JP5333895B2 - Fuel reformer and fuel supply system using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is mainly provided on a fuel pipe for supplying liquid fuel to an internal combustion engine having a large displacement, and applies a ultrasonic vibration to the passing liquid fuel to reform the liquid fuel. It relates to the fuel supply system used.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which ultrasonic vibration is generated in a tank containing a fuel for an internal combustion engine to decompose the fuel into ultrafine particles for the purpose of vaporizing and completely burning the fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine. An apparatus for vaporizing before supplying to an internal combustion engine is provided. Specifically, the vaporization generating device includes a vaporization tank, an output vibration element built in the vaporization tank, and an empty cooking prevention switch.

  Patent Document 2 provides a fuel improvement device that attaches an ultrasonic vibrator to a fuel line, atomizes the fuel, attaches a magnet or an electromagnet downstream thereof, and further activates and ionizes the atomized fuel.

  In Patent Document 3, in order to achieve complete combustion by making the particles of liquid fuel oil into ultrafine particles, and to achieve low pollution with effective use of energy, the fuel oil filter bracket is connected with a transmitter and a wiring. A fuel oil reforming apparatus is provided that disposes the liquid fuel oil particles circulating in the fuel oil filter assembly into ultrafine particles.

In Patent Document 4, an ultrasonic oscillating means for oscillating ultrasonic waves from the bottom surface is disposed on the bottom surface of the fuel container, and an ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic oscillating means is selected according to the liquid level of the fuel in the fuel container. Provided is a fuel reformer having ultrasonic frequency variable means for varying the frequency of sound waves.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-151033 JP 2001-263180 A JP 2002-332923 A JP 2006-291143 A

  As described in Patent Documents 1 to 4, a technique for applying an ultrasonic wave to a fuel and reforming the fuel (particulates) is already known. However, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 4, when the liquid fuel is reformed by applying ultrasonic vibration to the liquid fuel in the fuel tank, the reformed fuel undergoes a mixing process with air. After that, it leads to the combustion stroke, but because there is a distance from the tank to the combustion stroke, there is a possibility that the reforming may deteriorate, and it is impossible to uniformly reform the entire fuel contained in the tank, There is a problem that the combustion performance varies.

  In addition, in the fuel improvement device described in Patent Document 2, since the ultrasonic oscillation device is disposed on a normal pipe, there is a problem that the efficiency of atomization of the liquid fuel passing therethrough is poor. Also in the fuel oil reformer described in 3, the liquid fuel applied by the ultrasonic vibrator is only the fuel that passes through the fuel oil filter bracket before being sent to the fuel oil outflow pipe, and the passage of the fuel There was a problem that sufficient modification (particulate formation) could not be performed due to the high speed.

  Further, since fuel to a large displacement internal combustion engine such as a ship or a diesel engine is supplied at a large flow rate, there is a problem that a sufficient effect cannot be obtained by the conventional method. Further, in the case of a fuel injection type internal combustion engine having a common rail, there is a problem that the pressure becomes insufficient when it is mounted immediately after the fuel pump.

  For this reason, the present invention is to provide a fuel reformer capable of sufficiently reforming (particulates) liquid fuel sent to a large displacement internal combustion engine and a fuel supply system using the fuel reformer.

Accordingly, in the present invention, a fuel reforming space having a predetermined volume is defined by the casing and the vibration plate, an inflow port into which fuel flows is formed in the vibration plate, and an outflow port is from the side facing the inflow port. with fuel is disposed in the casing so as to flow out, the vibrating plate is vibrated transmission of transducers are connected to the vibrator, fuel by applying ultrasonic fuel reformer to generate nanobubbles passing The vibration plate includes a projecting portion that projects in a substantially conical shape in the fuel reforming space.

  In addition, it is desirable that a plurality of circumferential groove portions extending annularly along the circumferential direction of the side surface are formed in the protruding portion at a predetermined interval in the height direction.

  Furthermore, it is desirable that a plurality of radiating groove portions extending along the generatrix from the apexes are formed in the projecting portion at a predetermined angle in the circumferential direction.

  Furthermore, it is desirable that the protrusion is a spiral groove formed in a spiral direction along the side surface from the apex thereof.

  Further, it is desirable that a concave portion is formed at the apex of the protruding portion.

  Furthermore, the circumferential groove portion, the radiating groove portion, the spiral groove and the concave portion described above may be combined and provided in the projecting portion.

  Further, according to the present invention, the above-described fuel reformer is disposed in the middle of a fuel circulation path that circulates between the fuel tank and the internal combustion engine, and the vibrator of the fuel reformer is controlled based on a signal for controlling the internal combustion engine. It is desirable that the fuel supply device be used.

