REFORMING CHAMBER WITH CONSTANT ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TO GENERATE HYDROGEN

摘要

A circuit applies an electric field to a reforming chamber housing a hydrocarbon-water mixture to cause molecular breakdown and create a feed of hydrogen and carbon and dioxide that can be supplied to fuel cells. The circuit includes a DC-to-DC converter, a DC-to-AC inverter and a transformer to transform available input voltage to a control voltage that can be used to apply the electric field to the mixture in the reforming chamber. The signal supplied to the DC-to-AC inverter is monitored to determine whether enough voltage is supplied to create an electrical discharge in the reforming chamber. If an electrical discharge exists, the variables to the circuit is left alone or decreased until the signal indicates the electrical discharge is no longer present. If no electrical discharge exists, the variable input voltage is increased until an electrical discharge is detected.

主权项

1. An apparatus for maintaining an electrical discharge inside a reforming chamber that contains a chemical mixture, comprising:
a voltage supply configured to generate a variable voltage; a converter configured to reduce the variable voltage and provide an intermediary signal; a sensor configured to detect an operational parameter from the converter in the intermediary signal; and a processing device configured to determine if an electrical discharge is occurring in the reforming chamber based on the operational parameter detected by the sensor changing over time and control a setting of the variable voltage to maintain the occurrence of the electrical discharge based on the operational parameter changing over time.