1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to combustion processes, and more specifically relates to an apparatus for improving the efficiency and emissions of a combustion process such as an internal combustion engine.
2. Background Art
It has been observed that automobiles run better after a thunderstorm. It is believed that this phenomenon is primarily caused by the natural conditions that exist after an electrical storm, namely, the presence of ozone and an increase in the relative amount of negative ions in the air. These conditions increase the efficiency of the internal combustion process by increasing the density of the air charge or the quantity of air supplied to the cylinder during a single cycle and increasing the ozone which contains more oxygen than diatomic oxygen. The combination of a denser air charge and more oxygen increases the cylinder pressure, which increases the engine torque and horsepower output. By increasing the engine's ability to do work, less fuel is used to perform the same work as an engine in a normal situation.
The conditions observed after a thunderstorm last for only a short period of time because the concentration of ozone following a thunderstorm is very small (about 1 part per billion (ppb)), and the relative imbalance of negative ions quickly reverts back to the usual positive:negative ion ratio at the earth's surface. For a short time after a thunderstorm, however, engines run more efficiently and use less gasoline.
Introduction of ozone into a combustion chamber like the conditions after a thunderstorm have been attempted to increase the efficiency of the combustion by increasing the amount of oxygen into the combustion for a given volume of air. Devices to add ozone gas and charged ions to a combustion mixture in an internal combustion engine have been described in the prior art. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,982,484 issued to Runge, a distributor of an internal combustion engine is utilized to produce ozone gas which is then added to the combustion mixture flowing through an intake manifold of the engine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,844 to Persinger also describes improving the efficiency in an internal combustion engine by providing an ozone generator cell in the air supply to an engine. The ozone generator cell is a single tubular anode inside a tubular cathode that ionizes a relatively small volume of air to the engine.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art ozone generator used to enhance the efficiency of combustion. In FIG. 1, an ozone cell 110 is suitably disposed between the air intake 120 and a combustion chamber 130 to produce ozone and induce a charge in the air supply. In some prior art embodiments, the ozone cell incorporates a single flat plate for the cathode and a single flat plate for the anode, and in other embodiments, the ozone cell is a single tubular anode and a single tubular cathode. The tubular cells were also shown to be placed with other tubular cells in series. An electric source is applied between the anode and cathode of the ozone cells. The electric source on the anode and cathode creates an electric field that splits oxygen molecules in the ambient air, leaving two single, highly active atoms of oxygen that combine with other oxygen to produce ozone (O3). Ozone provides 50% more oxygen in its molecule, thereby providing faster and complete combustion, thereby providing more power to an engine.
While the foregoing devices to some extent may have accomplished their intended objectives, there is still a need to provide further improvement to the efficiency of an internal combustion engine. In particular, the prior art devices have not produced a sufficient volume of ozone (O3) to be effective. Without a way to improve combustion, the industry will continue to suffer from inefficiency and poor engine performance.