  Furthermore, the fuel tank includes a fuel tank, a fuel pump, a common rail, a fuel injection device for injecting fuel to each internal combustion engine, and a pipe connecting them, and the fuel reformer is on a return pipe from the fuel injector to the fuel tank It is desirable that a cooling device for cooling the fuel passing therethrough is disposed upstream of the fuel reforming device.

  According to the fuel reforming apparatus of the present invention, the liquid fuel sent to the internal combustion engine is guided into the reforming space of a predetermined size, and ultrasonic vibration is applied to the reforming space by the conical projecting protrusion. Therefore, the cavity can be efficiently generated in the liquid fuel that passes through the reforming space in a large amount, and the liquid fuel can be atomized, and the liquid fuel can be efficiently reformed. Can improve the combustion efficiency. Moreover, since this can improve fuel consumption and achieve complete combustion, adverse effects on the environment can be suppressed.

  Further, according to the fuel supply system of the present invention, the fuel reforming device is arranged on the return pipe from the fuel injection device to the fuel tank, so that the fuel is improved without reducing the fuel supply pressure to the common rail. In addition, the air bubbles can be made uniform in the fuel tank.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the fuel supply system 100 according to the present invention includes a fuel tank 2, a fuel pump 4 that sucks fuel from the fuel tank 2 and supplies the fuel to the common rail 3 at a predetermined pressure, and an unillustrated engine. At least a fuel injection device 5 for injecting fuel, a fuel supply pipe 6 connecting the fuel tank 2 and the common rail 3, and a fuel return pipe 7 extending from the common rail 3 and the fuel injection device 5 to the fuel tank 2. It is.

  In the fuel supply system 100 of the type described above, the fuel reformer 1 is provided in the fuel return pipe 7 in order to keep the pressure of the common rail 3 and thus the injection pressure of the fuel injector good. However, even when the engine is supplied to a large displacement engine, in the case of a fuel supply system that does not have a fuel return pipe, the fuel reformer 1 can be provided on the fuel supply pipe to the engine.

  In the fuel supply system 100 described above, a cooling device 8 for cooling the fuel passing therethrough is provided on the upstream side of the fuel reforming device 1. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the bubbles generated in the fuel reformer 1 from being increased due to the influence of heat.

  The fuel reforming apparatus 1 according to the present invention used in the fuel supply system 100 described above applies ultrasonic vibrations to the reforming unit 11 through which liquid fuel flows and the reforming unit 11 as shown in FIG. 2, for example. The vibration applying unit 12 includes an ultrasonic transducer (specifically, a bolted Langevin transducer (BLT)). The vibration applying unit 12 is controlled by the vibrator control unit 9 based on a signal from an engine control unit (ECU) (not shown) that controls the fuel injection device 5.

  In this embodiment, a bolted Langevin transducer (BLT) is used as the ultrasonic transducer, but there is no particular limitation as long as the same effect is obtained.

  The reforming unit 11 includes a casing 14 that defines a reforming space 13 through which fuel passes, an inlet 15 that connects the fuel return pipe 7 and the reforming space 13, and the reforming space 13 and the fuel. The outlet 16 connected to the return pipe 7 and the vibration plate 17 that defines the reforming space 13 together with the casing 14 are configured.

The reforming space 13 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape and is defined by the casing 14 and the vibration plate 17, and an inflow port 15 is formed in the vibration plate 17. The reforming space 13 is arranged in the casing 14 so as to flow out from the side facing the inlet 15 . The vibration plate 17 is coupled to the vibration applying unit 12.

  Further, the vibration plate 17 is formed with a projecting portion 18 that projects from the vibration plate 17 into the reforming space 13 in a conical shape. Furthermore, the vibration plate 17 is fixed to the vibration applying portion 12 and electrically insulates the reforming space 13 and the vibration applying portion 12.

  With the above configuration, when the internal combustion engine 3 is started, the fuel pump 4 is started, and liquid fuel is sucked from the fuel tank 2 and delivered to the common rail 3 via the fuel supply pipe 6. In the common rail 3, the fuel is maintained at a constant pressure, and the overflowed fuel is returned to the fuel tank 2 through the fuel return passage 7. Further, the fuel in the common rail 3 is sequentially injected into the cylinders of the respective engines via the fuel injection device 5 to obtain power, but the excess fuel from the fuel injection device 5 is supplied to the fuel tank 2 via the fuel return passage 7. Returned to At this time, it cools by passing through the cooling device 8 and passes through the fuel reforming device 1 to apply ultrasonic vibration to form nanobubbles in the fuel. Then, the nanobubbles are made uniform in the fuel tank 2 and sucked from the fuel tank 4 to improve the combustion efficiency of each engine.

  In the fuel reformer 1, the reforming space 13 is set to a size such that the fuel stays in the reforming space 13 for at least about 1 second, and has a volume of at least 200cc. desirable.

