Reduced NOx Using On-Board Plasma Generated Hydrogen

Off road diesel powered equipment (i.e., tractors, dozers, excavators, backhoes, surface equipment, etc.) are designed with lifetimes of more the 25 to 30 years. As such, most of the diesel equipment in use today were manufactured before there were any emission standards at all, much less are up to stringent requirements of modern vehicle emissions. In order to combat this massive source of pollutants a technology which can be retrofitted onto existing equipment which reduces pollutant (in particular NOx, CO and unburned hydrocarbons) is a immediate necessity. The addition of hydrogen in the combustion chamber creates a stronger reducing environment during combustion, inhibiting the formation of NOx and CO. It has been demonstrated that by adding 14% hydrogen to the fuel, air mix reduces all emissions by an order of magnitude. Lynntech is proposing to generate the hydrogen in situ in the fuel line. This simplifies installation and makes operation transparent to the operator. Lynntechs reformer also preferentially shortens the average hydrocarbons chain length of the fuel passing through the chamber. This results in further reduction of NOx, reduction of unburned HC as well as increased fuel economy (aiding to offset the small parasitic loss required to operate the plasma reformer). Lynntech has more the 6 years experience in the field of plasma reformation, with particular emphasis on converting JP-8 or diesel fuel into a hydrogen rich (80-90 vol %) gas stream. This technology has evolved at Lynntech into a process that is simple, compact, efficient, and can be integrated into existing engines with virtually no changes to the operation of the vehicle, other than reduced emissions. Lynntech has already demonstrated the scalability of the plasma process from 15 kW and operates on a variety of fuels with no change in functionality or degredation in performance. The commercial potential for this technology is impressive: in addition to the more than 2 million pieces of diesel powered equipment in the US construction industry alone, there are other industries such as material handling (i.e., loaders, unloaders in the port industry, forklifts, etc.) and stationary diesel equipment. The plasma reforming process is so effective that Lynntech is currently in discussions with ArvinMeritor to develop the system as an alternative to urea based selective catalytic reduction (SCR). Arvin Meritor currently markets a plasma based on-board hydrogen generation system for emission reduction, but Lynntechs system yields much higher grade hydrogen (80-90 vol %) with fewer ancillary gasses.