Method for converting heat energy into gas medium molecule dissociation energy and device for realizing method

Abstract

Method and apparatus for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gaseous medium (3), the method comprising: providing a gaseous medium (3); supplying a gaseous medium (3) to the volume of the reactor vacuum chamber (2) to maintain therein a subatmospheric pressure in the range between 10-5 mbar and 500 mbar; the radiator-heated medium (5) is supplied to a heat radiator (4) with a tank, said radiator-heated medium (5) containing a medium having the same chemical composition as the gaseous medium (3) supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber (2), at least a part of the volume of the vacuum chamber (2) being located in the optically visible region of the radiator (4), and at least a part of the volume of the vacuum chamber (2) being located in the optically visible region of the radiator (4). And is a reaction volume (7) for the gaseous medium (3), in which the medium (5) heated by the radiator is maintained at a temperature of 350 DEG C to 1500 DEG C; subjecting the gaseous medium (3) in the reaction volume (7) to a heat radiator (4), at least one emission line of the medium (5) heated by the radiator corresponding to an absorption line of molecules of the gaseous medium (3), at least partial dissociation of the gaseous medium (3) occurring in the reaction volume (7) as a result of a resonant oscillation of the molecules of the gaseous medium (3) excited by the radiator (4); at least one product of molecular dissociation of the gaseous medium (3) is extracted.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device and method for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of gaseous medium molecules. The claimed invention can be used, for example, to dissociate water vapor into hydrogen and oxygen, or to dissociate carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon. Prior art

[0002] Countries around the world are actively seeking new ways to beneficially use two of the most commonly available substances: carbon dioxide and water, to produce substances such as oxygen and hydrogen.

[0003] Hydrogen plays a key role in preventing global warming and in the future of the power industry, especially "green hydrogen" produced without CO2 emissions. One of the key issues associated with the earth's climate change is the problem of increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere, which leads to the need to develop alternative methods to reduce the CO2 content in the atmosphere and, accordingly, to find methods to decompose said CO2.

[0004] A variety of methods for producing hydrogen have been described, such as coal gasification, steam methane reforming, biomass gasification. A disadvantage of these methods is that carbon dioxide gas is produced as a byproduct. A method for producing hydrogen and oxygen by water electrolysis is known, but the high power consumption of electrolysis is a serious limitation. A number of methods designed to overcome the disadvantages of electrolysis have been described.

[0005] Documents US7125480 and US6669827 describe systems and methods for ultrafast photodissociation of water molecules at relatively low temperatures (typically 120°C to 210°C) using near-infrared band energy-saving light sources. This method requires pretreatment of the supplied water to reduce the pH value. In addition, in order to eliminate the possibility of immediate recombination of the dissociation products, radiolysis is used, in which the dissociated H and O components are bombarded with ionizing radiation at radio frequencies designed to suppress the recombination of the components.

[0006] Document EA002240B1 discloses a process for producing hydrogen from water, the process comprising: heating water to its dissociation temperature to produce a reaction mixture of dissociated water containing gaseous oxygen and gaseous hydrogen; generating a vortex in the reaction mixture, the vortex subjecting the reaction mixture to centrifugal forces so that the gaseous hydrogen and gaseous oxygen are radially stratified in the internal volume of the reactor; and extracting gaseous hydrogen from the reaction mixture. The method is used to heat the mixture to a water dissociation temperature between about 1800° C. and about 3000° C., which makes it a relatively energy-intensive process.

[0007] Document US4071608 describes the generation of water vapor using solar energy, the subsequent thermal dissociation of the molecules of the water vapor, and the subsequent separation of the hydrogen and oxygen produced by the dissociation using centrifugal force. In the proposed method, a large part of the hydrogen and oxygen produced by the dissociation will recombine with each other to form water vapor, which greatly reduces the efficiency of the method.

[0008] Document US7384619 discloses dissociating water vapor by passing it through a plasma. However, this method requires a complex process equipment setup.

[0009] Document US2011 / 052451 A1 relates to a method for generating hydrogen using thermal energy. The method includes concentrating solar energy on an absorption element to heat the absorption element to about 2,000°C or higher. The absorption element is in thermal contact with a water tank. The pressure of the water is, for example, about 760 Torr or less, and at least a portion of the water is dissociated based on the heat from the absorption element. The hydrogen and oxygen are rapidly cooled to substantially avoid recombination. After cooling, the hydrogen gas and the oxygen gas are pressurized and then separated using a size-selective membrane.

[0010] Document US 4 342 738 A describes a method for producing hydrogen and oxygen from water as a potential fuel. The process uses sunlight as an energy source, which is divided into its infrared part and its ultraviolet part. These parts are concentrated and, in a first stage, water is heated using infrared radiation, heated under pressure to superheated steam, which comes into contact with a steam decomposition catalyst in a chamber irradiated with concentrated ultraviolet light. As a result, water is separated into its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen, by a combination of thermal energy and photolysis effects, which can be collected separately and used as a fuel source.