  Moreover, since the protrusion part 18 which concerns on Example 1 is a true cone shape, there exists an effect that a uniform ultrasonic vibration can be provided with respect to the fuel which passes the inside of the reforming space 13. FIG.

  The projecting portion 18 of the vibration plate 17 is formed in a conical shape. However, the projecting portion 18 according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 has a circumferential groove portion 20 that further extends annularly along the circumferential direction of the side surface. Are formed at predetermined intervals in the height direction of the cone.

  When the protruding portion 18 formed with the circumferential groove portion 20 according to the second embodiment vibrates, unlike the case of the first embodiment described above, the vibration direction to the fuel is different on both sides of the circumferential groove portion 20, thereby causing ultrasonic vibration. Since the interference action is added, the sound pressure applied to the fuel changes, and a reformed state of the fuel different from that in the first embodiment can be realized.

  A plurality of radiating groove portions 21 extending from the apexes along the conical generatrix are formed in the protrusion 18 of the vibration plate 17 according to the third embodiment shown in FIG. It is.

  When the protruding portion 18 of the vibration plate 17 according to the third embodiment vibrates, turbulent flow is generated in the fuel flowing along the side surface, so that a minute change in hydraulic pressure occurs, so that the transmission speed of ultrasonic vibration changes. Thus, a reformed state of fuel different from those in the first and second embodiments can be realized.

  In the protrusion 18 of the vibration plate 17 according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a spiral groove 22 is formed in a spiral shape from the apex along the side surface toward the bottom surface.

  In the fourth embodiment, it is estimated that the same effect as that of the circumferential groove portion 20 according to the second embodiment can be obtained at the same time that ultrasonic vibration is applied while the inflowing fuel moves along the spiral groove portion 22. The For this reason, the reformed state of the fuel different from the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

  A recess 23 having a predetermined size is formed on the top of the protrusion 18 of the vibration plate 17 according to the fourth embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the fifth embodiment, ultrasonic vibrations can be concentrated toward the central direction of the reforming space 13, and therefore, a reformed state of fuel different from the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

  The present invention is substantially aimed at reforming liquid fuel supplied to an internal combustion engine. However, ultrasonic vibration is applied to a fluid (gas or liquid) flowing into a predetermined space to cause the fluid to flow. Basically, it can be used for the purpose of reforming. Specifically, it is used for reforming hydrogen or hydrogen-containing gas supplied to fuel cells, reforming water used for chemicals and chemical synthesis, and atomization of gas supplied to perform chemical reactions. Is possible.

It is explanatory drawing of the fuel supply system provided with the fuel reformer. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a fuel reformer according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a side view of a vibration plate according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a vibration plate according to Embodiment 3. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a vibration plate according to Embodiment 4. FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional side view of a vibration plate according to Example 5. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel reformer 2 Fuel tank 3 Common rail 4 Fuel pump 5 Fuel injection device 6 Fuel supply passage 7 Fuel return passage 8 Cooling device 9 Vibrator control unit 11 Reformer 12 Vibration imparting portion 13 Reform space 14 Casing 15 Inlet 16 Outflow port 17 Vibrating plate 18 Projection part 20 Circumferential groove part 21 Radiation groove part 22 Spiral groove part 23 Recessed part

Claims (8)

A fuel reforming space having a predetermined volume is defined by the casing and the vibration plate, an inflow port into which fuel flows is formed in the vibration plate, and an outflow port flows out of the side facing the inflow port. In the fuel reformer that is arranged in the casing , the vibration plate is connected to a vibrator and vibrations of the vibrator are transmitted, and ultrasonic waves are applied to the passing fuel to generate nanobubbles.
The vibration plate includes a projecting portion that projects in a substantially conical shape in the fuel reforming space.   2. The fuel reformer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of circumferential groove portions extending annularly along a circumferential direction of a side surface of the projecting portion are formed at predetermined intervals in the height direction.   2. The fuel reformer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of radiating groove portions extending along a generatrix from the apex of the projecting portion are formed at a predetermined angle in the circumferential direction.   The fuel reformer according to claim 1, wherein a spiral groove is spirally formed in the projecting portion from its apex along its side surface toward the bottom surface.   The fuel reformer according to claim 1, wherein a concave portion is formed at an apex of the protruding portion.   6. The fuel reformer according to claim 1, wherein the fuel reformer is disposed in a fuel circulation path that circulates between the fuel tank and the internal combustion engine, and the vibrator of the fuel reformer controls the internal combustion engine. A fuel supply system controlled based on a signal.   A fuel tank, a fuel pump, a common rail, a fuel injection device for injecting fuel to each internal combustion engine, and a pipe connecting them, and the fuel reformer is arranged on a return pipe from the fuel injection device to the fuel tank. The fuel supply system according to claim 6.   The fuel supply system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein a cooling device for cooling the fuel passing therethrough is disposed upstream of the fuel reformer.