Claims
- 1. A method to reduce NOx emissions from the exhaust of diesel engines by use of microemulsified oxygenate-containing diesel fuel and a catalytic reducing converter designed for optimal use with selected oxygenate comprising:
distilling out a portion of the oxygenate in the emulsion and injecting the distilled oxygenate into exhaust gasses from the engine upstream of said reducing converter.
- 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the distillation process is performed periodically.
- 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the distillation is continuous.
- 4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the distillation is performed under a vacuum.
- 5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the distillation is performed at atmospheric pressure.
- 6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the amount of injected oxygenate corresponds to the amount of NOx in the exhaust.
- 7. A method according to claim 1 wherein the blending agent is developed specifically to emulsify a particular reductant in the diesel fuel and subsequently allow that reductant to be stripped under distillation conditions.
- 8. A method according to claim 1 wherein the oxygenate is ethanol.
- 9. A method to deliver a stripped reductant to the exhaust of lean-burn engines and a selective catalytic reducing converter in exhaust system comprising:
delivering a fuel to a distillation chamber where the reductant is distilled and subsequently delivered to a small storage tank; pressurization of the distilled reductant via fuel pump and a return-style regulator; injecting stripped reductant via standard fuel injector that is cooled via water loop to prevent thermal damage to the injector.
- 10. A method according to claim 9 wherein said reductant is ethanol.
- 11. A method according to claim 9 wherein the reductant is delivered to the exhaust in gaseous form.
- 12. A method according to claim 9 wherein the lean-burn engine is a diesel engine.
- 13. A method for increasing and managing the temperature of a catalyst by reacting a reductant with excess oxygen in the exhaust to produce heat.
- 14. A method for increasing and managing the temperature of a catalyst according to claim 13 further comprising an ignition source to initiate the reaction of reductant with oxygen.
- 15. A method according to claim 13 wherein the catalyst temperature management is achieved by injecting a reductant into the exhaust directly upsteam of an oxidation catalyst which itself is located directly upstream of the reducing catalyst.
- 16. A method according to claim 13 wherein the reductant injection for temperature control is performed periodically.
- 17. A method according to claim 1 wherein the reductant injection for temperature control is continuous.
- 18. A method according to claim 13 wherein the reductant is ethanol.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
[0001] This invention was made with United States Government support under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR 22725 between the United States Department of Energy and UT-Battelle, LLC, and the United States Government has certain rights in this invention.