Abstract
A device (1) and method are claimed for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gas medium (3). The device incorporates a reaction vacuum chamber (2), designed to enable a gas medium (3) to be supplied therein, at least one thermal radiator (4), of which at least one emission spectral line of a medium (5), in the temperature range 350° C. to 1500° C., at least partially corresponds to the absorption spectral line of molecules of the gas medium (3). At least part of the volume of the vacuum chamber (2) is positioned in the zone of optical visibility of the radiator (4) and is a reaction volume (7) for the gas medium (3), in which reaction volume, as a result of resonance oscillations of molecules of the gas medium (3), excited by the radiator (4), at least partial dissociation of the gas medium (3) takes place. The device also incorporates a system (8) for drawing off at least one product of dissociation of molecules of the gas medium (3).
Claims
1. Device (1) for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gas medium (3), comprises a reaction vacuum chamber (2), designed to enable a gas medium (3) to be supplied therein, at least one thermal radiator (4), of which at least one emission spectral line of a medium (5), in the temperature range 350° C. to 1500° C., at least partially corresponds to the absorption spectral line of the molecules of the gas medium (3), wherein, at least a part of the volume of the vacuum chamber (2) is positioned in a zone of optical visibility of the radiator (4) and is a reaction volume (7) for the gas medium (3), in which reaction volume, as a result of the resonance oscillations of molecules of the gas medium (3), excited by the radiator (4), at least partial dissociation of the gas medium (3) takes place, a system (8) for drawing off at least one product of dissociation of molecules of the gas medium (3).
2. Device according to claim 1, further comprising a system (10) for separating products of dissociation of molecules of the gas medium (3).
3. Device according to claim 1, further comprising an optical filter (12) positioned between the radiator (4) and the reaction volume (7), and which filter primarily allows radiation corresponding to the at least one absorption spectral line of the gas medium (3) in the radiation temperature range of the radiator heated medium (5), heated to a temperature of between 350° C. and 1500° C., to pass through.
4. Device according to claim 1, in which a focusing device (14), designed to focus radiation from the heated medium (5) of the radiator (4) into the reaction volume (7), is fitted between the radiator (4) and the reaction volume (7).
5. Device according to claim 1, in which radiation from the radiator heated medium (5) is beamed radiation, the optical axis (15) of which passes through the reaction volume (7), wherein a concave reflector (16) is positioned on this optical axis (15), on the opposite side, relative to the reaction volume (7), from the heated medium (5) of the radiator (4), said concave reflector concentrating radiation (11) from the heated medium (5) of the radiator (4) into the reaction volume (7).
6. Device according to claim 1, in which both systems for drawing-off (8) and separating (10) products of dissociation are in the form of hollow tubular electrodes (18, 19), spatially separated from each other in the vacuum chamber (2) and connected up to channels (20, 21) for drawing off gas, which channels are at a lower pressure than the pressure in the reaction vacuum chamber (2), wherein a source of direct-current voltage (22), designed to maintain electrostatic separation of the products of dissociation of the gas medium (3), is connected up to the hollow tubular electrodes (18, 19).
7. Device according to claim 6, in which high-voltage electrodes (23) located in close proximity to the correspondingly charged hollow electrodes (18, 19), or inside said electrodes, are provided, and to which a high-voltage source of direct-current voltage, designed to maintain polarization of the molecules of the gas medium (3) in the reaction volume (7) while the molecules undergo dissociation, is connected up.
8. Device according to claim 1, where the reaction vacuum chamber (2) is equipped with a cooling system (13).
9. Device according to claim 1, in which the radiator (4) has a tank filled with a radiator heated medium (5) which contains a medium with the same chemical composition as the gas medium (3) supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber (2), wherein the reaction volume (7) is at least partially positioned in the zone of optical visibility of the radiator heated medium (5).
10. Device according to claim 9, where the tank has a device (25) for heating the radiator heated medium (5) and a device (26) for pressurizing the radiator heated medium (5) to a pressure above atmospheric pressure.
