Patent Application
20240123393
The present invention relates to a system for removing carbon dioxide from car exhaust. The present invention further provides a housing having a plurality of compartments fluidly connected to one another and filled with activated charcoal, a nitrogen containing compound, a silica gel, or a combination thereof to adsorb and react with CO2 and other gases expelled from an exhaust of a motor vehicle.
The increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere are a pressing global concern, primarily attributed to human activities such as transportation, industry, and energy production. All motor vehicles release pollutants into the air, mostly through the exhaust fumes that come out of the tailpipe when the engine operates. Pollutants produced by vehicle exhausts include carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, particles, volatile organic compounds, and sulfur dioxide. Hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides react with sunlight and warm temperatures to form ground-level ozone. Ground-level ozone, a main ingredient in smog, can cause upper respiratory problems and lung damage.
Traditional carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems have been employed in industrial settings to capture CO2 emissions from power plants and factories. These systems typically use chemical absorbents or adsorbents to capture CO2 before it is released into the atmosphere. While effective, these large-scale solutions are expensive to implement and are not suitable for the mobile nature of vehicles. Direct Air Capture technologies have gained attention for capturing CO2 directly from the ambient air. Although promising, these systems are energy-intensive, often requiring significant power inputs, which makes it impractical for integration into vehicles due to their limited energy resources. Catalytic converters are widely used in vehicles to reduce emissions of harmful pollutants, but they primarily target nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, not CO2. Hence, they do not directly address the problem of carbon dioxide emissions.
Some devices exist that are capable of filtering CO2 and other gases from a vehicle's exhaust. But most of these devices are extremely complex and fail to disclose a system that utilizes a combination of activated charcoal, liquid ammonia, and/or silica gel for the capturing of CO2. Some devices use algae and sodium hydroxide, which is not very efficient at removing CO2. Other devices utilize zeolite to adsorb gases. However, zeolite comprises a small surface area of approximately 56 to 60 m2/g, whereas activated charcoal has a surface area of up to 3000 m2/g, which is at least 17 to 18-times higher than the surface area of zeolite. Additionally, the compounds used as an adsorbent or collection method of CO2, fail to absorb additional compounds such as aromatics, hydrocarbons, methane, and SO2, NO, and NO2. Further, many devices cannot be mounted or inserted within the exhaust pipe of a vehicle. Therefore, there exists a need for a system that comprises easily accessible compounds integrated into a series of cylinders for mounting or inserting into an exhaust pipe of a vehicle.
In light of the devices disclosed in the known art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements and methods from the known art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement for carbon dioxide removal systems. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of carbon dioxide removal systems now present in the known art, the present invention provides a new carbon dioxide removal system wherein the same can be mounted or inserted into an exhaust system of a vehicle, wherein a combination of activated charcoal, liquid ammonia, and or silica gel are used for the capturing of CO2 emitted from the vehicle through the exhaust system.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an embodiment of a carbon dioxide removal system comprising a housing adapted to be inserted within an exhaust system or mounted to an end of an exhaust pipe for receiving the exhaust through the housing as it is dispelled therefrom. In some embodiments, the housing comprises a plurality of compartments fluidly connected to one another each comprising either activated charcoal, ammonia, silica gel, or a mixture of thereof for adsorbing and reacting with CO2 and other gases.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an embodiment of a carbon dioxide removal system wherein the housing comprises a pair of compartments disposed at opposing ends of the housing, wherein each end compartment is closed with a semipermeable filter that allows gases and small molecules to pass through, but not solids or liquids.
It is also an objective of the present invention to provide an embodiment of a carbon dioxide removal system wherein the housing comprises first compartment filled with activated charcoal adapted to adsorb gaseous CO2, a second compartment comprising liquid ammonia configured to react with remaining gases by forming ammonium carbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium carbamate, and/or urea, and a third compartment filled with a mixture of activated charcoal and ammonia. As the remaining gas passes through the third compartment, a chemical reaction occurs forming organic ammonium molecules.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide an embodiment of a carbon dioxide removal system further comprising a sensor disposed within the housing and operably connected to a display to alert a user when the adsorbing materials need to be replaced.
In one embodiment, the system includes a series of three compartments, wherein a first compartment and a third compartment are disposed at opposing ends of the housing. Each of the end compartments are closed with a semipermeable filter that allows gases and small molecules to pass through, but not solids or liquids. The first compartment is filled with activated charcoal adapted to adsorb gaseous CO2. A middle or second compartment comprises liquid ammonia, wherein a chemical reaction occurs between the ammonia and remaining gases forming ammonium carbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium carbamate, and/or urea. The third compartment is filled with a mixture of activated charcoal and ammonia.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide an embodiment of a carbon dioxide removal system wherein silica gel is used in one of the compartments of the housing and is configured to adsorb CO2. In some embodiments, the silica gel replaces either the activated charcoal or the ammonia, wherein other embodiments, the silica gel is used in addition to the activated charcoal or the ammonia.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved carbon dioxide removal system that has all of the advantages of the known art and none of the disadvantages.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for removing CO2 emitted from an exhaust system using activated charcoal, liquid ammonia, silica gel, or a combination thereof. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.
