Fuel reforming apparatus

Abstract

A fuel reforming apparatus for reforming a mixture of fuel and gas containing oxygen includes an air-fuel mixing chamber into which fuel and air are supplied in such a manner that the fuel and the air are mixed with each other; a reforming reaction chamber which is provided downstream of the air-fuel mixing chamber, and which includes a reforming catalyst for reforming the mixture; and a mixture flow chamber which is provided between the air-fuel mixing chamber and the reforming reaction chamber. The cross sectional area of an outlet of the air-fuel mixing chamber is smaller than the cross sectional area of an inlet of the reforming reaction chamber. An inner wall surface of the mixture flow chamber is formed such that the outlet of the air-fuel mixing chamber is smoothly continuous with the inlet of the reforming reaction chamber.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE [0001] The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-382992 filed on Nov. 12, 2003, including the specification, drawings, and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The invention relates to a fuel reforming apparatus for reforming a mixture of fuel and gas containing oxygen. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] An internal combustion engine is known, in which a fuel reforming apparatus including a reforming catalyst is provided, and a fuel component obtained by reforming various types of fuel using the fuel reforming apparatus is burned in a combustion chamber, whereby stable combustion is obtained, and amounts of HC and NOx in exhaust gas are reduced (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-241365 (JP-A-2001-241365)). A typical fuel reforming apparatus that can be applied to such an internal combustion engine include...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] It is an object of the invention to provide a fuel reforming apparatus which allows fuel and gas containing oxygen to be mixed with each other uniformly, and which has high reforming efficiency.

[0009] In the fuel reforming apparatus, the fuel and the gas containing oxygen are supplied into the mixing chamber having the outlet whose cross sectional area is smaller than the cross sectional area of the inlet of the reforming reaction chamber in such a manner that the fuel and the gas containing oxygen are mixed with each other. With the configuration, the fuel is atomized efficiently in the mixing chamber in which a flow rate is increased, and the fuel reliably contacts the gas containing oxygen in the mixing chamber. Accordingly, in the fuel reforming apparatus, the fuel and the gas containing oxygen can be mixed with each other uniformly. Thus, it is possible to allow the reforming reaction in the reforming reaction chamber to proceed efficiently, and to obtain high reforming efficiency.

Problems solved by technology

However, in the aforementioned fuel reforming apparatus, there is a possibility that the fuel and the air that are supplied into the mixing chamber are not mixed uniformly, and the concentration of the mixture that flows from the mixing chamber into the reforming reaction chamber becomes non-uniform.

Therefore, it is not easy to allow a reforming reaction in the reforming reaction chamber to proceed efficiently so as to obtain desired reforming efficiency.

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