JPS5911743B2 - How to drive an internal combustion engine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a drive method for reducing harmful components in exhaust gas in an internal combustion engine.

Conventionally, the method for driving this type of internal combustion engine is to flow the fuel, water, air, and engine exhaust gas into a reactor equipped with a catalyst at 250°C before mixing fuel with intake air and supplying it to the internal combustion engine. A chemical reaction was carried out at a temperature of ~1000°C to reform a portion of the fuel into hydrogen or carbon monoxide, which was then supplied to the engine.

The conventional method requires an independent water tank and has the problem of the tank bursting due to freezing of water in the tank in cold regions.

In addition, if the fuel contains lead compounds in the exhaust gas that is circulated and supplied, the catalyst may be poisoned by the presence of lead compounds, or if the fuel contains lead compounds. If not, there is a problem in that soot and tar are present in the exhaust gas and are deposited on the surface of the catalyst, reducing the efficiency of the catalyst.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has a mixed liquid in which methyl alcohol, hydrocarbon, and water are mixed to the extent that the three components are mixed and dissolved without separation, and this mixed liquid and air are chemically mixed. By reacting and converting it into a generated gas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, ethane, ethylene, propylene, etc., this generated gas is supplied to the engine along with fuel from the main system and combusted to drive the engine. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for driving an internal combustion engine that can eliminate the need for an independent water tank as in the above-mentioned conventional method and also eliminate the harmful effects of using exhaust gas.

Embodiments of the method of the present invention will be explained below using an example apparatus shown in the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the first embodiment, in which 1 is an air cleaner, 2 is an intake passage, 3 is a mixer 4 that mixes generated gas and intake air, and 4 is a carburetor that mixes main system fuel with intake air. It is.

Fuel from this main system can also be supplied by a fuel injection device other than a carburetor.

5 is an internal combustion engine, 6 is an exhaust gas chamber into which exhaust gas from the internal combustion engine flows, and 7 is an exhaust pipe downstream of this exhaust gas chamber 6.

8 is a tank for storing the alcohol mixture, 9 is a pipe line, 1
0 is an alcohol supply device that supplies the alcohol mixture in the tank 8 to a reactor 15, which will be described later, according to the engine operating state;
11 is an air supply device that supplies air in an amount of 1/3 to 1/15 of the engine intake air amount to the reactor 15; 12 is an air pipe line;
Reference numeral 13 denotes an electric ignition or heating device provided on the upstream side of the reactor 15, which uses a nichrome wire or a tantalum wire.

In addition, spark plugs and glow plugs can also be used.

14 is a heat insulating layer for keeping the inside of the exhaust gas chamber 6 warm.

A reactor 15 is provided in the exhaust gas chamber 6 for causing a chemical reaction between alcohol and air.

16 is a catalyst provided in the reactor 15 to promote the chemical reaction.

17 is a pipe line that serves as a passage for the gas produced by the chemical reaction in the reactor 15; 18 is a main system fuel tank;
19 is a fuel pipe, and 20 is a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the generated gas from the reactor and the fuel in the main system.

The alcohol mixture from tank 8 is supplied to reactor 15 from alcohol supply device 10 .

At the same time, air is also supplied from the air supply device 11.

The alcohol mixture supplied in the reactor 15 is reacted by an electric ignition or heating device 13 and converted into a product gas containing a large amount of hydrogen or carbon monoxide.

The amount of heat generated during this reaction serves to raise the catalyst 16 during startup.

The ignition or heating device 13 is used to prevent wasted power consumption since the catalyst 16 operates stably due to the heat of the exhaust gas after the temperature of the exhaust gas reaches 500°C or more after the engine is warmed up and driven stably. It is more advantageous to stop the energization.

The gas produced in the reactor 15 is cooled by the fuel from the main system in the heat exchanger 20, and also heats the fuel in the main system.

This serves to maintain the temperature of the generated gas at a nearly constant temperature and the mixing ratio of the generated gas and intake air at a nearly constant level, as well as to maintain the mixing ratio of the generated gas and intake air at an approximately constant level. Improves atomization and vaporization.

