WO2020159392A1

WO2020159392A1 - Process for the additivation of the combustion process in spark ignition engines, composition, device and method for the application of the process

Info

Publication number: WO2020159392A1
Application number: PCT/RO2019/000015
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mihai ŞUTA
Original assignee: Şuta Mihai
Priority date: 2019-01-30
Filing date: 2019-04-25
Publication date: 2020-08-06
Also published as: RO134399A2

Abstract

The invention relates to a process for the additivation of the combustion process in the spark ignition engines, SIE, additivation that is obtained by introducing additives into the combustion air, or into the fuel mixture in the engine intake manifold, irrespective of the kind of fuel employed. At the same time, the invention presents compositions for the additivation, devices for the additivation intended for the application of the process as well as a method for carrying out the devices necessary for the application of the process. The process consists in introducing into the combustion air, permanently and proportional to the engine load, addititives for the initiation of reaction chains in the combustion process in the cylinders, said additives consisting of salts of the transition metals, in state of maximum oxidation, in a proportion of maximum 1 ng/liter of fuel.

Description

PROCESS FOR THE ADDITIVATION OF THE COMBUSTION PROCESS IN SPARK IGNITION ENGINES, COMPOSITION, DEVICE AND METHOD FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE PROCESS

The invention relates to a process for the additivation of the combustion process in the spark ignition engines, SIE, additivation that is obtained by introducing additives into the combustion air, or into the fuel mixture in the engine intake manifold, irrespective of the kind of fuel employed. At the same time, the invention presents compositions for the additivation, devices for the additivation intended for the application of the device as well as a method for carrying out the devices necessary for the application of the process.

The internal combustion engines are known as a major source of pollution, both with greenhouse gases (C02) and with carbon oxide (CO), sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides NOx), incompletely oxidized hydrocarbons (HC), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and solid or quasi solid particles (PM), formed around sulphur, around some transition metals, contained as residues in the fuels, or around some particles arrived into the combustion process from the atmospheric air aspired.

At the same time, after longer operation periods, the engines lose part of their initial performances in terms of the available engine power and torque, due to worsening of the heat transfer, and some subassemblies are damaged due to the temperature variations they are subjected to during the operation, and due to corrosion (exhaust system, catalysts). Also, the flue gas recirculation systems (EGR valve) are being progressively clogged up to the complete blockage. An important contribution to creating such shortcomings has the poor maintenance, but also the fuel composition variation, from one territory to another, or even from one fuel supply to another from the same fuelling station.

An important part of the polluting emissions, particularly SOx, NOx, HC and VOC are released into the atmosphere while starting a cold engine, until reaching the temperatures required for the catalyst entering into action. According to some studies, these emissions represent approximately 10 - 12% of the total pollutant emissions generated by the spark ignition engines (SIE). Another source of increasing the pollutant emissions, particularly CO, NOx and HC, is represented by the acceleration and deceleration periods. If for a drive on the highway accelerating and decelerating are rarer, these become preponderant in the conditions of a busy traffic on the classic roads and, especially, in urban agglomerations.

The operation cycle in SIE involves the generation of the main ignition centres, generated by the sparks from the spark plug, then there are generated secondary ignition centres, namely, there is initiated and propagated the combustion (flame front). The proportion of fuel in the cylinder, which becomes completely oxidized, also depends on the propagation speed of these ignition centers which, in its turn, is dependent on the composition of the fuel entering the cycle; the time available for the combustion is also limited and decreases much at high speeds; the fuel delivered for combustion varies continuously, depending on the engine load, and the combustion air is allocated approximately inversely proportional to the engine load. The process should take place so that, during a combustion cycle, a more advanced transformation possible into thermal energy of the amount of fuel introduced into the cylinder should be obtained before the flame front reaches the cylinder wall, and an as small as possible portion of unconsumed fuel reaches the exhaust.

However, regardless of the number of valves, of sophisticated combustion chamber and distribution system architectures, the fuel allocated to an engine operating cycle is not fully consumed, and the burning reactions are stopped at the cylinder wall, the so-called "flame extinguishing on the cylinder wall." Evacuation of the flue gases together with the unburnt particles remaining after the combustion reaction ceases, in admixture with a fraction of the fresh air added while both intake and exhaust valves are open, leads to heat losses and reactions resulting in the formation and reformation of some pollutants.

