How Air 1 Works

Aqueous Injection Reactor (AIR) System Overview
The Air 1 system is a Patent Pending “Wet Scrubber” system which is designed to be used in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, for reducing exhaust emissions. The technology utilizes well understood principles of emission remediation used in coal fired steam generation as well as systems used in industrial processes to remove pollutants from chemical processing. The AIR 1 system utilizes a different methodology and chemistries that are better suited to mobile applications such as vehicles with ICE engines burning any tupe of fuel including gasoline, syngas, diesel and even hydrogen when using atmospheric oxygen / nitrogen.

The AIR 1 system utilizes electro coagulants, ionization, and catalysts to remove various pollutants from the burning of hydrocarbon-based fuels. In essence, the Air 1 system combines exhaust gas scrubber technology and water treatment technology. The chemistry and methodology of the Air 1 system utilizes a propylene glycol based aqueous solution and utilizes the waste heat from a typical automotive catalytic converter to produce steam. The principle is modeled after contaminated soil remediation science utilizing steam injection, liquid extraction, adsorption liquid processing, filtration and recycling.

There are also some similarities between the Air 1 system and the current diesel SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system used on diesel vehicles to reduce NOx emissions. SCR is a technology that uses a urea (ammonia) based diesel exhaust fluid (known as AdBlue or DEF) and a catalytic converter to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions only. While the ideas are similar, the Air 1 system uses a different methodology and chemistry.

The Air 1 system is a “Wet System” that relies on propylene glycol steam and condensation to reduce and remove and a much broader range of pollutants including particulates, petroleum hydrocarbons (PH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollutants including NOx as well as CO2, CO, VOC’s (Benzine, Formaldehyde, etc.) as well as fine particulates using a novel “Quench Reactor”, “Impingement Tube” and a “Wet Bed Reactor” (Known as “AIR” Aqueous Injection Reactors) along with a collection and “Solvent Processing Module” (SPM).The liquid aqueous solution is then cooled, filtered and recycled back into the system.

Think of the “AIR” reactors and the solvent processing module as the “Hardware” which allows flexibility to develop new liquid chemistries as well as new coagulants and filtration configurations within the scrubber as the scientific research and technology breakthroughs improve over time. The initial working fluid for the Air 1 system is composed of a proprietary mixture of distilled and deionized H2O + C3H8O2.

Other chemistries may be discovered in the future and be utilized using the Air 1 reactors and filtration system. Other promising liquid chemistries, such as ALF (Aluminum Formate) to capture CO2 create opportunities for future refining and tuning of the reduction and targeting of various emission pollutants. This flexibility allows for continued innovation and the application of new chemistries without rendering the Air 1 reactors and solvent processing module obsolete.

The working liquid in the Air 1 system is injected into the very hot exhaust steam within a “Quench Reactor” (QR) which is an expansion chamber and liquid injector nozzle to produce a very fine atomized steam within the exhaust flow from the catalytic converter.

This steam then enters a section of exhaust tubing called the “Impingement Tube” (IT)where the propylene glycol steam droplets continue to interact with and amalgamate the particulates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to produce smog. The large volume of steam droplets and its high affinity binds these pollutants to the steam droplets. The droplets begin to combine and coagulate as the steam cools.

As the exhaust cools to the liquid phase change temperature, the steam condenses back into liquid inside the “Wet Bed Reactor” (WBR) which is another expansion chamber with a second liquid injector. The WBR contains a stainless-steel matrix which has a large, wetted surface area to attract the atomized droplets and to further cool and condense the steam into liquid via evaporative cooling utilizing the Bernoulli principle yet offering little back pressure and resistance to exhaust flow. The reactor may be a stand-alone chamber located before the muffler or incorporated within the first chamber of a modified muffler.

This contaminated liquid is separated from the exhaust gas within the “Condenser Muffler” (CM). This muffler is designed to collect condensed contaminated liquid. The dry, cooled, and cleansed exhaust gas then exits the tail pipe into the atmosphere. A hose is connected to the liquid collection chamber in the muffler and is picked up and pumped to the scrubber system through the recovery pump for processing within the Solvent Processing Module (SPM).

The Solvent Processing Module (SPM) contains a series of treatment and filtration stages. The first stage is a process of electro-chemical oxidation known as “redox” (Oxidation-Reduction), KDF media is a zinc-copper alloy that removes 99.9% of heavy metals, nitrates, nitrites, arsenic, cadmium, lead, barium and hydrogen sulfide. The remaining stages neutralize or remove VOCs. These include activated carbon, and filtration stages designed to coagulate the contaminates and to filter the liquid through ionization, absorption, and adsorption stages to remove these particulates and coagulants by various chemical reactions throughout the scrubber system. Other contaminates are trapped by coagulation and adsorption in a removable filter cartridge located on the vehicle.

This cartridge must be replaced periodically for processing and recycling. An alert on the dash will remind the operator of the necessity for filter replacement. The frequency of filter replacement is dependent upon several factors including the size of the filter cartridge and the properties of the filter media.The final stage utilizes Magnesium Oxide pellets which neutralize the CO2 and reduce the acidity of the solution.

The clean recycled liquid returns to a reservoir tank ready to be pumped back into the Quench Reactor and Wet Bed Reactor to repeat the cycle. From a maintenance perspective, the system requires periodic replenishment of the liquid working fluid due to slippage and evaporation, however, the system is designed to reduce this loss as much as possible through efficient condensation and recycling of the liquid. The operator will be alerted if the reservoir needs fluid to be added.

The working fluid is crucial to the overall system function. It actually utilizes the CO2 captured from the exhaust gas and is used as a coagulant of other toxic VOC’s. These coagulated molecules are then trapped by the filtration process. Also, the CO2 in the solution reacts with the propylene glycol in the presence of a copper catalyst to produce Propylene Carbonate.

Propylene Carbonate is a polar aprotic solvent used as a “green” sustainable alternative solvent for chemical transformations. It is a low toxicity, biodegradable, non-corrosive colorless liquid with a high boiling point, low vapor pressure, and EPA VOC exemption. Due to its low vapor pressure and findings of negligible photochemical reactivity, Propylene Carbonate is an effective substitute for more hazardous solvents such a MEK, methylene chloride, toluene, acetone, NMP, and perchloroethylene. Propylene Carbonate is also compatible with other solvents providing an efficient ingredient in co-solvent formulations. It is widely used in the manufacture of paints, adhesives, coatings, surface cleaners, degreasers, strippers, and inks formulations as well as in lithium-ion batteries, as electrolytic solvent, and in the removal of carbon dioxide from natural gas.

Propylene Carbonate is listed in The Design for the Environment (DfE) Safer Chemistry Program by the EPA as a Solvent category and indicated by the Green circle, meaning the chemical has been verified to be of low concern for human and environmental health based on experimental and modeled data The Propylene Carbonate liquid may also require periodic changing, recycled and replenished with new fluid.

The system as designed will require a recycling infrastructure where the filtration cartridges are removed from the vehicle and deposited in a collection receptacle at the gas station. A new cartridge is then taken from a dispenser to install into the vehicle. This can be performed quickly and easily by the vehicle operator while the fuel tank is being filled. The cartridge is designed to prevent human contact with contaminated filter media.

 

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