11. Device according to claim 9, where the tank of the radiator (4) is equipped with a means (9) for injecting the radiator heated medium (5) into the reaction vacuum chamber (2), as a means of feeding a flow of the gas medium (3) into the reaction vacuum chamber (2), wherein the radiator heated medium (5) is the gas medium (3).
12. Method for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gas medium, which method comprises A) provision of a gas medium (3), B) supply of the gas medium (3) to a reaction volume (7) of a vacuum chamber (2), C) subjecting the gas medium (3) in the reaction volume (7) to the influence of a thermal radiator (4), of which at least one emission spectral line of a medium (5), in the temperature range 350° C. to 1500° C., at least partially corresponds to the absorption spectral line of molecules of the gas medium (3), D) drawing off at least one product of the dissociation of molecules of the gas medium (3).
13. Method according to claim 12, according to which the radiator heated medium (5) is supplied to a radiator (4) with a tank, said radiator heated medium containing a medium with the same chemical composition as the gas medium (3) supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber (2), wherein the reaction volume (7) is at least partially positioned in the zone of optical visibility of the radiator heated medium (5), wherein the radiator heated medium (5) is maintained at a temperature of 350° C.-4500° C.
14. Method according to claim 13, where the gas medium (3) is water vapor.
15. Method according to claim 13, where the gas medium (3) is carbon dioxide.
16. Method according to claim 12, according to which at stage D), when at least one product of dissociation is drawn off, at least one product of dissociation is separated out with the aid of hollow tubular electrodes (18, 19), spatially separated from each other in the reaction vacuum chamber (2) and connected up to gas draw-off channels (20, 21) which are at a lower pressure than the pressure in the reaction vacuum chamber (2), wherein a source of direct-current voltage (22), designed to maintain electrostatic separation of the products of dissociation of the gas medium (3), is connected up to the hollow tubular electrodes (18, 19).
17. Application of the method according to claim 12 for one of the following purposes: for use in autonomous refueling/charging stations to receive, store and fill up/charge with hydrogen and electricity, for use in solar concentrators for converting solar heat into hydrogen, for storing energy and/or converting into electricity, in internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, for converting excess heat into hydrogen, in electricity-generating power stations operating on various types of fuel, for the recycling of heat in various production processes, for the production of hydrogen, for producing carbon black and oxygen from carbon dioxide, for converting electrical energy into hydrogen and storing energy in the form of hydrogen, in the operation of high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells, including for the recycling of generated heat and water vapor.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0032] The figures depict the following:
[0033] FIG. 1— basic functional diagram of the claimed device,
[0034] FIG. 2—basic functional view of one of the embodiments of the claimed device,
[0035] FIG. 3—schematic depiction of the cross section of the reaction vacuum chamber according to one of the embodiments of the claimed device,
[0036] FIG. 4—schematic depiction of the cross section of a tubular electrode,
[0037] FIG. 5—schematic depiction of the cross section of a tubular electrode containing a high-voltage electrode,
[0038] FIG. 6—basic functional diagram of an alternative embodiment of the claimed device with identical composition of gas medium and radiator heated medium.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0039] FIG. 1 is a basic functional diagram illustrating the operation of the device for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gas medium. The device is a reaction vacuum chamber 2, into which, via an inlet channel 9, a gas medium 3, to be subjected to dissociation, is supplied. The supply of a flow of gas medium is notionally designated by arrow 6 in FIG. 1. A radiator 4, which radiates thermal energy in the range 350° C. to 1500° C., is notionally depicted in the right-hand section of the chamber 2. The thermal energy radiated by the radiator 4 is notionally depicted as a wavy line 11 in FIG. 1. A prerequisite is that at least one emission spectral line of the radiator 4, in the temperature range 350° C. to 1500° C., at least partially corresponds to the absorption spectral line of the molecules of the gas medium 3 present in the vacuum chamber 2. Another prerequisite is the positioning of at least a part of the volume of the vacuum chamber 2, containing the gas medium 3, in the zone of optical visibility of the radiator 4. This area in the zone of optical visibility is notionally designated by line 7 in FIG. 1, however, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the reaction volume 7 expands to fill virtually the entire internal volume of the reaction vacuum chamber 2, into which the radiation 11 of radiator 4 enters. In the reaction volume 7, by virtue of the resonance oscillations of molecules of the gas medium 3, excited by the radiator 4, as described above, dissociation of the gas medium into individual products of dissociation occurs, said products of dissociation being drawn off from the chamber 2 by a system 8 for drawing off at least one product of dissociation, which system is notionally shown in FIG. 1.