Moreover, the unburnt molecules in admixture with a certain amount of air (sucked in during the time in which both valves are open), will continue the combustion reactions in the exhaust manifold, releasing heat that will be lost, and as the temperature of the combustion process decreases, there are created the conditions for the reformation of some polluting compounds (HC, SOx, CO, PM), a residual part of the insufficiently oxidized combustible molecules will settle along the evacuation path and on the flue gas recirculation paths.

By modern means of combustion management there can be controlled, to a reasonable level, the combustion result (the pollutants), at low and constant average speeds and loads, but less at idle and in case of high speeds and high loads, that is, (sudden accelerations) or at high speeds. For partial loads and constant average speeds, both the specific fuel consumption, implicitly the emission of greenhouse gases, and also the pollutant emissions generated by the combustion may be maintained within reasonable limits. However, in the case of idling and sudden accelerations (the case of traffic in large urbane agglomerations) or in high loads, for instance upon driving up a slope, strong accelerations and/or high speeds, the specific consumption increases, and the pollutant emissions become less controllable.

In case of direct gasoline injection, the problems arise, first of all, at idle, but also in case of high loads, necessary upon overtaking or when driving up the more pronounced slopes. In modern SIE, where the direct injection technology is applied, the “start-stop” system was adopted, said system stopping the engine while stationary and restarting it when pressing the accelerator pedal, due to the difficulty of managing the combustion at idle.

As it is known, the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve, which has a decisive role in reducing the pollutants emission, closes if the engine is required for an increased torque, as it happens when driving up the slopes, in the case of overtaking, but also in the situation of urban traffic, with many start-ups and sudden accelerations. Because of this, the emission of pollutants increases and the atmosphere infestation is felt more strongly, especially in large urban agglomerations.

In addition to the emission of greenhouse gases (C0₂), which depends directly on the specific fuel consumption of the motor vehicle, the pollutant emissions remain an open problem, and finding technical solutions to reduce them is a matter of concern for both the regulatory bodies and those involved in the construction, maintenance and operation of internal combustion engines.

Over time, many technologies have been proposed to reduce pollutant emissions and C0₂ emission.

There are known solutions for reducing the concentration of pollutants discharged into the atmosphere, which almost exclusively refer to the treatment of emissions already produced by the combustion process, or to the pretreatment (additivation) of fuels, in combination with the post-treatment of the combustion gases. Here are some examples:

CA 2103647 - 23.03.1999 - D. Linder, E. Lox, B. Engler - proposes a new catalyst system to the exhaust, especially for the time interval required to warm up the engines, that is, trying to remedy some effects, without interfering with the causes of pollutant formation.

US 3696795 - 10.10.1972 - R. Smith, D.A. Furlong - proposes the injection of water and oxygen into the combustion chamber, a system that involves significant aditional equipment and operation costs, at least through the need for oxygen production/storage and use.

US 5930992A - 1995 - Thomas Esoh, Martin Pischinger, Wolfganh Salber - FEV Europe - proposes to reduce emissions during engine warm-up by supplying only part of the engine cylinders during the warm-up. Disadvantages are the high cost of modifications brought to the engine, and the amount of heat required to heat the catalyst is virtually the same, consequently, even if the emissions are reduced in the unit of time, the total amount of emissions generated during engine warm-ups decreases too little.

U.S. 5293741 A - 1991- Kenji Kashiyama, Ken Umehara- Mazda Motor Corp. proposes the increaseo the excess air during the engine warm-up. The disadvantages of the proposal are the costly modifications brought to the engine, but which do not solve the catalyst warming in a shorter time, i.e. it does not seem to have a significant influence on the amount of emissions discharged before the catalyst entering the operation.

US 7828862 - 09.11.2010 - Wai Yin Leung - proposes a complex additive with notable results for the specific engine consumption, emission reduction of about 50% for the main pollutants and an additive consumption of about 1 g/liter of fuel. It follows from the description that the proposed additives have a high cost and the proportion of additives is high.

