Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a reactor, particularly a reactor that can take water (H2O) as a source of fuel and generates heat therefrom. The invention also relates to applications of such a reactor, and a method of generating heat from water.

Background to the Invention

Fuels are materials that store potential energy that can be used for work and/or to generate heat energy. Many fuels are so- called dossil fuels', being fuels formed by natural processes, and include carbon, e.g. coal, oil and natural gas. They are considered non-renewable resources. Burning them also generates hazardous by-products that contribute to environmental issues, such as so-called global warming.

Nuclear energy is considered a cleaner source of energy but its use of radioactive materials makes it hazardous and expensive to derive energy and to dispose of the depleted materials.

Hydrogen fuel cells are becoming more popular, utilising the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction. The cells take a long time to produce hydrogen using an electrical current, slowly breaking the bonds in water to separate the constituent gases. The Hydrogen gas is also hazardous to store, being highly explosive, and fuel cells tend to be of no or limited use if large amounts of work or heat is needed.

Summary of the Invention

A first aspect of the invention provides a reactor comprising: an enclosed chamber defined by at least one surrounding wall, having an inlet into the chamber; a heater source arranged in use to heat the chamber to a predetermined minimum temperature of approximately 536 degrees centigrade; and a pump connected to the inlet, arranged in use to inject a liquid into the chamber inlet.

Applicant has identified that by such a reactor, being heated to the predetermined temperature, is effective to cause thermal expansion of water molecules, causing them to break into their constituent hydrogen and oxygen gases. Given that the self- ignition temperature of hydrogen is below this, ignition of the hydrogen occurs upon separation in the presence of oxygen. This raises the temperature even further. The reactor therefore offers a way of generating cleaner energy using water as the source of the fuel, which has many applications to be discussed later on.

The pump may be arranged to inject water (H2O) into the chamber inlet . The chamber wall(s) may be formed of tungsten.

The pump may be arranged in use to inject liquid only when the predetermined minimum temperature is reached. The reactor may further comprise a temperature sensor arranged to measure the temperature of gas within the chamber, and wherein the pump is automatically controlled so as to inject the liquid when the sensor measures the predetermined minimum temperature. The heater source may be arranged to be an integral part of the reactor, and may be arranged to be removed from the chamber wall (s) responsive to the measured gas temperature within the chamber reaching a predetermined second temperature. The predetermined second temperature may be greater than 2000 degrees centigrade. The predetermined second temperature may be between, substantially, 2500 and 2800 degrees centigrade. For an integral heater, one or more bores may extend within the chamber wall(s), and the heater may comprise at least one electrically heatable rod shaped and arranged in use to locate at least partially within the or a corresponding bore to heat the wall (s ) .

The rod(s) may be supported on a carriage arranged to move the rod(s) relative to the chamber wall(s) to effect removal.

The chamber may have a selectively openable outlet to allow the release of combustion gases.

The reactor may further comprise a condenser in fluid communication with the chamber outlet for condensing at least a part of the released gases into liquid, and a pipe for transmitting the condensed liquid back to the pump.

The chamber may comprise at least one elongated passage extending from the inlet to the outlet. The elongated passage may be substantially spiral-shaped.

The chamber may be formed of plural spiral-shaped passages, arranged side-by-side with the end of one spiral-shaped passage being in communication with the inlet of an adjacent spiral- shaped passage.

A reactor system may be provided, comprising the reactor of any preceding definition, and a water delivery system, wherein the water delivery system comprises a pump for delivering pressurised water and a valve for controllably permitting water to travel through the reactor inlet.

A propulsion engine may be provided, comprising the reactor or reactor system according to any preceding definition, wherein the reactor is provided with an exhaust through which gases are emitted .

Plural independent combustion chambers may be provided within the reactor, each having an inlet and exhaust outlet.

