Ideas for the Improvement of Efficiencies
I was thinking about a couple of ideas that could help increase the fuel efficiency of automobiles and the ability of atmospheric water generators to extract water from the atmosphere.
The first idea is to use an oxygen concentrator on the intake manifold of a typical internal combustion engine. Here is what an oxygen concentrator is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_concentrator
The composition of a typical parcel of atmospheric air is about 78% nitrogen and 21% molecular oxygen O2, with smaller percentages of other gases:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_chemistry#Atmospheric_composition
In a typical otto cycle internal combustion engine using gasoline, it is only the oxygen that takes part (or should take part) in the combustion process. Though, there is some combustion of nitrogen as well, most engines are tuned so as to reduce this combustion product since it is a pollutant (other than the CO2).
In any case, most of the air drawn into the engine is not used in combustion. This implies that the fuel cannot react with most of the molecules it encounters during the ignition phase, which may mean that more fuel than is necessary may be used in order to provide proper engine operation.
There is another issue, since the fuel does not react with the most of the molecules, it is possible, and it often does occur that not all the fuel sprayed or drawn into the cylinder is NOT used. One can smell fuel vapors in the exhaust often during a cold startup or during high acceleration.
By concentrating the oxygen and then attaching a suitable hose to the intake throttle body, one may be able to improve the performance of the engine. Since most of the air in the cylinder will now be oxygen, the fuel can react with most of the molecules it encounters in the cylinder, which may mean less fuel will have to be used to provide the same amount of power.
Also, there will be less fuel in the exhaust since it may be possible for the fuel sprayed into the cylinder to completely react. (Though it is complicated due to the chemistry and physics of the combustion process).
It may be necessary to have a pure oxygen reservoir in the car, to allow for fast acceleration. Also, it may not be necessary to have 90%+ oxygen, maybe increasing the oxygen to 60-70% maybe the optimum for engine performance.
Since the atmosphere contains about 1.4 ppm of methane it may even be possible to use a similar technology to extract methane from the atmosphere and to concentrate it and use it as a fuel or simply to sequester the methane and remove it from the atmosphere, since methane is a powerful greenhouse gas.
Atmospheric Water Generators:
This is an issue with currently available AWG systems, namely that when the dew point temperature drops below a certain temperature it is difficult for typical Atmospheric Water Generators OR Dehumidifiers to function properly.
The biggest issue is that in order to extract water from the atmosphere, air is passed through a series of coils with cold liquid inside, the problem occurs when the temperature of the coils get so low that ice forms on them and they no longer function properly. Furthermore, this system does not extract all the water from the air drawn into the system.
So, I borrowed and idea from Air Liquifaction:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquefaction_of_gases
The process of the liquifaction of gases involves a cryocooler:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryocooler
Some cryocoolers work on the principle of compressing and expanding air under appropriate thermodynamic conditions, that results in the cooling of the air.
So I thought why not apply this idea to Atmospheric Water Generators or Dehumidifiers. The system would draw in air, and then the air would be compressed and expanded under the appropriate thermodynamic conditions to allow for cooling. This expansion and compression would continue until the temperature of the air is so low that water cannot exist in vapor form under any pressure:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_point
This occurs at around -75 degrees Celsius. At that point all the water that was in the air would be in liquid form and hence all the water would have been removed from the air. This AWG system would be able to remove all the water from the air drawn into the system independent of the ambient temperature.
This cryocooler system could also be used to extract methane from the atmosphere, we simply cool the air down to the -164 degrees Celsius and the methane would precipitate out in liquid form.
The first idea is to use an oxygen concentrator on the intake manifold of a typical internal combustion engine. Here is what an oxygen concentrator is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_concentrator
The composition of a typical parcel of atmospheric air is about 78% nitrogen and 21% molecular oxygen O2, with smaller percentages of other gases:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_chemistry#Atmospheric_composition
In a typical otto cycle internal combustion engine using gasoline, it is only the oxygen that takes part (or should take part) in the combustion process. Though, there is some combustion of nitrogen as well, most engines are tuned so as to reduce this combustion product since it is a pollutant (other than the CO2).
In any case, most of the air drawn into the engine is not used in combustion. This implies that the fuel cannot react with most of the molecules it encounters during the ignition phase, which may mean that more fuel than is necessary may be used in order to provide proper engine operation.
There is another issue, since the fuel does not react with the most of the molecules, it is possible, and it often does occur that not all the fuel sprayed or drawn into the cylinder is NOT used. One can smell fuel vapors in the exhaust often during a cold startup or during high acceleration.
By concentrating the oxygen and then attaching a suitable hose to the intake throttle body, one may be able to improve the performance of the engine. Since most of the air in the cylinder will now be oxygen, the fuel can react with most of the molecules it encounters in the cylinder, which may mean less fuel will have to be used to provide the same amount of power.
Also, there will be less fuel in the exhaust since it may be possible for the fuel sprayed into the cylinder to completely react. (Though it is complicated due to the chemistry and physics of the combustion process).
It may be necessary to have a pure oxygen reservoir in the car, to allow for fast acceleration. Also, it may not be necessary to have 90%+ oxygen, maybe increasing the oxygen to 60-70% maybe the optimum for engine performance.
Since the atmosphere contains about 1.4 ppm of methane it may even be possible to use a similar technology to extract methane from the atmosphere and to concentrate it and use it as a fuel or simply to sequester the methane and remove it from the atmosphere, since methane is a powerful greenhouse gas.
Atmospheric Water Generators:
This is an issue with currently available AWG systems, namely that when the dew point temperature drops below a certain temperature it is difficult for typical Atmospheric Water Generators OR Dehumidifiers to function properly.
The biggest issue is that in order to extract water from the atmosphere, air is passed through a series of coils with cold liquid inside, the problem occurs when the temperature of the coils get so low that ice forms on them and they no longer function properly. Furthermore, this system does not extract all the water from the air drawn into the system.
So, I borrowed and idea from Air Liquifaction:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquefaction_of_gases
The process of the liquifaction of gases involves a cryocooler:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryocooler
Some cryocoolers work on the principle of compressing and expanding air under appropriate thermodynamic conditions, that results in the cooling of the air.
So I thought why not apply this idea to Atmospheric Water Generators or Dehumidifiers. The system would draw in air, and then the air would be compressed and expanded under the appropriate thermodynamic conditions to allow for cooling. This expansion and compression would continue until the temperature of the air is so low that water cannot exist in vapor form under any pressure:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_point
This occurs at around -75 degrees Celsius. At that point all the water that was in the air would be in liquid form and hence all the water would have been removed from the air. This AWG system would be able to remove all the water from the air drawn into the system independent of the ambient temperature.
This cryocooler system could also be used to extract methane from the atmosphere, we simply cool the air down to the -164 degrees Celsius and the methane would precipitate out in liquid form.
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