US 94587612 - 04.10.2014 - Guinther Gregory H. - Afton Chemicals - proposes a generic method of introducing almost any kind of additive on the combustion air path, the additives used having almost any state of aggregation, claiming effects in the lubrication system, of cleaning the deposits from all metallic surfaces that come into contact with fuels and with the combustion products, but the management of the additivation processes needed to be correlated with the engine load is expected to be very complicated, adding to and directly modifying the electronic engine management systems. As against the additive consumptions shown in the examples presented in the description, the results obtained (at least in terms of increasing the engine efficiency) are rather modest, and the effects on the emission of pollutants are not presented.

With reference only to engines, it is noted that, in general, almost all the technical solutions proposed for application are directed to the correction of the combustion results and have as common disadvantages the dependence on the composition of the fuels used and the engine operating regimes.

In cases where new fuels are proposed, application costs would be very high due to the need to change the refining technologies. In addition, many of the proposed technical solutions can only be applied to engines that are currently in operation, with extra prohibitive costs.

If the refining processes could lead to a strictly controlled fuel composition, the same on all markets, the engine builders could achieve superior performances in terms of pollutant emissions level, and the quality of the atmosphere would tend to be an acceptable optimum. Even in this case, the combustion processes depend, to a sufficient extent, . on the composition of the combustion air, which exhibits large variations depending on the geographic area (regions with powders in suspension), pH (for example, the saline air ori the shore of the seas and oceans), atmospheric pressure (meteorological variations, altitude) and on the concentration of oxygen and ozone.

Issues related to the reduction of pollutant emissions and greenhouse gas emissions are also in the attention of those involved in the design, construction and operation of the industrial combustion systems, in the combustion chambers, for the combustion of liquid and gaseous fuels (we do not refer here to the solid fuels).

Thus, in the patent specification RO 00122782 - June 14, 2007 - M. Suta - there is proposed a process for reducing the pollutant emissions and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the combustion of fuels in the industrial combustion systems.

The solution has very good application results, with many applications on three continents, for all commonly used solid, liquid or gaseous fuels, and is applied under the ECOBIK® brand. Aqueous solutions of additives (1 - 2%) are used to produce aerosols, which are injected at low pressure (0,01 - 0,2 bar) into the combustion air of the boilers or industrial furnaces. There are used methods for the active injection of aerosols, by the aerosol generation with compressed air or by proportional injections, using electric micropumps. Note that applications refer to combustion plants that consume from hundreds of kilograms to up to tens of tons of fuel for one hour of operation.

Initially applied for the purpose of reducing the fuel consumption in the industrial combustion plants, the process revealed important beneficial influences on emissions. As an example, official comparative measurements were made in 2003 at a refinery (3,000,000 tons of oil/year), resulting in a more than 80% reduction of SOx emission concentration and more than 25% of the NOx emissions, resulting at all the refinery combustion systems.

After decades-long monitoring, to more beneficiaries, there was statistically found, an additive consumption of not more than 1 ng of additive per kilogram of conventional fuel, (one kilogram of conventional fuel means 7,000 kcal, that is, about the same amount of heat that is found in one liter of usual gasoline). Currently, the consumption was below 100 pg/kgcc-

There is raised the question of using additives - including some of the additives used in RO 00122782 specification- for burning fuels in the engine cylinders, but, obviously, without the use of aerosol generators, or proportional injections that are only suitable for static combustion plants, the equipments being useful only in case of thermal loads constant in longer time intervals.

The technical problem that the present invention proposes to solve is to overcome some shortcomings of said solutions and to find a solution to ensure the supply of additives, in proportion to the variable amount of fuel entering the combustion cycle, i.e., to the variation of the engine load, in mode of almost instantaneous response. It is necessary, at the same time, to take into account the variation in the physical- chemical characteristics of the combustion air, this air presenting various concentrations of water vapors and different temperatures, within a short period of time.

According to the invention, the process eliminates the disadvantages cited above and solves the proposed technical problem by the fact of introducing into a combustion air fraction an additive amount in a proportion of 10^'16 up to 10^'12, based on the mass of the combustion air. In volume, the additivated air is i a proportion from 0.2 to maximum 1.0% of the combustion air.