Referring now to
In the illustrated embodiment, a filtration cap 1200 is disposed at the first and second ends 1120, 1130 of the housing 1100, forming a closure. Each filtration cap 1200 is permeable for gases to receive the CO2 within the housing 1100 and impermeable for solids and liquids to prevent the carbon dioxide removing materials from escaping the housing 1100. In the illustrated embodiment, the filtration caps are heat-resistant and composed of heat resistant material, such as sintered glass fiber filter discs or porous sinter metal filters. In some embodiments, both the housing 1100 and the filtration caps 1200 are configured to withstand a temperature of up to 930 degrees F. At or below those temperatures, the housing 1100 and the filtration caps 1200 retain their structure and form.
In the illustrated embodiment, the filtration cap 1200 disposed on the first end 1120 of the housing 1100 is permanently secured thereto, wherein the filtration cap 1200 disposed on the second end 1130 is removably or pivotally secured to the housing 1100. In alternate embodiments, both filtration caps are removable and in other embodiments, both filtration caps are permanently secured to the housing.
Referring to
Each compartment 1300 is fluidly connected to one another each comprising either activated charcoal, a nitrogen containing compound, silica gel and/or a mixture thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, the first compartment 1310 comprises a solid adsorbent, such as activated charcoal or silica gel. In some embodiments, the silica gel is a synthetic amorphous silica such as Neosyl® GP LC and Gasil® HP260. The activated charcoal and silica gel are each configured to adsorb CO2. In some embodiments, the first compartment comprises activated charcoal and a second compartment comprises silica gel.
The activated charcoal is in any suitable solid form, such as a powder, granulated material, compressed rods, and the like. The activated charcoal will adsorb CO2 as it passes through the first compartment of the housing, thereby preventing the CO2 from dispelling into the air. In the illustrated embodiment, only activated charcoal is disposed within the first compartment, such that the gases from the exhaust are only adsorbed by the activated charcoal and do not have an opportunity to react with other compounds to prevent an undesirable reaction. Besides the removal of CO2, other environmental harmful components in car exhaust such carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NO, N2O, NO2), methane (CH4), hydrogen carbon, and aromatic hydrogen carbon can be removed by adsorption to the activated charcoal.
In the illustrated embodiment, the second compartment 1320 comprises a nitrogen containing compound configured to react with CO2. In some embodiments, a liquid CO2 reactor is disposed within the second compartment of the housing. In the shown embodiment, the liquid CO2 reactor is an aqueous ammonia solution containing up to 35.6% of ammonia. The liquid CO2 reactor will cause a chemical reaction to occur between the ammonia and remaining gases, including CO2, forming ammonium carbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium carbamate, and/or urea. In the illustrated embodiment, only the aqueous ammonia solution is disposed within the second compartment, such that the gases from the exhaust react only with the ammonia and do not have an opportunity to react with other compounds to prevent an undesirable reaction. In some embodiments, a dividing filter 1340 is disposed on each side of the second compartment 1320 to separate the contents disposed within each compartment, while allowing gas to flow through the housing from the first end to the second end.
In the illustrated embodiment, a mixture of the solid adsorbent and the liquid CO2 reactor is disposed within the third compartment 1330 of the housing. In the shown embodiment, the mixture comprises activated charcoal and an aqueous ammonia solution. As the remaining gas passes through the third compartment, a chemical reaction occurs forming organic ammonium molecules. In some embodiments, the mixture comprises a 1:1 ratio of activated charcoal to ammonia. In alternate embodiments, any suitable ratio of activated charcoal to ammonia is used. However, in alternate embodiments, the solid adsorbent comprises silica gel or a mixture of silica gel and activated charcoal.
In some embodiments, the removal capacity of the nitrogen containing compound configured to react with CO2 disposed within one of the compartments is between 1 g to 20 g of CO2 per gram of the nitrogen containing compound. In other embodiments, the removal capacity of ammonia configured to react with CO2 disposed within one of the compartments is between 3 g to 10 g of CO2 per gram of ammonia, wherein the ammonia is a liquid solution of 100 mL of ammonium hydroxide ACS solution 28 to 30% mixed with 100 mL purified water.
In some embodiments, the removal capacity of the adsorbent solid disposed within one of the compartments is between 50 g to 500 g of CO2 per gram of adsorbent solid. In other embodiments, the removal capacity of activated charcoal disposed within one of the compartments is between 100 g to 150 g of CO2 per gram of activated charcoal. In other embodiments, the removal capacity of silica gel disposed within one of the compartments is between 150 g to 1000 g of CO2 per gram of silica gel. In other embodiments, the removal capacity of silica gel Neosyl® GP LC disposed within one of the compartments is between 250 g to 450 g of CO2 per gram of silica gel Neosyl® GP LC. In other embodiments, the removal capacity of silica gel Gasil® HP260 disposed within one of the compartments is between 150 g to 200 g of CO2 per gram of silica gel Gasil® HP260.
Referring now to
In some embodiments, the housing 1100 comprises a friction fit within the exhaust system, whereas in alternate embodiments, a fastener secures the housing to the exhaust system, such as a clip or screws, or mounts the housing 1100 directly to a distal end of the exhaust pipe.
Referring now to
In some embodiments, the carbon dioxide removal system is configured to be replaced by a technician at a car dealership or auto mechanic. In other embodiments, the housing is positioned in such a location within the exhaust system that a user or vehicle owner is able to easily access the housing and replace the compartments via replacing the cartridge.
It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/416,695 filed on Oct. 17, 2022. The above identified patent applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63416695 | Oct 2022 | US |
