KR20190131308A - Plasma fuel reformer - Google Patents

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a plasma fuel reformer which maintains high durability while reforming a large flow rate of fuel (e.g., a liquid or gaseous fuel contained in a discharge gas, or a liquid or gaseous fuel supplied separately from a discharge gas). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the plasma fuel reformer comprises: a housing which is electrically grounded; and an electrode which is provided inside the housing to form a discharge gap and a flow space between an inner surface of the housing and the electrode, and supplied with a driving voltage to generate plasma discharge with a first reactant supplied to the discharge gap to reform a fuel. The electrode includes a body provided by interposing an insulating member in the housing and having a first melting point, and a tip provided at an end of the body and having a second melting point higher than the first melting point.

Description

Plasma Fuel Reformer {PLASMA FUEL REFORMER}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma fuel reformer, and more particularly, to reforming a large amount of fuel (e.g., a liquid or gaseous fuel contained in a discharge gas, or a liquid or gaseous fuel supplied separately from a discharge gas) and durability. This relates to an improved plasma fuel reformer.

In general, plasma burners spray liquid fuel, rapidly atomize, evaporate, and complex the atomized fuel, and stabilize the complexed flame. The higher the power supplied for plasma generation, the more effective the atomization and evaporation of the atomized liquid fuel. That is, the generated plasma may be effectively generated as the power supplied is high.

As an example, the rotating arc plasma burner forms a high voltage electrode-shaped arc on top of a cone-shaped high voltage electrode, and reduces the phenomenon of concentrating the arc by the rotating flow field at the portion of the ground electrode. For this reason, the durability of the rotating arc plasma burner can be evaluated equal to the durability of the high voltage electrode.

For example, a plasma burner and a plasma fuel reformer utilize a gaseous fuel and air (discharger) mixture, or a liquid fuel and air (discharger), and the air mixture or air is supplied from the rear of the high voltage electrode to provide a high voltage electrode. It has a structure that generates a rotating arc while being discharged forward to the high voltage electrode via the.

At this time, as the treatment flow rate of the reactant increases, the amount of power required to be applied to the high voltage electrode increases, and the required durability increases. Since the high voltage electrode is made of a conductive metal, it is combined with oxygen contained in the air and converted to a metal oxide in a high temperature environment by a rotating arc.

In general, metal oxides have a lower melting point than metal forms. Therefore, the conversion of the high voltage electrode to the metal oxide reduces the durability of the high voltage electrode and the plasma fuel reformer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma fuel reformer that maintains high durability while reforming a large flow rate of fuel (e.g., liquid or gaseous fuel contained in the discharge gas, or liquid or gaseous fuel supplied separately from the discharge gas). It is.

Plasma fuel reformer according to an embodiment of the present invention, the housing is electrically grounded, and is installed inside the housing to form a discharge gap and a flow space between the inner surface of the housing and a driving voltage is applied to the discharge gas And an electrode for generating a plasma discharge, wherein the electrode is provided with an insulating member in the housing and has a first melting point, and a second melting point provided at an end of the body and higher than the first melting point. Eggplant includes a tip.

The housing supplies a first supply port for supplying a first reactant containing no oxygen to a first region corresponding to the body, and a second reactant containing oxygen in front of a second region corresponding to the tip. It may include a second supply port.

The tip may have a male screw facing the body, and may be screwed to a female screw provided in the body.

The first supply port may be connected to the inner surface of the housing in a tangential direction to supply the first reactant.

The first reactant may include a discharge gas not containing oxygen and a fuel to be reformed.

The body and the tip may have a fuel passage penetrating in a longitudinal direction and separately supplying a fuel to be reformed among the first reactants.

Discharge gas containing no oxygen in the first reactant may be supplied to the first supply port.

The tip may have a tip plane facing the body, and the body may have a body plane facing the tip, and the electrode may further include a welding layer for welding the tip plane and the body plane by brazing.

The second supply ports may be arranged in pairs and connected to the inner surface of the housing in a tangential direction to supply the second reactant in both directions.

The second supply ports may be arranged in pairs and connected to the inner surface of the housing in the center direction to supply the second reactant in both directions.

