A concept has been developed for use of onboard plasmatron generation of hydrogen-rich gas to provide a major decrease in air pollution from internal combustion engine vehicles. Compact plasmatron devices would provide a highly controllable electrical heating of ionized gasoline-air mixtures facilitating the production of hydrogen-rich gas by partial oxidation. Hydrogen-rich gas/gasoline mixtures would then be combusted in present spark ignition internal combustion engines operated with very lean amounts of fuel. The electricity required by the plasmatron would be produced by a generator driven by the engine. The increase energy efficiency provided by the use of hydrogen-rich gas would compensate for power loss resulting from the plasma-boosted partial oxidation process. In conjunction with improved three-way catalytic convertor operation, overall emission levels could be extremely low relative to present vehicles with present three-way catalytic convertors. NOx levels could be reduced by a factor of more than 20. This type of gasoline-fueled extremely low emission vehicle could provide a near-term alternative to the battery-powered electric car. Onboard plasmatron generation of hydrogen-rich gas could also be used in natural gas-powered vehicles resulting in even lower overall pollutant emission levels. Key feasibility issues that must be investigated include plasmatron energy requirements, purity of plasmatron-generated hydrogen-rich gas, and the lifetime of plasmatron electrodes.
Near-term possibilities of extremely low emission vehicles using onboard plasmatron generation of hydrogen
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy ; 22 , 7 ; 715-723
1997
9 Seiten, 4 Bilder, 6 Tabellen, 16 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
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