Recursive NG-H2 Engine

[SagaLore]

New idea for an engine.


Hydrogen was going to be the next big fuel source for both internal combustion engines and fuel cells, but we pretty much hit a roadblock with that since it has such a low energy density compared to other fuels and its really hard to carry around. The other day I read an article here about natural gas being so abundant in the US, and a big energy guy was trying to push that as the next efficient fuel for cars.


Since then I've been thinking over my rotary engine designs and decided to switch from ethanol to natural gas. It just so happens that engines like the wankel rotary are very efficient at running on hydrogen, but that still doesn't fix the other issues of carrying that around.

Then it occurred to me.

The primary method for producing hydrogen gas is using steam-methane reforming of natural gas.

My original ethanol based rotary design depended on an ethanol-water fuel mixture that used diesel ignition and a resulting steam expansion. The point is to try and reduce total heat output and keep that energy in a kinetic form.

So now the new idea...

The fuel will be natural gas, but the engine itself will run on a mixture that is mostly hydrogen. The exhaust will be hot steam, which will be kept in a cylindrical chamber under a constant pressure necessary for steam-methane reforming. Since this reforming process is endothermic, we're actually using the waste heat to convert the NG to H2. The engine will use pressure swing absorption to scrub carbon dioxide and excess nitrogen from the recursive chamber.

 

[destrekor]

So, where do the waste gasses go? Like CO2 and CO?

 

[DominionSeraph]

What's the point of using hydrogen in the combustion chamber over natural gas? I mean, you're looking at going from CH4 to CO2 + H2O either way, so you're looking at adding the inefficiency of the reformer, the difficulty of scrubbing the CO2 from the H2, and the difficulty of precisely metering the H2 from a reaction chamber dependent on exhaust gas temperature.

 

[SagaLore]

What's the point of using hydrogen in the combustion chamber over natural gas?

This is the point:

http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/AF/622.PDF

Its a good read on comparing hydrogen and methane and blends of the two.

 

[Broheim]

I'd rather have an Iterative NG-H2 Engine

 

[DominionSeraph]

This is the point:

http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/AF/622.PDF

There's no point in there.
Answer the question.

 

[gorobei]

way easier to use algae derived hydrocarbons to make regular gasoline and bio diesel.

recaptures co2 out of the air so functionally carbon neutral, no need to change engine designs, no change to fuel distribution infrastructure.

 

[DominionSeraph]

way easier to use algae derived hydrocarbons to make regular gasoline and bio diesel.

recaptures co2 out of the air so functionally carbon neutral, no need to change engine designs, no change to fuel distribution infrastructure.

Free ipod?

 

[SagaLore]

way easier to use algae derived hydrocarbons to make regular gasoline and bio diesel.

recaptures co2 out of the air so functionally carbon neutral, no need to change engine designs, no change to fuel distribution infrastructure.

By using natural gas, we're also recycling CO2. If we don't burn it for ourselves, its ends up back into the carbon cycle anyway.

 

[DominionSeraph]

By using natural gas, we're also recycling CO2.

Uhhh... no.

 

[SagaLore]

Uhhh... no.

Uh no why? Where do you think natural gas comes from? Where do you think the previous source comes from? :hmm:

 

[The Boston Dangler]

By using natural gas, we're also recycling CO2. If we don't burn it for ourselves, its ends up back into the carbon cycle anyway.

wow, just wow.

 

[Howard]

Wankels aren't good for much, unfortunately.

 

[Harrod]

Wankels aren't good for much, unfortunately.

They do sound awesome though when rev'd to 10k rpm though. Actually it is more of a sucking sound of air and gas.

 

[SagaLore]

wow, just wow.

You guys have awesome conversation skills. :hmm:

 

[DominionSeraph]

Uh no why? Where do you think natural gas comes from?

Oil and natural gas fields.

This is why you're retarded.

 

[Matthiasa]

Oil and natural gas fields.

This is why you're retarded.

And where did the oil and natural gas fields come from?
Hint it wasn't some wizard like you apparently believe.

 

[SagaLore]

Oil and natural gas fields.

This is why you're retarded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogas

With the many benefits of biogas, it is starting to become a popular source of energy and is starting to be utilized in the United States more. In 2003, the United States consumed 147 trillion BTU of energy from "landfill gas", about 0.6% of the total U.S. natural gas consumption.[26] Methane biogas derived from cow manure is also being tested in the U.S. According to a 2008 study, collected by the Science and Children magazine, methane biogas from cow manure would be sufficient to produce 100 billion kilowatt hours enough to power millions of homes across America. Furthermore, methane biogas has been tested to prove that it can reduce 99 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions or about 4% of the greenhouse gases produced by the United States.[28]


In Hereford, Texas, cow manure is being used to power an ethanol power plant. By switching to methane biogas, the ethanol power plant has saved one thousand barrels of oil a day. Overall, the power plant has reduced transportation costs and will be opening many more jobs for future power plants that will be relying on biogas.[30]

 

[Matthiasa]

You ruined it, I was trying to get him to figure it out that a wizard didn't do it.

 

[DominionSeraph]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogas

That only leaves 99.4% nonrenewable.

And where did the oil and natural gas fields come from?

And what do you think the problem with CO2 is?
Hint: It's not magically "bad" like you apparently believe.

Fucking idiots everywhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

 

[Matthiasa]

That only leaves 99.4% nonrenewable.



And what do you think the problem with CO2 is?
Hint: It's not magically "bad" like you apparently believe.

I do believe you have reading comprehension issues.
I in no way said it was inherently bad, though it can do bad things to people in high quantities.
Both CO2 and O2 levels are lower now then they had been in the distant past.

Where I live, if the north and south pole as well as all other glacial regions melt I would still be doing just fine.
It would also make winter safer and summer no worse.
And it's global climate change not global warming, get with facts.

Based on the on data from the past several hundred-thousand we are more then overdue for another one, that would be far worse than any slight increase in temperature.

 

[SagaLore]

That only leaves 99.4% nonrenewable.

Uh huh. So what percent is being contributed by algae oil?