WO2001009031A1 - Plasma transformer for the transformation of fossil fuels into hydrogen-rich gas - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for the production of hydrogen-rich gas from fossil fuels. The device comprises a heater, a mixer and a MCW plasma reactor which are combined in series, as well as an MCW energy source. A pseudo-corona periodical impulse discharge at atmospheric pressure is produced in the reactor and initiates a low temperature plasma-catalytic fuel transformation process. The device enables to carry out the transformation reactions with steam, with steam-air and partial oxidation of fossil fuels for the production of a hydrogen-rich gas with high specific productivity (volumetric ratio) and with a minimum consumption of electric energy. Prior heating of the reagents provides a large part of the energy which is required by thermodynamics. Part of the thermal energy is recovered at the outlet of the plasma reactor. The device can be sufficiently compact in order to be used in internal combustion engines of transport vehicles. The device can be used also in stationary systems for the production of hydrogen-rich gas (power generating plants, etc.). Other fields related with the invention are the construction of microwave plasma equipments (plasma reactors) and the construction of vehicle engines. The present invention relates to the process for converting fossil fuels into hydrogen-rich gas (synthesis gas) through the use of plasma which is generated by microwaves with the addition of oxygen (or air) and with the possibility of water addition.

Description

 FOSSIL FUEL PLASMA CONVERTER IN A

GAS RICO IN HYDROGEN

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is a plasma converter of fossil fuels in a gas rich in hydrogen.

This converter comprises a heater, a mixing chamber, a reactor all connected in series and a microwave energy source (MCN) for the reactor, this converter being able to produce a high content gas from traditional fossil fuels in hydrogen in order to increase the performance of an internal combustion engine.

Background

This invention relates to the production of a hydrogen rich gas from hydrocarbons. Hydrogen is attractive for use as a fuel, as an additive for internal combustion engine fuels because its presence can significantly change the chemical properties of the fuel and can significantly reduce the contamination of combustion products [the effect of use The addition of hydrogen to the fuel is to increase the performance of an internal combustion engine by 10-50%. See Mishchenko, et al., Proc. Vil World Hydrogen Energy Conference, Vol 3

(1988), Belogub, et al., Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, Vol 16, 423 (1991), Varde, et al., Hydrogen Energy Progress V., Vol 4 (1984), Feucht, et al. , Int, J. Hydrogen Energy, Vol 13, 243 (1988), Chuveliov, et al. , In. : Hydrogen Energy and Power Generation, T. Nejat Veziroglu, Ed., Nova Science Publisher, New York, NY (1991), Das Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, Vol 16, 765 (1991). Related patents are U.S. Patents Nos. 5887554, 5425332, 5437250 and World Patent No. PCT / US98 / 18027.

In similar devices, the energy for the conversion process can be provided either by preheating the gas mixture or by exothermic reactions (for example, the total or partial oxidation of hydrocarbons) or by heating with electrical energy. In addition, in a first and second case, plasma can be used as a catalyst for chemical processes (plasma treatment of preheated reactants). See VD Rusanov, K. Etivan, AI Babaritskii, IE Baranov, SA Demkin, VK Jivotov, BV Potapkin and EI Ryazantsev, The Effect of Plasma Catalysís by the Example of Methane Dissociation into Hydrogen and Coal (The effect of plasma catalysis by the example of dissociation of methane into hydrogen and carbon), Dokl. Akad Nauk, 1997, vol 354, No. 1 pages 213 to 215 and also AI Bararitskii, MA Deminskü, SA Demkin, K. Etivan, VK Jivotov, BV Potapkin, SV Potekhin, VD Rusaov and EI Ryazantsev, The Effect of Plasma Catalysis in Methane Decomposition "The effect of plasma catalysis on the decomposition of methane), Khim. Vys. Energ., 1999, vol. 33, no. 1, pages 59 to 66.

It is recognized by everyone that the most suitable substitute for fossil fuels is hydrogen gas (H ₂ ), the technologies that exist today have encountered a series of technical and economic obstacles to the use of hydrogen. Hydrogen is a highly flammable substance that requires complex and expensive storage systems. In addition, the implementation of a Global distribution network of hydrogen implies economic costs and a timescale that are unapproachable even by developed countries.

The availability of a chemical mini-plant, which economically refurbishes fossil fuels and alcohols, as needed in order to obtain a synthetic gas rich in hydrogen, is the key to the larger-scale use of hydrogen as fuel, tamto in fuel cells as in internal combustion engines (ICE).

There are four "key variables" that must be met:

• The first is "how quickly the converter can be started". Today, the most effective reformer needs 5 to 10 minutes to start.

• The second is "the instant response": how quickly a car responds when the driver steps on the accelerator.

• The third is that "the consumption of thermal and electrical energy" necessary to meet the requirements of the conversion process must be very low and must be within parameters that allow to be compensated for the energy generated by the ICE or the fuel cell that Use the converter.

• The fourth, in the case that converters can be improved, is to achieve a "commercially viable price" for the reformer.

A gasoline engine responds in thousandths of a second, but a reformer who reacts slowly would be considered a slow car and the driver would reject it. Fuel reformers and hydrogen storage

In 1992, Arthur D. Little initiated a program in cooperation with a DOE study to develop options in addition to the refurbishment aboard a methanol car as a means of hydrogen fueling vehicles with fuel cells. Phase 1 of this program includes an analysis of the various fuel reformers, on-board hydrogen storage technologies and hydrogen infrastructure needs. Phase 2 will involve the development and testing of a 10 kW reformer and a 1 kg capacity hydrogen storage unit.

Alternatives to the direct supply of hydrogen to the fuel cell include: liquefied hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, carbon absorption and storage in the form of hydrides.

Liquefied hydrogen has been tested in several vehicles since the 1970s in the United States and other countries. The volume and density density of liquefied hydrogen when used with a fuel cell is the same or better than diesel fuel used with an internal combustion engine. The disadvantages are the high liquefaction energy, handling problems and the inevitable release of evaporated gas.

Compressed hydrogen is the simplest on-board technology to conceptualize and would benefit from recent advances in composite materials and improvements in the costs of progress in natural gas vehicles. High-pressure tanks constructed with advanced materials would provide a reasonable weight behavior, although only marginally volumetric behavior. The technical aspects to be solved include cylinder permeability, tank design standards for higher pressures and hydrogen compressor design for refueling.

Several companies are developing processors of various fuels, with different processes such as:

• Steam reforming (SR): This process basically represents a catalytic conversion of methane and water (steam) into hydrogen and carbon dioxide through three main stages. Several companies, namely Haldor-Topsoe (USA-Denmark), Howe-Baker Engineers (USA), IFI / ONSI (USA), Ballard Power Systems (Canada) and Chiyoda (Japan) have worked on the design and construction of this system.

• Partial oxidation (PO): It is an exothermic process by which hydrogen and carbon dioxide are produced from hydrocarbon fuels (gasoline and others) and oxygen (or air). PO processes have a number of important advantages over SR processes. Companies such as Arthur D. Little (EPYX), Chrysler Corp. and Hydrogen Burner Technologies (all from the USA) have announced plans to develop PO converters.

The stages of the EPYX PO converter are: 1 .- vaporization of the fuel (gasoline) by the application of heat, 2.- the vaporized fuel is combined with a small amount of air in a partial oxidation reactor, producing hydrogen and carbon monoxide , 3.- the vapor on carbon monoxide reacts with a catalyst to convert most of the carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide and additional hydrogen, 4.- in the referred oxidation stage, the injected air reacts with the remaining carbon monoxide on the catalyst forming carbon dioxide and water vapor, producing hydrogen rich gases.

• Autothermal reforming (AR: In this exothermic process, the hydrocarbon fuel reacts with a mixture of water and oxygen. The energy released by the oxidation reaction of the hydrocarbon activates the steam reforming process. Companies such as Roll-Royce / Johnson-Matthew (UK) and International Fuel Cell / ONSI (USA) are working on the development of the AR process.

• Thermal decomposition (TD): (or pyrolysis, or cracking) of the hydrocarbon fuel produces hydrogen and clean carbon. The energy requirements per mole of hydrogen produced from methane are somewhat lower than those of the SR process. The technical-economic evaluation of hydrogen production by SR, PO and TD processes indicates that the cost (in US dollars / 1000 m ³ ) of hydrogen produced by TD processes (57) is lower than for

SR (67) and PO (109).

There is another concept of plasma-assisted hydrocarbon conversion. In this approach, a cold non-thermal plasma is used as a source of active species, in order to accelerate chemical reactions. The energy needs of the process can be met, in this case, through thermal energy (low temperature) and thus the plasma acts as a catalyst. Plasma can be produced by the action of very high temperatures, and intense electric fields, or intense magnetic fields. In these discharges, free electrons acquire energy from an imposed electric field and lose this energy due to collisions. The plasma of an incandescent discharge is characterized by high electron temperatures and low gas temperatures and has electron concentrations of approximately 109 to 1012 cm ³ and has an absence of thermal equilibrium that makes possible a plasma in which the gas temperature It may be close to the environment in order to obtain a plasma in which the electrons are sufficiently excited to cause the breakage of the molecular bonds.

It has been observed that a wide spectrum of reactions takes place in plasmas. These include reactions between electrons and molecules, ions and molecules, ions and ions, and electrons and ions. Different types of downloads have been available in the last twenty years. The availability of radio frequency and microwave generators has focused attention in recent years on the use of electrodeless discharges.

In a cold non-thermal plasma, only charged particles (electrons, ions) acquire energy from the applied electric field and the neutral particles remain at approximately the same temperature. Cold non-thermal plasma can be created by an incandescent electric shock normally operated under reduced pressure. (Incandescent discharge plasmas are also suitable for promoting chemical reactions involving thermally sensitive materials. Relatively few basic experimental papers have been published. on the structure / rejected correlation of polymerization membranes with modified surface. The power used to prepare the membranes varies from 30 to 150 W, with the polymerization time being 60 to 3,000 s).

The electrical energy necessary to maintain the plasma state can be transmitted to a gas by resistive coupling with internal electrodes, by capacitive coupling with external electrodes, or by inductive coupling with an external bovine or, in the case of microwave discharge, by means of a slow wave structure. Because of the many reactive species in different plasmas, it has not been possible to fully explain the mechanisms of chemical reactions in a plasma. It is well known that fossil fuels and the methods currently used to obtain useful energy (electricity, mechanical movement, etc.) are very inefficient. The most efficient internal combustion engines used for daily transport achieve maximum yields of 32%. This implies that 68% of the available fuel energy is not used to obtain mechanical energy (movement), but is lost. There are many reasons for this, mainly the limit imposed by the principles of thermodynamics, which is set (for a four-stroke engine that uses gasoline) at 43%. However, the best engines used are still far from maximum performance. In addition to this deficient use of one of our most valuable natural resources, the amount of pollution generated by the combustion (oxidation) of fossil fuels has become a growing problem that affects the entire biosphere.