An electricity generating system may be provided, comprising: the reactor or reactor system according to any preceding definition; a holder for holding a volume of water; and a turbine, wherein the reactor or reactor system is arranged in use to generate heat from a quantity of injected water thereby to heat the water holder to create steam from the water, and to drive the turbine using the created steam. A second aspect of the invention provides a water fission reactor, comprising: an enclosed combustion chamber having a surrounding casing, an inlet, an outlet and a space or passageway between the inlet and outlet; a water delivery unit; a heater source arranged in use to apply heat to the chamber wall(s) to a minimum temperature of approximately 536 degrees centigrade; wherein, in use, the water delivery unit is arranged to inject a quantity of water through the chamber inlet at or after the minimum temperature is reached thereby to cause thermal expansion and division of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen and, subsequently, ignition of hydrogen.

A third aspect of the invention provides a method of generating heat from water using a reactor in the form of an enclosed chamber defined by at least one surrounding wall, having an inlet into the chamber, the method comprising: (i) heating a reactor chamber to a predetermined minimum temperature of approximately 536 degrees centigrade; and (ii) injecting or inserting a quantity of water into a chamber.

Step (ii) may comprise injecting pressurised water into the chamber .

Step (ii) may be performed only when the predetermined minimum temperature is reached.

The method may further comprise ceasing heating the reactor chamber responsive to the measured gas temperature within the chamber reaching a predetermined second temperature.

The predetermined second temperature may be greater than 2000 degrees centigrade. The predetermined second temperature may be between, substantially, 2500 and 2800 degrees centigrade. The method may further comprise mechanically removing the source of heat to the reactor chamber.

The source of heat may be external and/or comprise one or more heating rods located on a movable carriage, and wherein mechanical removal comprises moving the carriage away from the reactor .

The method may further comprise selectively opening an outlet to release combusted gas from the chamber.

The method may further comprise condensing collected gases back into water, which may be used, for example, in water purification . The method may further comprise re-feeding at least some of the condensed water back into the chamber inlet.

A fourth aspect of the invention provides a method of water fission to cause hydrogen and oxygen gases to separate, comprising: preheating an enclosed combustion chamber to a minimum temperature of approximately 536 degree centigrade; introducing a quantity of water into the combustion chamber thereby causing it to expand thermally within the enclosed chamber, to separate into hydrogen and oxygen gases, and then to self-ignite.

A method of providing a propulsion engine may be provided, comprising: causing combustion of hydrogen gas derived from water using the reactor defined in any preceding definition; and exhausting the combusted gas through one or more outlet nozzles in a given direction.

A method of generating electricity may be provided, comprising: causing combustion of hydrogen gas derived from water using the reactor defined in any preceding definition; applying heat derived from said combustion to a holder for holding a volume of water to create steam; and directing the steam to drive an electricity turbine.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of components of a liquid delivery system and reactor according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary reactor according to the invention; Figures 3a and 3b are partial exploded views of the reactor of Figure 2;

Figures 4a and 4b are perspective views of a plate forming part of the reactor of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an exploded side view of the reactor of Figure 2; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a propulsion engine employing a reactor according to the invention;

Figures 7a - c are different views of the Figure 6 engine;

Figures 8a - b show a second embodiment reactor.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiment ( s )

Embodiments herein relate to an apparatus and method for deriving energy from water (H2O) as a source of hydrogen gas. Particularly, there is described a reactor, being a body enclosing within its walls a combustion chamber, within which an introduced amount of water can be made, by virtue of heat and increased pressure due to the resulting thermal expansion of the molecules, to separate into constituent atoms, hydrogen and oxygen. This is due to the preheated temperature of the chamber walls, discovered to be substantially 536 °C or above, which causes the introduced water molecules to undergo thermal expansion by absorbing the heat from the walls. This thermal expansion is approximately 1700 times the volume of the water as introduced, resulting in the water rapidly changing into steam vapour, then supercritical steam, and then into the separate hydrogen and oxygen gases.