[0040] FIG. 2 depicts one of the possible embodiments of the device for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gas medium. The device 1 incorporates a reaction vacuum chamber 2 which has a cylindrical gas impermeable housing made of steel. The chamber 2 may be of a different shape and the chamber walls may be of a different material. An inlet channel 9 is provided in the central part of the cylindrical wall of the chamber 2 for the supply of the gas medium 3 to the chamber 2. The direction of supply of the gas medium to inlet channel 9 is schematically depicted by the arrow 6. The outlet port of the inlet channel 9, said outlet port being positioned on the inside of the chamber 2, has a diameter of 200 μm. The outlet port may have a diameter of between 50 and 1000 μm. Additionally, the outlet port may be in the form of an atomiser, or a divergent nozzle. The vacuum chamber 2 is designed with the ability to maintain therein a below-atmospheric pressure, in a range between 10.sup.−5 mbar and 500 mbar, preferably in a range between 10.sup.−3 mbar and 50 mbar, by means of an evacuation pump (not shown) connected up to the chamber 2. The system 8, for drawing off at least one product of dissociation of molecules of the gas medium 3, is positioned in the bottom part of the chamber 2. The draw-off system 8 can be placed in any position in the chamber 2, and said position is determined by the products of dissociation of molecules of the gas medium 3. For instance, when carbon dioxide is dissociated into oxygen and carbon, the carbon being precipitated as a deposit in the bottom part of the chamber 2 can be drawn off by the system for drawing off carbon, at the same time as the system for drawing off oxygen could be positioned in the top part of the chamber (not shown). Henceforth, operation of the device will be shown using the example of dissociation of water vapour. A system 10, for separating products of dissociation of the gas medium 3, is connected up in series to the draw-off system 8, in which separation system a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen are separated using known methods for separating one gas fraction from another, for instance by subjecting said mixture to the action of centrifugal forces. The separation system 10 is depicted schematically in FIG. 1 and is optional for the claimed device.
[0041] The radiator 4, which has a radiation medium 5, is depicted schematically in the right-hand section of FIG. 2. The heated radiation medium 5 radiates thermal energy, in the range 350° C. to 1500° C., in a flow designated in FIG. 2 as a dashed line 11, running in the direction of the chamber 2, through an optical filter 12, along the radiation flow axis 15. The optical filter 12 is fitted in the left-hand part of the radiator, between the radiator itself and the chamber 2, and is made of sapphire (Al.sub.2O.sub.3), said optical filter could, for instance, be a suitable band-pass filter supplied by the company Edmunds Optics. A focussing device 14 is fitted in the right-hand end part of the chamber 2, in the wall thereof, coaxially to the radiation flow axis 15 of the radiator 4, in order to focus the radiation 11 of the radiator 4 towards the reaction volume 7. The focussing device 14 is a lens manufactured from a material which allows at least one emission spectral line of the radiator, in the temperature range 350° C. to 1500° C., to pass through, said emission spectral line at least partially coinciding with the absorption spectral line of the molecules of the gas medium 3. The material of the focussing device 14 can be the same as the material of the optical filter 12. The presence of the focussing device 14 is optional. In order to further intensify irradition of the reaction volume 7 using the radiation 11 of the radiator 4, a concave reflector 16, which concentrates the radiation 11 into the reaction volume 7, is positioned on the optical axis 15, on the side opposite, relative to the reaction volume 7, from the radiator 4. The concave reflector 16 is positioned concentrically relative to the optical radiation-flow axis 15 of the radiator 4, which radiation in turn passes through the reaction volume 7. The presence of the concave reflector 16 is optional.
