Patent Application
20110302932
The invention consists of a thermally driven hydrogen compressor, hydrogen storage reservoir, and a mixing chamber which are used to supply an engine with either pure or supplemental hydrogen for the combustion processes. The device utilizes a controlled release of the compressed hydrogen such that the ideal amount of hydrogen is being supplied to the engine at all times. The invention may also be used as a way to capture and use waste heat.
Hydrogen has long been known as a clean energy source and has the potential of being 100% renewable. Hydrogen's low energy density provides challenges in its being successfully integrated into industrial, commercial, and consumer energy production/applications. The application of metal hydride hydrogen compression for the uses of supplying hydrogen to combustion engines is proposed with this invention to make it a feasible and possible replacement or supplemental energy source while reducing the pollutants that are produced by engines consuming fossil fuels.
The HCDS-IC (hydrogen compression and delivery system for internal combustion engines) composes of a thermally driven metal hydride hydrogen compressor, hydrogen storage medium, and a mixing/delivery chamber that is intended to be installed and used in conjunction with any or all internal combustion engines. The HCDS-IC may be used with a permanent hydrogen supply system that is also installed on the unit or with an external hydrogen supply.
The HCDS-IC may be used for both/either hydrogen supplementation in a fuel burning engine and/or hydrogen storage for a pure hydrogen burning engine. The design eliminates the transfer of high pressure hydrogen from off board the unit to on board the unit. The on board hydrogen compressor and storage allows the hydrogen supply to be at lower initial pressures and reduces the inconveniences and safety issues associated with high pressure gas transportation and delivery.
The integration of the hydrogen compression, storage, and delivery as proposed within this invention will allow more commercial, industrial, and consumer applications of hydrogen use that will reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. The mixing chamber design also simplifies the delivery of the system using simple thermodynamic and gas laws to govern the amounts of gas injected into the engine for optimal combustion conditions. Hydrogen is known for its ability to enable fossil fuels to burn faster and more completely, which in turn reduces the emissions from the fuel burning engines and increases the efficiencies of the engines. The application of this invention on the standard fuel burning engine is intended to increase the fuel efficiency while simultaneously reducing the emissions from the burn.
Pure hydrogen engines may also be used more readily if the hydrogen is compressed to higher pressures which increase the energy density of hydrogen. The HCDS-IC utilizes thermal, electrical, or both energy types to drive the compression of the hydrogen on board the unit. The effective compression of the hydrogen enables the high pressures needed to store sufficient amounts of hydrogen to run internal combustion engines to be attained, and the storage units allow the delivery of the compressed and stored hydrogen to be readily supplied to the engine as it is needed without any significant time lags.
The HCDS-ICWF-Multi consists of a hydrogen supply which may be a hydrogen production unit or a hydrogen storage reservoir (Claim 7), the supplied hydrogen is then connected to a multi stage metal hydride compressor which undergoes thermal cooling and heating cycles that drive the hydrogen compression (Claims 1 and 2) and then the hydrogen is supplied to the engine via the delivery system. The thermal cycles utilize a heated or cooled working fluid to either extract or supply energy to the metal hydride reactors during the hydrogen absorption and desorption process. The cooling cycles utilize a cool working fluid and forced convection over the metal hydride reactors to extract the excess thermal energy that is being produced by the hydrogen absorption process (Claim 6). After the hydrogen is absorbed the supply line is temporarily closed using a valve and a heating cycle is initiated which supplies the thermal energy (via a hot working fluid) needed to cause the desorption of hydrogen out of the metal hydrides (Claim 6). Since metal hydrides have the ability to store hydrogen at densities greater than liquid hydrogen, the hydrogen will be released at pressures which exceed the supply pressures upon completion of the thermal heating. The multi stage compressor consists of stages that are configured in a series (Claim 2). Thus upon completion of the first thermal compression cycle from the first stage, the second stage of compression will absorb the hydrogen from the previous stage, compress the hydrogen, and supply the hydrogen to the next thermal compression stage or hydrogen storage reservoir. The number of compression stages may continue in series as required by the system parameters and multiple compression cycles within each stage may be repeated to ensure that the hydrogen is being supplied within the systems desired parameters.
