KUMARAGURU COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF MECHATRONICS

ALTERNATE FUELS FOR IC ENGINES

Submitted by J. Anto Marshal B. Rajesh Kumar

Introduction:

Presently the costs of the petrol and diesel have hiked so much that within three to five years we are going to starve for those things. So its a primary response of every individual in using the petrol and diesel efficiently. So instead using the petrol and the diesel which are non renewable resources we, the crew have found an alternate for it i.e. petrol and diesel. Its to use the resources like hydrogen, brown gas and oxy hydrogen that are available in a large amount. Vehicle costs are high, and the U.S. currently lacks the infrastructure to produce and widely distribute hydrogen to consumers. Lightduty vehicles, such as cars, and pickup trucks, are responsible for 44 percent of the oil used in the United States and over 20 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted.

About hydrogen In Brief:

The shift toward hydrogen fuel would not have a large impact on oil usage or greenhouse gas emissions until hydrogen vehicles make up a significant portion of the market. If hydrogen vehicles eventually took over the market, there would be great decreases in both, although the overall effect on greenhouse gas emissions would depend upon how the hydrogen fuel was produced. Silicon Nanotubes - Why they are for? After powering the micro-electronics revolution, silicon could carve out an important new role in speeding the debut of ultra-clean fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen, researchers in China suggest. Their calculations show for the first time that silicon nanotubes can store hydrogen more efficiently than their carbon nanotube counterparts. They found that, in theory, silicon nanotubes can absorb hydrogen molecules more efficiently than carbon nanotubes under normal fuel cell operating conditions.

"Silicon Nanotube as a Promising Candidate for Hydrogen Storage: From the First Principle Calculations to Grand Canonical Monte Carlo Simulations"

Ethylene Suggested For Hydrogen Storage:

Ethylene (or IUPAC name ethene) is the simplest alkene hydrocarbon, consisting of four hydrogen atoms and two carbon atoms connected by a double bond. Ethylene, is the building block of the most common plastic, might have an exciting future in storing hydrogen, the hoped-for transportation fuel of the future. New research reported by scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Turkey's Bilkent University makes the surprising prediction that "ethylene, a well-known inexpensive molecule, can be an important basis in developing frameworks for efficient and safe

Results of modeling studies indicate that attaching titanium atoms (blue) to the ends of an ethylene molecule (yellow-green) will result in a capsule-shaped complex that absorbs 10 hydrogen molecules (red). The results open a new avenue in the pursuit of materials that will enable efficient solid-state storage of hydrogen. (Image courtesy of NIST)

The team's calculations show that attaching titanium atoms at opposite ends of an ethylene molecule (four hydrogen atoms bound to a pair of carbon atoms) will result in a very attractive "two for" deal. The addition of the two metal atoms results in a net gain of up to 10 hydrogen molecules that can absorb onto the ethylene-titanium complex, for a total of 20 hydrogen atoms. As important, the engineered material is predicted to release the hydrogen with only a modest amount of heating.

The absorbed hydrogen molecules account for about 14 percent of the weight of the titanium-ethylene complex. That's about double the Department of Energy's minimum target of 6.5 percent for economically practical storage of hydrogen in a solid state material. Although significant challenges stand in the way, solid state storage is preferred to storing hydrogen as a liquid or compressed gas, both of which require large-volume tanks.

Oxygen Sponge Saves Energy During The Production Of Plastics Dutch researcher Bart de Graaf has developed a solid oxygen carrier, a sort of oxygen sponge. The oxygen from the sponge reacts with hydrogen to produce water.

Hydrogen is released during the conversion of ethane and propane to ethylene and propylene, raw materials for the production of plastics. The oxygen sponge only reacts with the hydrogen released and not with other compounds in the

chemical reaction, such as ethane and propane. This allows more starting materials to be converted in one cycle and makes the separation of the starting material and product both easier and cheaper. This new process therefore saves a lot of energy.

The majority of ethylene and propylene is made from ethane and propane, produced during the cracking of crude oil. Ethane and propane are converted into ethylene and propylene plus hydrogen in a reactor vessel at a very high temperature.