[0042] According to one other embodiment of the invention, the radiator 4 has a tank filled with a radiator heated medium 5 which contains a medium with the same chemical composition as the gas medium 3 supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber 2. Furthermore, the reaction volume 7 is at least partially positioned in the zone of optical visibility of the radiator heated medium 5. This embodiment of the invention corresponds to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, with the exception of the optical filter 12, the presence of which is not anticipated by this embodiment of the invention (not shown), since the radiator heated medium 5 has virtually the same emission spectral lines as the absorption spectral lines of the molecules of the gas medium 3. If water vapour is used as the gas medium 3 and the radiator heated medium 5, practically all the energy used to heat the water vapour in the tank of the radiator 4, for instance solar energy (not shown in FIG. 2), is radiated, in effect, at the same frequencies at which water vapour in the reaction vacuum chamber 2 absorbs energy most efficently. As a result of these resonance oscillations of molecules of water vapour, excited by the radiator 4, the water vapour undergoes dissociation in the vacuum chamber 2, into oxygen and hydrogen which are drawn off by the draw-off system 8 and subsequently separated into oxygen and hydrogen by the system 10 for separating the products of dissociation.
[0043] Alternatively, a medium, which has the same chemical composition as the gas medium 3 supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber 2, can be used as the radiator heated medium 5, said medium additionally containing an inert gas, for instance, argon.
[0044] FIG. 3 is a schematic depiction of the cross section of the reaction vacuum chamber 2 according to one of the embodiments of the claimed device. For ease of interpretation, the radiator and the system for drawing off the products of dissociation of the gas medium are not shown. Unlike the chamber 2 depicted in FIG. 2, two hollow tubular electrodes 18 and 19 are provided in the central part of the cylindrical side wall of the chamber 2 and are positioned in the same transverse plane as the gas-medium inlet channel 9 and perpendicularly to said inlet channel, in diametrically opposing positions relative to each other, each of said hollow tubular electrodes being connected up to gas draw-off channels 20 and 21 respectively. The pressure in the gas draw-off channels 20 and 21 is maintained at a level which is lower than the pressure in the reaction vacuum chamber 2, in order to create corresponding flows for the drawing off of products of dissociation of the gas medium from the chamber 2. The preferred positioning of the end parts of the electrodes 18 and 19 in the chamber 2 is along either side of the reaction volume 7. The gas-medium inlet channel 9 is positioned in a plane which passes through the cross section of the chamber 2 and the centres of the end sections of the electrodes 18 and 19, in order to supply the gas medium to an area of the reaction volume 7 which is located between the electrodes. As a result, the gas medium 3 supplied from inlet channel 9, enters directly into the reaction volume 7, which is where dissociation of the molecules of the gas medium 3 takes place, and correspondingly separation and drawing off of the products of dissociation, along the tubular electrodes 18, 19. An electric isolator 17 (not shown) is positioned between the walls of the chamber 2 and each of the tubular electrodes 18, 19, wherein the first tubular electrode 18 is connected up to the positive terminal of a direct-current source 22, while the second tubular electrode 19 is connected up to the negative terminal of the direct-current source 22. The difference in charges of the electrodes 18 and 19 ensures electrostatic separation of the products of dissociation of the gas medium 3. If water vapour is used as the gas medium, then oxygen will be evacuated through the first tubular electrode 18 which is positively charged, while hydrogen will be evacuated through the second tubular electrode 19 which is negatively charged. Furthermore, the products of dissociation which form as a result of the dissociation process (charged ions) will transfer their charge to the correspondingly charged electrodes, making it possible, simultaneously with the dissociation process, to generate electrical energy at the electrodes. In FIG. 3, a concave reflector 16 is positioned in the left-hand end part of the chamber 2, while a focussing device 14 is positioned in the right-hand end part of the chamber 2, said focussing device being a converging lens made of a material which allows radiation from a radiator, within the claimed temperature range indicated above, to pass through. In order to cool the chamber 2, channels 13 are provided in the walls thereof, said channels carrying coolant in a spiral around the circumference of the walls of the chamber 2, for the purpose of cooling the chamber.