During the separation process, the pressure within the reactor chamber is found to rise to 2500 psi or above. At this pressure and temperature, combustion of the hydrogen gas in the presence of oxygen takes place and the resultant energy in the form of heat will burn at approximately 2500-2800 °C due to the 2:1 ratio of hydrogen to oxygen. Preheating typically requires an external heater, e.g. an electric heater, to raise the chamber, or its interior wall temperature to 536 °C or above. Heating can, alternatively or additionally, be done using any heating source capable of reaching at least the stated temperature of at least 536 °C, e.g. using an external acetylene torch to apply heat to the external wall of the reactor. Once combustion initiates, the external heater can be switched off and removed from the chamber. The heat generated by the reactor can sustain the heat required for subsequent combustion for newly-introduced water, which may be condensate made by condensing the exhaust gases already produced by the combustion chamber.

It is known that increasing the pressure on a liquid raises its boiling point. In the case of water, this has led to the development of the super-critical water heater; a device capable of heating water to hundreds of degrees above the 100 °C boiling point. The reactor described herein is arranged to take water well beyond the super-critical stage to that of separating the water molecules into the separate gases of hydrogen and oxygen, i.e. fission. The continuation of the process will release heat energy.

Rather than by applying pressure to the water before it enters the reactor, the pressure can be generated within the reactor chamber by thermal expansion. This is as a result of pre-heating the reactor chamber. It has been discovered that pre-heating to approximately 536 °C or above is required. In embodiments to be described, one way of doing this is to introduce a plurality of electrical heating elements, e.g. rods, into bores within the wall or walls surrounding the reactor chamber. Other methods of pre-heating are possible. As the water, which can be cold water, enters into the combustion chamber, heat is transferred from the pre-heated walls to the water molecules to cause extreme thermal expansion. The water will expand approximately 1700 times its volume when going from a liquid to a gaseous state, and so in theory only a small amount of water is required, between 1 ml to 10 ml per minute, for example. This is also beneficial as the less water required to ignite, the less thermal heat loss will occur during the ignition sequence and the molecules will reach ignition temperature sooner.

The initial temperature of the reactor chamber will be above the self-ignition temperature of hydrogen. Therefore, at the point the hydrogen and oxygen molecules separate, combustion of the hydrogen in the presence of oxygen will occur.

In preferred embodiments, the reactor, particularly its wall(s) are formed of tungsten, which has a sufficiently high melting point. Other materials, e.g. composites, with similar melting point properties can be used. With tungsten, at least, the generated heat of the ignited hydrogen is partially absorbed into the wall(s) taking it to an operating temperature of around 2500-2800 °C. At this point, or shortly after, the heater can be switched off, and in preferred embodiments, removed from its contact with the reactor. Typically, heating elements, particularly electrical ones, are not able to withstand such temperatures . In some embodiments, the reactor can self-sustain, because the heat being generated by the hydrogen is approximately five times more than is required to cause the expansion, splitting and ignition of the water molecules being introduced. The reactor can continue to run until the source of water is cut. The exhaust gas from the reactor can be employed to drive a turbine, for example, and then cooled, condensed back into water, and fed back to the reactor input. Within a sealed system, no additional fuel may be required to operate. The same molecules can in theory be used again. The energy is generated by the separation and recombining of hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

The reactor has no moving parts and therefore overcomes the many disadvantages of conventional engines, for example. There is no friction within the reactor itself.

The temperature of the reactor itself can be used as a heater. The exhaust gases can also be used to drive a turbine, either directly or by heating a separate body of water to create steam which drives the turbine to generate electricity. The reactor can form part of an engine, e.g. a jet-propulsion engine, by virtue of exhausting the gases through one or more nozzles. Referring to Figure 1, a reactor 107 in accordance with the invention is shown at the end of a water delivery system. The structure of an exemplary reactor 107 will be described later on. The water input system comprises a high pressure pump 100, a needle valve 101, a non-return valve 102, a coil 104 connected to a pressure gauge 103, and an emergency release valve 105.

The high pressure pump 100 takes water and supplies it under pressure to the rest of the system. The needle valve 101 controls the amount of pressurised water that will be supplied, and can be manually or computer -controlled. The non-return valve 102 permits only one-way flow towards the reactor 107. The pressure gauge 103 measures and indicates the water pressure within the pipe between the non-return valve 102 and the reactor 107. The coil 104, also known as a pressure gauge siphon, is used to protect the gauge 103 from high-temperature media and rapid pressure changes. The emergency release valve 105 limits the water pressure to a maximum level by opening if it gets too high.

