas flowing through line 38 by opening the valve 28. In this manner, the heat loss from the reactor 3 can be minimized and some heat recovery from the exhaust gas may be realized in the reactor.
The principal function of exhaust within the heat exchange chamber of the reactor 3 is to initially heat up the reactor 3 and then to sustain heat losses to the atmosphere to maintain the temperature of the reaction chamber 11 free from heat loss to the atmos-phere. After the initial heat up of the reactor 3 to the operating temperature, a major portion of the exhaust in line 37 may be passed to the vaporizer and/or superheater. Thus only a small portion of the exhaust would be required to make up for heat losses from reactor 3 to the surrounding atmosphere. It is within the scope of the invention to completely block the flow of exhaust to the reactor 3 after it initially reaches operating temperature. In this case the heat losses to the atmosphere would be made up by the additional partial combustion of methanol.
Physical Confi~uration and Functions of Reactor Components Figures 1 and 2 show the schematics of reactor 3. The reactor has two divided sections: the inner section holding the catalyst bed and the sur-rounding empty chamber. The reaction chamber wall 10, separating the catalyst bed 11 and the heat exchange chamber 12, has inside fins 9 and outside fins 13.
During cold starts the hot engine exhaust gas flows through the heat exchange chamber to provide the heat Case: ICR 3061 required for preheating the bed to a desired temperature.
The fins on the reaction chamber wall will enhance the heat transfer and, thus, reduce the preheating time.
During normal dissociation operation, the heat exchange chamber is isolated from the exhaust gas flow and, thus, acts as insulation. The feed to reactor 3 is a mixture of superheated methanol and air. For thermally neutral conversion of methanol, the air/methanol ratio in the feed and the reactor inlet temperature are controlled.
The fins inside and outside of the reaction chamber wall are placed parallel to the flow directions of the reactants in the bed and of the exhaust gas in the heat exchange chamber, respectively, in order to minimi~e the pressure drops in both flows.
The inside fins on the reaction chamber wall have important functions for maintaining catalyst activity and physical integrity~ During adiabatic operation the fins will help to maintain a more even temperature distribution in the bed by facilitating longitudinal heat transfer. This heat transfer effect is beneficial to the maintenance of the catalyst activity by reducing the peak temperature generated by the reaction between methanol and oxygen in the front partial combustion zone o the catalyst bed, since a higher temperature deactivates catalyst more by sintering. Further, the inside fins may be beneficial for catalyst pellet integrity by restricting pellet motion resulting from sudden changes in car speed or car vibrations due to rough road conditions.

Case: ICR 3061 ~9~

As shown in Figure 2, springs 1~ and 1~' or some other mechanical means of dampening motion may be installed in the heat exchange chamber to absorb any abrupt movements of the automobile without detrimentally affecting catalyst physical integrity.
Because a rapid preheating of the catalyst bed by heat exchanger is required during cold starts, a reaction chamber wall shape that gives a larger heat transfer area is preferred at the same catalyst volume.
For this reason the reaction chamber wall also has many inside fins 9 and outside fins 13. Figures 1 and 2 show a configuration of the reactor. Figure 1 shows that the reaction chamber wall in the reactor has a large width-to-depth ratio in order to have a large peripheral surface area at the same volume.
Since the reactor must fit into the available space in an automobile, the reactor size and shape must correspond to that space.
Overall Fuel System Figure 3 sho~s a schematic flow diagram of the automobile fuel system of the invention. Major components of the fuel system are a vaporizer 2, a superheater 5, a filter 6, and by-pass line 7 in addition to the reactor.
In the vaporizer 2 the engine coolant, normally at 200-220F, provides the heat for the methanol vaporization. In the superheater, the methanol temperature is raised to the desired reactor inlet temperature by heat exchange with the exhaust gas. The vaporizer 2 is optional because the superheater may be used for the methanol vaporiza-tion and superheating by directly feeding liquid methanol into it. Air is injected through line 15 to the alcohol feed stream Case: ICR 3061 ~ 6~

