Method and apparatus for reducing pollutants
DCFirst Claim
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1. A method for improving the performance of a catalytic converter in a gas flow stream produced from the combustion of fuel, the method comprising:
- positioning at least a portion of a device, which generates ozone in ambient air, into the gas flow stream;
providing a high frequency current to the device;
exposing at least a portion of the gas flow stream to the effects of the device;
positioning the catalytic converter such that at least a portion of the catalytically active material is downstream of the device; and
passing at least a portion of the gas flow stream exposed to the effects of the device through at least a portion of the catalytic converter, thereby improving the catalytic converter'"'"'s reduction of at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided for improving the conversion efficiency of a catalytic converter for treating exhaust gases produced from the combustion of a fuel to at least reduce pollutants from incomplete combustion, wherein the reduction in pollutants is achieved by the introduction of ozone, upstream from the catalytic converter, to improve the efficiency of the catalytic converter.
65 Citations
318 Claims
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1. A method for improving the performance of a catalytic converter in a gas flow stream produced from the combustion of fuel, the method comprising:
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positioning at least a portion of a device, which generates ozone in ambient air, into the gas flow stream;
providing a high frequency current to the device;
exposing at least a portion of the gas flow stream to the effects of the device;
positioning the catalytic converter such that at least a portion of the catalytically active material is downstream of the device; and
passing at least a portion of the gas flow stream exposed to the effects of the device through at least a portion of the catalytic converter, thereby improving the catalytic converter'"'"'s reduction of at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method comprising:
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positioning at least a portion of a generator, which generates ozone in ambient air, in the exhaust passageway;
providing high frequency current to the generator;
positioning catalytically active material in the exhaust passageway such that at least a portion of said material is located downstream from the generator. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method for reducing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of diesel fuel in a diesel engine of a motor vehicle having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the diesel engine, the method comprising:
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channeling at least a portion of the exhaust gas stream through the exhaust passageway;
positioning at least a portion of a generator, which generates ozone in ambient air, in the exhaust passageway;
providing a power supply which supplies power to the generator, the power supply using approximately 0.01% to approximately 0.1% of the rated engine power;
positioning catalytically active material in the exhaust passageway, such that at least of a portion of which is located downstream from the generator;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the effects of the generator; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material located downstream from the generator thereby decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. A method for decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in a spark-ignition internal combustion engine of a mobile vehicle having an exhaust passageway for conducting the exhaust gas from the engine, the method comprising;
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channeling at least a portion of the exhaust gas stream through the passageway;
positioning at least a portion of a generator, which generates ozone in ambient air, in the exhaust passageway;
providing a power supply which supplies power to the generator and uses approximately 0.01% to about 0.1% of the rated engine power;
positioning catalytically active material in the exhaust passageway, at least a portion of which is located downstream from the generator;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the effects of the generator; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material located downstream from the generator thereby decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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75. A method for decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method comprising;
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positioning at least a portion of an electric discharge device in the exhaust passageway upstream of at least a portion of catalytically active material;
providing high frequency current to the electric discharge device;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the output of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material, thereby decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109)
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110. A method for improving the performance of a catalytic converter to decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method comprising:
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positioning at least a portion of an electric discharge device in the exhaust passageway upstream of at least a portion of the catalytically active material of the catalytic converter;
providing high frequency current to the electric discharge device;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the output of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material of the catalytic converter, thereby improving the catalytic converter'"'"'s capability of decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen. - View Dependent Claims (111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122)
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- 116. The method according to 111 wherein the catalytic converter includes noble metals.