The additive used may be of the type mentioned in the patent specification RO 00122782 or of a similar type. Generally, it is about salts of the transition metals, in the state of maximum oxidation and which contain singlet oxygen in the molecule (ammonium salts, or alkali and alkaline-earth metal salts of isopolyacids and heteropolyacids of vanadium, molybdenum and tungsten, or peroxochromates, as sodium, potassium, lithium or ammonium salts).

The additivated combustion air fraction reaches the aspirated combustion process due to the negative pressure in the intake manifold; the additivated air comes from a device in which there is the additive in the form of solid particles, retained in the structure of some plates of felt made of natural wool, that fill the interior of the device; the air that is sucked into the device comes from the atmosphere, separately from the main combustion air, or as a fraction thereof, if there is sufficient negative pressure before the air intake valve. The device may be placed within the engine compartment or in the vicinity thereof (especially in the case of stationary engines).

The advantages of applying the process that is the subject-matter of the present disclosure are:

- it can be applied to any type of SIE engine, both to those already in operation and to the new ones, both for motor cars and stationary engines, which operate with liquid or gaseous fuels;

- advanced oxidation, in the engine cylinders, of cyclic and polycyclic molecules which will be decomposed and will no longer be discharged into the atmosphere (benzene, toluene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, particles with carbon content in quasi-solid state and others). A residual portion of these molecules will also be decomposed in the exhaust system, reaching the catalyst or the particle filter (for engines where this filter exists) in a much less number;

- reducing the proportion of unburnt, or incompletely oxidized particles, thereby facilitating and optimizing the operation of the catalyst and EGR valves;

- the continuous creation, in the combustion process, of some reducing elements, which will reduce the oxidation state of the centers for forming the molecules that constitute the pollutant emissions - sulphur, other nonmetals, transition metals - resulting from fuels or from the combustion air;

- removing up to 100% SOx emissions (even in the cold engine);

- partial inhibition of nitrogen oxidation, thereby reducing the proportion of NOx reaching the exhaust system (30 + 80% reduction at constant load);

- reduction in the concentration of unburnt hydrocarbons HC emissions (reduction up to 100% at constant load);

- cleaning the deposits from the exhaust system and keeping these metal surfaces clean;

- reduction of specific fuel consumption, especially at high speeds and high loads (from 4 to 6% on constant run with low engine load - constant speed 50, 70, 90 km/h, and even more than 20% at accelerations and high loads - slope, overtaking, high speed on the highway);

- increase in engine power by 4 + 10% (compared to the moment of the process application);

- increase of the motor torque by 4 + 12% (compared to the moment of the process application;

- reduction of acid corrosion of the flue gas exhaust systems;

- extending the engine oil service life; - improving the combustion at idle and high engine loads, i.e., the significant reduction of HC, CO, SOx, NOx and particle concentrations and the improvement of the excess air coefficient;

- improving the excess air coefficient in all the operation modes;

- faster heating of the engine and, implicitly, of the catalyst, i.e., a lower level of pollution during engine warm-up.

Hereinafter, several embodiments of the invention are given in conjunction with Figures 1 to 3 which represent:

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the manner of attaching a device, including one single type of additive, to the engine intake manifold.

Fig. 2. Schematic representation of the manner of attaching a device, including two types of additive, to the engine intake manifold.

Fig. 3. - schematic presentation of a portion of a wool yam to be impregnated with the solution of additive.

An important difference as against the fuel combustion in industrial combustion plants is the quasi-permanent variation of the thermal load, the engines working almost continuously in sudden accelerations and then decelerations, which requires to ensure the supply of additives in proportion to the variable amount of fuel entering the combustion cycle, that is, with the variation of the engine load; it is necessary, at the same time, to take into account the variation in the physical-chemical characteristics of the combustion air, this presenting different concentrations of water vapors and different temperatures. There seems to be obvious a solution for the introduction of additives into the fuel and there are many products on the market, particularly marketed in fuel filling stations, which are introduced in certain proportions into the fuel, some of them having beneficial results, especially for improving the dynamic characteristics of the engine. Recent regulations have however imposed a reduction in the proportion of most of these additives to a maximum of 1 mg/I, which poses problems of homogenization throughout the fuel mass in the tank. Other additives are not miscible in fuels or would require special technologies for homogenization in fuels. This additivation method cannot be applied in case of using the gaseous fuels.