normally before the superheater in order to allow enough time for mixing of the air and alcohol prior to the reactor. The fil-ter 6 collects fines from the catalyst bed.
The by-pass line 7 delivers liquid alcohol directly to the engine as required during cold start or high load driving (acceleration or high speed driving).
During cold start, the engine 4 must run on liquid or vaporized alcohol until the dissociation reactor completes its start-up phase. During high load driving the fuel requirement in excess of the ma~imum through-put of the reactor is provided with liquid alcohol from tank 1 delivered through the by-pass line 7.
The direct feeding of liquid alcohol in excess of the maximum throughput o~ the reactor may be beneficial for overall car performance without signi-ficantly reducing the benefits of the dissociation.
The liquid alcohol fed to the engine will boost the engine power by increasing the energy density of the ~o combined fuel when the power is needed at high load conditions. Further, it may lower the NOX emissions by reducing the combustion temperature in the engine.
The preferred operating mode for the dis-sociated methanol engine is to operate for maximum ~S efficiency at low-load driving conditions, and ~or maximum performance at high-load transient driving conditions. Low-load operation consisting of idle and constant speed driving does not require a high power output from the engine. For low-power output~ the engine can be operated at a maximum air-fuel ratio or a minimum e~uivalence ratio to give maximum efficiency.
With dissociated methanol the equivalence ratio can be reduced as low as 0.3 without hampering smooth engine Case: ICR 3Q61 operation due to its high hydrogen content. For maximum power output, methanol in excess of the reactor through~
put can be by-passed and fed directly into the engine.
Air flow is unthrottled. The result is an increase in 5 fuel densi-ty up to an equivalence ratio o~ 1.0, which gives maximum power output.
Operation can be accomplished with a driver controlled accelerator that sends a signal to a micro-processor, which in turn monitors and adjusts engine performance as necessary. The micro-processor is not shown in Figure 3. Adjustments such as spark advance, air-fuel ratio, etc. are made. The micro-processor maintains the required air-fuel ratio during low-load driving demand by throttling the air flow to the engineO
During high-load transient demands, such as acceleration to cruise speed and hill climbing is required, additional fuel as liquid methanol is injected by opening by-pass valve 34. In this mode, air-fuel ratio varies as fuel density is adjusted to give the required engine power 0 output and hence good driving performance.
EXAMPLE
Cold Starts Since the cold start of the reactor requires hot engine exhaust gas for preheating of the catalyst bed the engine 4 must be turned on by a method indepen-dent of the methanol conversion system. During this period the engine may run on liquid alcohol delivered through the by-pass line.
Once the catalyst bed temperature in the reactor has risen to the initial operating temperature, superheated alcohol is fed to the reactor with air injection through line 15. Because of the exothermic Case: ICR 3061 ~ 6S

heat generated by partial combustion of alcohol, the catalyst bed temperature will further rise until endothermic alcohol dissociation becomes effective.
For a 20/10 Cu/Ni catalyst on silica the bed temperature for initiating the partial combustion reaction for methanol is about 300F or above. A lower temperature is acceptable if a more active catalyst is used.
The engine can be started independently with a gaseous start-up fuel such as propane, electrically vaporized methanol or finely atomized methanol.
Adiabatic ~lcohol Conversion Once the cold start phase of the reactor is completed, the reactor is operated adiabatically with air injection rate controlled at a fixed 02/methanol molar ratio in the feed for thermally neutral, adiabatic conversion. The 02/methanol feed ratio is normally 0.16 for the adiabatic conversion. The ratio is less than the theoretical number of 0.174 because of the exothermic formation of such by-products as methane and dimethyl ether in very small quantities. When the methanol conversion goes to completion at the air injection rate and there are no heat loss from reactor to surroundings, the product gas temperature is the same as the feed temperature.
With a dual catalyst bed of Cu/Ni and Cu/Zn catalysts, the fo7lowing three reactions take place as major reactions CH30H (g) + 1/2 02 -~ H2 + CO + H20 ~H298 =
-36,134 cal (I) CH30H (g) ~ 2 H2 + CO ~H298 21,664 cal (II~
H20 (g) + CO -~ H2 + CO2 298 -9,838 cal (III) Case: ICR 3061 Methanol is first converted via Reactions (I) and (II) in the Cu/Ni catalyst zone and the remaining methanol is converted via Reactions (II) and (III) in the following Cu/Zn catalyst zone. Because Reaction (I) is very fast on a Cu/Ni catalyst, oxygen is rapidly consumed to completion in the zone. The rapid progress of Reaction (I) creates a temperature peak in the zone.
After the depletion of oxygen the endothermic reaction (Reaction (II)) becomes dominant and, thus, cools down the bed temperature. The gas leaving the reactor is very close to equilibrium for the water/gas shift reaction because of the excellent shift activity of the Cu/Zn catalyst.
Having thus described the invention by reference to certain of its preferred embodiments it is respectfully pointed out that embodiments described are illustrative rather than limiting in nature and that many variations and modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. Such variations and modifications may appear obvious and desirable to those skilled in the art upon a review of the foregoing description of preferred embodiments.