[0045] FIG. 4 is a schematic depiction of the cross section of the tubular electrode 19 with the gas draw-off channel 21 and the top end part of the electrode, which top end part is round in cross section and is positioned perpendicularly to the gas draw-off channel 21. The end surface of the end part of the electrode is provided with a plurality of holes 19a which become narrower towards the gas draw-off channel 21. This makes it possible, on the one hand, to significantly increase the area of the working surface of the electrode and, on the other hand, by virtue of pointed projections formed by the edge sections of the narrowing holes 19a, to provide a localised increase in electrical potential on the end part of the tubular electrode 19.
[0046] The other tubular electrode 18 (not shown) is of the same design. According to this embodiment of the invention, both systems for drawing off and separating the products of dissociation of a gas medium are in the form of the hollow tubular electrodes described above.
[0047] FIG. 5 is a schematic depiction of an alternative embodiment of the electrode 19 containing a gas draw-off channel 21. According to this embodiment, unlike the embodiment depicted in FIG. 4, an additional cylindrical electrode is fitted in the gas draw-off channel 21, coaxially to same, and with a gap relative to the inside of the end surface of the end part of the electrode 19, said additional cylindrical electrode forming a high-voltage electrode 23 which is designed to be electrically isolated from the electrode 19 itself. While the tubular electrode 19 is itself connected up to a direct-current source 22 (not shown), the high-voltage electrode 23 of same is connected up to a high-voltage source of same-polarity voltage (not shown), which makes it possible to increase the efficiency of electrostatic separation of the products of dissociation of the gas medium.
[0048] FIG. 6 is a basic functional diagram illustrating the operation of an alternative embodiment of the claimed device, wherein the compositions of the gas medium 3 and the radiator heated medium 5 are the same. According to this embodiment, the reaction vacuum chamber depicted in FIG. 3 can be used, in which reaction vacuum chamber, however, the gas-medium inlet channel 9 is not positioned in the side wall of the housing of the chamber 2, as is shown in FIG. 3. Instead, the inlet channel 9 is in the form of an opening in the focussing device 14 depicted in FIG. 3, said opening being 50 to 1000 μm in diameter. In said FIG. 3, the focussing device 14 is a part of the separating wall between the internal volume of the vacuum chamber 2 and the tank of the radiator 4. In this way, the radiator 4 abuts against the vacuum chamber 2. The focussing device 14 is in the form of a converging lens made of sapphire or calcium fluoride, which allows radiation to pass through in the range 350° C. to 1500° C.
[0049] Alternatively, as indicated in FIG. 6, in place of the focussing device 14, it is possible to use the optical filter 12 which also allows radiation from the gas medium, heated in the tank of the radiator 4 in the aforementioned temperature range, to pass through. A device 26 for pressurising the radiator heated medium 5, is connected up to the tank of the radiator 4 via a tank inlet port 27. The radiator heated medium 5, in this embodiment of the invention, is identical, in terms of its composition, to that of the gas medium 3 and is supplied to the pressurising device 26 in the form of a flow of a gas medium 6. The movement of the heated medium 5, from the pressurising device 26 into the heater and from the heater into the vacuum chamber 2, is notionally depicted by arrows in FIG. 6. A charge pump, or any other device capable of increasing pressure in the tank of the radiator 4, can be used as the pressurising device 26. The pressurising device 26 creates an elevated pressure in the tank of the radiator 4, in the range 2 to 100 bar. The gas medium, delivered under pressure into the tank of the radiator 4, is heated. Heating of the gas medium in the tank of the radiator 4 can be carried out, either by using a separate heating device 25, such as a high-frequency Hertzian radiator or an electric radiator, or alternatively, an external source of thermal energy, for instance high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells, including for the recycling of heat and water vapour emissions, can be used as the heating device, as well as solar radiation, thermal energy generated during the operation of an internal combustion engine, or when any process involving excess heat generation is being carried out.