In order to achieve the optimization of the combustion reactions in the cylinders of the internal combustion engine, both of those already in operation and of those to be produced, irrespective of the type of fuel, it is necessary to increase the reaction rate in the combustion processes and to reduce the proportion of the discharged unburnt substances by increasing the speed of occurrence and the number of secondary ignition centers, so that a much smaller proportion of the fuel will be evacuated in a state incompletely converted into heat, while inhibiting the possibilities of formation, in the process of combustion, of the pollutant emission molecules, by means of a process of additivation of the combustion process.

Additives are only used to initiate reaction chains, and after this moment of initiation the additives will be decomposed; because of this, the specific amount of additive required is very low - pico (nano) grams/liter of fuel.

In SIE, where the combustion is quasi stoichiometric (at least at idle and at constant partial loads), a passive injection is used; by passive injection we understand that the device containing the additives described in the present invention is connected to an inlet nozzje on the intake manifold, with a sectional area of 0.5 to 1.5% of the area of the air absorption section (sectional area of the intake valve), inversely proportional to the negative pressure module in the intake manifold, said negative pressure being measured at idle. The suction in the intake manifold will create negative pressure in the device, which will suck in atmospheric air; the air will be forced by the existing negative pressure to pass through the felt with additives contained in the device and will entrain the additive molecules towards the intake manifold.

The parameters of the air available for the combustion vary continuously as the car crosses various areas, where the air can be more or less wet, at different atmospheric temperature and pressure, the air density depending on the altitude where the engine operates.

The additives are contained in a small size device, which contains a filter element made of felt of natural wool fibers, fibers in whose cuticles (Figure 3) there is found the additive, introduced by a slow process of wetting in the aqueous additive solution (150 *· 500 hours) and then subjected to a controlled drying process at a temperature of 15 ÷ 25°C. Most of the additive will be retained in the wool fiber cuticles and in the felting of pressed fibers. The additives, being water-soluble transition metal salts, will soak the wool yams, and after the evaporation of water they will retain the salt particles in a solid state. After the drying process ends, the cuticles close, "sealing" the additive particles; the same contraction occurs throughout the mass of the natural felt, also "sealing" the amount of solid particles left between the fibers.

Example of a device for the application of the invention (Figure 1): it is a simple recipient (1) made of steel or synthetic material with adequate mechanical properties and resistant to temperatures above 130°C, with sizes corresponding to the cylindrical capacity of the engine, generally having a volume from 100 cm³ to 500 cm³, recipient constituted as a filter casing having a suction intlet (2) and an outlet (3) for a vacuum hose (4). The vacuum hose is attached to the intake manifold of the engine (5). If two additives are used, it is possible to proceed as in figure 2, by attaching two suction intlets, and the mixture of the two additives will come out through the outlet towards the intake manifold of the engine.

The recipient (1) contains a set of plates made of felt of natural wool, in whose fibers there are very fine additive particles in a solid state. The atmospheric air inlet is provided at the suction inlet(s) (2), and the discharge to the intake manifold takes over the additivated air that passed through the active felt filters; the felt of the discs with additive constitute a very good filter for the sucked air, and the natural air humidity will take over the additive molecules, which it will lead into the intake manifold (5) via the vacuum hose (4). For example, for engines of 1.3 liter, up to 2.0 liters, the recipient used can have a capacity of about 200 cm³.