Initially, the pressure could be 1 pound per square inch (PSI) .

As will be explained, once water has entered the reactor chamber, the pressure will increase, the non-return valve 102 will close and, at that point, a higher pressure will be needed than the internal pressure in the reactor 107 to feed further water past the non-return valve 102 until the chamber pressure drops again.

The pump 100 therefore preferably provides a minimum delivery pressure of 2500 psi, at least subsequent to the initial water delivery, and possibly higher.

The pressurised water is delivered through an inlet 108 of the reactor 107, so as to enter an interior combustion chamber of the reactor at the appropriate pressure and amount. The combustion chamber is indicated schematically by the dotted lines. A temperature gauge 106 is configured to sense the temperature of the combustion chamber wall or walls. The temperature gauge will likely be electric or electronic with a tungsten probe, or using a thermal imaging device.

A heater 111 is employed to pre-heat the reactor's chamber to a minimum temperature . One or more of the components shown in Figure 1 can be controlled by feedback data from one or both of the pressure gauge 103 and temperature gauge 106. Referring to Figure 2, an embodiment of the reactor 107 is shown. The reactor 107 is formed of tungsten material, and comprises a cylindrical body 110 formed here of separate multiple plates 112 arranged side-by-side between end caps 114. A central axis X-X is shown, through which passes a central shaft 116, which can be an M20 studding bar. The shaft 116 is retained at each end by an M20 nut 118.

As will be explained in further detail, the plates 112, in their central region or 'core' each comprise a spiral passage that when joined as shown provides a longer passage forming the internal combustion chamber. Outside of the central core of each plate 112, the material is solid, save for an arrangement of equally—spaced bores 119 that run parallel with X-X. Each bore 119 is arranged to house in use a respective heater rod 120 which can be inserted and withdrawn into and from the bore 119 by a carriage.

The heater rods 120 form part of an electric heater that, when inserted as shown in the Figure, heat the tungsten material surrounding the core which therefore heats the relatively narrow spiral passages to the required temperature of at least 536 °C, prior to water being delivered from the pump 100. Reference numerals 122, 124 indicates two British Standard Pipe (BSP) unions which provide inlet and outlet apertures into the combustion chamber.

Referring to Figures 3a and 3b, the structure of the reactor 107 is better understood. There is provided at one end an inlet plate 130, which is a disk-like tungsten plate having on one face only an open spiral channel in the central core region. The inlet aperture 131 extends through a bore to the innermost terminating point of this spiral channel. At the other end, there is provided an outlet plate 132 with a spiral (on the hidden side) that similarly communicates with the outlet aperture 133.

Between the inlet and outlet plates 131, 132 are arranged seven disk-like tungsten plates 134, 135, alternately arranged with inward and outward spiral channels respectively.

Figures 4a and 4b show the respective plates 134, 135 in more detail, and for ease of explanation are referred to hereafter as "inward plate 134" and "outward plate 135".

Each inward plate 134 has a spiral channel 140 machined within one side, extending between an inlet opening 142 at the outermost terminating point and an outlet opening 144 at the innermost point. Each outward plate 135 has a spiral channel 152 machined within one side, extending between an inlet opening 152 at the innermost terminating point and an outlet opening 154 out the outermost point. When the inward and outward plates 134, 135 are arranged side- by-side as shown in Figure 3a, therefore, a continuous channel is provided extending through the core of the reactor 107, with the inlet and outlet plates 131 and 132 extending the channel to between the inlet and outlet points 131, 133.