[0050] In experiments conducted for the purpose of implementing the method, according to one of the embodiments of the claimed invention, a device corresponding to that depicted in FIG. 6, was used. The gas medium 5, in this case water vapour, was heated in the tank of the radiator 4 by the heating device 25, which is in the form of a heating coil made of nichrome, up to a temperature of 900° C. and pressure was maintained at a level of around 20 atmospheres. The thermal radiation of this gas medium, heated under pressure, passing through the focussing device (the focussing lens made of sapphire) 14, was concentrated in the reaction volume 7, and having been reflected off the concave, gold-coated and polished reflector 16, was once again focused into the reaction volume 7. Dissociation of water vapour was observed in the reaction volume, both with the reflector 16, and without said reflector, therefore the presence of the concave reflector 16 is optional. A 100-micron diameter opening in the focussing device was used as the inlet channel 9. As an alternative to the positioning of the gas-medium inlet channel 9 in the focussing device 14, as depicted in FIG. 6, the inlet channel 9 can be positioned in the separating wall, between the radiator 4 and the chamber 2, outside the focussing device 14 (not shown), or can be fed in through a tubular channel connecting the tank of the radiator 4 with the internal volume of the chamber 2, close to the reaction volume 7 (not shown). According to this embodiment of the claimed device, the flow 6 of gas medium, passing through the pressurising device 26, enters the tank of the radiator 4 at high pressure, and from there, via the inlet channel 9, into the inner cavity of the reaction vacuum chamber 2. Dissociation of the gas medium 3 takes place in the reaction volume 7, as a result of being subjected to radiation from the same gas medium, being however at a high pressure in the tank of the radiator 4. A prerequisite for implementing the process of dissociation of a gas medium is the positioning of the reaction volume 7 at least partially in the zone of optical visibility of the gas medium being heated in the tank of the radiator 4. The products of dissociation of the gas medium 3 are drawn off from the reaction volume through tubular electrodes 18 and 19, as represented in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6.
REFERENCE DESIGNATIONS
[0051] 1 Device for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gas medium [0052] 2 reaction vacuum chamber [0053] 3 gas medium [0054] 4 radiator [0055] 5 radiator heated medium [0056] 6 flow of the gas medium 3 [0057] 7 reaction volume [0058] 8 system for drawing-off the products of dissociation of the gas medium 3 [0059] 9 inlet channel of the gas medium 3 [0060] 10 system for separating the products of dissociation of the gas medium 3 [0061] 11 radiation of the radiator 4 [0062] 12 optical filter [0063] 13 system for cooling the reaction vacuum chamber [0064] 14 focussing device [0065] 15 radiation flow axis of the radiator 4 [0066] 16 concave reflector [0067] 17 tubular electrode isolator [0068] 18 first tubular electrode [0069] 19 second tubular electrode [0070] 19a holes in the end part of the tubular electrode [0071] 20 gas draw-off channel of the first tubular electrode 18 [0072] 21 gas draw-off channel of the second tubular electrode 19 [0073] 22 source of direct-current voltage [0074] 23 high-voltage electrode [0075] 25 device for heating the heated medium 5 [0076] 26 device for pressurising the radiator heated medium 5 [0077] 27 inlet port of the tank of the radiator 4
