Thermochemical conversion of fuels into hydrogen-containing gas using recuperative heat of internal combustion engines

The problem of the thermochemical recuperation of heat from the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines (ICEs) as a method of increasing of the efficiency of fuels has been considered. The thermodynamic analysis of thermochemical recuperation conditions was performed, and maximum efficiency conditions were determined. Catalysts for the steam conversion of oxygen-containing fuels into syngas were developed, and the Co-Mn/Al₂O₃ catalyst was shown to be the most promising. The model of a thermochemical heat recuperation system was developed and manufactured, and its bench tests in the conversion of alcohols were performed using the simulated exhaust gases from a heating device. Mathematical models for calculating units of the heat recuperation system were developed. A recuperation system was manufactured and tested in the ICE-free and ICE-integrated variants. Based on the test results, the equivalent fuel consumption characteristics of a recuperative ICE was revealed to decrease by 11–22% depending on its load with a decrease in the concentration of hazardous emissions by 8–12 times for CO, 2–3.5 times for CH, and 18–25 times for NO _x .