The compression system will use multiple metal hydride compression stages to compress the hydrogen (Claim 2). Multi stage compression consists of multiple reactors or groups of reactors arranged in a series. Thus upon desorption out of one reactor or group of reactors the hydrogen is absorbed into the next reactor or group of reactors, and the process is repeated until the desired number of compression stages has been completed, upon which the hydrogen is supplied to the storage reservoir or directly to the engine for combustion. The metal hydride compression system may use multiple hydrogen reactors within each compression stage (Claim 9). Thus implying that the multiple reactors within each compression stage would be arranged such that they absorb hydrogen from the same source and supply the hydrogen to the same destination upon desorption, (the configuration of multiple reactors within the same compression stage is somewhat similar to the configuration of resistors in parallel within an electrical circuit).
The metal hydride reactors may utilize a large variety of geometric configurations, and manufacturing processes. The metal hydride reactors may utilize metal hydride pellets which may be produced from metal hydride powders which were compressed under high pressures, sintered, or compacted using other means and may utilize any geometric configuration that is convenient or needed for the desired system, or the metal hydrides may remain in a non pellet form and the reactors may or may not utilize filters that prevent the metal hydride powders from exiting the reactor.
The compression and storage units are intended to remain connected at all times to eliminate any safety issues stemming from the handling of high pressure gases (Claim 11). The hydrogen being supplied to the compressor from the hydrogen supply would be pressure regulated to ensure that it is at safe pressures for the initial hook up and the final detachment (if necessary), and the hydrogen coming out of the storage tank on board the unit would also be pressure regulated to supply the hydrogen to the engine under safe operating pressures. The compressor in line with the storage tank removes all unnecessary connections of high pressure gases that may prove unsafe to the user of the invention.
The compression and storage system may or may not be connected to the hydrogen source during operation (Claim 12). If the hydrogen source is designed to be on board the consumption unit, then the compression and storage units will remain connected to the hydrogen source. If, however, the hydrogen source is solely used to charge the hydrogen reservoir of the system and is removed during consumption unit operation, then the compressor and the storage unit will not be in line with the hydrogen supply system during unit operation.
Upon completion of the compression, the hydrogen may be delivered to the IC engine directly or temporarily stored in a pressurized storage tank until needed (Claims 15-20). The delivery of hydrogen to the IC engine utilizes a pressure regulating valve and a mixing chamber. If the system utilizes direct injection, the hydrogen will be released directly into the piston combustion chamber for mixing and combustion via its own pressure regulated line which would also utilize a pulsing valve such that hydrogen is only injected into the combustion chamber when needed.
The gas pressures will be regulated such that when the combustion chamber valve opens for the hydrogen and oxygen/air gases to flow and fill the combustion chamber, the amount allowed into the final combustion chamber will be approximately or at stoichiometric conditions or at the desired A/F (air to fuel) ratios (Claim 17). The invention will obtain this condition by utilizing simple principles of thermodynamics and gas laws for the sizing of the mixing chamber in reference to the final combustion volume. The mixing chamber is sized to allow regulated flows of hydrogen and oxygen/air into the mixing chamber during the exhaust stroke of the piston within the engine. The chamber will be sized according to the size of the final volume within the combustion chamber upon which the combustible gases flow into the combustion chamber of the engine. In cases where the hydrogen is directly injected into the engine, the final combustion chamber or piston chamber will be utilized as the mixing chamber (Claim 18).
The schematics/drawings described within this section are for illustrative purposes, and the dimensions associated with the schematics/drawings are not actual dimensions. The geometries shown in the figures are not all inclusive, and any derivation of the system containing the same system components with different geometries are intended to fall under the description of the invention as set forth in the claims. It must also be noted that in many of the drawings the valves depicted are manual valves and these are to illustrate where valves could be placed. The valves may be manual or automated (solenoid valves, etc.) and are depicted in the drawings for illustrative purposes. It is also important to note that the reactor assemblies shown within all of the drawings use compression fittings, but this is not intended to limit the reactor construction to the use of compression fittings; indeed, the reactors may use welded fittings or the assemblies may utilize parts manufactured specifically for the geometries and uses of the final system that the invention is intended for.
