Combustion of nanopartitioned fuel

Details Combustion of nanopartitioned fuel Combustion of nanopartitioned fuel

1997-09-19

2001-05-22

Medley, Margaret (Department: 1714)

Fuel and related compositions

Liquid fuels

Emulsion fuel

Reexamination Certificate

active

06235067

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to hydrocarbon fuels, and more particularly relates to hydrocarbon fuel compositions and techniques for combusting such hydrocarbon fuel compositions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Classical thermodynamic analyses of combustion processes consider only the combustion end states, due to an inability to analyze the high-speed, high-temperature chemical processes that occur before the end states are reached during the combustion event. As a result, accepted combustion analyses typically combine energy conservation laws with the requirement for end state equilibrium conditions to determine the range of energies expected to be available and accessible to the combustion products produced in an internal combustion engine.
Historically, it has been demonstrated that the efficiency of a combustion process increases slightly with increasing pressures. This increased efficiency has been attributed to the fact that most chemical reactions involved in combustion are known to proceed more completely when the pressure of the reaction is increased. It is also historically known that diesel combustion engines tend to produce more efficient combustion when the ratio of fuel with respect to air injected into the engine is decreased, in a fuel-air composition known as a lean-burn fuel mixture. It has additionally been demonstrated that the combustion event, being inherently an exothermic process, proceeds more completely at low temperatures relative to high temperatures. This has important consequences in that it is also well-known that production of unwanted combustion by-products, such as CO, H
2
, OH, H, O, and NO
x
, increases as the temperature of the combustion event increases.
These three well-known observations suggest that for optimization of combustion efficiency and simultaneous suppression of unwanted by-products like NO
x
, a combustion process should be controlled to proceed at a relatively high pressure and a relatively low temperature, and should employ a relatively lean fuel mixture. In practice, however, it has been demonstrated historically that lean fuel mixtures produce even higher NO
x
levels than conventional fuel-air ratios under normal combustion conditions; and further that high pressure combustion conditions cannot be maintained at low temperatures. This last result is, in fact, predicted by the thermodynamic equilibrium conditions and end-state analysis on which classical combustion theory is based, as mentioned above.
Combustion technology and its classical theoretical underpinnings have thus heretofore produced only suboptimal fuel compositions and combustion processes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above considerations, the inventors herein have analyzed combustion processes and fuel compositions from a quantum mechanical perspective. Based on this analysis, the inventors have recognized that through purposeful design of fuels and combustion processes to enable quantum mechanical phenomena, large departures from expected equilibrium conditions are achieved that result in temperature and pressure combustion conditions that are unanticipated by classical thermodynamic considerations and that provide combustion engine performance that is superior to prior conventional combustion engine performance.
The invention provides, in one aspect, a method for combusting a hydrocarbon fuel to generate and extract enhanced translational energy, wherein the hydrocarbon fuel is partitioned into nanometric fuel regions having a diameter less than about 1000 angstroms, and either before or after the nanopartitioning, is introduced into a combustion chamber. A shock wave excitation of at least about 50,000 psi with an excitation rise time of less than about 100 nanoseconds is then applied to the nanopartitioned fuel.
A fuel partitioned into such nanometric regions enables a quantum mechanical condition in which translational energy modes of the fuel are amplified, whereby the average energy of the translational energy mode levels is higher than it would be for a macro-sized, unpartitioned fuel. Combustion of such a nanopartitioned fuel by way of a shock wave excitation provides enhanced translational amplification and enhanced translational energy extraction capabilities.
In preferred embodiments, the combustion chamber has a moveable momentum transducer to which extracted translational energy can be transferred; preferably, this momentum transducer is a reciprocating piston. In preferred embodiments, the shock wave excitation is applied at a time coincident with positioning of the reciprocating piston at a top-dead- center position in the combustion chamber. Because only the translational energy mode of combustion products appreciably contributes to momentum exchange with a reciprocating piston, the amplified translational energy spectra resulting from nanopartitioning of a fuel to be combusted and shock excitation of the fuel, both in accordance with the invention, provides enhanced translational energy and momentum exchange with the piston.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method for combusting a hydrocarbon fuel to generate and extract enhanced translational energy; a hydrocarbon fuel is first introduced into a combustion chamber having a reciprocating piston. Then a first shock wave excitation is applied to the hydrocarbon fuel in the combustion chamber to initiate a combustion event. After initiation of the combustion event, a plurality of shock wave excitations are then applied during the combustion event. Each of the first and plurality of shock waves are at least about 50,000 psi with an excitation rise time of less than about 100 nanoseconds. Additionally, each shock wave excitation is applied in a direction to produce a shock wave front aligned with reciprocating motion of the piston. Preferably, the first shock wave excitation is applied at a time coincident with positioning of the reciprocating piston at a top-dead-center position in the combustion chamber.
In other aspects, the invention provides a combustible fuel consisting of distinct hydrocarbon fuel molecular aggregations. Each such hydrocarbon fuel molecular aggregation has a diameter of less than about 1000 angstroms. Preferably, the hydrocarbon fuel molecular aggregations each have a diameter of less than about 100 angstroms, and more preferably, each hydrocarbon fuel molecular aggregation has a diameter of greater than about 20 angstroms. In other embodiments, the combustible fuel consists of distinct hydrocarbon fuel droplets each having a diameter of less than about 1000 angstroms and greater than about 50 angstroms.
Preferably, the hydrocarbon consists of petroleum or consists of gasoline, in which case an alcohol phase is preferably included. In other preferred embodiments, a second phase that is immiscible with the hydrocarbon fuel is included; the second phase in other embodiments consists of a solvent, which preferably is water. In other preferred embodiments, a surfactant phase is included. In other embodiments, the combustible fuel consists of a water phase and a hydrocarbon fuel phase and the water and fuel phases each consist of distinct molecular aggregations each having a diameter of less than about 1000 angstroms.
The invention provides, in another aspect, an internal combustion engine. The engine provides a combustion chamber and a fuel supply consisting of distinct hydrocarbon fuel molecular aggregations each having a diameter of less than about 1000 angstroms. A fuel supply injector is connected between the hydrocarbon fuel supply and the combustion chamber, and an air intake supply injector is connected to the combustion chamber. The combustion engine further provides a piston slidingly engaged in the combustion chamber and having a piston head oriented parallel with one wall of the combustion chamber. A combustion ignitor is positioned in the one wall of the chamber oriented parallel with the piston head for igniting the hydrocarbon fuel injected into the combustion chamber.
In preferred embodiments, the combustion ignitor consis

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