The method for preparing the felt plates is the following: The additives are impregnated in the wool fibers by immersion in aqueous solution, preferably 2-5% (salts soluble in demineralized water) of the pressed felt plates at a density of 40-150 kg/m³; the density of the felt is proportional to the module of the negative pressure available at the entry to the intake manifold. When using prefabricated felt plates, but not treated with additives, there should be taken into account that the felt not being homogeneous, the water absorption capacity varies from one plate to the other. For this reason, the water absorption capacity in the felt plates provided for filling the device was tested by immersion thereof into the demineralized water, after the dry felt was previously weighed. The plates are removed, let to drain until no more drops occur, then they are weighed; the difference as against the dry plate mass represents the water absorption capacity and represents the amount of solution they will absorb. There is prepared the additive solution -in general 2 - 5%, containing the amount of dissolved solid additive, and the felt plates are introduced thereinto. The solution will be completely absorbed (100 + 200 hours at 5 + 20°C), and after drying, the solid additive will be retained by the cuticles of the wool yams and in the very fine interspaces between the wool fibers of the felt. The amount of additive retained by the felt plate is measurable by weighing, after drying; there shall be taken into account the total amount of solid additive contained in the device, of 2 to 3 g/liter of the cylinder capacity of the engine. Drying is slow and it takes 300 + 600 hours at 15 + 25°C (exposure to sunlight will be avoided).

With regard to the additives used, we can add the following:

The assembly of felt plates, loaded with the additive, has an operation life approximately double that of the main air filter of the engine. However, the plates must be changed, first of all, due to the infestation with residual particles from the sucked atmospheric air, because the additive consumption is less than 1 ng/liter of fuel. From the experience of more than two years, . on different types of engines and in all atmospheric conditions available, it was ascertained that the optimum results are ensured for a set of additivated felt, for at least 20,000 Km, except for the operation of the engine in the areas with saline air or in conditions of atmospheric air with high powder content, where the optimal operation period decreases by 30 + 50%.

The additives used are salts of the transition metals in the state of maximum oxidation, which have a singlet oxygen in the molecule. The list presented is open, and it is possible to use other salts with the above properties, such as potassium, lithium or ammonium salts - for example: orthovanadates - MeV0₄; pyran-vanadates - MeV₂0₇; paramolybdates - MeMo₇0₂₄; molybdates - MeMo₄; metatungstates - MeW₄0i₃; dichromates - MeCr₂0₇; permanganates - MeMn0 .

Potassium salts have universal application, acting equally to support the combustion processes and reduce NOx, SOx, HC, VOC, PM emissions. Ammonium salts have a more pronounced action on NOx and VOC emission and are chosen for applications in engines working on lower or residual fuels.

Lithium salts act predominantly on CO, accelerating the transformation of biatomic molecules - CO - into triatomic molecules - CO2.

Schematically, the wool yarn structure is shown in the following way, fig. 3:

An outer layer, the cuticle, which has the role of protecting the inner layers, which opens in the presence of water and closes in the dry state; the cortex and a middle layer, which represents the most resistant component of the animal hair; the medulla, the inner layer.

The introduction of the additive into the felt is based on the specific properties of the wool yarn, which has the capacity to absorb large amounts of water, in the cuticles included, which gradually open to wetting and close after the evaporation of the water. The proportion of particles, which are retained between the fibers, cannot be entrained by the flow of air subjected to additivation, because of the barrier formed by the interwoven wool fibers.

Combustion air aspirated by the engine will "wash" the wool yarns that contain the salts in solid state and, due to the water vapors contained by the air, will partially open the cuticles of the wool yarns, the water vapor will take over the additive molecules, which they will entrain towards the intake manifold. The amount of additive circulated towards the cylinder is quasi-proportiopal to the engine load and inversely proportional to the humidity of the air passing through the additive- containing filter, because when the relative air humidity increases, the cuticles open, causing the reduction of the sectional area of the air passage; this means that the flow rate of the air additivated at the outlet will be reduced proportional to the increase in humidity, but containing about the same proportion of additive, based on the mass of air directed to the cylinders, required for the engine load at that time.

Additives will enter the engine intake manifold, where, up to the access to the cylinder, they are homogenized in the total volume of the combustion air or of the fuel mixture; after entering the cylinder, upon reaching temperatures above 400°C, the additive molecules become active, forming peroxosulphuric and peroxodisulfuric acids (based on reaction with SO3²· ion), and releasing free oxygen ions, which will become initiators of reaction chains and will act by multiplying the rate of occurrence of secondary ignition centers. These initiators will react with the polycyclic aromatic substances in the fuel; hence there will result organic peroxides, peroxiacids and superoxides of alkali and alkaline-earth metals, which, in their turn, will become promoters of the following reactions, reactions for which they will be initiators.

