DE4140650A1 - Hydrogen@ driven vehicle - has hydrogen@ produced by catalytic splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen on board the vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

Hydrogen driven vehicles in which the exhaust heat from the motor is used to catalytically break up water into hydrogen and oxygen. The water is conducted by a pump (12) from a storage tank (4) to a catalytic tube (8) wrapped around the exhaust pipe. The produced gases are then fed to the motor via tube (7) where they are burnt to drive the motor. Water vapour contained in the exhaust gas is condensed (3) and recycled to the tank (4). ADVANTAGE - Is economic method of producing a continuous supply of hydrogen together with oxygen which further improves the performance of the motor. Avoids the danger and high cost of storing liq. hydrogen.

Description

Device and method for hydrogen production in Fahr testify using the waste heat of an internal combustion engine the reduction of water through a catalyst.

Belonging to the technical field of automotive engineering, and the technical field of general hydrogen production belonging to all technical equipment like plants, motors, industrial plants and factories where it counts Use waste heat and heat.

The state of the art known to me is; that the hydrogen that is used to operate an exhaust gas and harm cloth-free vehicle is needed, in the form of a bulky and heavy hydrogen tanks must be carried (the What Hydrogen is trans-at -253 ° C in a special tank ported (BMW model)). The gas must therefore be large beforehand Production, cooling and liquefaction of costs and energy will. At Daimler-Benz, it becomes just as heavy and bulky Hydride tank used. Both have the major disadvantage that in the event of an accident, release the gas and ignite (ex plode) can.

Then the refueling effort of at least 10 minutes is a lot too large. Part of the filling disappears from a safe safety valve. The cryogenic hydrogen has to be pressure-consuming reducers, flow dividers and filters flow into the cylinders where it then after the combustion the exhaust unused leaves.

The problem with this was enough hydrogen for larger empires wide ready to have. The problem was also the device to be affordable and easy to install, just one Find ways to get the system up and running quickly. It was also a matter of solving the problem of finally utilizing waste heat end use and convert.

It was just a matter of solving all technical problems as possible To finally be able to use hydrogen in vehicles. Protection is sought for the following. Put hydrogen and oxygen directly in the vehicle (or in other plants) on board, by reducing water. With the help of a catalyst that the chemical Re production takes over, using the waste heat (thermal energy)  Internal combustion engine (e.g.).

The water split in this way then becomes the motor again Burn fed and the game starts from new ones. The majority of the heat energy in the exhaust steam, the coolant and if necessary, the engine oil becomes the energy for the catalytic Splitting water removed.

According to the equation, from 100% of the chemically bound energy in the fuel, are only 25% for the drive in the Otto engine used, the rest is waste heat. So what is closer than that one this 75% energy uses at least part of the power provide fuel consumption of the engine (or other). Certain technical measures make it possible To stuff residual energy from the outside, by solar energy (Solar cells on the roof and hood), electrical energy (Socket) or simply but less well with gasoline. There are even more options that I have in later registration will publish.

I desire protection for Fig. 1 in the manner in which it is listed in writing.

Commercially applicable in all heat generating engines, plant s, processes and equipment in all technical fields. Beneficial effects;

• - cheap and uncomplicated,
• - no maintenance and no wear on the device,
• - the range is, under certain circumstances, unlimited,
• - lower vehicle weight than usual test models,
• - increase in general efficiency,
• - no senseless waste of energy,
• - Since oxygen is also involved in the combustion in addition to hydrogen, the combustion is more effective and the exhaust steam cleaner (less NO _x ) than before,
• - safer in the event of an accident,
• - Protection of the exhaust system and protection of fossil energy resoursen,
• - if the water runs out, you simply refill water,
• - Optimal use of waste heat,
• - fuel is unlimited and can never run out,
• - Etc.

One way of execution is the device and the method for driving hydrogen in motor vehicles. After combustion, the hot water vapor leaves the engine and comes via the heat-insulated exhaust pipe ( 1 ) to the catalytic device ( 8 ), which uses the exhaust heat to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen. The divorced with an aluminum pipe wrapped around the exhaust pipe, which is provided with a reducing catalytic layer on the inside (more on this later). After passing through the muffler ( 2 ), the low-energy water vapor comes to the condenser ( 3 ), which removes the remaining energy from the water vapor and releases it to the environment. The so cooled and now liquid water is collected in a catch basin ( 11 ), and then collected via line 5 in the intermediate storage ( 4 ) for full load enrichment. The buffer ensures that enough water gets into the catalytic device ( 8 ) even at full load. All of this is controlled via the throttle valve position, which regulates the required injection quantity. No. 12 is the electric pump that is regulated by the throttle valve position, it also ensures the injection pressure of the injection nozzle ( 9 ). Via line 6 , the water is sent to the injection valve ( 9 ), where it is sprayed into the catalytic device. The water evaporates (diffusion) and comes into contact with the reducing layer, where it is split into H ₂ and O.