The MPCR proposes a better solution to the use of fuels Fossils being a system that can reform / convert fossil fuels into a synthetic fuel (SF), by a chemical process that requires little energy and does not produce undesirable by-products. The improved fuel is characterized in that it is safer from an environmental point of view, as well as suitable for more types of energy conversion processes that, in addition, can be more effective.

The MPCR will have great commercial implications. The reduction of pollutant emissions would encourage environmental protection agencies, such as the US EPA and the California Air Resources Board, to adopt zero emission standards, already required by California, using a process similar to proposed by DAVID, within this decade. Which, in turn, would drive the rapid and widespread use of such a system in nations with a high density of vehicles such as the United States and Canada.

Similar environmental efforts are also being made in Europe, where the executive arm of the European Union, the European Commission, is preparing mandatory emission standards for the automobile industry that are much stricter than the industry is willing to accept.

The success of the MPCR implies that fossil fuels can still be used, but in a more efficient and environmentally safe way. This will prolong the duration of the planet's reserves and greatly reduce the environmental problems caused by the combustion of hydrocarbons. In addition, this technology It is directly applicable on a global scale, since there are already fossil fuel derived distribution networks, such as gasoline, methane, ethanol, propane, butane, diesel, etc.

To date, a system for converting fossil fuels with microwave plasma such as the applicant's patent has not been patented. The DAVID patent differs from those known in the application of a special type of discharge (frequency, voltage, etc.), the process conditions (reaction time, flow rates of the reactants, etc.) and the special construction of the system (shape of the electrodes, reactor, etc.).

The main difference between the MPCR and other patented technologies to date is the formation in the MPCR of a specific cold plasma, with an electron temperature greater than the gas temperature. This plasma is achieved by a combination of a special microwave discharge in electrodes of a special design. With this new process, which is the object of our invention, a drastic reduction of the energy provided by the current fuel conversion is possible.

The two components of the synthesis fuel (SF), H ₂ and CO, produced by cold plasma processes in a non-equilibrium state, are good fuels for an internal combustion engine. In the case of an ICE powered by SF, the emissions of C0 ₂ and NOx are 90% lower than those driven by gasoline, in the case of a fuel cell, a CO separation membrane (or a converter of special catalytic type). The sulfur content (and its typical compounds) in liquid fossil fuels partially evaporates and takes part in the MPCR process. In the case of an ICE powered by SF, the emissions will be lower in higher oxides but higher in sulfur compounds at a lower oxidation stage (lower emissions of sulfur alkali and hydrogen sulfide that are easier and more economical to eliminate with existing catalytic converters).

The key to the success of the MPCR system lies in the fact that synthesis fuel (SF) can be obtained online from a fossil fuel and at a low energy cost. Because SF can be used more efficiently, the overall system performance improves. The energy efficiency of the Catalytic Plasma Reactor / Reformer (MPCR) ranges from 80% to 90%, depending on the method used to measure the performance. The SF is more environmentally friendly, provided it rusts in an ICE or with a fuel cell, providing the added (and very important) advantage of drastically reducing emissions.

In the case that the MPCR is used by an ICE, the immediate start of the engine is one of the main aspects to solve.

This point can be resolved by the use of an ICE adapted to run on gaseous fuel (SF).

The main features of the existing ICE prototypes for operation with SF are:

The fuel system fueled with gasoline looks complemented by an injection system with a modified controller, based on the principle of "Injection System with Programmed Admission", suitable for engines driven by the ignition of a hydrogen spark.

The SF power system is based on the use of an electronic control assembly that transforms the output signals of the sensors of the engine cycle parameters that determine the optimal air-to-fuel ratio. A very simple technique to mount the injectors on the ICE for the SF allows their installation without changing the cylinder head.

The modified ICE is an economical (low cost) way to adapt a conventional ICE to work with SF, while maintaining the normal fuel supply.

The previous solution would imply that the engine would be started with gasoline with the addition of about 5% of synthesis fuel produced by the MPCR and stored in a 10-liter tank and automatically diverted to SF (after a very short period of time ) when the MPCR reaches the necessary production of SF. The addition of hydrogen will reduce emissions during the ICE ignition operation.

In the case where the MPCR is used as a fuel cell, the initial operation until the MPCR begins to produce the hydrogen necessary for the operation of the fuel cell can be the electrical energy accumulated in batteries. In this case, the batteries would provide power to the MPCR. (electrical and thermal energy through electrical energy.

Analysis and Estimates of the Possible Plasma Assisted Conversion carried out by DAVID

Variants of Thermal Plasma

1 .1 On-board installation with conversion with 5% gasoline vapor into synthetic gas.

The installation consists of an arc plasmatron integrated with a chemical reactor, a heat exchanger, internal combustion engine and electricity generator for the plasmatron. The fuel is vaporized and heated to 1000 ° C during the passage through the heat exchanger. Heating to a higher temperature can cause fuel to decompose and resinous precipitation on the relatively cold walls of the fuel supply channels. At the same time, the development of the heat exchanger with a working temperature exceeding 1400 ° C is an extremely complex problem and can produce an essential increase in the cost of the system. The fuel vapors, heated in the heat exchanger, are directed inside the arc plasmatron. Preheated steam is also supplied inside the arc plasmatron. Cold water is used for cooling the plasmatron walls. During this process, the water is heated and vaporized. The water vapor is heated to 1300 ° C and is directed into the plasmatron. In the plasmatron, water and fuel vapors gain the energy necessary for heating at 2400 ° C, perform the chemical vapor conversion reaction and, after mixing well, enter the chemical reactor In the reactor, the vapors are converted into synthetic gas, which leaves at a temperature of 1400 ° C. The temperature reduction is a result of the endothermic reaction that takes place. Excess heat is removed by water that cools the walls of the chemical reactor. The hot synthetic gas, which passes through the heat exchanger, provides heat to the fuel and water vapors and, after cooling to 400 ° C, enters the internal combustion engine. The plasmatron energy supply is obtained by the internal combustion engine.

The approximate installation parameters, estimated based on thermodynamic calculations, are indicated below. The installation is calculated for an internal combustion engine with a power of 50 kW.

one . Arc plasma with chemical reactor: Power 2.5 kW

Water vapor flow 0.2 l / sec.

Fuel flow 0.03 l / sec.

Dimensions: diameter 0.1 m length 0.3 m

Weight 5 kg

2. Heat exchanger Hot gas flow (1400 ° C) 0.6 l / sec. Cold gas flow 0.23 l / sec. Thermal flow past 0.65 kW

Dimensions: diameter 0.25 m length 1.0 m

Weight 15 kg 3. Generator

Power 2,5 kW Dimensions:

Diameter 0.2 m length 0.25 m

Weight 15 kg

4. Internal combustion engine Power 50 kW Fuel flow 2.2 l / sec. Synthetic gas flow 0.6 l / sec.

For the production of synthetic gas, it is necessary: Gas flow 0.12 g / sec.

Water flow 0.15 g / sec.

1.2 On-board installation with partial oxidation of 5% gasoline by air oxygen

As in the installation of the previous case, it consists of an arc plasmatron with chemical reactor, heat exchanger, internal combustion engine and electricity generator. The partial oxidation reaction is exothermic, so that the plasmatron power can be reduced twice. The total fuel flow will increase only a small percentage. As partial oxidation is carried out by the oxygen in the air, the synthetic gas will be diluted by approximately 50% nitrogen.

In addition to this, water does not intervene in this process, since the cooling of the plasmatron walls and the chemical reactor is carried out by conventional engine cooling systems. Plasmatron power essentially reduces engine power, so that an important load is not needed to cool the system.

Approximate installation parameters:

1. Arc plasma with chemical reactor:

Power 1, 5 kW

Water vapor flow 0.7 l / sec.

Fuel flow 0.043 l / sec.

Dimensions: diameter 0.1 m length 0.3 m

Weight 5 kg

2. Heat exchanger

Hot gas flow (1400 ° C) 1, 1 l / sec.

Cold gas flow 0.75 l / sec.

Thermal flow past 1, 7 kW

Dimensions:

Diameter 0.3 m length 1.0 m

Weight 20 kg

3. Generator

Power 1, 5 kW

Dimensions:

Diameter 0.15 m length 0.25 m

Weight 12 kg

4. Internal combustion engine

50 kW power

Gasoline flow 2.2 g / sec.

Synthetic gas flow 0.6 l / sec. For the production of synthetic gas, it is necessary: Gas flow 0.18 g / sec.

Water flow 0.7 g / sec.

2.1 On-board installation with conversion with gasoline vapor into synthetic gas

The installation aims to produce synthetic gas from gasoline with the subsequent use of an electrochemical generator (ECG) for electricity generation. The installation consists of an arc plasmatron in which the water and gasoline vapors are heated, a chemical reactor, in which the steam conversion reaction takes place, and a heat exchanger, in which the hot synthetic gas It passes its thermal energy to the fuel and water vapors. As in case 1.1, water vapors and gasoline vapors, heated and well mixed in the plasmatron, are directed into the chemical reactor. Synthetic gas is formed in the reactor. The temperature of the synthetic gas is reduced due to the endothermic chemical reaction. With the help of water cooling, the temperature of the synthetic gas is reduced to 1400 ° C and at that temperature the synthetic gas is directed into the heat exchanger. The thermal energy of the synthetic gas in the chemical reactor is sufficient to produce the evaporation of all the water required for the reaction. In the heat exchanger, the water and gasoline vapors are heated to 1000 ° C because of the thermal energy of the synthetic gas and then enter the arc plasmatron. one . Arc Plasmatron: Power 45 kW

Water vapor flow 3.9 l / sec.

Fuel flow 0.54 l / sec

Dimensions:

Diameter 0.1 m length 0.3 m

Weight 5 kg

2. Chemical Reacto

Dimensions: diameter 0.15 m length 0.2 m

Weight 8 g

3. Heat exchanger

Hot gas flow (1400 ° C) 12 l / sec.

Cold gas flow 4.4 l / sec.

Thermal flow past 13 kW

Dimensions: diameter 0.3 m length 1.0 m

Weight 20 kg

4. Consumption

Petrol 2.4 l / sec.

Water 3.1 l / sec.

