Hydrogen fuel generator

Abstract

A mechanism that efficiently produces oxyhydrogen gas (HHO) in stoichiometric proportions, said mechanism operating by the electrolysis of water whereby one electrode stack measuring approximately 2¼″×2¼″ with approximately 100 sq. in. of total surface area produces over 4 liters per minute of HHO gas using 12 volts dc at 30 amps current at atmospheric pressure and 50% to 100% HHO output increase as vacuum is increased.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/269,021 filed on Jun. 19, 2010, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is a direct and liner relationship between the amount of hydrogen produced and the amount of electrical input up to 12 volts at 30 amps. After this point hydrogen output is increased much less than the electrical input and the process becomes inefficient.

In hydrogen-on-demand automotive hydrogen generator systems, the limited “extra” power that can be drawn from the automotive electrical system without interfering with the automobile's dependability is a limiting factor determining the amount of hydrogen that can be produced. Virtually all automobiles can spare 30 amps without affecting the dependability of the vehicle.

It is well established that the more hydrogen injected into an internal combustion engine, the more benefit gained. 5 liters per minute of HHO gas will operate a one liter engine at idle on HHO gas alone without using any other fuel if the engine timing is retarded appropriately. The best existing HHO generators are flat plate construction, operate at atmospheric pressure and produce only 2 to 3 liters per minute of HHO gas without overloading the vehicle's electrical system or incorporating complicated and expensive electronics.

At this time, the best automotive hydrogen-on-demand fuel system generators are using flat plate generators at atmospheric pressure. Flat plate generators need approximately 1,000 square inches of surface area produce 2 to 3 liters per minute of HHO fuel with 12 volts dc at 30 amps current. Our generator achieves a greater output without electronic enhancement with 100 sq. in. of surface area at atmospheric pressure, and can double this output under vacuum. Existing flat plate units are large and bulky, hard to install, expensive to build, have foaming problems, quickly generate brown sludge, cannot withstand high vacuum and require complicated, expensive electronics to increase output.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The generator construction described herein provides a simple, inexpensive and yet reliable, long-lived hydrogen generation apparatus. The use of cone shaped electrodes, and vacuum especially facilitates the production and collection of hydrogen gas in this system.

This discovery and mechanism for achieving this level of HHO output at this low electrical input without electronics will substantially affect the industry due to greater HHO output with the same limited electrical input available from existing automotive electrical systems, cheaper construction, simpler installation and superior performance.

Unique Features

• • Stacked conical shaped electrodes cause a percolation action which causes hydraulic action inside the electrode which provides quicker electrode surface cleaning & unit cooling.
  • Resonate oscillation in the production cycle is controlled by orifice size and electrode spacing to maximize hydraulic action and hydrogen output.
  • A vacuumized production chamber gives greater hydrogen yields
  • The close spaced conical electrodes Isolate heat from the generator electrolyte by channeling hot gasses through the top of the cone and quickly out of the generator.
  • This generators design and hydrogen production method allows substantially reduces electrode size for a given output compared to traditional units.
  • This generator focuses electrolysis to internal electrode surfaces which accelerates percolation action, more efficient use of electrical power and substantially greater hydrogen production per square inch of electrode surface area.
  • Compartmentalized conical electrode stacks isolate the current flow to only the electrodes internal producing surfaces. This minimizes current loss to non-producing electrode surfaces and surrounding electrolyte.
  • The generator is smaller in size with less material than existing units producing the same amount of hydrogen; therefore it is cheaper to manufacture.
  • The unit is easier to install because it is very much smaller than equal output traditional units.
  • The unit can be used with straight DC or with a PWM.

Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the features in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The summary is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the claims attached hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention, in accordance with one or more various embodiments, is described in detail with reference to the following figures. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict typical or example embodiments of the invention. These drawings are provided to facilitate the reader's understanding of the invention and shall not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the invention. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration these drawings are not necessarily made to scale.

Some of the figures included herein illustrate various embodiments of the invention from different viewing angles. Although the accompanying descriptive text may refer to such views as “top,” “bottom” or “side” views, such references are merely descriptive and do not imply or require that the invention be implemented or used in a particular spatial orientation unless explicitly stated otherwise.