The evaporation creates pressure, which then presses the gas via line 7 into the injection nozzles located on the engine, and thus the fuel H ₂ (and O) enters the engine for combustion.

To explain the catalytic layer. The active layer should be as large as possible. The carrier can therefore be honeycomb-shaped, either made of ceramic or metal. The first layer is a washcoat (intermediate layer made of Al ₂ O ₃ ), which is provided with promoters (activity-increasing additives). This is followed by the actual catalytic layer made of platinum, palladium, rhodium or another chemically reducing catalytic material.

The following should also be mentioned.

Not only should the waste heat in the exhaust be used, but also the cooling water and engine oil heat, because that too are usable energy sources and the better they are less external energy from outside must be used leads.

Since the exhaust steam behind the catalytic converter still contains heat energy, this heat can be coupled in front of the muffler ( 2 ) with the hot coolant and the engine oil (e.g. via a heat exchanger). To either load the catalytic device ( 8 ) or to supply a second catalytic device (not shown) with the remaining heat. So behind the actual catalytic device there can be a second one, which uses the remaining waste heat from the cooling water and the engine oil, coupled with the remaining waste heat.

I came to the invention when I realized that (almost) reverses any chemical reaction. The following applies to this system then the following equation.

Oxidation (exothermic)
H ₂ + O + catalyst = heat and water vapor

So heat is released when hydrogen with oxygen chemically oxidized (burned) by a catalyst. The reverse of this is reduction.

Reduction (endothermic)
Catalyst + heat + water (steam) = H ₂ and O

The above is only reversed. Because this process is reversible, we have hydrogen and oxygen directly on board to move a vehicle.

All parts of the system transmit heat to the body in the form of radiation Isolate the environment must be insulated (thermos effect). This is known from 100% of the chemically bound energy in the Fuel can only be used for driving around 25% (at least up to now in a petrol engine). 35% are exhaust gas, 32% for cooling and 8% are friction and radiation. The thermal energy of the  Evaporating and cooling is therefore highly efficient converted into chemical energy for combustion. The resulting heat is then described as described used again.

There was also the problem with the ignition temperature, which is 560 ° C for hydrogen. For safety reasons, the 500 ° C mark should not be exceeded. The exhaust steam will have a temperature of 700-800 ° C. Therefore, the catalytic layer should (must) have as large an area as possible in order to prevent the gas from igniting and, as a result, as much hydrogen as possible from the large area. Instead of as shown in Fig. 1, the pipe of the catalytic device ( 8 ) should be divided into 2, 3 or more pipes. Thus, the heat from steam is distributed across several pipes, i.e. over a larger area. Despite this, the pipes must be thermally insulated, individually or together in a "drum". The heat energy and quantity are retained, but the active catalytic layer has increased. The (tube) individual temperature thus drops to an acceptable level.

Another possibility would be the evaporation with the coolant to "dilute" heat. To do this you would have to use a coolant Heat exchangers extract the energy and the exhaust steam before "Mix" the catalytic device with the coolant heat. Also because of the too rich mixture of 2 parts of water The mixture ignites substance and 1 part oxygen at a much higher temperature, the Water vapor share a role. The optimal mixing ratio is 34: 1.

If you have gained enough safety reserves as a result, you could introduce the coolant and engine oil heat into the system for reasons of simplicity, behind the injection nozzle ( 9 ), that is to say on the pipe 10 . For this purpose, the tube 10 would have to be longer and provided with heat-absorbing aluminum fins, similar to tube 7 . The hot coolant then flows around these aluminum fins so that the injected water warms up as quickly as possible.

In winter, the thermal insulation should be good enough that the water is still liquid at least after 24 hours. Otherwise, it must be heated electrically similar to the catalytic device. You should definitely use this thermos flask effect because it would optimally solve the summer / winter problem. Since normal air also burns during combustion in the engine, an additional catalytic converter would be needed to reduce nitrogen oxides (NO _x ).

