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US 7,597,068 B2Granted
Internal combustion engine with fuel reforming apparatus
AssigneeNissan Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorsKaori Arai, Masaaki Kubo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heat engine system includes a fuel reforming system for supplying a reformed gas to be combusted in an internal combustion engine or used to generate electricity in a fuel cell. An alcohol-containing fuel and water are mixed in a tank and separated into a hydrocarbon based fuel and the fluid mixture of alcohol and water. A reformer uses an endothermic reaction, such as a water vapor reforming process, to obtain the reformed gas from the fluid mixture.
Claims17
A heat engine system comprising:
- a fuel reforming apparatus including:
- a first reservoir being adapted to store water;
- a second reservoir being adapted to store alcohol-containing fuel, the alcohol-containing fuel including alcohol mixed in a hydrocarbon based fuel that is not alcohol;
- a tank being coupled in fluid communication with the first and second reservoirs, the tank being adapted to:
- mix water received from the first reservoir with alcohol-containing fuel received from the second reservoir so as to form a first supply of a fluid mixture and a second supply of the hydrocarbon based fuel, the fluid mixture including water and alcohol;
- and
- separate the first supply of the fluid mixture from the second supply of the hydrocarbon based fuel;
- a reaction vessel being coupled in fluid communication with the first supply and being adapted to reform the fluid mixture received from the tank so as to form a reformed gas;
- an internal combustion engine being coupled to the fuel reforming apparatus, the internal combustion engine including:
- a combustion chamber;
- a first valve being adapted to provide to the combustion chamber the hydrocarbon based fuel supplied from the tank;
- and
- a second valve being adapted to provide to the combustion chamber the reformed gas supplied from the reaction vessel;
- and
- an accumulator being in fluid communication between the fuel reforming apparatus and the internal combustion engine, the accumulator being adapted to accumulate and pressurize the reformed gas from the reaction vessel, and the accumulator being adapted to provide the reformed gas to the second valve.
12 more elements
A heat engine system comprising:
- a fuel reforming apparatus including:
- a first reservoir being adapted to store water;
- a second reservoir being adapted to store alcohol-containing fuel, the alcohol-containing fuel including alcohol mixed in a hydrocarbon based fuel that is not alcohol;
- a tank being coupled in fluid communication with the first and second reservoirs, the tank being adapted to:
- mix water received from the first reservoir with alcohol-containing fuel received from the second reservoir so as to form a first supply of a fluid mixture and a second supply of the hydrocarbon based fuel, the fluid mixture including water and alcohol;
- and
- separate the first supply of the fluid mixture from the second supply of the hydrocarbon based fuel;
- a reaction vessel being coupled in fluid communication with the first supply and being adapted to reform the fluid mixture received from the tank so as to form a reformed gas;
- and
- an internal combustion engine being coupled to the fuel reforming apparatus, the internal combustion engine including:
- a combustion chamber;
- a first valve being adapted to provide to the combustion chamber the hydrocarbon based fuel supplied from the tank;
- and
- a second valve being adapted to provide to the combustion chamber the reformed gas supplied from the reaction vessel;
- wherein the combustion chamber comprises a main portion and an auxiliary chamber having a smaller volumetric capacity than the main portion, and the second valve is adapted to provide, to the auxiliary chamber the reformed gas from the reaction vessel.
12 more elements
A heat engine system comprising:
- a fuel reforming apparatus including:
- a first reservoir being adapted to store water;
- a second reservoir being adapted to store alcohol-containing fuel, the alcohol-containing fuel including alcohol mixed in a hydrocarbon based fuel that is not alcohol;
- a tank being coupled in fluid communication with the first and second reservoirs, the tank being adapted to:
- mix water received from the first reservoir with alcohol-containing fuel received from the second reservoir so as to form a first supply of a fluid mixture and a second supply of the hydrocarbon based fuel, the fluid mixture including water and alcohol;
- and
- separate the first supply of the fluid mixture from the second supply of the hydrocarbon based fuel;
- a reaction vessel being coupled in fluid communication with the first supply and being adapted to reform the fluid mixture received from the tank so as to form a reformed gas;
- an internal combustion engine being coupled to the fuel reforming apparatus, the internal combustion engine including:
- a combustion chamber;
- a first valve being adapted to provide to the combustion chamber the hydrocarbon based fuel supplied from the tank;
- and
- a second valve being adapted to provide to the combustion chamber the reformed gas supplied from the reaction vessel;
- and
- an exhaust catalyst in fluid communication with the internal combustion engine, the exhaust catalyst being adapted to purify combustion products exhausted from the combustion cylinder, wherein a quantity of the reformed gas that is adapted to be provided to the internal combustion engine is increased in response to the exhaust catalyst being not activated relative to the exhaust catalyst being activated.
12 more elements
A heat engine system comprising:
- a fuel reforming apparatus including:
- a first reservoir being adapted to store water;
- a second reservoir being adapted to store alcohol-containing fuel, the alcohol-containing fuel including alcohol mixed in a hydrocarbon based fuel that is not alcohol;
- a tank being coupled in fluid communication with the first and second reservoirs, the tank being adapted to:
- mix water received from the first reservoir with alcohol-containing fuel received from the second reservoir so as to form a first supply of a fluid mixture and a second supply of the hydrocarbon based fuel, the fluid mixture including water and alcohol;
- and
- separate the first supply of the fluid mixture from the second supply of the hydrocarbon based fuel;
- a reaction vessel being coupled in fluid communication with the first supply and being adapted to reform the fluid mixture received from the tank so as to form a reformed gas;
- and
- an internal combustion engine being coupled to the fuel reforming apparatus, the internal combustion engine including:
- a combustion chamber;
- a first valve being adapted to provide to the combustion chamber the hydrocarbon based fuel supplied from the tank;
- and
- a second valve being adapted to provide to the combustion chamber the reformed gas supplied from the reaction vessel;
- wherein the fuel reforming apparatus has a heat generating device to heat the fluid mixture, the heat generating device being a part of the internal combustion engine and further being adapted to generate heat by burning fuel in the combustion chamber;
- wherein the reaction vessel uses the heat generated by the heat generating device to form a heated reformed gas by a water vapor reforming process;
- and
- wherein the combustion chamber comprises a main portion and an auxiliary chamber having a smaller volumetric capacity than the main portion, the second valve is adapted to provide to the auxiliary chamber the reformed gas from the reaction vessel, and the auxiliary chamber is adapted to provide heat to the fluid mixture.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.