2.2 On-board installation with partial oxidation of gasoline by the 19

air oxygen

As in the previous case, the installation intends to produce synthetic gas with the subsequent use of an ECG. The basic blocks of the installation are arc plasmatron, chemical reactor and heat exchanger.

As in case 1.2, due to the exotherm of the partial oxidation reaction with gasoline oxygen, the plasmatron power can be reduced by almost 40%. However, the flow of gasoline increases at the same time to 30%. In addition, the synthetic gas obtained is diluted in half with nitrogen. The absence of water in the process requires the application of a different system for the plasmatron walls and the chemical reactor. The cooling system must be able to cover 40 kW of thermal power.

Approximate installation parameters: 1. Arc Plasmatron:

Power 28 kW

Air vapor flow 14 l / sec.

Gasoline vapors flow 0.86 l / sec

Dimensions:

Diameter 0.1 m length 0.2 m

Weight 3 kg

2. Chemical Reactor

Dimensions: diameter 0.15 m length 0.2 m

Weight 8 kg 3. Heat exchanger Hot gas flow (1400 ° C) 22 l / sec.

Cold gas flow 14.9 l / sec.

Thermal flow past 34 kW

Dimensions:

Diameter 0.3 m length 1.0 m

Weight 20 kg

4. Consumption

Petrol 3.6 g / sec.

Air 14 g / sec

3.1 Stationary installation for a service station with conversion with gasoline vapor into synthetic gas.

The design of the installation is completely the same as in case 2.1 but calculated for 10,000 m ³ of synthetic gas per hour. It should be mentioned that the excess thermal power in the chemical reactor (W «1.5 MW) necessary for the rapid process of the steam conversion reaction, must be reduced with the help of the water cooling system and can be used for technical purposes from the station (for example, for car washing).

Approximate installation parameters: 1. Arc Plasmatron:

13 MW power

Water vapor flow 965 l / sec.

Flow of gasoline vapors 135 l / sec.

Dimensions: diameter 0.3 m length 1.5 m

Weight 50 kg

2. Plasmatron power supply

2.1 Transformer

Dimensions: 7.0 x 5.0 x 6.0 m

Weight 50,000 kg

2.2 Control Console

Dimensions: 2.0 x 2.0 x 1.0 m

Weight 150 kq.

3. Chemical Reactor Dimensions: diameter 0.5 m length 1 m

Weight 100 kg

4. Heat exchanger Hot gas flow (1400 ° C) 3000 l / sec.

Cold gas flow 1100 l / sec.

Thermal flow past 3.3 mW

Dimensions: diameter 1.5m length 5.0m

Weight 2500 kg

4. Consumption

Petrol 0.6 kg./sec.

Water 0.8 kg./sec. 3.2 Stationary installation for a service station with partial conversion of gasoline by oxygen

The design of the installation is different from the prototype described in the case

2.2, due to higher productivity and the use of oxygen as an oxidant. At a productivity of 10,000 m ³ of synthetic gas per hour, the installation must consume 0.74 m ³ of oxygen. If oxidation is carried out by air, it will be necessary to heat approximately 3 m ³ of nitrogen at 2400 ° C, which requires 9 MW of additional power. Even if half of that power is recovered, the loss of power essentially exceeds the expense of the gain of air by oxygen. In the currently available technology, the expenses for the gain of oxygen from the air are 1.5 MJ / m ³ . Therefore, the power for an extraction of 0.74 nrVseg of oxygen is equal to only 1.1 MW. Another obvious advantage of using pure oxygen is the absence of nitrogen in the synthetic gas.

Approximate installation parameters: 1. Arc Plasmatron:

0.5 MW power

Water vapor flow 740 l / sec.

Gasoline vapor flow 214 l / sec.

Dimensions: diameter 0.2 m length 0.4 m

Weight 20 kg

2. Plasmatron power supply 2.1 Transformer Dimensions: 2.0 x 2.0 x 1.5 m

Weight 5000 kg

2.2 Control Console

Dimensions: 2,0 x 1, 0 x 1, 0 m Weight 100 kg.

3. Chemical Reactor Dimensions: diameter 0.5 m length 1 m Weight 100 kg.

4. Heat exchanger Hot gas flow (1400 ° C) 2800 l / sec. Cold gas flow 9540 l / sec. Thermal flow past 4.0 MW

Dimensions: diameter 1.5m length 5.0m

Weight 2500 kg

4. Consumption

Gasoline 0.92 kg./sec.

Water 0.74 kg./sec.

The consideration of the system mentioned above demonstrates that its realization is combined with a series of problems. First, there is a very high temperature of the gas mixture in the plasmatron and the chemical reactor, which requires the use of special heat resistant materials and essentially restricts the resources of similar systems. Second, installations with total fuel vapor conversion require considerable energy costs electric Approximately half of the total synthetic gas generated by the facility must be burned to cover these expenses. It would be interesting to consider systems based on non-equilibrium plasmachemical processes similar, for example, to plasma catalysis. It should be mentioned that all the installation designs mentioned above are based on preliminary experiments with natural gases and alcohols, so that additional research is required for gasoline.

Plasma Catalysis Variants

1. On-board installation with 5% fuel and preheating of water vapors and subsequent MCW discharge treatment

The exhaust gases of internal combustion engines have a temperature of approximately 800 ° C. Thermodynamic calculations show that this temperature is sufficient to perform the vapor conversion reaction for a considerable part of the gasoline. But the kinetic restrictions do not allow the conversion in a reasonable time. The periodic pulse MCW discharge treatment in methane previously heated to 800 ° C increases the degree of methane conversion three times, although the average MCW energy discharge consists of only 10% of the preliminary heating. The degree of methane conversion achieves the thermodynamic equilibrium value.

The installation consists of an internal combustion engine whose heat is used to heat gasoline vapors and water vapors. The fumes they enter the chemical reactor, where they are treated by the periodic discharge of MCW pulses. Under the influence of the discharge, a considerable part of the gasoline-vapor mixture is converted into synthetic gas which, together with the unreacted hydrocarbon vapors, enters the internal combustion engine. It should be mentioned that this scheme does not require the total conversion of the gasoline-steam mixture. Only 10% of the hydrogen present in the fuel mixture significantly increases engine performance, reducing toxic emissions and improving engine efficiency.

Approximate installation parameters:

1. Internal combustion engine: Power 50 kW Gas flow 2.2 g / sec. Synthetic gas flow 0.6 l / sec.

For the production of synthetic gas it is necessary: Gas flow 0.12 g / sec.

Water flow 0.15 g / sec.

2. Chemical reactor Reaction zone temperature 800 ° K

Flow of gasoline vapors 0.03 l / sec.

Water vapor flow 0.2 l / sec.

Dimensions: diameter 0,05 m length 0, 1 m

Weight 0.5 kg

3. MCW generator Generation frequency 9 GHz Average radiation power 25 W Pulse power 25 kW

Dimensions:

Magnetron with 0.15x0.15x0.4m waveguide channel Power supply 0.5x0, 13x0.6m Weight:

Magnetron with 6 kg waveguide channel. Power supply 10 kg.

2. On-board installation with partial oxidation of 5% gasoline and water additions for steam conversion

If the degree of gasoline conversion in the previous scheme is insufficient, it is possible to raise the temperature in the chemical reaction to 1000 ° K with the intention of partially oxidizing the gasoline in the air. To save thermal energy a heat exchanger is installed between the chemical reactor and the engine. The heat exchanger allows heat recovery of the synthetic gas, which leaves the reactor.

Approximate installation parameters, calculated assuming a complete heat recovery.

one . Internal combustion engine Power 50 kW Gas flow 2.2 g / sec. Synthetic gas flow 0.6 l / sec. For the production of synthetic gas, it is necessary:

Fuel flow 0.1 5 g / sec.

Water flow 0.075 g / sec.

Air flow 0.37 l / sec.

2. Heat exchanger Hot gas flow (1400 ° C) 0.9 l / sec. Cold gas flow 0.5 l / sec. Thermal flow past 0.35 kW Dimensions diameter 0.3 m length 1.0 m Weight 20 kg,

3. Chemical reactor Reaction zone temperature, 1000 ° K Fuel vapor flow rate 0.035 l / sec.

Water vapor flow 0.1 l / sec.

Air flow 0.37 l / sec.

Dimensions: diameter 0.05 m length 0.1 m

Weight 0.5 kg

4. MCW generator Generation frequency 9 GHz Average radiation power 25 W Pulse power 25 kW

Dimensions:

Magnetron with channel guide 0, 1 5x0, 15x0.4m Power supply 0.5x0.13x0.6 m

Weight: Magnetron with 6 kg waveguide channel.

Power supply 10 kg.

3. On-board installation with partial oxidation of gasoline by the addition of air and water for steam conversion The facility aims to produce synthetic gas on board cars for use in ECG. It consists of a chemical reactor in which the conversion of gasoline with steam is carried out at the expense of the energy of partial oxidation. For the acceleration of the reaction, a microwave generator is used. Microwave radiation is directed inside the reactor, where chemically active particles are generated under the influence of microwave radiation. Active particles, which participate in chain processes, essentially accelerate the conversion of gasoline. The heat exchanger is used to recover heat from the generated synthetic gas.

The parameters for an installation with a productivity of 40 m ³ of synthetic gas per hour are shown. Since air is used for partial oxidation, the synthetic gas will be diluted to one third with nitrogen.

one . Chemical reactor

Reaction zone temperature 1000 ° K

Gasoline vapor flow 0.7 l / sec.

Water vapor flow 1, 9 l / sec. Air flow 7.4 l / sec.

Dimensions: diameter 0.15 m length 0.5 m

Weight 5 kg 2. Heat exchanger

Hot gas flow (1000 ° C) 17 l / sec.

Cold gas flow 10 l / sec.

Thermal flow past 16 kW

Dimensions: diameter 0.3 m length 1.0 m

Weight 20 kg

3. MCW generator Generation frequency 2.46 GHz

600 W average radiation power

Pulse power 600 kW

Dimensions:

Magnetron with waveguide channel 0.35x0, 1 5x0.5m Power supply 0.5x0.22x0.6m

Weight:

Magnetron with 10 kg waveguide channel.

Power supply 25 kg.

