PLASMATRON INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE POLLUTION REDUCTION

A system in which an on-board compact plasmatron processes gasoline or other hydrocarbon fuels (ethanol, methanol, natural gas, JP4 and poss ibly oil) to produce hydrogen-rich gas for vehicular internal combusti on engines is considered. Use of the hydrogen-rich gas as either the e ntire fuel or as an additive in the internal combustion engine could s ubstantially reduce NO(x), CO and hydrocarbon emissions. The electrici ty to provide the fuel processing in the plasmatron is provided by a g enerator driven by the internal combustion engine. An important featur e 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, hydrog en additive operation and 100% hydrogen-rich gas operation.