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Pure Oxygen Engine

use an air separator to oxygen enrich input air
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This solves two problems and creates one and a half, the ionizing input air idea inspired it. Basically, there are these gadgets called "air separators" marketed by Shell-DEA. It's a membrane filter that can be used to create pure nitrogen by filtering out oxygen and water vapor. There are similar devices that do the same but produce oxygen. I am not sure how much energy it takes to drive air through these things but if you had highly oxygen enriched air it would increase combustion temperature and increase efficiency. If it were nearly pure O2, then there would be no nitrogen present to oxidize and there would be no NOx emmisions. The problem is not only the higher temperatures that the materials then have to take (high tech ceramics?), but the knocking of the motor. At running temperatures it is quite possible that gasoline would start burning directly after injection, or at least long before it should, so maybe other fuels would be better. Perhaps diesel, or even vegetable oil.
brewer, May 13 2004

oxygen enrichment http://www.halfbake...oxygen_20enrichment
Halfbaked: and it didn't do too well the first time... [ldischler, Oct 17 2004]

Oxy-fuel combustion http://en.wikipedia...Oxy-fuel_combustion
power plant with an oxygen-enriched gas mix [baconbrain, Mar 27 2008]


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Annotation:







       Good idea. I was just going to post an idea involving a tank of liquid oxygen, which would do the same thing. Sadly, it takes insanely low temperatures to create liquid oxygen, making your idea more realistic than mine. That gets my bun!
Shadow Phoenix, Aug 30 2007
  

       One word: Boom!
Alterother, Mar 27 2008
  

       Got a cite for the "Shell-DEA air separator" ?
FlyingToaster, Mar 27 2008
  

       By increasing the concentration of O2 you hope to get more power – good idea. Liquid oxygen, bad idea.   

       What is you were burning not oxygen (O2) but ozone (O3). I bet ozone reacts both more rapidly and more exothermically with gasoline than does O2. And ozone is pretty easy to make – create a spark in air and you got ozone. [Love that smell after a fresh summer thunder storm – yes, that is ozone] Now most cars still have a step-up transformer – called a coil back in the day. If we could tap high voltage to ionize the air and make ozone or at least add ozone to the air on the intake we are on the way. Think of this as a molecular super charger.
halb gekocht, Feb 06 2010
  

       //Now most cars still have a step-up transformer //
Even the diesel powered ones?
coprocephalous, Feb 06 2010
  


 

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