Title: Plasmatron internal combustion engine system for vehicle pollution reduction

Authors: Alexander Rabinovich, Daniel R. Cohn, Leslie Bromberg

Addresses: Plasma Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 167 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. ' Plasma Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 167 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. ' Plasma Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 167 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Abstract: A system in which an on-board compact plasmatron processes gasoline or other hydrocarbon fuels (ethanol, methanol, natural gas, JP4 and possibly oil) to produce hydrogen-rich gas for vehicular internal combustion engines is considered. Use of the hydrogen-rich gas as either the entire fuel or as an additive in the internal combustion engine could substantially reduce NOx, CO and hydrocarbon emissions. The electricity to provide the fuel processing in the plasmatron is provided by a generator driven by the internal combustion engine. An important feature of the system is the avoidance of an unacceptably large decrease in overall fuel efficiency resulting from the electricity requirement of the plasmatron. Using controlled fuel injection, it may be possible to readily switch during driving between 100% gasoline operation, hydrogen additive operation and 100% hydrogen-rich gas operation.

Keywords: hydrogen fuel; plasma reformer; pollution reduction; plasmatron; internal combustion engines; vehicle emissions; air pollution; fuel efficiency; fuel injection; vehicle design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.1994.061858

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 1994 Vol.15 No.3/4/5, pp.234 - 242

Published online: 28 May 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article