The tip may include a protrusion facing the body, and may be coupled to a recess fit in the recess provided in the body.

The housing may further include a guide vane provided on an inner surface of the housing at an inner side of the second supply port to guide the second reactant supplied to the second supply port to the opposite side of the tip.

The body may be configured to supply low-temperature cooling water to a supply port and pass it through a channel provided inside the body, and then discharge the high-temperature cooling water to an outlet.

Plasma fuel reformer according to an embodiment of the present invention, the housing is electrically grounded, and is installed inside the housing to form a discharge gap and a flow space between the inner surface of the housing, the driving voltage is applied to the A first supply port for supplying a first reactant containing no oxygen to a region corresponding to the electrode, the electrode including an electrode which generates a plasma discharge to the first reactant supplied to the discharge gap, and the housing includes: And a second supply port for supplying a second reactant including oxygen to a region corresponding to the front of the electrode.

The first supply port may be connected to the inner surface of the housing in a tangential direction to supply the first reactant.

The second supply ports may be arranged in pairs and connected to the inner surface of the housing in a tangential direction to supply the second reactant in both directions.

The second supply ports may be arranged in pairs and connected to the inner surface of the housing in the center direction to supply the second reactant in both directions.

As such, according to one embodiment of the present invention, since the electrode is formed of the body of the first melting point and the tip of the second melting point, the electrode and the reformer may be reformed while reforming a large amount of fuel with a rotating arc caused by plasma discharge. High durability can be maintained.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention supplies a first reactant including a discharge gas containing no oxygen and a fuel to be reformed to a first region corresponding to a body to a first supply port of the housing, and a second supply port corresponding to a tip. Since the second reactant (eg, air) containing oxygen is supplied to the front of the two zones, the tip may be prevented from being metal-oxidized while the fuel contained in the first reactant is reformed into a rotating arc by plasma discharge. Therefore, durability of the electrode and the reformer can be improved.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention supplies a discharge gas containing no oxygen in the first reactant to a first region corresponding to the body to a first supply port of the housing, and supplies a fuel to be reformed among the first reactants in the fuel passage to the tip. A second reactant (eg, air) containing oxygen is supplied to the front of the second region and forward to the second region corresponding to the tip to the second supply port. The tip can be prevented from being metal oxidized while being modified with a rotating arc. Therefore, durability of the electrode and the reformer can be improved.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a plasma fuel reformer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1.
3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a plasma fuel reformer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3.
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 3.
6 is a cross-sectional view of a plasma fuel reformer according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a plasma fuel reformer according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a plasma fuel reformer according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.

1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a plasma fuel reformer according to a first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along the line II-II of FIG. 1 and 2, the plasma fuel reformer 100 of the first embodiment includes a housing 10, an electrode 20, and an insulating member 30.

The housing 10 is electrically grounded, and sets the flow space S which causes plasma discharge and causes rotational flow. As an example, the housing 10 is formed in a cylinder. The insulating member 30 is installed at one side of the housing 10 to seal one side of the housing 10 and open the other side.

The electrode 20 is installed in the insulating member 30 to form an electrically insulating structure with the housing 10. In addition, the electrode 20 is formed inside the housing 10 by forming a discharge gap G and a flow space S between the inner surface of the housing 10. The electrode 20 is applied with a driving voltage (HV) and the housing 10 is grounded.

The plasma fuel reformer 100 flows the first reactant in the flow space S set between the inner surface of the housing 10 and the outer surface of the electrode 20, and the housing 10 is grounded and connected to the electrode 20. When the driving voltage HV is applied, a rotating arc due to plasma discharge can be generated.

For example, the first reactant may be formed of a discharge gas (when separately supplying a reforming fuel) to induce a rotating arc, or may include a liquid or gaseous fuel to be reformed in the discharge gas. In both cases, the discharge gas does not contain oxygen.

For example, the electrode 20 includes a body 21 and a tip 22. The body 21 is installed in the housing 10 via the insulating member 30 and is made of a conductive metal having a first melting point. The driving voltage HV is applied to the body 21.