In this way, a narrow, elongate channel extends through the core, permitting water that passes along the channel to absorb heat from the surrounding heated walls as the molecules travel. The diameter of the channel is such as to ensure the correct pressure, with the length appropriate to allow the sufficient heat absorption to break the molecules down into the constituent hydrogen and oxygen gases and ignite. The use of spiral passages further allows the reactor 107 to be compact in size. Referring to Figure 3b, each of the plates 114, 130, 132, 134, 134 has a bore 160 passing through the central axis X-X through which the shaft 116 is inserted. The plates, 114, 130, 132, 134, are welded together to form a complete, solid structure. More specifically, the plates, 114, 130, 132, 134 are seam welded to ensure sealing and adds strength, as are the seams around thermal conductive sleeves 162, to be mentioned below.

Each of the plates 114, 130, 132, 134, 134 also has eight smaller bores 119, spaced-apart and equally distributed around the core, passing through their outer periphery. As mentioned above, these bores 119 are shaped and dimensioned to receive the heater rods 120 which heat the tungsten material to heat the walls of the combustion chamber formed by the elongate channel. Respective thermal conductive sleeves 162 may be provided within the outer bores 119 to protect the heater rods 120.

Figure 5 shows the above-described components in side-view. It will be seen that the core region 170 on one-side of each of plates 130, 134, 135 is slightly raised, so as to locate with a correspondingly-shaped recess in the face which it joins, to provide a sealing fit.

As mentioned previously, the reactor 107 in operation is first pre-heated to 536 °C or above by the heater rods 120 when they are located within the bores 119. The heater rods 120 are connected to the ^' electric heater 111, supplied by an external source of electricity. The temperature gauge 106 indicates the internal temperature of the combustion chamber within the core. When the gauge 106 indicates that the required minimum temperature of 536 °C is reached, water is introduced using the pump 100 into the inlet aperture 131. As the water enters, thermal expansion occurs rapidly and the ¾0 molecules split into hydrogen and oxygen gases; because the temperature is beyond the self-ignition point of hydrogen, combustion takes place in the presence of the oxygen, producing significant heat and raising the chamber temperature upwards in the order of 2500 - 2800 °C or above. Exhaust gases travel outwards through the outlet 133 and, if desired, can be cooled and condensed back into water, e.g. for re-use via the pump 100.

The rise in temperature caused by hydrogen combustion means that the application of the external heat source will not be required. Indeed, to protect the heater rods 120, the heater 111 is arranged such that the rods 120 are mechanically extracted from the reactor 107 by linearly withdrawing them from the bores 119 along axis X-X. The heater 111 for this reason may be located on a carriage that is automatically controlled to move away from the reactor 107 in response to the chamber reaching a predetermined temperature. This may be performed under computer control .

In terms of practical applications, the reactor 107 can be a heat source, e.g. for heating large spaces, simply using water as its source. The reactor 107 can be used to drive a turbine, i.e. by the heat being applied to a body of water with the steam created being used to drive the turbine in the conventional manner. Alternatively still, the reactor 107 can be employed within an engine.

In the following, an example of a similar reactor being employed in an engine is described with reference to Figures 6 and 7. A jet-type propulsion engine 200 is shown in Figure 6. A reactor 201 is formed in much the same way as that shown in the foregoing figures, save for the fact that the reactor comprises a plurality of separate combustion chambers within the reactor body. These may be formed as cylindrical chambers that are distributed around, and parallel with, the central axis X-X, or multiple spiral channels, each formed separately within the welded plates. A pipe 202 provides the pressurised water from the source, as previously indicated in Figure 1, which is then distributed substantially equally using a hub 204 among six feed pipes 206 to respective inlets 208 to the respective combustion chambers, one of which 209 is shown in dotted lines. Exhaust gases generated within the chambers 209 are released in operation out of respective jet nozzles 210.

In operation, as before, the reactor combustion chambers 209 are pre-heated before the injection of water. An amount of water is then introduced, and the result is that the constituent gases are split and the hydrogen ignites. The temperature rises to in the order of 2500 - 2800 °C before being ejected at high velocity from the exhaust nozzle 210. This becomes usable thrust. At this time, the energy created by the chambers 209 will also heat the body of the reactor 201 the heater can be switched off.