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123. A method for improving the performance of a catalytic converter to decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method comprising:
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positioning at least a portion of an electric discharge device in the exhaust passageway;
providing high frequency current to the electric discharge device substantially whenever the engine produces exhaust gases;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the output of the electric discharge device;
positioning a catalytic converter in the exhaust passageway such that at least a portion of the catalytic material is positioned downstream of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material of the catalytic converter in the absence of any reducing agent added to the exhaust gases in the exhaust passageway to thereby improve the catalytic converter'"'"'s capability of decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143)
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144. A method for decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method comprising:
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positioning at least a portion of at least one electric discharge device in the exhaust passageway;
providing electrical power to the electric discharge device having a frequency of at least about 1,000 Hertz;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the output of the electric discharge device;
positioning in the exhaust passageway catalytically active material at least a portion of which is not exposed to the output of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material. - View Dependent Claims (145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 317, 318)
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173. A method to decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method comprising:
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positioning at least a portion of an electric discharge device in the exhaust passageway;
providing high frequency current to the electric discharge device substantially whenever the engine produces exhaust gases;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the output of the electric discharge device;
positioning catalytically active material in the exhaust passageway such that at least a portion of the catalytically active material is positioned downstream of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material in the absence of any reducing agent added to the exhaust gases in the exhaust passageway to thereby decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194)
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195. A method for improving the performance of a catalytic converter to decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method consisting essentially of:
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positioning at least a portion of an electric discharge device in the exhaust passageway upstream of a substantial portion of the catalytically active material of the catalytic converter;
providing high-frequency current to the electric discharge device substantially whenever the engine produces exhaust gases;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the output of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material of the catalytic converter, thereby improving the catalytic converter'"'"'s capability of decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen. - View Dependent Claims (196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205)
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206. A method for decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method consisting essentially of:
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positioning at least a portion of at least one electric discharge device in the exhaust passageway;
providing a power supply which supplies high-frequency current to the electric discharge device substantially whenever exhaust gases are produced by the engine;
positioning catalytically active material in the exhaust passageway, at least a portion of which is located downstream from the electric discharge device;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the output of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material located downstream from the electric discharge device to thereby decrease at least one pollutant consisting of the group of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212)
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213. A method for decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of diesel fuel in a diesel engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the diesel engine, the device comprising:
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positioning at least a portion of an electric discharge device in the exhaust passageway;
providing high-frequency current to the electric discharge device substantially whenever the engine produces exhaust gases;
positioning catalytically active material in the exhaust passageway such that a substantial portion is located downstream of the electric discharge device;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the output of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material in the absence of any reducing agent added to the exhaust gases in the exhaust passageway to thereby decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226)
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227. A method to decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in a spark-ignition internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for communicating the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method comprising:
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channeling at least a portion of the exhaust gases through the exhaust passageway;
positioning at least a portion of an electric discharge device in the exhaust passageway;
supplying the electric discharge device with a high-frequency current substantially whenever the engine produces exhaust gases;
positioning catalytically active material in the exhaust passageway such that a substantial portion of the catalytically active material is located downstream from the electric discharge device;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases in the exhaust passageway to the output of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material in the absence of any reducing agent added to the exhaust gases in the exhaust passageway to thereby decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238)
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239. A method for decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine having an exhaust passageway for channeling the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine, the method comprising:
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positioning an electric discharge device in the exhaust gas stream;
providing a power supply which supplies power to the electric discharge device wherein the power supply uses approximately 0.01% to approximately 0.1% of the rated engine power;
positioning catalytically active material in the exhaust passageway, at least a portion of the catalytically active material positioned downstream from the electric discharge device;
exposing at least a portion of the exhaust gases to the output of the electric discharge device; and
passing at least a portion of the exposed exhaust gases through at least a portion of the catalytically active material positioned downstream from the electric discharge device to thereby decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration. - View Dependent Claims (240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246)
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247. A device for decreasing at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine, comprising:
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an exhaust passageway for channeling at least a portion of the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine;
a generator, which generates ozone in ambient air, located in the exhaust passageway;
a power supply, which supplies high frequency current to the generator; and
catalytically active material, wherein at least a portion of the catalytically active material is located downstream from the generator. - View Dependent Claims (248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281)
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282. A device for improving the performance of a catalytic converter to decrease at least one pollutant selected from the group consisting of products of incomplete combustion of fuel and oxides of nitrogen from a first concentration to a second lower concentration in an exhaust gas stream containing exhaust gases formed from the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine, comprising:
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an exhaust passageway for channeling at least a portion of the exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine;
a generator, which generates ozone in ambient air, located in the exhaust passageway;
a power supply, which supplies high frequency current to the generator; and
a catalytic converter having catalytically active material, wherein at least a portion of the catalytically active material is located downstream from the generator. - View Dependent Claims (283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316)
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Specification