4. Stationary installation for the production of synthetic gas through the partial oxidation of gasoline with the addition of water and the microwave treatment of the reactants

The scheme of the installation differs from the previous one only by the productivity and change of air by oxygen. The amount of water is selected so that, under stoichiometric conditions, the temperature of the chemical reactor is 1000 ° K. The content of the installation, its approximate parameters and the flow of reactants are shown for a productivity of 10,000 m ³ of synthetic gas per hour.

one . Chemical reactor Reaction zone temperature 1000 ° K Petrol vapors flow 0.18 rrrVseg

Water vapor flow rate 0.44 πrVseg

Air flow 0.42 π Vseg

Dimensions: diameter 0.5 m length 2 m

Weight 100 kg

2. Heat exchanger Hot gas flow (1000 ° C) 2.8 m ³ / sec

Cold gas flow rate 1 m ³ / sec

Thermal flow past 2.6 MW

Dimensions: diameter 1.5m length 5.0m

Weight 2500 kg

3. MCW generator

915 MHz generation frequency

Average radiation power 200W large equipment content: a) high voltage and power transformers; b) rectifier and power regulators; c) generator blocks with magnetrons; d) MCW channels; e) control console.

The power equipment requires for its placement 150 m ² of open area. Other equipment is placed in a covered compartment with an area of 70 m ² . Pulse power 600 kW

Dimensions:

Magnetron with waveguide channel 0.35x0.1 5x0.5m 5 Power supply 0.5x0.22x0.6 m

Weight:

Magnetron with 10 kg waveguide channel.

Power supply 25 kg. 0

5. Stationary installation for the production of synthetic gas through the partial oxidation of gasoline with the addition of water and microwave treatment of the reactants at low temperature. Cases of total conversion and partial conversion with separation of gases from a membrane block.

Due to the analogy with the realization of part 4 of the technological scheme, the installation parameters and dimensions will not be similar to those calculated in part 4. During the calculation, it was proposed that the vapor-oxygen conversion reaction had a selectivity very high (only CO and H ₂ can be formed as products). It provides a low process temperature. Two similar calculations were performed. The first at the temperature of 500 ° C. This temperature provides the almost total conversion under these conditions. During the second calculation, a lower temperature was used than in the previous case (400 ° C). At this temperature, the degree of conversion is only 74%. However, to provide a flow of pure synthetic gas, it is proposed to use the separation block. The estimation of the power of plasmatron, membrane block power and mass flow rates are in the appropriate tables in Appendix 5.

Main Results and Conclusions

one . Research conducted by DAVID has shown that plasma assisted hydrocarbon conversion procedures are very attractive and can be a good basis for new technologies for the production of hydrogen-rich gas and hydrogen. Even in the case of thermal plasma application, compact reformers can be designed, easy to control, and easy to start. In addition, the application of non-thermal catalysis can provide a significant reduction in energy consumption and lower process temperatures.

2. The comparative analysis performed has shown that in the case of thermal plasma, the following variants can be selected as the most promising:

On-board installation for partial oxidation of 5% gasoline providing conventional diesel or gasoline engine performance

Compact stationary installation for in-line hydrogen production based on partial oxidation of plasma-assisted gasoline.

The main disadvantages of the thermal plasma technique are a fairly high energy consumption and a high operating temperature.

3. The analysis presented above has shown that the technique of plasma catalysis is very promising to solve the problems mentioned above. In addition, partial oxidation under the effect of plasma catalysis can provide a yield additional hydrogen due to the addition of water.

4. The most promising variants in the case of plasma catalysis are: Reform part of the gasoline with steam on board. Motor heat output can be used to meet the energy needs of the process. Partial oxidation of gasoline aboard the bracket or vehicle.

5. It should be mentioned that the installation parameters presented above are based on theoretical simulation and experimental results in the conversion of methane into ethanol and additional experiments and theoretical simulations will be carried out to demonstrate and confirm the data presented.

INVESTIGATIONS CARRIED OUT BY DAVID FOR THE CONVERSION OF FOSSIL FUELS ASSISTED BY PLASMA CATALYSIS PRODUCED BY MICROWAVES

The research of plasma fossil fuel reforming produced by microwave discharge consists of three fundamental stages:

one . Discharge model to determine the primary discharge parameters, which are essential for chemical reactions in the plasma reactor.

2. Investigation of the role of the different chemical mechanisms of fuel conversion under particular conditions that it discharges

3. Optimization of reactor performance. The first stage is closely linked to the analysis of the available experimental results and provides the exhaustive construction of a physical model of the evolution of the discharge, which is in accordance with the experimental facts. The second stage will determine the contributions of the different hydrocarbon conversion mechanisms to the predefined discharge conditions through the development of a physical-chemical discharge model. The results of this model generation can be used to improve the specific performance of a reactor by changing the discharge parameters.

The physical model of microwave discharge evolution will provide the primary plasma parameters, such as electron and ion concentrations, their average energies, the temperature of the gas as a function of time and their spatial distributions. It is useful to subdivide the evolution of the download into three different stages:

one . initial stage of non-equilibrium, although there is a strong deviation between the temperatures of gas and electrons throughout the active volume of the reactor;

2. stage of quasi-equilibrium discharge, in which there are filaments with a plasma almost in equilibrium;

3. post-incandescent discharge stage, in which plasma recombination occurs together with surface charge recombination and which are dispersed by diffusion in the reactor walls.

Since the microwave discharge is also strongly not uniform, this can also be divided into different spatial domains:

1. streamer head with a high value of the reduced electric field, which is responsible for streamer propagation along the field lines;

2. Streamer channel with a low relative field, which first ensures the quasi-stationary characteristics of plasma in the channel, until some instability in the streamer channel destroys this quasi-state state; 3. the "cover" next to the streamer channel with low electron concentration due to radiation emission from the channel.

These qualifications are made according to the available experimental information and common categories of the downloads with pulsating filaments. The existence of theoretical models and experimental data for the different time-space intervals is compared. The streamer head is studied carefully due to the short time and spatial interval, although the streamer head parameters can be obtained from the speed observed in the streamer and the streamer radius by means of propagation theory in the frontal plane. This theory is valid in our case, since the thickness of the streamer's front is smaller enough than the streamer's radius. The frontal plane model was developed for methane, water and hydrogen plasma and produced the initial electron concentrations in the streamer channel after the frontal.

In addition, this model provides the value of the quasi-stationary field in the channel. These values can be compared with the experimental data for the intensity of the electric field and electron concentrations. Since the concentration of electrons in the channel provided by the frontal plane theory is relatively small (η _e of approximately 3 * 10 ¹⁴ 1 / cm ³ ), it is quite difficult to measure this amount from spectroscopic studies. However, the value quoted before η _e agrees with the estimation of η _e <10 ¹⁵ 1 / cm ³ of the hydrogen line dispersion analysis. It should be mentioned that hydrogen plasma is more suitable for experimental measurements due to the more precise structure and well-known affordable kinetics and deviation parameters, not only for the fundamental state, but also for required excited states. This is the reason for the use of a hydrogen plasma in the first stage as a convenient sample environment for the discharge model.

The electric field intensities in the channel (H ₂ - 100 Td, CH ₄ - 90 Td) derived from the frontal plane theory and the quasi-stationary assumption are quite consistent with the experimental measurements in both hydrogen (= 30 kV) and methane (= 20 kV) for normal conditions. The deviation in the case of hydrogen plasma may be due to impurities in the bulk gas, such as 1% water. The temperatures of the electrons, which correspond to these field intensities are approximately 2eV. An alternative way to determine this quantity is the population analysis of excited states of hydrogen, based on line intensities. To carry out these studies a kinetic model of the population of hydrogen levels was developed, taking into account the excitation of the impact and the loss of the excitation, the spontaneous radiation and the ionization processes, including the results of the plane wave frontal and calculation of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF). The model has shown that the population of excited hydrogen levels is strongly at no equilibrium with respect to the temperature of the electrons: T _ex was approximately 0.3 to 0.4 eV for the desired levels, while T ₀ was approximately 2 eV. These results agree well with the experimental observation that T _ex is approximately 0.3 eV and coincide with previous kinetic calculations in hydrogen.

The rate of heating of gas in the plasma can determine the onset of the quasi-liquid state due to the heat instability of the ionization in the streamer channel. The gas heating rate was determined by solving the kinetic equation for the energy of electrons and finding the contribution of each elementary process in the heating of the gas, taking into account the conservation of energy in some degrees of freedom. For example, the vibration energy can be expected to be stored without relaxation in translational and rotational degrees at least at low temperatures. The simulation gives a temperature increase of approximately 100 K in the course of the first 100 ns. This value is sufficient to initiate heat instability of the ionization in the channel if pressure relaxation occurs fairly quickly. The characteristic hydrodynamic time is approximately 100 ns for hydrogen and somewhat longer for methane. Thus, the instability of the ionization in the streamer channel seems to be responsible for the thermalization of the channel by approximately 100 ns in hydrogen, since the experiment shows a sharp increase in gas temperature and electron concentration after approximately 200 ns in hydrogen and 400 ns in methane. As expected, the concentration of electrons in the quasi-equilibrium state is determined from the assumption that the thickness of the skin layer is approximately the radius of the streamer. This assumption produces a concentration of electrons of approximately 10 ¹⁶ 1 / cm ³ , which reasonably matches the experimental value of approximately 5 * 10 ¹⁶ 1 / cm ³ . The temperature of the experiment gas (approximately 5000 K in methane) is slightly lower than the equilibrium temperature for this concentration (approximately 6000 K) and thus provides the quasi-equilibrium state of the plasma.

The "cover" region near the channel is quite difficult to measure due to the small concentrations of electrons in it. In addition, the concentration of electrons in this region depends on the concentrations of impurities in the gas (which can take part in the process of photoionization and ionization by association). This fact creates serious restrictions on the discharge model near the hot runner.

To determine the kinetic mechanism of the fuel reforming in the MW discharge, several possible mechanisms were investigated under discharge conditions. First of all, the thermal dissociation of gasoline with water additions was carried out to determine the influence of water on gasoline conversion and soot formation. In the capacity of gasoline, octane was considered, since octane is the major hydrocarbon in the composition of gasoline. The kinetic scheme, consisting of 876 reactions, describing octane oxidation and soot formation was developed. The model contains 85 chemical components, including all hydrocarbons up to C ₈ H _1S with isomers and intermediate radicals.

The calculations were carried out with the WorkBench code, using the model of the Heat Pump Reactor (CBR) at P = const and T = const. The kinetic curves, which describe the dissociation of the octane-water mixture at T = 1500K and P = 1 atm are shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 and at T = 2100 K and P = 1 atm in Figure 3 and Figure 4 , and the additions of water - 89% water (Fig 1, Fig 3) and 50% water (Fig 2, Fig 4).