All these reaction promoters have in the molecule a singlet oxygen that has maximum affinity for the singlet carbon of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules, that is, those hydrocarbons which, when operating in the absence of additives, are found to be largely evacuated and to be responsible for incomplete combustion, for the formation of particles that accumulate in the filters and on the surfaces of the catalysts and which are deposited on the metal surfaces of the exhaust gas path. From the reaction between promoters and polycyclic aromatics, the hydride ion H^~ will appear, which by effective collisions will yield an electron to the central atoms of the oxygenated compounds of metals and non-metals in the combustion chamber, or of those already deposited on the metal surfaces in the combustion chamber or on exhaust and evacuation gallery. These central atoms, receiving electrons, will reduce their oxidation state, step by step (collision after collision), up to zero, losing their capacity to form complex molecules. The metallic particles (residually contained in the fuel - "trace elements"), which have reached the minimum oxidation state, will be deposited on the metal surfaces of the flue gas exhaust path at temperatures below 600°C, gradually constituting themselves in a protective layer against acidic attacks.

It is very important to emphasize the necessity of the existence in a perfectly sealed state of the entire flue gas path, otherwise, the false air that would reach the evacuation system will create conditions for the reformation of the pollutant molecules.

The additives introduced into combustion will undergo the same transformations, the central atom reducing its oxidation state, on the basis of the same hydride ion produced in the combustion process.

Several tests, conducted for over 2 years, with devices for the additivation of the combustion air under EKOBIK® brand (abbreviated as EKB in the tables), have resulted in very good results, both in terms of improving the engine performances and reducing the pollutant emissions:

The engines to which the procedure has been applied so far are the following:

Manufacturer Capacity Engine Distance covered Year of

type upon mounting Manufacture

Renault 1.61 - 16v 85,000 km 2009

Citroen 1.61 - 16v VTI 90,000 km 2008

Citroen 1.61— 16v VTH 85,000 km 2007

Nissan 1.51 - 16v QG15 75,000 km 2006

Subaru 2.0 - 16v EJ20 330,000 km 2005

Mitsubishi 2.0 - 8v 4G63 2,200,000 km 1991 (carburettor)

GM 1.6 - 16v 356 160,000 km 2006

Fiat 1.4 - 16v 188A5 130,000 km 1998

WV 2.0 - 16v AZM 156,000 km 2001

Honda 1.8 - 16v VTEC 95,000 km 2008

Dynamometer tests MUSTANG MD-AWD-500 and DASH COMMAND Software.

ACCELERATION TEST 30 + 1 10 Km/h

Subaru Forester - Engine EJ-20 - 2.0I - 125 HP

Road tests - determining the influence upon fuel consumpion

SUBARU FORESETER - Dash Command - 05.12.2017 -highway

DAEWOO NUBIRA SX -route Bucuresti - Carei - Bucuresti = 1300 km - 2016/2018. There were carred out 6 travels classic + 6 with EKB 02B -speeds over 3500 rpm. The consumption average was compared in all atmospheric conditions.

SUBARU FORESTER - route - Bucharest - Budapest - Klagenfurt - Villach - return to Bucharest - 2700 km - Decembre/January. 3 travels classic + 1 travel with EKB - 02 B.

SUBARU FORESTER - route - Bucharest - Marseille- return to Bucharest - 5000 km - August/Septembre. 1 travel classic + 1 travel with EKB - 02 B.

Emission tests (official procedure - at idle and at 2500 rpm)

The additives action were tested on the cold engine as well, before the catalyst temperature reached the operating temperature. A reduction of CO and SOx of over 90% and of NOx of 10% was achieved; the excess air dropped from 1.03 to 1.01.

Consumption of additives:

After the experience of over 150,000 km (summed up on several cars tested) it was found that the additives remained practically not consumed, but much of the initial quantity was altered, also losing its initial qualities, the transition metal ion reducing its oxidation state, especially in the applications that circulated in the seaside area, where the air is saline.

