Method and apparatus for improving engine operation and reducing hydrocarbons emissions therefrom by cooling the fuel supplied to or in the carburetor

A method for improving the operation of an internal-combustion engine and reducing hydrocarbons emissions therefrom, said engine having fuel-metering means to which an excessive amount of heat is transmitted from the engine, partly via an intake manifold so that the fuel tends to boil in the fuel-metering means and thereby to change the fuel-air ratio to which the fuel-metering means is set, the engine also having a fuel line and a fuel pump connecting the fuel-metering means to a fuel supply tank, the fuel line comprising a metal tube having walls providing an inner passage and an outside surface, comprising:

• cooling the fuel during its passage from the fuel supply tank to the fuel-metering means by
• wicking water from a reservoir of water spaced away from said fuel line
• distributing the wicked water along and in contact with the outside surface of the fuel line, and
• evaporating the water along the outside surface of the fuel line, thereby drawing heat from the fuel through the walls of the fuel line so that the fuel enters the fuel-metering means at a temperature substantially below the ambient temperature at the fuel metering means.