Figure 1. Kinetic curves of the main concentrations during dissociation of the C8H18-H20 mixture (11: 89%) at T = 1500 K, P = 1 atm

From Figure 1 it is evident that the process of conversion of octane in the presence of water C8H18 + 8H20 = 8CO + 17H2

1. Rapid dissociation of octane with ethylene and methane formation:

2. Slow process of acetylene formation, in which water takes part as a catalyst, followed by the formation of CO and H2.

If the water is not enough for the complete conversion of octane, then it will be methane products (Fig. 2) or acetylene (Fig. 4).

Figure 2. Kinetic curves of the main concentrations during dissociation of the C8H18-H20 mixture (50: 50%) at T = 1500 K, P = 1 atm

Figure 3. Kinetic curves of the main concentrations during dissociation of the C8H18-H20 mixture (1 1: 89%) at T = 2200 K, P = 1 atm

Figure 4. Kinetic curves of the main concentrations during dissociation of the C8H 18-H20 mixture (50: 50%) at T = 2200 K, P = 1 atm

The formation of "soot" during the dissociation of the octane-water mixture at T = 2000 K and P = 1 atm is shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6. In this model a simplified model of soot formation is considered, suggested by AV Krestinin [1]:

C2H2 → C4H12 → C6H2 → C8H2 → ... soot core

although it is limited to C8H2 with subsequent gasification. From the figures it is clear that if the water is not sufficient for the complete conversion of octane into CO-H2, then soot will be produced.

Figure 5. Soot formation during dissociation of the C8H18-H2O mixture (1 1: 89%) at T = 2200K, P = 1 atm.

Figure 6. Soot formation during dissociation of the C8H18-H20 mixture (50: 50%) at T = 2200K, P = 1 atm.

Figure 7 shows the dependence of the process time on the temperature at which the process is carried out.

Figure 7. Dependence on process time versus temperature.

As can be seen from Figure 7, the process time is the same as in the case of methane decomposition (see previous report), only at temperatures below 1500 K. The limiting stage is the dissociation of methane CH4 → CH3 + H and at temperatures above 1500 K the limiting stage is the decomposition of acetylene.

Thus, the kinetic results obtained for the thermal mechanisms of the fuel conversion determine optimal discharge parameters and therefore desired experimental conditions for the refurbished fuel

REVIEW OF EXISTING PATENTS FOR FUEL CONVERSION

One of the basic chemical processes used in different aggregates to receive hydrogen-rich gas (hg) is steam reforming, for example: CH ₄ + H ₂ 0 = CO + H ₂ . This reaction is endothermic, but if oxygen is added to the incoming mixture, the reforming process is exothermic. This process can be used to receive hg, which will burn in an internal combustion engine or on-board fuel cell.

The use of catalysts for a reforming process is proposed by a large number of authors. A wide range of substances used as catalysts [1,2] have been patented, as well as appropriate reformer designs [2,3]. We can underline that the important characteristics of the catalytic reformer are a compact form and do not require the use of additional equipment. Thermal insulation and heat recycling [3] will provide high efficiency.

Another way to obtain hg based on the steam reforming process is a variant of the gas phase pyrolysis of hydrocarbons described in [4]. A proprietary mixture of hydrocarbons and burned oxygen enriched gas is added after injecting the hydrocarbons into the high temperature mixture obtained to receive an additional amount of hydrogen. The relationship between quantities of hydrocarbons, steam and oxygen was patented. In the opinion of DAVID the Main advantage of this procedure is the absence of catalysts.

Many authors propose the use of plasma methods for reforming hydrocarbon fuels. The arc plasmatron was patented as an appropriate reformer design [5], in which there is vaporization of the fuel and its pyrolysis.

There is an interesting design of arc plasmatron introduced in [6]. There are different chemical processes for reforming fuels in this plasmatron: hydrocarbon pyrolysis that leads to hydrogen and solid carbon. The plasmatron design was patented with a continuous mechanical purification of solid carbon.

The idea of using plasma reforming to receive h.g., which will be injected into the engine of a car when it is necessary to obtain maximum power, is patented in [7]. They propose the use of the arc piasmatron or microwave plasmatron as a reformer.

The authors of the document [8] propose adding a turbine that uses kinetic energy and heat of gases to the plasmatron for reforming hydrocarbon fuels, to receive additional energy that can be used for the plasmatron's needs.

Another group of patents are those in which plasma is used as a stimulator and energy source of an endothermic process of steam hydrocarbon reforming. In one of them [9] the sliding arc burns in a reaction volume to stimulate the hydrocarbon reforming process. Exhaust gases are further reformed by passing them through a granulated bed.

In another [10] the reaction mixture was initially heated and after passing through the reactor, where a periodic discharge of high voltage pulses starts and stimulates the steam reforming reaction, there is also a reformer design that can be used for hg generation , where the h.g. burns in a fuel cell

SPE on board.

The review of the patent literature demonstrates a significant interest of researchers in the problem of obtaining hg from hydrocarbons. As shown in the review, the largest group of patents consists of the patents whose authors propose to carry out the process of reforming hydrocarbons with catalysts, where the catalysts are appropriate chemical substances. Most patents show methods of reforming hydrocarbon fuels with plasma. However, in most cases the patent authors use plasma as an effective reagent heater. Only in two patents, from DAVID's point of view, plasma is used as a source of thermal energy and as a stimulator of the hydrocarbon reforming process. In the first one [9] a mixture of oxygen-enriched gas and hydrocarbons is activated by means of the sliding arc plasma and moves in a special metallic or ceramic material, where this mixture is finally reformed into synthesis gas. But this patent cannot serve as a prototype of our device. The idea of the second one [9] is very similar to the design of our device. In both cases, the reactant mixture was heated and then treated by cold plasma. There is an important difference between the devices: in this case, the cold plasma source is a silent discharge. There is no complete conversion in such a system, part of the hydrocarbons is transformed into carbon dioxide and you need to use membranes with a selected conductivity to obtain hydrogen. In this system you need to compress additional gas and use more energy.

Bibliography

The presented and previous systems can generate synthetic gas on board a vehicle or produce it in a stationary device. Both constructions belong to the prior art. For example, see the United States Patent No. 5887554, in which some systems for reforming synthetic gas fuel are invented.

In the case of a stationary system, the presence of high pressure vessels or cryogenic vessels is necessary.

Another important example of a converter system is World Patent No. PCT / US98 / 18027. Three light hydrocarbon conversion processes (such as CH ₄ , C ₂ H ₆ , C ₃ H ₈ , C ₄ H ₁₀ or natural gas) are invented in the presence (possible) of water and oxygen (or air), by discharge electric (in particle discharge). When describing the device of this patent, one of the energy sources for the conversion process is the partial oxidation of hydrocarbons.

Production on board hydrogen is developed in detail. This device group is presented, for example, in US Patent No. 5143025. in it, it is invented in the use of electrolysis to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen and add hydrogen to a fuel. The hydrogen rich gas production system by integrating water with C ₀ (solid carbon) is developed in US Patent No. 51 59900. In this device, the partial oxidation of carbon electrodes by water provided by Arc treatment medium is the fundamental source of the H ₂ + CO mixture. In U.S. Patent No. 5207185 to Greiner et al., The base of the device is a burner, which uses a portion of the hydrocarbon fuel to reform another portion producing hydrogen. Hydrogen is mixed with the fuel to use in the engine. Another system is to use the thermal converter to reform part of the fuel gasoline in hydrogen-rich gas. See Breshears El, et al. , Proc. of EPA ^1st Symposium on Low Power Systems Development Polution, 268 (1973). Other analogous systems use partial oxidation in the presence of catalysts. See Houseman, et al., Proc. 3 ^rd

World Hydrogen Energy Conf. 949 (1980).

U.S. Patent Nos. 5435332 and 5437250, both of Rabinovich et al., Describe plasmatron internal combustion engine systems. Arc plasmatrons are the medium in both patents.

In the currently patented devices for the realization of the conversion processes of plasma-assisted fuels, the stabilized plasma discharge in the arc plasma, high frequency or super high frequency of different models and the impulse variants of the arc discharge were used (railgun, gliding); see United States patents numbers 5,425,332; 5,437,250 and 5,887,554. The very high temperature, typical of discharges of this type and, as a consequence, the thermodynamic weight balance, does not allow to take full advantage of the advantages of the plasma method for carrying out the fuel conversion process.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is a plasma converter to convert hydrocarbons into hydrogen-rich gas. The converter includes a heater, a mixer, reactor and microwave source connected to the reactor. A periodic pseudo-corona impulse discharge of Microwave is used to accelerate the conversion process inside the reactor. A pseudo-corona discharge is generated by a set of metal edges introduced into the microwave resonator in the region of maximum electric field. As a result, with a certain selected regime (pulse duration, period-pulse pulse duration ratio, specific energy input, temperature at the reactor inlet) a plasma-catalytic character is generated to the conversion process. A plasma-catalytic conversion process is distinguished by its high specific productivity and its low electrical energy requirement at the lower temperature limit. The proposed reactor makes it possible to carry out the process of converting fuel (petroleum, kerosene, diesel fuel, etc.) with steam, with steam-oxygen (steam-air) and also partial oxidation with air in hydrogen-rich gas. Most of the energy, thermodynamically required to carry out a given process, is supplied to the system as thermal energy from the heater at the expense of heat recovery at the reactor outlet, and also (in case of vapor-oxygen conversion or partial oxidation) at the expense of partial combustion of fuel in the mixer. The heater may include (in case of steam conversion) an arc plasmatron. Supersonic injectors can be used in the mixer, which provide an effective mixture of the initial reactants in less than 10 ^"3 -1 0 ^{" 5} sec

Modern technology allows the proposed device to be built for both a high-production stationary system and the compact design for installation in vehicles. The use of hydrogen-rich gas production equipment from hydrocarbons on board vehicles makes it possible to avoid the use of hydrogen deposits at board. The combined use of the proposed devices (use of adapted internal combustion engines for mixing hydrogen-rich gas and gasoline) on board allows the significant decrease of pollution and increase engine performance. The engine performance characteristics are improved without radical changes in its design. Secondly, the application of the proposed equipment is its use with the fuel cell to generate electricity that is supplied to the electric motor of the vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVICE BUILT BY DAVID IN WHICH THE EXPERIMENTS OF OUR INVENTION HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT

The experimental setup, shown in Figure 8, consists of: technological block (represented by the dashed line in Figure 1); reagent feed system (fuel, water, air); water supply system modulator, MCW generator, waveguide

Water and fuel evaporate in Evaporator 1 and Evaporator 2 and at temperatures greater than their corresponding boiling temperatures, they are fed: water - at the entrance of the heater 2 (arc plasmatron), the fuel - at the entrance of the mixer. The temperature of the water vapor should be sufficient to avoid the condensation of steam during the feeding in the heater 2. The temperature of the steam fuel should be sufficient to avoid the condensation of steam during the feeding in the mixer.