The generated gas from the heat exchanger 20 is mixed with the intake air in the mixture 3, and the fuel in the main system is injected into the intake air from the carburetor 4 at an air-fuel ratio on the leaner side than the stoichiometric stoichiometric air-fuel ratio.

A mixture of fuel containing generated gas and intake air is combusted and exploded in the combustion chamber of the engine 5 to drive the engine.

For example, the volume ratio of the amount of generated gas converted into methyl alcohol and the amount of gasoline as fuel from the main system is set to 1.
: When supplied to the engine at a ratio of around 5, the air-fuel ratio A/F of the mixture of air and gasoline is 20 (excess air ratio λ213).
It is possible to achieve stable combustion even under the above conditions, and there is no significant reduction in engine output, and the harmful components in exhaust gas, such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons, are completely eliminated from the start of the aircraft. It is now possible to operate at lower values.

Note that the ratio of the amount of generated gas equivalent to the amount of fuel is at least 1:8.
It is desirable that the ratio be close to 100%, and that it should change depending on the air-fuel ratio of the mixture of fuel and air.

Table 1 below shows how much hydrogen and carbon monoxide are produced when alcohol and air are passed through the catalyst 16.

In this experiment, on a laboratory scale, the amount of air supplied from the air supply device 11, the amount of produced gas, the number of produced gases, and the amount of water produced were different, but the composition of the produced gas was almost the same. .

As the catalyst 16, any commonly used catalyst can be used.

For example, Pt, Pd. Nl t Co p Fe p C
Metal oxides such as u s Cr p Au, and A720
Any catalyst containing a material commonly used as a ceramic component, such as 3yS102+MgOtCaO, can be used.

However, depending on the type of catalyst, there are some differences in composition, amount of produced gas, temperature at which produced gas can be stably produced, and amount of catalyst deposited.

Among these listed catalysts, PT-based and Ni-based catalysts were effective.

If the reaction temperature is 250°C or higher, gas will be generated, but taking into account the size of the heat exchanger 200 as a cooler and the atomization and vaporization of the fuel from the main system, it is preferably about 300 to 700°C.

The amount of supplied air is approximately 100 cc/min, taking into account the energy loss and the composition of the produced gas, that is, Arco, -
It is preferable that the amount of air is about 10 times the amount of air required for the theoretical combustion of 100 ml.

As can be seen from Table 1, it is most advantageous to use methyl alcohol as the alcohol.

This is because methyl alcohol produces more hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and hardly any soot or tar on the catalyst.

Similarly, when using ethyl alcohol, hydrogen, carbon monoxide,
In addition to methane, many substances with a large number of carbon atoms such as ethane, ethylene, acetylene, and propylene were produced, and a small amount of soot was deposited on the catalyst.

In order to reduce the number of carbon atoms, the amount of air supplied can be reduced to about 15% of the amount of air required for theoretical combustion of alcohol, but if it exceeds that amount, the energy loss will increase, which is disadvantageous for practical use.

When the water produced by the catalytic reaction is supplied into the engine, it works to lower the maximum temperature of the combustion chamber, so it is effective in reducing nitrogen oxides.

However, a large amount of water should be avoided because it corrodes the internal combustion engine and causes a reduction in output.

Next, Table 2 shows the experimental results when a mixture of methyl alcohol, ie, a fuel consisting of methyl alcohol and water, methyl alcohol and a hydrocarbon, and a fuel consisting of methyl alcohol, water, and a hydrocarbon, was subjected to a catalytic reaction.

Mixture A shown in Table 2 is 80 parts methyl alcohol and 20 parts water.
The Hiroshi mixed liquid is 86 parts methyl alcohol and 7 parts hydrocarbon, and the mixed liquid is 50 parts methyl alcohol and 50 parts hydrocarbon.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the state of dissolution of methyl alcohol, water, and hydrocarbons. In the shaded region, these three components do not separate but are mixed and dissolved.

A, A, and C in the figure indicate the mixed liquids A, C, and C shown in Table 2.

The hydrocarbons used here have the same components as regular gasoline, but cyclic hydrocarbons (especially aromatic components) and
A small amount of gummy hydrocarbons (2 portions of these in the total ingredients)
(meaning containing up to 3 treble) does not contain cine.