The light-off temperature of the catalytic device is around the 250-350 ° C. That means when the system is still cold (on cold start), should the externally isolated catalysis tube with an electrically heated, resistance wire network be wrapped or the support of the catalytic layer is itself from a resistance alloy the catalytic layer brings to light-off temperature. The required electrical Electricity comes from a battery. To do this, like a diesel be "preheated" for a few seconds. To improve the Cold starts should (can) be the ignition in the cold start phase be set a little late so that the catalytic converter direction heats up faster. It would be most likely possible to give the vehicle an unlimited range if the vehicle external / internal energies are used, such as B. the recovery of braking energy, air and roll use of resistance and above all the use of solar energy through solar cells on the bonnet, roof and trunk lid, and other energy production processes that I will describe later become public.

The whole process can also be used as a fuel supplement to look at usual fuels. The procedure does not charge the claim that it is only described with System moves a vehicle. But if the generated one The amount of hydrogen should not be sufficient, of course, can simultaneously with the hydrogen obtained and with gasoline (e.g.) be driven. The consumption and above all the damage emissions would therefore be unmatched. The pollutants but would be even lower if they were additionally ab gas catalyst would be compensated.

That would be the cheapest but not the best. But if you  exhausted all energy (recovery) possibilities, under Taking into account the cost, then there is no reason to Make sure the hydrogen is not enough.

An easily tapped energy source is, for example Power generation when braking and pushing. Here the alternator regulator is switched so that additionally another battery can be charged with it. The then again the carrier of the catalytic device, i.e. the contra level alloy heated especially in the full load phase, and so the fuel supply is secured.

I want to check the water vapor content in the aluminum again tube of the catalytic device come back. At the very beginning of the aluminum tube is less hydrogen in operation stood and by the evaporation of the injected water the front part is also cooler than at the end of the pipe therefore, the hydrogen can be excluded ignites at higher temperatures, which destroys the system would bother.

Then there is a honeycomb-shaped carrier of the catalytic layer in the thin tube difficult to realize, that's why it is spiral carrier probably much better. The spiral would have to feel the whole pipe and be flexible, taking the spiral himself also serves as a carrier and he receives the same treatment drives like the inside of the pipe. The spiral should be spiral stepped, similar to the thread of a self-tapping screw be made up. So that the gas in the pipe always has a twist.

Explanation

1 heat-insulated exhaust pipe with elbow,
2 silencers,
3 aluminum condensers,
4 buffers and full-load enrichment tanks, insulated,
5 Water pipe from the condenser to the buffer store, insulated,
6 water pipe from the buffer store to the catalytic device, isolated,
7 hydrogen line from the catalytic device to the injection nozzles, designed as a cooling tube with cooling fins,
8 catalytic device, isolated,
9 water injection nozzle,
10 coupling piece for cooling water and engine oil heat,
11 water reservoirs,
12 Pump for the injection pressure.

Claims (5)