The air is heated to a temperature greater than the boiling temperature of the water and is fed with steam at the inlet of the heater 2. The air temperature should be sufficient to prevent condensation of water vapor in the mixture at the inlet of heater 2.

In heater 2, the water vapor and the air mixture are heated to an average temperature of the fixed mass depending on the regime chosen (see Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5) and fed into the mixer inlet.

The operating regimes of the technology block (in principle, the process temperature) are determined by the change in power of the heater 2 and / or the changes in the consumption of initial reactants.

In the mixer, all reactants are supplied quickly, and after they are supplied in the plasma-catalytic reactor.

In the reactor, the heated mixture of reactants is treated by a pseudo-corona microwave discharge of periodic impulse.

The products of the process are cooled in the heat exchanger, the condensed phase is separated (water and unreacted fuel, and in some cases coal) in the cyclone heat exchanger. The synthetic gas obtained is sent to the chromatographic analysis. At point "16", the consumption of gas phase products is determined. Necessarily, the consumption of unreacted water and fuel in the liquid phase is determined in item "17".

The discharge trigger and the MCW input device constructively enter the technology block.

The discharge trigger is a pivot of pointed tungsten, introduced into the reactor in the MCW field, to initiate the microwave discharge of pseudo-corona effect.

The MCW input device creates the electric field distribution two

in the reactor with a maximum intensity in the region of the pointed tungsten piece.

The measuring points (points "4-1 5") of the main parameters of the technology block are shown in Figure 1. The nominal values of the parameters of the technological block (consumption of reactants, temperature regimes) for the basic regimes of the reaction scheme are shown in Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4.

1.2. Brief description of the MCW installation

The MCW installation modulator produces a series of periodic voltage pulses, essential for the operation of the MCW generator with the MCW input device.

The main parameters of MCW radiation: duration of the radiation pulse - 0.1, 1 mks; pulse repetition frequency up to 1 kHz; impulse power - up to 50 kW; medium power - up to 50 W; radiation wavelength - 3 cm

1 .3. Input reactors

The input reactants are fed into the input of the technology block under normal conditions (points 1, 2, and 3 in Figure 1). The cooling water has nearby parameters at the inlet, pressure - 3 atm. temperature - 15 ° - 25 ° C

2. DESIGN NEEDS TO SEPARATE THE ELEMENTS OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL BLOCK

2.1 General needs

The arrangement of the elements of the block arranged in a construction is proposed. The possibilities of grouping - distributing the entire construction for the cleaning of the elements, replacement of elements, modernization of the block and similar operations will be maximized.

A diagram of the arrangement of nearby elements of the technological block is shown in Figure 9: heater 2 (arc plasmatron), mixer, reactor, discharge trigger, MCW input device and TC thermocouple group, (the index corresponds to the measurement point in the diagram) for the control of the temperature regime of the block. The diameter of the pipe is 20 mm.

2.2 Arc Plasmatron - heater 2

The power of the plasmatron is 300 W - without considering the coefficient of plasmatron performance, losses, etc. Work gas - water vapor, water vapor mixture with air.

Pressure - higher than atmospheric (displacement of gas at the expense of water and fuel pressure in evaporator 1 and 2). At the outlet of the gas duct, atmospheric pressure is set by removing gas from the heat exchanger. Gas consumption at the inlet of the plasmatron:

Regime 1 (without air) - water vapor 40.55 - 355 cnrrVs

Regime 2 (with air) - water vapor 18.7-40.55 cm ³ / s plus 14-55 cm ³ / s of air.

Gas temperature (average) at the plasmatron outlet - up to 3000 K. The thermocouples TC ₄ and TC ₅ are incorporated in the plasmatron. The TC ₉ thermocouple is active and measures the radial temperature distribution at the plasmatron outlet - at the mixer inlet. The possibility of removing the thermocouple from the cross section of the pipe is provided.

2.3 Mixer

The parameters of a mixed component (water vapor plus air) are set by the working regime of the arc plasmatron.

Parameters of the second mixed component (fuel vapor)

Consumption:

Regime (without air): 0.025 - 0.22 g / s

Regime (with air): 0,025 g / s

The mixing time is 10 ^"4 s. The temperature of the gas after mixing is 500-1560 K.

The TC ₆ thermocouple is incorporated in the mixer. The TC ₁₀ thermocouple controls the temperature of the gas after mixing in the center of the pipe. The possibility of removing the thermocouple from the cross section of the pipe is provided.

2.4 Reactor with discharge trigger and MCW input device

In the variant, shown in Figure 2, the head end reactor is closed by the metal wall MC with holes for the spectral diagnosis of the discharge and a GW sight glass of vacuum glass. The MC wall serves to reflect the MW radiation in the direction of the MCZ DZ discharge zone. The distance between MC and the axes of the MCW radiation entering the device is of the order of 5-10 cm. In this variant, the "cyclonic" heat exchanger may be connected to - 5?

the reactor wall as in Figure 2. The arrangement of the technology block in this case is horizontal. The reflection of the MCW radiation in the direction of the discharge zone of the mixing zone is obtained by reducing the cross-section of the pipe at the mixer outlet from 20 mm to 15 mm.

The MCW radiation input device is a rectangular waveguide that has a cross section of 24 x 11 mm. The wide waveguide wall is oriented along the pipe. The wide wall is 150 mm long. At a distance of 70 mm from the place of union of the waveguide and the pipe, the sealant made of material transparent to the radiation of MW has been arranged. The wheelbase of the input device and the discharge area of MW is of the order of 5 to 10 cm.

Note: It is convenient in Figure 2 to arrange the MCW input device in the output plane. In the real system, the entrance is not inclined 90 ° and oriented perpendicular to the exit plane.

The initiator of the discharge is a pointed tungsten bar that has a diameter of the order of 2 mm. The initiator is active in the radius of the pipe and there is the possibility of removing the tungsten bar from the cross section of the pipe.

The TC ^ thermocouple controls the radial temperature distribution of the pipe. The temperature range is 300 to 1 560 K. The thermocouple is active in the radius of the pipe and there is the possibility of removing the thermocouple from the cross section of the pipe. The distance from the discharge zone DZ to the inlet to the reactor-outlet of the mixer is minimal and is defined by particularities of construction of the block elements.

3. Parameters of the technology block

The nominal parameters of the process were calculated for the characteristic regimes of the experimental investigations, in order to determine the pattern of consumption of reactants. This data is used for the design of the installation project.

Two main types of processes, carried out in the installation, are the process of conversion with steam without air (1) and the processes of conversion of fuel with steam and with partial oxidation of the fuel by the oxygen of the air.

3.1. Parameters of the technology block for the conversion of fuel with airless steam at the process input

The process, in this case, corresponds to reaction C _6ι918 H ₁₂ . ₁₁₇ + 6,918 H ₂ 0 = 6,918CO + 12,98H ₂ ; ΔH = 12000 KJ / cal = 1.85 eV / mol (1)

The energy input J to the initial reactants is the parameter that most varies in the experiment: J = W ₄ / Q, where W ₄ is the thermal power and Q is the initial reactant consumption. The energy input defines the process temperature regime and the value of the degree of equilibrium of the conversion. In the experimental investigations two main regimes are given: varying the power W ₄ to a constant consumption of initial reactants Q (Table 1) and varying the consumption of the initial reactants Q at constant heating power W ₄ (Table 2).

3.2. Parameters of the technology block in the case of the process of conversion of fuel with air vapor as initial reactants

If air is present in the input reactants, part of the fuel is oxidized by oxygen, as a result of which the absorbed energy compensates for the part of the external energy supply. The increase in the part of the air at the inlet of the system leads to a decrease in the heating power W ₄ in the heater 2. As in the initial regimes (without the addition of oxygen), two regimes are chosen: regime "e" (conversion of the 100% of the fuel, see tables 1, 3) and regime "n" (conversion of 65% of the fuel, see table 4). The addition of oxygen in these regimes leads to a decrease in the power W ₄ of the heater 2 in the conservation of the temperature regime and degree of fuel conversion (tables 3, 4).

Explanations to tables 1, 2.

Q - reactant consumption, unit (g / s), for the liquid phase (nrrrVg) for the gas phase. T - temperature

Power W ₄ - power, absorbed by the gas heated in heater 2 without taking into account the efficiency of the heater, losses and similar variables. α - estimation of the degree of equilibrium in the conversion at point 12. At point 12 with hydrogen and CO there is water vapor and unreacted fuel in amounts corresponding to (1). As an estimate of Conversion degree shows the sum of the concentrations of water and CO.

⁰⁾ - for point 9 it shows the average mass temperature in the given section; In practice, the radial temperature distribution is measured by a mobile thermocouple.

¹⁾ - the temperature value is given without considering energy costs in the dissociation of water molecules, the actual temperature is approximately 3000 K.

J - energy input (enthalpy) in the initial reactants in the specific regime, which concludes with the heating and evaporation of the reactants (for information purposes)

For the consumption of initial reactants (fuel and water) given in Table 2, the powers of the fuel and water evaporators are equal to W ₃ = 5 W and W ₂ = 80 W.

The main particularity of the defined regimes, shown in Table 1 is the variable value of the ratio of the average power of the MCW discharge (W _MCW ^ev = 50 W) to the heating power W ₄ (heating power changes by 50 to 300 W range).

Table 2 shows the calculated data of defined regimes with constant power W = 300 W of heating. The W _MCW ^ev / W ₄ ratio is constant and equal to approximately 15%.

Ai vary the consumption of input reactants (water and fuel) their evaporation powers (W ₂ and W ₃ ), which are shown in table 2, vary. Explanations to tables 3 and 4

² - the degree of conversion α corresponds to the degree of conversion of the fuel.

Table 1

OR

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The basis of our invention consists in the use of the super high frequency periodic impulse discharge of pseudo-corona effect at atmospheric pressure that differs mainly from the existing devices by:

Low temperature of reagents High scale of weight imbalance High energy efficiency of generating chemically active particles in plasma High effectiveness of the use of electric energy

The device of our invention serves to carry out the piasmacatalytic processes for the conversion of fossil fuels into synthetic gas rich in hydrogen (mixture of hydrogen with carbon monoxide)

The main processes of fuel conversion are:

Conversion with steam (see below j) Conversion with steam-oxygen (k) Partial oxidation (I)

The reagents, before entering the plasmacatalytic reactor area, are preheated to the temperature at which the scale and equilibrium of conversion is sufficient for the reactor. This temperature, as a rule, is too low for the process to be carried out in an acceptable time (kinetic braking). The treatment of reagents previously heated by plasma allows, through chain processes with the participation of the particles chemically active, eliminate kinetic limitations and reach the equilibrium value of the reagent conversion scales.