Claims (5)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A reactor for providing fuel vapor to and for treat-ing exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine, which reactor comprises:
(a) elongated reaction chamber means having inlet and outlet means disposed at substantially opposed ends of said chamber means;
(b) a plurality of longitudinal fins on the interior wall of said chamber means;
' ' ranged within said chamber means and in heat exchange con-tact with said fins;
(d) means for supplying methanol to said inlet means, and means for conveying gaseous dissociation product from said outlet means to the fuel intake of said engine;
(e) housing means surrounding said chamber means and having a gas supply opening and a gas discharge opening, said openings being disposed in substantially opposed faces of said housing means; and (f) means for conveying exhaust gas from said engine to said gas supply opening.

2. A reactor for providing fuel vapor to and for treat-ing exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine, which reactor comprises:
(a) elongated reaction chamber means having inlet and outlet means disposed at substantially opposed ends of said chamber means;
(b) a plurality of longitudinal fins on the interior wall of said chamber means;
(c) a mass of particulate dissociation catalyst arranged within said chamber means and in heat exchange contact with said fins;

(d) means for supplying methanol to said inlet means, and means for conveying gaseous dissociation product from said outlet means to the fuel intake of said engine;
(e) housing means surrounding said chamber means and having a gas supply opening and a gas discharge opening, said openings being disposed in substantially opposed faces of said housing means;
(f) combustion catalyst within the space between said chamber means and said housing means; and (g) means for conveying exhaust gas from said engine to said gas supply opening.

3. The reactor of claim 2 further comprising a plurality of fins on the exterior wall of said chamber means.

4. A substantially adiabatic method of methyl alcohol treatment for operation of an automobile internal combustion engine comprising the sequence of steps as follows:
(a) heating a catalyst bed reactor to a start-up temperature using exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine being operated on atomized methyl alcohol; said catalyst bed reactor comprising a partial combustion catalyst and a methanol dissociation catalyst;
(b) isolating said catalyst bed reactor from said exhaust;
(c) vaporizing liquid methyl alcohol to form alcohol vapor;
(d) mixing said alcohol vapor with air in a constant ratio of oxygen to alcohol at variable alcohol flow rates, to form a partial combustion mixture;
(e) contacting said partial combustion mixture and said partial combustion catalyst to exothermically form a dissociation mixture, said dissociation mixture comprising methanol vapor, water vapor, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen each in substantial proportion;

(f) contacting said dissociation mixture and said dissociation catalyst to endothermieallly form a hydrogen-rich fuel, said hydrogen-rich fuel comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide each in substantial proportion, said hydrogen-rich fuel being formed from said alcohol vapor substantially adiabatically;
(g) mixing air and said hydrogen-rich fuel to form a total combustion mixture; and (h) burning said total combustion mixture in an internal combustion engine.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said partial combustion catalyst is Cu/Ni and said dissociation catalyst is Cu/Zn.