Unfortunately, this chemical reaction is an equilibrium reaction. This means that although ethylene and propylene are formed, the starting materials are not completely used up in the reaction. The product produced is therefore contaminated. It costs a lot of energy to separate the starting materials and products, and to return the starting materials left to the reactor

Bart de Graaf developed a process which directly removes one of the products from the equilibrium reaction. Using an oxygen sponge to convert the hydrogen released into water allows the reaction to continue until most of the starting materials have been used up. Browns Gas: So-called Brown's Gas is a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gas prepared by electrolyzing water. Brown's Gas has also been

proposed as a fuel for internal combustion engines and as an input gas for fuel cells. In electrolysis the output rate is a function of the molecular weight of the product, its valency and the total current passing through the electrolytic cell. One Faraday is that amount of current which will produce one gram.mole of a product with a valency of one. To split water, H2O, into H2 and O2 takes two Faradays per mole, that is two Faradays will convert 18 grams (about 0.635 oz) of water into Brown's Gas. "Does Brown's Gas implode ?" Among the "wonderful" properties of "Brown's Gas" is that when ignited it doesn't explode, it implodes. That is, the reaction product has a smaller volume than the initial gas mixture Brown's Gas is that you get if you electrolyze water and keep the resulting hydrogen and oxygen mixed together. One is that it would be extremely hazardous to store any large quantity of Brown's Gas, either at atmospheric pressure or in compressed form. A spark, or the presence of any material which catalyzes the hydrogen/oxygen reaction, will cause a devastating explosion. The second comment is that all the energy which comes from burning Brown's Gas was put into it by the electrical energy used to electrolyze the water.

Oxy-Hydrogen:
The next step of reducing the usage of the diesel and petrol is the use of OXYHYDROGEN. Pure hydrogen can be stored safely, but Oxy-Hydrogen is HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE and CANNOT BE STORED SAFELThe OxyHydrogen generator is made from clear 1.5" diameter PVC pipe. The pipe is

sealed on the top and bottom by pipe thread adapters and screw-on 1.25" PVC caps.

The bottom cap has two stainless steel bolts with washers and nuts attached (see below). The top cap has a "barb fitting" which allows rubber surgical tubing to be attached. The gas flows to a second vessel which is filled with water and open at the top. A piece of copper tubing is attached to the surgical tubing and bent at the angles shown. It is VERY important that the oxy-hydrogen be

discharged into water as shown to prevent a spark from igniting the mixture in the Oxy-Hydrogen generator. If the mixture in the generator were to ignite, it would rupture the PVC pipe, showering caustic solution everywhere

The Generator is filled halfway with a solution of potassium hydroxide and water. You must wear gloves and safety glasses when working with any caustic solutions, as they eat through skin and eyes! The potassium hydroxide acts as an electrolyte, permitting current to flow through the water.

The first step is outfitting the bottom cap for use. You must first get two 2.5" stainless steel bolts. We used 10-24 size bolts. Thread stainless steel nuts and washers on the bolts in the pattern shown above. Hold the bolts as close to each other without the washers touching, and record the distance between the two. Remove the washers and nuts from the bolts. Drill two holes in the cap (just smaller than the diameter of the bolts) with the same spacing that you measured between the bolts in the last step. Now you can screw the bolts into the drill holes in the bottom of the cap. Tapping the drill holes with the proper

size tap makes this easier. Thread the bolts and washers on the bolts again as before. You should glue the bolts into place to prevent leaking.

Now you can attach the cap to the PVC tube. We glued (1.5" pipe to 1.25" pipe thread) adapters on to both ends of

the tube to make it easy to take the generator apart. We then screwed the caps on when the glue on the adapters was

dry. The top cap is a 1.25" pipe thread adapter with a barb fitting adapter screwed into it. At this stage it is

important to check for leaks. Fill the generator with water. With your thumb over the barb fitting hole, turn the unit upside down and look for drips.

Here is the assembled unit shown with the surgical tubing attached and the copper tubing under water to preven

generator itself. The power supply is a 12 volt DC, 25 amp radio shack power supply. A 12 volt battery charger, car solar panel can be used, also. Keep the Oxy-hydrogen away from any sparks which might happen when you attach

Please note that the power supply MUST be DC! AC will NOT work! Before turning on the device, make sure y

glasses on! When you turn on the power supply, the Oxy-Hydrogen will start bubbling in the generator. For appr

the gas coming out of the copper tube will contain mostly residual air from the space in the generator and the surg

this in a well ventilated area, and NEVER WALK AWAY FROM THE GENERATOR WITH THE POWER TUR were to build up in an enclosed area, it could cause a nasty explosion002E

After donning our earplugs and face shields, we attached a SMALL (deflated) sandwich bag to the end of the copper tube (with a rubber band) in the water tank. After it was full of Oxy-hydrogen, we attached it to a LONG stick and held it over a candle flame. Boom!