GB1531492A - Pollution control - Google Patents

Abstract

1531492 Treating charge with steam J E LINDBERG 14 Oct 1975 42098/75 Headings F1B F1H and F1S A combustion process in which fuel is mixed with air and burned in a combustion chamber e.g. in an I.C. engine, a turbine or jet engine, a steam engine, a Stirling engine or a heating boiler or furnace is improved by supplying steam to the combustion chamber and controlling the steam flow so as to vary both the quantity and quality of the steam in response to a condition of the combustion process, the combustion chamber or the apparatus in which the combustion chamber is provided. In an I.C. engine the steam, which may have hydrogen, carbon monoxide, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, extra air, or methanol, hot exhaust gas, soluble hydrocarbons, water softening additives, upper cylinder lubricants or carbon or lead deposit removers or detergents mixed with it and may be delivered to an idle screw 509 at a location such that the vacuum thereat increases as the throttle valve of the engine is opened from its idling to its full throttle position. Alternatively the steam, &c. may be delivered to a point provided by an inverter at which the vacuum increases, steadily from idling to wide open throttle the inverter being connected to supply the steam to a point downstream of the throttle valve at which the vacuum varies in the opposite sense. In Fig. 4, water from a tank is supplied via a duct 511 to a flash boiler 505, Fig. 8, via a valve 543, Fig. 8, and ducts 513, 517. Steam from the boiler passes to the idle screws'509 and to a tapping 529 to which the vacuum advance unit 531 is connected, a bleed orifice 535 and a constriction 533 being provided for pressure equalization to prevent reverse flow from the idle screw. The valve 507 comprises a rod 545 of low thermal expansion coefficient within a tube 547 of higher thermal expansion coefficient mounted in the exhaust manifold 521. Increase of engine exhaust temperature, which occurs when the engine power increases and the throttle valve is opened, causes an increased water and therefore steam flow-rate to the engine. Fuel from a float chamber (621), Fig. 6 (not shown), may be mixed with the water before it reaches the flash boiler, either upstream of valve 507 as in Fig. 9 or downstream of valve 507 to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide for feeding to the engine with the steam. A reservoir 569, Fig. 9 with an overflow valve 571 is provided and has a resilient wall so that during acceleration and deceleration of the engine the flow-rate of water to the boiler can be increased and decreased respectively by water flowing either out of or into the reservoir. The idle screw, Fig. 7 (not shown) may incorporate means (577), (579), (580), (581) to produce an ultrasonic whistle to assist fuel atomization in the engine induction passage and a valve (585), (587) may be provided to admit leaning air. For addition of steam downstream of the throttle valve 677, Fig. 16, an inverter 663, Figs. 11-15, is provided. Steam is supplied to an inlet port 683, of the inverter from the flash boiler, a pipe 669 is connected to a positive crank-case ventilation valve 670, pipe 673 is connected to the engine induction passage downstream of the throttle valve 677, passage 679 is connected via vent line 656 to tank 503, which is pressurized from the engine exhaust manifold via pipe 652, Figs. 9, 16, and openings 658, 660 and 681 open to atmosphere. Fig. 11 shows the position of the valve member 691 when the engine is idling or over-running, the steam entering via inlet port 683 being substantially all vented via openings 658, 660. When the engine is off, the member 691 blocks the inlet port 683 so again steam is not supplied to the engine, Fig. 13 (not shown). At part throttle operation, Fig. 14 (not shown), the vacuum above the valve-member 691 is such that the latter is at an intermediate position, steam passing from port 683 via narrow passage 701 and port 702 to reach duct 671 for supply to pipe 673 leading to downstream of the engine throttle valve. At full throttle opening, the valve-member 691 is in its Fig. 15 (not shown) position in which steam does not have to traverse narrow passage 701 to reach the engine induction passage, the position of the valve-member 691 being partly determined by the exhaust gas-pressure supplied to tank 503 and communicated to passage 679. The flow-rate of the steam to the engine increases as the throttle valve 677 is opened. As an alternative to the inverter of Figs. 11-15, valves as in Fig. 17 (not shown) may be used, (731) and (733) respectively being valves which progressively open and close as the vacuum in line (739) decreases so that the vacuum at the outlet (737) of the steam line 725A from the flash boiler progressively increases from zero at idle to a maximum at full throttle. Extra air to provide a leaner mixture can be added via a valve 709, Fig. 4 and Fig. 18 (not shown), in the line from the PCV valve 670. The overflow valve 571 on reservoir 569 Fig. 9 and (Fig. 6) may be of a different form as in Figs. 1 and 2 (not shown).