The main part of the device object of the invention is the plasmacatalytic reactor (Figure 10), in which the previously heated reagents are treated by the periodic microwave pulse discharge of pseudo corona effect.

The reactor is a metal tube (1 in Figure 10) of round section which serves both to transport the gas and as a waveguide for the propagation of microwave radiation. Microwave radiation enters the reactor through a standard rectangular waveguide (2) (wave type H01) through the communication hole (3).

The communication hole is closed by the hermeticizer (8), transparent for microwave radiation to avoid disturbance of the gas dynamics parameters and to isolate the waveguide conduit from the reactor volume. The wide wall of the rectangular waveguide is along the axis of the tube in which the wave type H1 1 is excited in the round waveguide. The distribution of the electric field E in the rectangular and round waveguides is described in drawings 2 and 3.

The diameter of the reactor is chosen under the condition that other (higher) types of waves are not excited in the round waveguide, except the wave of the main type H 1 1. The next type of wave is type E01. Compliance with the condition indicated above leads to the need to maintain the following relationships for diameter D:

l ₀ <lcr ^{H1 1} (D) = 1, 705 D (a) l ₀ <lcr ^E01 (D) = 1, 308 D (b) where:

Lo: is the wavelength of microwave radiation in free space

Icr: the critical wavelengths in the round waveguide for the corresponding wave types

The condition for the diameter of the reactor is taken from the indicated ratios:

0.59 lo <D <0.76 l ₀ (c)

The heated reagents enter the reactor from the mixing block (1 1 in Figure 10) through the reagent inlet element (4).

The mixer represents an apparatus with three reagent input systems. The first reagent input system (10) is installed on the system axis. Through it, the heated water vapor (process j), or the heated steam-air mixture (k), or the heated air (I) is sent to the mixer in different variants of the process and conversion. The second and third reagent inlets (9 and 10) represent concentric systems of supersonic nozzles. The use of such nozzles in the construction of the device takes time to mix the reagents at the molecular level of 10-3-10-4 seconds. In the variants of the vapor-oxygen conversion (k) and partial oxidation (1) in the space between the second and third reagent input systems, oxidation of the fuel by the oxygen of the air takes place. The energy produced in the oxidation process heats reagents even more.

The input element of the reactants to the reactor (4) represents a part of the tube that narrows towards the mixer. The narrowing scale must be sufficient for the reagent input element to be outside the limit for the H1 1 wave, in other words, for microwave radiation to be reflected from this element to the communication hole (3). This condition leads to the following correlation for the transverse characteristic dimension of the reagent input element - diameter d:

lo> lcr ^H11 (d) = 1 .705 d (d)

Process products leave the reactor through the plug holes (5). The plug is intended to reflect microwave radiation towards the communication hole (3).

Another variant for organizing the output system of the products of the reactor process may be a piece of tube analogous to the reagent inlet element (4), but narrowing in the opposite direction. In both cases, the reactor (L in Figure 10) must equal an integer n of the half-wavelengths lwg / 2 of the microwave radiation in the waveguide:

L = n IWG 2 = nl ₀ / (1 - (l ₀ / l _cr ^{H1 1} (D)) ² ) ^{1 2} 12 (e)

The discharge is initiated by crown element - a sharp bar (6) of little fusible metal, introduced into the waveguide. The tip of the bar increases the value of the microwave electric field E around it and with that the stage of the pseudo corona effect of the discharge is achieved.

The bar is oriented along the force lines of field E within the waveguide (figure 12). The position of the tip and the bar (H in Figure 12) is approximately half the radius of the waveguide. In the longitudinal direction (L2 in figure 10) the bar is located in place where the field of the fixed wave in the resonator without download is maximum:

L ₂ = IWH (n / 2 + 1/4) = (n / 2 + 1/4) l ₀ / (1 - (l ₀ / lcr ^H11 (D)) ² ) ^1/2 12

(F)

The pseudo corona discharge stage estreamers are transformed into the microwave field in the plasma streamer system and propagated in the form of a microwave estreamer filling the tube cross-section and creating the microwave impulse discharge zone (7 in figure 10). The destination of the stage of the discharge of the pseudo corona effect is the generation of plasma at atmospheric pressure with high average electron energy.

The fate of the microwave estreamer stage is the creation of a plasma formation developed in space for the catalytic plasma treatment of the reagents.

The coordination of the rectangular waveguide (2 in figure 10) with the reactor (1) is achieved by choosing the ratio of the longitudinal dimensions L and L1 (figure 10). In the discharge zone (7) practically all microwave radiation is absorbed and therefore the part of the waveguide that is to the right of the radiation inlet hole (3) operates in the presence of the discharge in the mobile wave regime . In this case, the distance L1 of the order of the whole number of the half-wavelengths in the waveguide will be:

L ₁ = n lw _G / 2 = l ₀ / (1 - (lo / lc _r ^H11 (D)) ² ) ^1/2 / 2

(g)

The source of the microwave radiation operates in the impulse-periodicity regime. The duration of the radiation pulse t1 is defined by the time required to perform both stages of the discharge (stage of the pseudo corona effect and stage of the microwave estreamer) under specific conditions.

The period of the repetition of the radiation pulses t2 is given based on the optimal coordination of the following quantities: time of existence of the active particles generated by plasma in the passive phase of the discharge after the cessation of the radiation pulse of the radiation super high frequency; linear speed of reagents passing through the discharge zone; energy contribution to the discharge:

J _plasma = W / Q (h) where

W = W _PRESS ^* t, / 1 ₂

W ^" is the average power of the microwave radiation, W _PULSE - is the impulse power, Q - is the consumption of reagents.

The pulse power of microwave radiation W _PULSE , (h), (i) defines the plasma energy input J _PLASMA - In addition, the pulse power depends on the magnitude of the electric field in the round waveguide without plasma, which has to have a lower value of the disruptive discharge and, at the same time, be sufficient for the initiation of the stage of the pseudo corona effect of the discharge on the crown element.

The thermal energy contribution (energy contribution from the previous heating of the reagents) J _heat must be sufficient for the heating of reagents up to the given temperature and for the compensation of the energy consumptions for the realization of the endogenous processes in the system that lead to realization of the

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) 70 -

equilibrium scale of the transformation of reagents at the given temperature.

Preheating reagents can be done in the following ways:

heater with independent power source (eg arc plasmatron); incineration of a part of the fuel in the combustion chamber;

• oxidation of a part of fuel by oxygen in convection processes with the participation of oxygen (air); heat recovery at device outlet

Combined heating modes are also possible.

Indicated above

The ratio of plasma energy contribution to the heat energy contribution J _p ι _asrna / J _heat is of the order 1-10%.

The temperatures characteristic of the realization of the conversion processes and the corresponding scales of reagent transformation are given below.

The following temperatures are characteristic of the fuel vapor conversion process (j) with the 35% transformation scale: heating temperature of water vapors 1450 K, mixing temperature of water vapors ITUTORIA vapors RULE 26 fuels after mixing 890 K-, temperature of process products after completion 620 K.

The following temperatures are characteristic for the process of converting fuel vapor (j) with the 65% transformation scale: heating temperature of water vapors 2180 K, mixing temperature of water vapors fuel vapors after mixing 1 150 K, temperature of process products after completion 665 K

The following temperatures are characteristic for the process of the conversion of fuel vapor (j) with the 99% transformation scale: heating temperature of water vapors 3750 K (not counting the processes of dissociation of water molecules ), temperature of the mixture of water vapors-fuel vapors after mixing 1560 K, temperature of process products after completion 800 K.

The following temperatures are characteristic for the process of converting fuel vapor-oxygen (k) with the 65% transformation scale (mole-water ratio; air equivalent to 2.5): temperature of the heating of the mixture steam-air 1390 K, temperature of reagents after mixing 890 K, temperature of process products after completion 650 K.

For the partial oxidation process of the fuel (1) with the 100% transformation scale (mole-fuel ratio: air equivalent to 1: 3.46) the following temperatures are characteristic: heating temperature of the steam-air mixture 1110 K, TITUTORY RULE 26) reagent temperature after mixing 896 K, temperature of process products after completion 1611 K.

3. REALIZATION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROCESSES.

The device proposed can perform the conversion processes of fossil fuel with steam, steam-oxygen and fuel vapor in H ₂ -gas enriched, and the partial oxidation process stimulated fuel

3.1.

The variant of the steam conversion of the fuel is described by the reaction

C _m H _n + H ₂ 0 = mCO + (n / 2 + m) H ₂ (j)

and its embodiment in the device is schematically represented in Figure 13.

Water vapor is sent to the heater, from there it goes to the first inlet of the mixing chamber and the fuel goes to the second and third inlets of the mixing chamber. According to the required regime, the ratio of the amount of fuel to the second and third inputs of the mixing chamber can be changed in the 0- fingerboard

1, and the general ratio of moles of steam / fuel in the fingerboard 6-14.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET RULE 26 As a heater, as indicated in Figure 14, a recovery heat exchanger can be used that uses the heat from the reactor outlet and the arc plasmatron connected in series. The temperature of the water vapors, necessary for the process of the conversion of fuel vapor, at the outlet of the heater is in the ranges of 1400-3000 K ^° , and the temperature of reagents at the entrance to the reactor is at 900-1500 K °.

The general energy balance for the plasmacatalytic process of steam conversion consists of the energy consumption for evaporation of reagents (J _steam ), reagent heating and the chemical process. The composition of the products at the reactor outlet (transformation scale of reagents "a") and the energy consumption "A" of the product (synthetic gas rich in hydrogen) depends, first of all, on the energy input J _SUM = J _plasma + J _heat + J _vapor The dependence given is presented in the following table (energy input J _SUM is presented in the form of a ratio of the power to the quantity by weight of the liquid reagents).

SUBSTITUTE SHEET RULE 26 3.2.