The tip 22 is provided at the end of the body 21 and is made of a conductive metal having a second melting point higher than the first melting point. For example, tip 22 may be formed of tungsten.

The tip 22 has a male screw 212 facing the body 21 and is screwed to the female screw 211 provided in the body 21. That is, the tip 22 is coupled to the body 21 by coupling the male screw 212 to the female screw 211, thereby forming the electrode 20.

On the other hand, the housing 10 includes a first supply port 11 and the second supply port (12). The first supply port 11 supplies the first reactant to the first region A1 corresponding to the body 21 of the electrode 20.

For example, the first reactant may be formed of a discharge gas (when separately supplying a fuel to be reformed) or may include a liquid or gaseous fuel and a discharge gas to be reformed. At this time, the discharge gas supplied to the first supply port 11 does not contain oxygen.

The first supply port 11 is connected to the inner surface of the housing 10 in a tangential direction to supply the first reactant. Therefore, the first reactant supplied to the first supply port 11 rotates in the discharge gap G and the flow space S. FIG. That is, a rotating arc is generated by the plasma discharge in the discharge gap G and the rotational flow in the flow space S. FIG.

The first supply port 11 supplies a first reactant (a liquid or gaseous fuel and a discharge gas to be reformed) to the first region A1. The discharge gas which induces the rotating arc together with the fuel includes a gas containing no oxygen, for example nitrogen, argon or helium.

Since the first reactant including the fuel and the discharge gas does not contain oxygen, the conductive metal forming the electrode 20 does not change into a metal oxide form while generating a rotating arc to reform the fuel.

The second supply port 12 supplies a second reactant (eg, air) containing oxygen to the front of the second area A2 corresponding to the tip 22. The second supply port 12 supplies the second reactant including oxygen to the front of the second region A2 to meet the rotating arc rotating in the flow space S to further reform the fuel contained in the first reactant. To do it.

In this case, the second reactant reforms the fuel contained in the first reactant including oxygen, but does not flow into the electrode 20 and the tip 22, so that the electrode 20 and the tip 22 do not change into metal oxides. Do not. That is, the oxygen of the second reactant is not related to the metal oxidation of the electrode 20 and the tip 22.

As such, the body 21 and the tip 22 of the electrode 20 and the first and second supply holes 11, which are connected to the first and second regions A1 and A2 of the housing 10 so as to correspond thereto. 12 may prevent the electrode 20 to which the high voltage driving voltage HV is applied from being converted into a metal oxide.

As an example, the tungsten tip 22 has high durability against high power rotating arcs. In addition, since the tungsten material tip 22 does not include oxygen in the first reactant and is independent of the second reactant containing oxygen, it is not converted into a metal oxide during fuel reforming.

Tungsten has a melting point of 3422 ° C. and tungsten oxide has a melting point of 1473 ° C., but the tip 22 is not converted into tungsten oxide since the tip 22 does not come into contact with oxygen supplied to the second supply port 12. In other words, the electrode 20 and the tip 22 may maintain durability up to the melting point of the material, that is, the melting point of the tungsten 3422 ℃. Therefore, the plasma fuel reformer 100 of the first embodiment maintains high durability even when high power is required, thereby enabling high flow and large size.

Although not shown, the electrode may integrally form the body and the tip. In this case, the electrode may be formed of tungsten having a second melting point of the separated tip.

Referring to FIG. 1, in the housing 10, the first supply port 11 supplies a first reactant containing no oxygen to a region corresponding to the electrode 20, and the second supply port 12 may include an electrode ( The second reactant including oxygen may be supplied to a region corresponding to the front side of 20).

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described. The following embodiments are compared with the first embodiment and the previously described embodiments, the description of the same configuration is omitted, and different configurations will be described.

3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the plasma fuel reformer according to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line V-V of FIG. 3.

3 to 5, in the electrode 220 of the plasma fuel reformer 200 according to the second embodiment, the body 221 and the tip 222 are penetrated in the longitudinal direction to be a fuel to be reformed among the first reactants. It is provided with a fuel passage 223 for supplying.

