Physics:Dynamic combustion chamber

The Dynamic Combustion Chamber is an engine that allows for the combustion of gases in a vacuum or under pressure, eliminating the production of air pollutants. Combined with a clean renewable source of electricity, the Dynamic Combustion Chamber would serve as a battery to store and discharge electricity when needed. This would fill in the gaps that sources of electricity such as wind and solar have during different time periods, and replace peaker plants or fossil fuel based power plants which supply electricity to the grid when there is a shortage.

How it works

Hydrogen and Oxygen gas are fed into a vacuum inside a chamber. The hydrogen is combusted with oxygen to form water and heat. A heat exchanger is inside the chamber to remove the heat from the chamber. The heat exchanger has water inside which is boiled to make steam. The steam can be used to create electricity through a turbine and generator, or it can be used as a source of heat. The water created in the chamber can be recycled for creating steam or for electrolysis.

Prototypes

SOG R&D Corporation, the company which holds the patents on the Dynamic Combustion Chamber, has contracted the Hydrogen Production and Utilization Laboratory at University of California, Davis to perform the testing. A lab bench scale model was built and verified that it produced steam and also that there were no pollutants formed during the process.

Advantages and disadvantages

Typically combustion based engines use the air as their source of oxygen. The problem with using air is that it contains other gases than oxygen. Gases such as nitrogen react with oxygen at high temperatures to form pollutants. By moving the combustion reaction inside a vacuum and using pure oxygen, there are no pollutants formed during the reaction.

Requiring pure oxygen limits the portability and usability of the Dynamic Combustion Chamber. A vehicle would need to carry a tank of hydrogen and oxygen. Competing technologies such as Fuel Cells can use hydrogen and air, however using air instead of pure oxygen makes fuel cells less efficient. Considering the need for pure oxygen as well as hydrogen, hydrolysis or splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, seems to be the most practical source of reactants.

To generate electricity a turbine with a generator is necessary. A fuel cell can generate electricity directly, removing extra moving parts. Since fuel cells do not have any moving parts they do not lose energy to friction. Fuel cells generate heat as well as electricity which reduces their efficiency.

Potential uses

Just like other engines the Dynamic Combustion Chamber needs a source of fuel. There has been some controversy about whether hydrogen technology actually reduces pollution or just moves it to a more central source such as a power plant. By using clean renewable sources such as wind or solar, hydrogen can be produced without any pollution. This hydrogen can be transported or consumed later when needed. This adds to the portability and usability of an electricity source. Commonly in the electrical grid there are base load power plants and peaker plants.Using hydrogen as an energy storage medium would reduce emissions as peaker plants are particularly inefficient.

See also

• Dynamic demand (electric power)
• grid energy storage
• Electric power transmission
• Energy demand management
• Hydrogen Economy

References

http://sograndd.com/news.html

Fitzgerald, Michael (6/25/06). "Invention has huge potential" http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060625/OPED0301/606250357/-1/OPED03