For carrying out the process of conversion with steam-oxygen (steam-air) for the given amounts of fuel (x) and oxygen (y)

x C _m H _n + y 0 ₂ + 3.73 and N ₂ + (mx-2y) H ₂ 0 = mx CO + 0.5 (nx + 2m - 4y) H ₂ + 3.73 and N ₂ (k) as indicated in the Figure 15, the water vapor mixed with the air is sent to the heater and the fuel is sent to inputs 2 and 3 in the proportion 0.5-2. The temperature at the outlet of the heater is equivalent to 500-600 K and at the entrance to the reactor 800-1500 K °. The mole ratio of water / air vapor and water / fuel vapor varies in the range of 0.3-2 and 3-7 respectively.

The scale of transformation of reagents into hydrogen-rich synthetic gas depends on the J _SUM energy contribution to the system (see p. 3.1.), As well as the molar part of air "g" in relation to the amount of fuel. The main quantitative characteristics are presented in the following table:

g,% J _SUM , kJ / kg a,%

25 7300 100

25 3400 65

42 4500 100

42 1500 69

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) 64 1500 100 64 850 95

3.3.

For carrying out the process of partial oxidation of the fuel

C _m H _n + m / 2 (0 ₂ +79/21 N ₂ ) = m CO + n / 2 H ₂ + m / 2 79/21 N ₂ , (1)

as indicated in figure 16, the air is sent to the heater, and to the second and third inlets of the mixing chamber the fuel in the proportion of 0.5-2 and the molar ratio of air / fuel at the entrance to the reactor equals 8-12.

The temperature, necessary for the process of partial oxidation of the fuel, at the outlet of the heater is in the ranges of 500-600 K ° and the temperature at the entrance to the reactor is between 900-1100 K °

In order to ensure the working temperature of the process, the magnitude of the J _SUM energy contribution is necessary (see p. 3.1.) 1000-1500 kJ / kg. With which the scale of the transformation of the reagents reaches 100%.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) REFERENCES OF FIGURES 10 TO 16

FIGURE 10- DEVICE CONSTRUCTION

1 - round waveguide, chemical reactor;

2 - rectangular waveguide;

3 - communication hole;

4 - reagent input element to the reactor;

5 - product outlet from the reactor, plug in waveguide; 6 - starter bar;

7 - plasmacatalytic discharge zone;

8 - first mixer input;

9 - section of the second mixer inlet,

10 - section of the third inlet of the mixer 11 - reagent mixing chamber.

FIGURE 11 - COORDINATION OF THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE ELECTRICAL FIELD IN RECTANGULAR AND ROUND GUIASONDAS.

1 - rectangular waveguide

2 - round waveguide

E - microwave electric field vector.

FIGURE 12 - BARRA GUIDE ENTRY SYSTEM

CROWN ELEMENT INITIATOR

1 - round waveguide

2 - tapered metal rod slightly flexible

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26 3 - lines of force of the electric field in waveguides of the bar and the discharge. Below is the distribution of the amplitude of the microwave electric field.

FIGURE 13 - SCHEME OF THE CONVERSION PROCESS OF

FUEL STEAM

1, 2, 3 - first, second and third reagent inputs to the mixer.

FIGURE 14- PREVIOUS WARMING SCHEME OF THE

WATER VAPORS IN THE FUEL VAPOR CONVERSION PROCESS

FIGURE 15- FUEL VAPOR-AIR CONVERSION PROCESS SCHEME

1, 2, 3 - first, second and third reagent inputs to the mixer.

FIGURE 16- FUEL OXIDATION PROCESS SCHEME

1, 2, 3 - first, second and third reagent inputs to the mixer.

Figure 17- DEVICE OF THE DEVICE 1-Circular circular, plasmachemical reactor, 2-Rectangular waveguide for the entry of microwave radiation into the reactor, 3-Communication hole, 4-Input element of the reactants to the reactor, 5- Release of the reactor products, waveguide connector, 6- Starter bar, 7-Piasmacatalytic discharge zone, 8-First

SUBSTITUTE SHEET RULE 26 Mixing chamber entrance, 9-Cross section of the third mixing chamber entrance, 11- Reagent mixing chamber

SUBSTITUTE SHEET RULE 26

Claims

1. Plasma converter of fossil fuels in a hydrogen-rich gas, comprising a heater, a mixing chamber, a reactor, connected in series, and an MCW energy source for the reactor.

2. Device according to claim 1, wherein in the reactor a MCW discharge of periodic impulse pseudo-corona effect at atmospheric pressure is used.

3. Device according to claim 2, wherein the discharge of MCW of pseudo-corona effect is initiated by a set of metal needles, inserted into the MCW resonator.

Device according to claim 3, wherein the longitudinal dimension of the resonator is approximately several wavelengths of the MCW radiation, and the metal needles are distributed in the resonator in regions with maximum electric field.

5. Device according to claim 5, wherein the microwave energy source generates the pulse set with a pulse duration of 0.1 to 1 microseconds and a ratio of the pulse period to the pulse duration of 100 to 1000 in the centimeter or decimetric range of microwave radiation (X, S bands).

6. Device according to claim 1, wherein the chamber of

RE SUBSTITUTE SHEET The mixture has an input, connected to the heater and also a second and third input for the feeding of reactants in the different zones of the mixing chamber.

Device according to claim 1, in which to carry out the conversion process with fuel vapor, water vapor is supplied in the heater and, in the second and third inlet of the mixing chamber, fuel is supplied in Q. / Q ₂ in the proportion of 0 to 1.

A device according to claim 7, wherein the heater is manufactured as a heat exchanger with thermal recovery contained by the hydrogen rich gas produced and an arc plasmatron, connected to the series heat exchanger.

9. Device according to claim 7, wherein the molar ratios of water vapor to fuel are selected in the range of 6 to 14.

10. Device according to claim 7, wherein the temperature of the water vapor at the heater outlet is approximately 1400-3000 K, and the temperature of the reactants at the reactor inlet is 900-1500 K.

Device according to claim 1, in which to carry out the process of converting fuel with steam-air, water vapor mixed with air is supplied to the mixing chamber, and in the second and third inlet of the camera of

SUBSTITUTE SHEET RULE 26 mixture, the fuel is supplied in Q ₂ / Q ₃ ratios in the range of 0.5 to 2.

12. Device according to claim 7, wherein the temperature of the reactants at the heater outlet is approximately

500-600 K and at the reactor inlet is 800-1500 K.

13. Device according to claim 7, wherein the steam / air and steam / fuel molar ratio at the reactor inlet is selected in the ranges of 0.3-2 and 3-7, respectively.

14. Device according to claim 7, wherein to carry out the partial oxidation of fuels, air is supplied at the first inlet of the mixing chamber and at the second and third inlets of the mixing chamber the fuels are supplied in Q ^ Qa ratios in the range of 0.5 to 2.

15. Device according to claim 14, wherein the temperature of the reactants at the heater outlet is 500-600 K, and at the reactor inlet is 800-1500 K.

16. Device according to claim 14, wherein the air / fuel molar ratio at the reactor inlet is 8-12.

17. Device according to claim 1, 1 and 14, wherein the heater is manufactured as a recuperative heat exchanger, which uses the heat of the hydrogen-rich gas produced by the reactor.

18. Device according to claim 7, wherein the total flow rate of

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) the reactants Q and the average value of the specific power of MCW are selected from the correlation W / Q = 0.2-0.4 kW ^* hour / m ³ .

19. Device according to claim 11 and 14, wherein the total flow of the reactants Q and the average value of W are selected from the correlation W / Q = 0.05 - 0.15 kW ^* hour / m ³ .

SUBSTITUTE SHEET RULE 26 CLAIMS

[received on July 13, 2000 (13.07.00) claims 1 to 19 replaced by the new claims 1 to 14 (3 pages)]

1. Fossil fuel plasma converter in a hydrogen-rich gas, comprising a heater, a mixing chamber, a reactor, connected in series, and an MCW energy source for the reactor, which generates the pulse set with a pulse duration of 0.1 to 1 microseconds and a ratio of the pulse period to the pulse duration of 100 to 1000 in the centimeter or decimetric range of microwave radiation (X, S bands), using a reactor in the MCW discharge of pseudo-corona effect of periodic pulse at atmospheric pressure, which is initiated by a set of metal needles inserted into the MCW resonator, and where the longitudinal dimension of the resonator is approximately several wavelengths of MCW radiation , and the metallic needles are distributed in the resonator in the regions with a maximum electric field, and because the mixing chamber has an input connected to the heater, and also a second gives and third input for the feeding of reactants in the different zones of the mixing chamber.

2. Device according to claim 1, in which to carry out the conversion process with fuel vapor, water vapor is supplied in the heater and, in the second and third inlet of the mixing chamber, fuel is supplied in Q ratios. -ι / Q ₂ in the proportion of 0 to 1.

3. Device according to claim 2, wherein the heater is manufactured as a heat exchanger with thermal recovery contained by the hydrogen rich gas produced and an arc plasmatron, connected to the series heat exchanger.

4. Device according to claim 2, wherein the molar ratios of water vapor to fuel are selected in the range of 6 to 14.

5. Device according to claim 2, wherein the temperature of the water vapor at the heater outlet is approximately 1400-3000 K, and the temperature of the reactants at the reactor inlet is 900-1500 K.

6. Device according to claim 1, in which to carry out the process of converting fuel with steam-air, water vapor mixed with air is supplied to the mixing chamber, and in the second and third inlet of the mixing chamber, the fuel is supplied in Q2 / Q3 ratios in the range of 0.5 to 2.

7. Device according to claim 2, wherein the temperature of the reactants at the heater outlet is approximately 500-600 K and at the reactor inlet is 800-1500 K.

8. Device according to claim 2, wherein the steam / air and steam / fuel molar ratio at the reactor inlet is selected in the ranges of 0.3-2 and 3-7, respectively.

9. Device according to claim 2, wherein in order to carry out the partial oxidation of fuels, air is supplied at the first inlet of the mixing chamber and at the second and third inlets of the mixing chamber the fuels are supplied in Q ₂ / Q ₃ ratios in the range of 0.5 to 2.

10. Device according to claim 9, wherein the temperature of the reactants at the heater outlet is 500-600 K, and at the reactor inlet is 800-1500 K.

11. Device according to claim 9, wherein the air / fuel molar ratio at the reactor inlet is 8-12.

12. Device according to claim 6 and 9, wherein the heater is manufactured as a recuperative heat exchanger, which uses the heat of the hydrogen-rich gas produced by the reactor.

13. Device according to claim 2, wherein the total flow rate of the reactants Q and the average value of the specific power of MCW are selected from the correlation W / Q = 0.2-0.4 kW * hour / m ³ .

14. Device according to claim 6 and 9, wherein the total flow of the reactants Q and the average value of W are selected from the correlation W / Q = 0.05 - 0.15 kW ^* hour / m ³ .