In this case, the first supply port 11 supplies a discharge gas excluding the reformed fuel and a discharge gas not containing oxygen, to the first region A1 among the first reactants. The liquid or gaseous fuel to be reformed is supplied to the front of the second region A2 via the fuel passage 223.

The plasma fuel reformer 200 flows the discharge gas of the first reactant in the flow space S set between the inner surface of the housing 10 and the outer surface of the electrode 220, and the housing 10 is grounded and the electrode ( When the driving voltage HV is applied to 220, a rotating arc due to plasma discharge may be generated.

The discharge gas of the first reactant does not contain oxygen and induces a rotating arc by plasma discharge, and the fuel passing through the fuel passage 223 is supplied to the front of the tip 22, that is, the second area A2.

The plasma fuel reformer 200 generates a rotating arc because the discharge gas of the first reactant does not contain oxygen, so that the electrode 220 of the conductive metal is not converted into the metal oxide while reforming the fuel in front of the second region A2. .

As an example, tip 222 has a tip plane facing body 221 and body 221 has a body plane facing tip 222. The electrode 220 is formed by welding the tip plane and the body plane by brazing with the fusion layer 224.

The second supply ports 12 are arranged in pairs and are connected in a tangential direction to the inner surface of the housing 10 so that a second reactant (eg, air) containing oxygen may correspond to the tip 222 in both directions. Supply while rotating flow to the front of A2).

The second supply port 12 rotates and supplies the second reactant including oxygen to the front of the second region A2, and meets the rotating arc that rotates in the flow space S to include fuel included in the first reactant. To allow for further modification.

At this time, the second reactant reforms the fuel of the first reactant, which is supplied separately from the discharge gas, including oxygen, but does not change the metal of the electrode 220 and the tip 222 into an oxide form. That is, the oxygen of the second reactant is not related to the metal oxidation of the electrode 220 and the tip 222.

6 is a cross-sectional view of a plasma fuel reformer according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, in the housing 310 of the plasma fuel reformer 300 according to the third embodiment, the second supply holes 312 are arranged in pairs and connected to the inner surface of the housing 310 in the center direction to provide oxygen. The second reactant (eg, air) including a bi-directionally forward of the second region A2 corresponding to the tip 222.

The second supply port 312 rotates and supplies the second reactant including oxygen to the front of the second region A2 to meet the rotating arc that rotates in the flow space S, and includes the fuel contained in the first reactant. To allow for further modification.

At this time, the second reactant reforms the fuel of the first reactant, which is supplied separately from the discharge gas, including oxygen, but the electrode 220 and the tip 222 are not changed to the metal oxide form. That is, the oxygen of the second reactant is not related to the metal oxidation of the electrode 220 and the tip 222.

7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a plasma fuel reformer according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7, in the electrode 420 of the plasma fuel reformer 400 according to the fourth embodiment, the tip 422 includes a protrusion 423 facing the body 421 and is provided in the body 421. Coupled to a recess 424 which is a shrink fit.

The housing 410 further includes a guide vane 411 which guides the second reactant which is provided on the inner surface of the housing 410 and supplied to the inside of the second supply port 12. The guide vane 411 may further prevent the second reactant including oxygen from flowing into the electrode 420 and the tip 422.

An angle θ set between the guide vane 411 and the inner surface of the housing 410 may be set according to the intensity of the rotational flow of the discharge gas not containing oxygen as the first reactant and the fuel to be reformed. The stronger the rotational flow, the larger the angle θ, and the weaker the smaller the angle θ.

The second supply port 12 further supplies a second reactant including oxygen to the front of the second region A2 through the guide vane 411 to meet the rotating arc that rotates and flows in the flow space S. It is possible to further reform the fuel contained in the reactants.

At this time, the second reactant reforms the fuel of the first reactant, which is supplied separately from the discharge gas, including oxygen, but the electrode 420 and the tip 422 are not changed to the metal oxide form. That is, the oxygen of the second reactant is not related to the metal oxidation of the electrode 420 and the tip 422.

8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a plasma fuel reformer according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, in the electrode 520 of the plasma fuel reformer 500 according to the fifth embodiment, the body 521 supplies low-temperature cooling water to the supply port 511 to provide a channel 512 therein. After passing through), it is configured to discharge the high temperature cooling water to the outlet 513.