As can be seen from this table, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane are most often generated at the mixing outlet, and the higher the methyl alcohol content, the more hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane are generated. Recognize.

By the way, hydrogen and carbon monoxide make it easier to perform lean mixture combustion in an internal combustion engine than other hydrocarbons, and it can be seen that a liquid mixture with a high content of methyl alcohol is preferable.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment according to the method of the present invention, which differs from the embodiment shown in FIG. The point is that the generated heat is used to cause a catalytic reaction.

This has the advantage that the reactor 15 can be installed at a location away from the engine 5, and the catalyst is not affected by engine vibrations, thereby reducing the risk of vibration damage to the catalyst.

In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the main system fuel is atomized or vaporized at the same time as the product gas is cooled by a device 21 that directly sprays the main system fuel into the product gas from the reactor 15. , compared to the first embodiment, it does not require a heat exchanger 20 and is very advantageous in terms of space.

In addition to gasoline, the fuel for the above main system can be other fuel hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, ketones, hydrogen, ammonia hydrocarbons, etc. alone or in combination. It is.

As the alcohol supply device 10, for example, JP-A-47-
By using the supply amount control device described in Japanese Patent No. 12659, the alcohol-containing mixed liquid can be supplied to the reactor 15 depending on the operating state of the engine 5.

In addition, the air supply device 11 is configured by, for example, a control valve whose opening degree is determined depending on the engine operating state and an air pump, and by supplying air discharged from the air pump via the control valve, the air supply device 11 is configured to In other words, it is possible to supply air at a substantially constant ratio to the supply amount of the alcohol-containing liquid mixture.

As described above, the present invention has the following effects.

(1) Since the three components of methyl alcohol, hydrocarbon, and water are mixed to the extent that they can be mixed and dissolved without being separated, these three components can be filled in one tank.

Therefore, a dedicated water tank is not required, the installation space for the tank is small, and the water tank does not burst.

(2) Since no exhaust gas is introduced, almost no soot or tar is generated on the catalyst used in the reforming reaction.

(3) Since hydrocarbons are mixed into the alcohol mixture, the amounts of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the reformed gas increase, making it easier to perform lean mixed combustion in the internal combustion engine.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a dissolution state diagram of a mixed solution of methyl alcohol, water, and hydrocarbons used in the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an apparatus according to the method of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing other embodiments.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A liquid mixture of methyl alcohol, a hydrocarbon, and water in such a range that the three components are mixed and dissolved without separation, and a chemical reaction between this liquid mixture and air is carried out to at least It is characterized by converting hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane into a product gas containing one of them, and mixing the product gas and fuel with the intake air of an internal combustion engine and supplying the mixture to the engine for combustion. How to drive an internal combustion engine. 2. It has a liquid mixture of methyl alcohol, hydrocarbon, and water to the extent that the three components are mixed and dissolved without separation, and this liquid mixture and air are chemically reacted via a catalyst to produce at least hydrogen. Converting the product gas to a product gas containing either carbon monoxide or methane, cooling the product gas, and mixing the cooled product gas and fuel with the intake air of the internal combustion engine for supply to the engine. A method for driving an internal combustion engine, characterized in that combustion is performed. 3. It has a liquid mixture of methyl alcohol, hydrocarbon, and water to the extent that the three components are mixed and dissolved without separation, and this liquid mixture and air are subjected to a chemical reaction via an electric ignition or heating device. and converting the generated gas into a generated gas containing at least one of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane, and mixing the generated gas and fuel with the intake air of an internal combustion engine and supplying the mixture to the engine for combustion. A driving method for an internal combustion engine. 4 A mixed liquid containing methyl alcohol, a hydrocarbon, and water to the extent that the three components are mixed and dissolved without separation, and this mixed liquid and air are heated via an electric ignition or heating device and a catalyst. , and converting the product gas into a product gas containing at least one of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane through a chemical reaction in the exhaust gas atmosphere of the internal combustion engine, and exchanging heat between the product gas and the fuel; A method for driving an internal combustion engine, characterized in that the produced gas and the fuel are mixed with intake air of the engine and supplied to the engine for combustion.