In FIG. 1, the cone shaped electrode stack is pictured. The bottom electrode is the cathode and the top electrode is the anode. The plates between the anode and cathode are neutral. Each plate is separated by a dielectric material approximately 0.006 thick. A ¼″ hole is drilled in the top of each electrode to channel gasses produced. Other holes may help increase production of oxyhydrogen gas.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the electrode construction The individual electrodes are stacked 2½ oz. stainless steel cone shaped cups, each with 20 square inches of surface area. A stack of six of these cone cups yield the optimum production of hydrogen producing 4-5 liters per minute of HHO gas at 12 volts and 30 amps. The overall size of the stack is only 2¼ inches wide and 2¼ inches tall. FIGS. 3 and 4 show individual cone shaped cups. Picture E shows a complete electrode stack with dielectric spacers, gas flu and anode and cathode wire connections in place in front of a generator housing. FIGS. 5 and 6 show an assembled generator with a lower electrolyte feed, an upper gas vent and anode and cathode electrical connections in place. If vacuum is used, it is drawn on the upper gas vent.

FIGS. 5-7 show a prototype vacuumized unit. It produces triple the oxyhydrogen gas produced by comparable non-vacuum plate generators using 12 volts dc at 30 amps current. This unit is a substantially simpler, cheaper construction that is smaller and easier to install than existing HHO generators. Without vacuum, this unit will produce double the oxyhydrogen gas of comparable existing plate generators.

The figures are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It should be understood that the invention can be practiced with modification and alteration, and that the invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

From time-to-time, the present invention is described herein in terms of example environments. Description in terms of these environments is provided to allow the various features and embodiments of the invention to be portrayed in the context of an exemplary application. After reading this description, it will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art how the invention can be implemented in different and alternative environments.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. All patents, applications, published applications and other publications referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. If a definition set forth in this section is contrary to or otherwise inconsistent with a definition set forth in applications, published applications and other publications that are herein incorporated by reference, the definition set forth in this document prevails over the definition that is incorporated herein by reference.

Within this device and method for separation of water into hydrogen and oxygen gasses through resonation and oscillation, the conical shaped electrodes cause internal fluid and gasses to clean the electrode surfaces quickly of the gas bubbles as formed. Additionally this cleaning effect cools the stack quicker for more efficient operation and increased hydrogen generation with less electricity. Our work has revealed that a negative pressure or vacuum within a hydrogen generator production chamber increases HHO gas production substantially over existing atmospheric pressure generators. We use the internal combustion engine intake manifold vacuum to vacuumize the hydrogen generator for greater HHO production in all generators.

The surface cleaning makes more electrode surface area produce new gas more of the time and substantially increases hydrogen output over traditional generators. The resonation enables greater hydrogen production while using less power on smaller electrode surfaces, therefore the generator size is smaller and costs less to manufacture than other equal output generators available at this time. A negatively pressurized (vacuumized) production chamber gives substantially greater hydrogen production output per electrical input than existing non-vacuum units.

The conical shaped electrodes channel gasses inside the electrodes. This helps cause a hydraulic action inside the electrode which brings new electrolyte onto internal hydrogen producing surfaces quicker. These channeled gasses isolates the heat from surrounding electrolyte which causes cooler generator operating temperatures which in turn causes more efficient use of available electrical energy.

It is to be understood that the described arrangement is only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. Numerous other modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or other configuration for the invention, which is done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that can be included in the invention. The invention is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desired features can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning and configurations can be implemented to implement the desired features of the present invention. Also, a multitude of different constituent module names other than those depicted herein can be applied to the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams, operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the steps are presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments be implemented to perform the recited functionality in the same order unless the context dictates otherwise.

Although the invention is described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features, aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead can be applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the other embodiments of the invention, whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not such features are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” should be read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term “example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or “an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or the like; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,” “standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, where this document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass those apparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in the future.

A group of items linked with the conjunction “and” should not be read as requiring that each and every one of those items be present in the grouping, but rather should be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction “or” should not be read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, but rather should also be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, although items, elements or components of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated to be within the scope thereof unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “at least,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of the term “module” does not imply that the components or functionality described or claimed as part of the module are all configured in a common package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of a module, whether control logic or other components, can be combined in a single package or separately maintained and can further be distributed across multiple locations.

It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the invention. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments are not to be considered essential features of those embodiments, unless the embodiment is inoperative without those elements.

Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described in terms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations. As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their various alternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustrated examples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying description should not be construed as mandating a particular architecture or configuration.

Claims

1. A cone electrode hydrogen fuel generator for producing a stoichiometric mixture of oxyhydrogen gas; and

a vacuumized generator chamber for producing oxyhydrogen gas.

2. (canceled)