Many workers in the prior art have attempted to generate hydrogen and/or oxygen for use with an internal combustion engine. United States Patents Nos. 1,379,007 (Blumenburg); 1,520,772 (Ricardo); 3,648,668 (Pacheco); and 3,653,364 (Bogan) are all exemplary of efforts made in this direction. The United States Patent to Boisen 1,380,183 of May 31, 1921, is a teaching of an early effort to generate oxygen and hydrogen and use both gases to fuel an engine. Boisen also uses separate tanks in which to create a back pressure to force the electrolyte away from both the cathode and the anode to proceed for a stop and start of the decomposing process automatically. Boisen is a three-compartment unit utilizing the hydrogen and oxygen. Many workers in the art, however, believe the presence of storage tanks such as 11 and 12 for the hydrogen and oxygen of Boisen and the subsequent mixing of these fuels, presents a highly dangerous environment. The United States patent to Jack H. Rupe No. 3,906,913 (1975) also teaches the mixing of hydrogen, air and a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. The patent is particularly useful in its description of the prior art and its disclosure of the degree of work some workers in the prior art did to secure proper levels of hydrogen. Another patent of interest is the United States patent to Marc S. Newkirk, et al. 3,710,770, of June 16, 1973. Newkirk discloses a means of providing hydrogen from a cryogenic supply.
A principal objective of this invention is to provide a rugged producer of hydrogen gas for an internal combustion machine having a pair of compartments with anodes and cathodes therein. The invention includes a means for causing a back pressure against the level of electrolyte in said cathode compartment to lower the level of electrolyte therein and thereby reduce the surface area available for the production of hydrogen. In this manner, the necessity for separate storage tanks or vessels is eliminated.
Another principal objective of this invention is to provide a rugged, uncomplex, two-compartment reactor for developing adjustable amounts of hydrogen. The reactor eliminates the necessity of storing any dangerous amounts of hydrogen in the system without a requirement for complicated valving and measuring systems. Except for the small amount of hydrogen necessary to build a back-pressure for adjustability, the hydrogen is used as it is produced.
An important object of the present invention is to provide a hydrogen reactor for economically providing on demand the trace amounts of hydrogen necessary to operate an internal combustion engine with a mixture of said hydrogen, air and a hydrocarbon-type fuel.
A still further important objective of the invention is to provide a hydrogen generator having a triangular-shaped electrode the surface, so that the incremental amount of active surface area exposed or covered by each successive incremental fall or rise in the electrolyte is smaller or larger, respectively, than the incremental amount of active surface area exposed or covered by the previous incremental fall or rise in accordance with the demands from the engine. The generator is also equipped with a separator that divides the generator into an electrode chamber and an anode chamber. The divider is of a composition that substantially limits the flow of electrolyte between chambers but which transmits electrons therebetween.
Another important objective of this invention is to provide an internal combustion engine which, because of superior burning caused by the hydrogen, permits the ignition timing to be advanced from that in conventional ignition systems.
Another principal objective of the invention is to improve the quality of the atmosphere, especially in areas where large numbers of vehicles are used by releasing substantial amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere.
A still further objective of the invention is to provide a fuel generator and mixture system which is readily adapted for use with all engines and of particular usefulness with burners of gas turbine engines and pre-compression chambers of two-stroke motors.
The present invention relates to a process for operating an internal combustion engine with a mixture of hydrogen, air and a hydrocarbon fuel, comprising the step of producing and introducing trace amounts of hydrogen into a carburetor together with said hydrocarbon fuel and air in adjustable amounts dependent on the hydrogen requirements of the engine.
It is well known in the art to mix hydrogen with a mixture of gasoline vapor and air produced in the carburetors of internal combustion engines to enhance the efficiency of such engines. It is also known that a better and more complete oxidation of the fuel in the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine can be obtained, when said engine is operated with a lean air-fuel mixture. This has, however, the drawback that for conventional hydrocarbon type fuels the combustion of weak mixtures, i.e., of mixtures having a proportion of air significantly larger than that corresponding to the stoichiometric fuel/air ratio, may lead to misfire, uncontrolled combustion and possibly breakdown of the engine. On the other hand, a very weak mixture of hydrogen and of air is easily ignited. Excellent inflammability is characteristic for a hydrocarbon-fuel/trace amounts of hydrogen/air mixture. When such a mixture is ignited by means of the spark plug, the hydrogen which distributes itself throughout the mixture burns first and contributes to an optimum combination of the remaining vaporized fuel.
By using the aforementioned principles, it is possible to enlarge the ignition range of the engine and to burn mixtures having a high proportion of air. The temperature of the combustion is lower due to the additional air. Heat losses are accordingly reduced. Such a nearly perfect combustion in combination with high compression ratios improves the economy of the engine, reduces the production of harmful exhaust gases and delays the accumulation of soot in the combustion chamber of the engine. Taking advantage of these known principles has been difficult because no appropriate device has been available for producing and for carrying hydrogen for mobile internal combustion engines. Taking along heavy pressure bottles for hydrogen gas is not convenient, because such bottles must be filled up or exchanged quite frequently. In addition, such pressure bottles present the danger of explosion. Another possibility, the stocking of liquefied hydrogen at low temperatures is troublesome, expensive and dangerous, especially for mobile use.
In the process for operating an internal combustion engine, according to the present invention, hydrogen is produced by electrolytic decomposition of water in a hydrogen reactor, electric current is supplied to said hydrogen generator by means of an alternator, and the hydrogen generator reactor automatically adjusts its hydrogen production to the requirements of the engine. According to the present invention, the automatic adjustment of the hydrogen production rate of said hydrogen generator to the needs of the internal combustion engine is accomplished by causing hydrogen collected between the carburetor and the reactor to exert a pressure on the level of the electrolyte in such a manner that the electrolyte level is lifted or lowered in accordance with the hydrogen pressure of the hydrogen reactor, whereby the surface area of the cathode plates in the electrolyte is adjusted. In this manner, the level of the electrolyte is caused to drop in the cathode compartment when the hydrogen pressure in the hydrogen generator reaches a predetermined magnitude. The electric current of the hydrogen generator is thus automatically lowered and the production of hydrogen in the hydrogen generator is reduced. The hydrogen reactor and its plates are triangularly shaped to increase the sensitivity of the reactor to fuel demands.
The present invention comprises a self-controlling hydrogen reactor operating according to an electrolytic type process, and a DC generator for supplying current to said hydrogen generator. The current generator for supplying current to said hydrogen generator is driven by the engine of the mobile unit.