Effectively, the usual process by which engines operate is provided, namely intake, compression, ignition and exhaust. The intake stage is when the body of the engine 200 is pre-heated and water introduced at pressure. Compression occurs due to the sudden expansion of the water into superheated steam. Ignition occurs due to the extreme pressure and temperature the water molecules are subjected to, causing them to separate into hydrogen and oxygen. The continuation of the process will release heat energy. Exhaust, or fission, occurs when the chamber reaches 2500 °C plus, at which point the heater can be switched off, as the engine is now self-sustaining as long as there is a water supply. The exhaust gases are hydrogen and oxygen which can be condensed back into water. Different views of the engine 200 are shown in Figures 7a - c.

The reactor as described offers a clean and highly efficient way of generating energy, particularly heat and/or thrust, from hydrogen extracted rapidly from water as the fuel source. It comprises no moving parts, and produces as exhaust gases only hydrogen and water that can be efficiently re-combined into water, which can be reused. A second embodiment reactor 220 is shown in Figures 8a and 8b. The reactor 220 uses the same principles to that described above, but in this case has no exhaust outlet. Rather, the chamber 222 interior is accessed via a bore which is sealed by assembly 228 comprising a sealing nut and bolt. A small quantity of water is introduced within the internal chamber and heated using the heater rods 226 within their sleeves 224 which are placed within the bores 230, along the same lines as the first embodiment. With no exhaust, the aforementioned properties occur delivering heat to the exterior of the chamber 222. Again, the reactor 220 can be formed of tungsten, although experimentation with stainless steel is also under consideration.

Other markets and applications that may make use of the aforementioned reactor include, but are not limited to: mining and processing ore; smelting, and casting metals and for glass and ceramic production; furnaces, including carbon fibre production; supplying hot water to domestic and industrial facilities, including to towns and cities; plastics recycling; large scale water purification; petrochemical refining; and other engine variants.

The internal dimensions of the aforesaid reactor chamber are not critical other than to ensure the water is inside the reactor long enough for it to absorb the heat of the reactor wall(s) to attain a high enough temperature and pressure to become gaseous and support combustion. If too large, more water is required to attain the required pressure which in turn requires more time and energy to be applied. Generally speaking, small amounts of water are preferred for the ignition stage. Once up to operating temperature, the volume/flow of water can be increased and, with it, the energy output increases. It is found that by providing a relatively narrow, but long pipe-like internal combustion chamber, gives preferably results. As noted below, for a given reaction chamber volume, small amounts of water can be incrementally added until ignition occurs, at which point it is understood what water volume is needed to cause ignition.

Whilst pre-heating the reactor to 536°C before any water is introduced is preferred, in some embodiments a quantity of water may be present before this heating stage. However, too little water and the correct pressure will not be achieved for division and ignition. Too much water and the pressure will be too great and venting will be needed to reduce this to the required amount. The appropriate amount of water to initially introduce for the given reactor chamber dimensions/volume can be determined by routine experimentation and testing; however, the preferred method is to pre-heat and introduce a small amount, typically 1 ml, or increments thereof, into the reactor and to identify when ignition occurs. This is clearly identified using the temperature gauge which will rapidly increase to approximately 2500° or more.

In terms of the water, any form of water will react within the reactor to generate the hydrogen. Ideally, demineralised water can be used. Minerals within the water will likely affect the temperature at which the water splits into hydrogen and oxygen, to a small extent, but the reactor is found to work with water from a domestic mains supply. Therefore, the term 'water' or ^λ Η2θ' is considered to cover any form of water provided water molecules make up the majority of the liquid that is input. Indeed, it is found that the reactor, due to the temperatures involved, will remove bacteria and therefore a condensing arrangement after the reactor will provide clean water. A water purifier can therefore be provided, in addition to generating heat .

The chamber is preferably fluidly sealed, other than inlet and outlet apertures.

It will be appreciated that the above described embodiments are purely illustrative and are not limiting on the scope of the invention as should be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reading the present application.

Moreover, the disclosure of the present application should be understood to include any novel features or any novel combination of features either explicitly or implicitly disclosed herein or any generalization thereof and during the prosecution of the present application or of any application derived therefrom, new claims may be formulated to cover any such features and/or combination of such features.