| 摘要 |
The engine has at least one combustion chamber 11 with an inlet port 15 for primary combustion air, means, eg injector 19, to introduce primary fuel and an exhaust port 16. A secondary high calorific value vaporised fuel may be supplied to the inlet manifold by apparatus 30 which may include an electrically heated reservoir (50, fig.3). The method includes (a) introducing secondary air into the exhaust system 24, (b) mechanically acting upon the secondary air and products of combustion in the exhaust system 24, in the presence of a catalyst, to produce a reformed fuel, and (c) introducing the reformed fuel into the combustion chamber 11 for combustion with primary fuel and primary air. The secondary air may be introduced using an aspirator device 26 having a valve (35, fig.2) which opens and closes sharply so that the secondary air is introduced in strong pulses which act mechanically on the secondary air and products of combustion in the exhaust system 24 to produce the reformed fuel, eg hydrogen and methanol. The aspirator device 26 may be connected to the exhaust manifold 23 by a tube 32 of catalytic material, eg copper or cerium. A period of valve overlap between the exhaust and intake strokes allows some exhaust gases and the reformed fuel to be drawn back into the combustion chamber. |