1. The features of the state of the art in the field of hydrogen propulsion known to me are that the hydrogen for these hydrogen vehicles must be carried on board. In a hydride or pressure tank, i.e. liquid at -253 ° C or bound to metal like in a hydride storage tank. These are filled up with a lot of time and money. As a rule, these hydrogen-powered vehicles have 1/3 less power than the same petrol-powered vehicle. The main disadvantages here are vehicle weight, complex and therefore prohibitively expensive, range, risk of explosion from the H ₂ tank, especially in the event of an accident and the generation of hydrogen from electrical current outside the vehicle, thus further burdening the environment due to the necessary electricity generation in power plants. Hydrogen liquefaction, i.e. cooling to -253 ° C, also requires enormous amounts of energy. And as is customary with petrol engines, here too, 70-80% of the engine heat is shamefully dissipated to the environment.
Main claim: characterized in that ( 1 ) the otherwise unused waste heat is used to chemically and catalytically reduce hydrogen and oxygen from pure water. In and for the vehicle itself. And since it is catalytically separated, the efficiency can be described as quite high.
The vehicle therefore produces the hydrogen (and oxygen) necessary for its operation from its own waste heat. With additional supply of small vehicle external / internal energies. So the use of the (process) heat but especially the waste heat to split hydrogen oxide (H ₂ O) in the vehicle, as a gasoline replacement or additive. And that is different from previous test engines. Through the "co-burning" of oxygen that is produced in this process, in addition to hydrogen, which significantly increases the engine output, for example to the level of a petrol engine. This process is used to increase the overall efficiency in vehicles, which is becoming increasingly urgent today. But not only in vehicles but also in other systems. This eliminates all the problems and disadvantages of the hydrogen drive mentioned in the general terms (paragraphs 2-5). 2. Catalyst device according to claim 1, similar to me unknown, characterized in that the chemical reduction is initiated by a catalytic metal (platinum, crude lithium, nickel, palladium or the like). In an aluminum tube ( 8 ) which is wrapped around the exhaust pipe near the engine in tight winding, either wrapped around or in the exhaust pipe. The water is injected into this aluminum tube, the water comes into vapor contact with the catalytic metal and from about 250 ° C splits into hydrogen and oxygen, which is fed to the engine. The amount of water injected is determined by the driver via the accelerator pedal position equal to the throttle valve position using a throttle valve potentiometer. The carrier lies in the aluminum tube as a flexible, spiral staircase-shaped metal carrier that constantly sets the water vapor in the aluminum tube in a twist. This carrier is made of a resistance alloy, which is electrically heated in the full load phase and in the cold start. The electrical energy comes from an accumulator that is charged by external / internal energies of the vehicle, see claim 3, further favorable measures will follow. Any type of waste heat is supplied to the catalytic device, such as exhaust gas, coolant and engine oil heat. The tailpipe of the catalytic device that leads to the engine is provided with cooling fins so that the water that is not split up condenses and runs back via a line to the intermediate store ( 4 ) and is collected. All parts that can radiate heat are to be insulated in the usual way, e.g. B. with glass wool. The heat transfer from the exhaust pipe to the aluminum pipe must be good, which is why the aluminum pipe is flattened with a flat profile to the exhaust pipe. So that a large area ensures heat transfer. Of course, this only applies to an external aluminum tube. Due to the thermal expansion, the hydrogen and oxygen mixture is continuously pushed through the inlet nozzles. The more, the more water is injected into the catalytic device and evaporates. The pipe ( 10 ) is preheated by cooling water and engine oil heat. For this purpose, the pipe ( 10 ) is longer than in the drawing and provided with fins that absorb the heat better. And which is washed separately from the cooling water and oil. To quickly heat up the catalytic converter, the ignition is electronically set to a little late in the cold start phase. 3. buffer for full load enrichment according to claim 1, similar to me unknown, characterized in that the condensed water from the tube ( 7 ) and from the condenser ( 3 ) is collected and collected in it. The pump ( 12 ) located in the intermediate store ensures the injection pressure of the nozzle ( 9 ) on the catalytic device. The pump is controlled via the throttle valve position. If the driver wants to accelerate, he steps on the accelerator pedal and uses the throttle valve potentiometer to control the amount of fuel injected at the nozzle ( 9 ) and, if necessary, the amount of electricity required for splitting in the full-load phase from the battery. The pipes and the intermediate storage are thermally insulated so that in winter the water remains liquid for at least 24 hours and little energy is lost. The buffer store can be supplied with water from the tank when the water level drops. 4. energy recovery during braking according to claim 1, Something similar is known to me from electric vehicles in which the brake the electric motor works as a generator. The but is normally only possible with an electric vehicle, characterized in that in push mode and when braking the alternator regulator so it is switched additionally during these phases, a Battery is powered. So that the energy of the braking process the catalytic device is used for electrical heating buffered via the battery or batteries. In addition, the engine braking effect increases, the generator so brake too. This is considered an advantage when braking. The more you step on the brake pedal, the more is over a potentiometer on the brake pedal of the alternator regulator booted. The generator brakes the engine parallel to the pressure on the Brake pedal. 5. exhaust steam condenser according to claim 1, similar to the Liebig cooler but only a similarity on the edge, characterized in that the condenser ( 3 ) ensures that the water vapor contained in the exhaust (from the combustion) condenses before exiting. And so it can run smoothly into the intermediate storage so that water refueling is used as rarely as possible. The condenser largely replaces the tank. A tube made of aluminum with cooling fins gives off the low, residual heat to the environment. The water vapor condenses and runs into the intermediate storage tank.
Note: This process, as a whole, can be controlled mechanically or electronically via a control unit.