The channel 512 provided in the body 521 and the coolant circulating therein may more effectively prevent abrasion of the electrode 520 and the tip 22 by preventing overheating of the electrode 520 during plasma discharge.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. Naturally, it belongs to the scope of the invention.

10, 310, 410, 510: housing 11: first supply port
12, 312: second supply port 20, 220, 420, 520: electrode
21, 221, 421, 521: body 22, 222, 422: tip
30: insulation member 100, 200, 300, 400, 500: plasma fuel reformer
211: internal thread 212: external thread
223: fuel passage 224: welding layer
411: guide vane 423: protrusion
424: recess 511: supply port
512: channel 513: outlet
A1: first area A2: second area
G: discharge gap HV: drive voltage
S: flow space θ: angle

Claims (17)

An electrically grounded housing; And
An electrode which is installed inside the housing to form a discharge gap and a flow space between the inner surface of the housing, and generates a plasma discharge to a first reactant supplied with a driving voltage to supply the discharge gap to reform fuel
Including;
The electrode is
A body having a first melting point and installed through the insulating member in the housing, and
A tip provided at an end of the body and having a second melting point higher than the first melting point
Plasma fuel reformer comprising a. The method of claim 1,
The housing is
A first supply port for supplying a first reactant containing no oxygen to the first region corresponding to the body, and
A second supply port for supplying a second reactant including oxygen to the front of the second region corresponding to the tip
Plasma fuel reformer comprising a. The method of claim 1,
The tip is
Plasma fuel reformer having a male screw facing the body, screwed to the female screw provided in the body. The method of claim 2,
The first supply port is
And a tangential direction connected to an inner surface of the housing to supply the first reactant. The method of claim 2,
The first reactant is
A plasma fuel reformer comprising a discharge gas not containing oxygen and a fuel to be reformed. The method of claim 1,
The body and the tip
A plasma fuel reformer having a fuel passage penetrating in the longitudinal direction to separately supply the fuel to be reformed among the first reactants. The method of claim 6,
The discharge gas containing no oxygen in the first reactant
And a plasma fuel reformer supplied to the first supply port. The method of claim 1,
The tip has a tip plane facing the body,
The body has a body plane facing the tip,
The electrode is
And a welding layer for brazing the tip plane and the body plane by brazing. The method of claim 2,
The second supply port
Plasma fuel reformer disposed in pairs and connected tangentially to an inner surface of the housing to supply the second reactant in both directions. The method of claim 2,
The second supply port
Plasma fuel reformer disposed in pairs and connected to an inner surface of the housing in a center direction to supply the second reactant in both directions. The method of claim 1,
The tip is
With a protrusion facing the body,
In the recess provided in the body
Plasma fuel reformer coupled with a shrink fit. The method of claim 2,
The housing is
It is provided on the inner surface of the housing inside the second supply port
Directing the second reactant supplied to the second supply port to the opposite side of the tip;
And a plasma fuel reformer further comprising a guide vane. The method of claim 1,
The body is
By supplying coolant with low temperature
After passing through the channel provided inside the body
A plasma fuel reformer configured to discharge hot coolant to the outlet. An electrically grounded housing; And
An electrode which is installed inside the housing to form a discharge gap and a flow space between the inner surface of the housing, and generates a plasma discharge to a first reactant supplied with a driving voltage to supply the discharge gap to reform fuel
Including;
The housing is
A first supply port for supplying a first reactant containing no oxygen to a region corresponding to the electrode, and
A second supply port for supplying a second reactant containing oxygen to a region corresponding to the front of the electrode
Plasma fuel reformer comprising a. The method of claim 14,
The first supply port is
And a tangential direction connected to an inner surface of the housing to supply the first reactant. The method of claim 14,
The second supply port
Plasma fuel reformer disposed in pairs and connected tangentially to an inner surface of the housing to supply the second reactant in both directions. The method of claim 14,
The second supply port
Plasma fuel reformer disposed in pairs and connected to an inner surface of the housing in a center direction to supply the second reactant in both directions.

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