Following the quantitative assessments, which we could evaluate with the means available, there resulted an additive consumption of less than 1 ng/liter of gasoline (much lower than 100 pg/liter

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

References:

Berthold Grunwald -“ Teoria, calculul si constructia motoarelor pentru autovehiculele rutiere" (Theory, calculation and construction of the engines for road vehicles) - 1980

C.D. Nenitescu -“Chimie Generala” -1979

D. Sandulescu, A. Hanes, M. Keul, E. Mieroiu, M. Zaharia -“Manualul inginerului chimist”(Handbook of the Chemist engineer) - 1972

V. Constantinescu - “Prevenirea uzurii motoarelor de automobile” (Prevention of motor vehicle engines wear) - 1987

L. Ntziachristos -“Exhaust Heavy Metals From Fuels" - 2010

A. Ulrich, A. Wichser, A. Hess, N. Heeb, L. Emmenegger, J. Czerwinski, M. Kasper, J. Mooney, A. Mayer - “Particle and Metal Emissions of Diesel and Gasoline Engines in Europe” - 2012

M. Winter, E. Slento -“Heavy Metals Emissions For Danish Road Transport” - 2010

W. Souter -“Nanoparticles as Fuel Additives” - 2012

N. Asandei, A. Grigoriu - Chimia si structure fibrelor (Chemistry and structure of fibres)- 1983

Claims

1. Process for the additivation of the combustion process in spark ignition engines, obtained by the additivation of the combustion air, or of the fuel mixture in the intake manifold, characterized in that, a fraction of combustion air is sucked; this fraction is treated with an additive consisting of salts of transition metals, in maximum oxidation state and which contain singlet oxygen in the molecule, proportional to the engine load and inversely proportional to the air humidity; the additivation is carried out by passing an air fraction through a recipient comprising the additive; this fraction of additivated air is introduced into the intake manifold of the engine due to the negative pressure which is created inside the manifold during the engine operation and here it is admixed with the air or fuel mixture existant in the manifold, where from it is then absorbed into the engine cylinders.

2. Process according to claim 1 , characterized in that the additives employed are orthovanadates and |pyrovanadates| of the alkali metals and alkaline-earth metals, alkali and alkaline-earth metal salts of the isopolyacids and heteropolyacids of vanadium, molybdenum and tungsten, or peroxochromates, as potassium, lithium or ammonium salts.

3. Process according to claim 1 , characterized in that, the additive-containing air fraction is admitted by means of a suction nozzle having the sectional area of 0.5 to 1.5% of the area of the air absorption section, or more exactly, of the sectional area of the inlet valve, and the additivation thereof is carried out with an amount of additive in a proportion of 10 ¹⁶ up to 10 ¹², based on the total mass of the

combustion air or, in other words, the additive-containing air volume is in a proportion from 0.2 to maximum 1.0% of combustion air.

4. Composition for the application of the process of claim 1 , characterized in that it consists of one or more of the additives mentioned in claim 2 and demineralized water, the proportion of the solid additive per liter of demineralized water being generally from 2 up to 5% by weight.

5. Device for the additivation of the combustion air, according to claim 1 ,

characterized in that in one of the embodiments, when it is built to incorporate one single additive therein, it consists of a recipient (1) which includes some felt plates impregnated with the additive, or simply, some pressed felt impregnated, said recipient may be made of steel or synthetic material with mechanical properties suitable to withstand a temperature of more than 130°C, with dimensions

corresponding to the cylinder capacity of the engine, generally having the volume from 100 cm³ to 500 cm³, recipient constituted as a filter casing having at one end an air suction inlet (2), and at the other end, an outlet (3) for a vacuum hose (4) which is attached to the intake manifold of the engine (5); in case two additives are used, there will be arranged two suction intlets, one at each end, and centrally there will be arrangedthe outlet towards the intake manifold of the engine.

6. Method for impregnating the felt plates with a view to carrying out the process according to claim 1 , characterized in that, the additives are impregnated into the felt wool fibres, by immersion into 2 to 5% aqueous solution (salts soluble in demineralized water) of the felt plates pressed to a density of 40 to 150 kg/m³; the felt is kept for 100 + 300 hours in the solution, at the temperature of 15 + 25°C.