[0011] There remains a need to develop alternative, cost-effective methods to dissociate gaseous media using other, more efficient types of energy, which are, for example, unwanted products in many production processes.

[0012] The proposed invention avoids the above disadvantages by providing an alternative, cost-effective method for dissociating a gaseous medium, thereby more efficiently utilizing the energy used to dissociate the gaseous medium, which energy can be, for example, solar radiation energy or other forms of thermal energy, which are unwanted products in many production processes. Summary of the invention

[0013] The invention relates to a method and a device for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of gaseous medium molecules as described in independent claims 1 and 4, and to the use of the claimed method as described in independent claim 14. The claimed method and device aim to provide an improved utilization efficiency of the dissociation energy of the gaseous medium compared to the known prior art, while minimizing the recombination of the dissociation products of the gaseous medium.

[0014] This problem is solved with a device and a method for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gaseous medium according to the independent claims. Preferred embodiments of the invention are presented in the dependent claims.

[0015] It is known that gases emit and absorb energy in the form of photons only at specific frequencies. The absorption and emission of energy occurs at frequencies that resonate with the oscillation frequency of the atoms in the molecule, [a principle] that is used, for example, in infrared spectroscopy. It is also known that if enough energy is absorbed, the molecule may dissociate, in other words, the bonds between the atoms in the molecule are broken.

[0016] In order for the oscillation energy sufficient for dissociation to accumulate in the molecules and not be transferred to adjacent molecules of the gas or vapor upon collision with them, it is essential to minimize the collisions between these molecules, in other words, to establish a rarefied pressure of the gas or vapor. To this end, the claimed device for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of gaseous medium molecules has a reaction vacuum chamber designed so that a gaseous medium can be supplied therein and a pressure below atmospheric pressure can be maintained therein. Based on the results of the experiments conducted, it was determined that the gaseous medium molecule dissociation process occurs most efficiently when the rarefied gaseous medium is subjected to directed radiation at the resonant frequency of the radiator in the temperature range between 350° C. and 1500° C., which corresponds to a wavelength range of 4.65 μm to 1.64 μm. To this end, the proposed invention uses at least one radiator, at least one emission line of whose medium corresponds at least partially to an absorption line of the gaseous medium molecules in the indicated temperature range. The selective absorption spectrum of the gaseous medium consists of a number of lines which form absorption bands, also called absorption lines of the gaseous medium molecules, which are separated by sections ("windows") within which the energy from the radiator is practically not absorbed. In the absorption lines of the gaseous medium molecules, the absorption intensity of the thermal energy from the radiator is hundreds of times greater than the intensity of the spectral windows. It is well known that absorption lines are formed when radiation passes through a relatively cold gaseous medium. Therefore, irradiating the gaseous medium at a pressure below atmospheric pressure in the reaction vacuum chamber with energy corresponding to the absorption lines of the gaseous medium molecules promotes maximum energy transfer from the radiator to the gaseous medium, without irradiating the gaseous medium and the walls of the reaction vacuum chamber with energy corresponding to the above-mentioned spectral windows, which energy is only consumed in "parasitic" heating of the walls of the reaction vacuum chamber. In order to enable the dissociation of the gaseous medium, at least a part of the volume of the vacuum chamber, i.e. the reaction volume of the gaseous medium, must be located in the optically visible region of the radiator, wherein the dissociation of the gaseous medium occurs in the reaction volume due to the resonant oscillation of the gaseous medium molecules excited by the radiator. The intermediate products and / or final products of the dissociation of the gaseous medium molecules are extracted from the vacuum chamber by means of an extraction system. An important feature of the device claimed for protection is that the recombination of the dissociation products of the gaseous medium molecules in the vacuum chamber is significantly reduced by establishing a lower gaseous medium pressure (i.e. a pressure below atmospheric pressure). This can be achieved by any known method, for example by connecting a vacuum pump which allows the pressure of the gaseous medium to be maintained at 10 -5 mbar and 500 mbar, preferably within 10 -3 In the range between mbar and 50 mbar, a rarefied gas medium is established in the reaction vacuum chamber, so that the vibration energy absorbed from the radiator can be accumulated in the gas medium molecules, and the accumulated energy is sufficient to dissociate the molecules of the gas medium by minimizing the collision between the individual molecules of the gas medium.

[0017] Any gas that dissociates under the above conditions can be used as the gaseous medium for dissociation, for example, CO2, water vapor, a mixture of CO2 and water vapor, CH4, a mixture of CH4 and water vapor. Thus, in the case of CO2 dissociation, the gaseous medium decomposes into oxygen and carbon, wherein the carbon will settle as a deposit to the bottom of the reaction vacuum chamber, from which it can be extracted, for example, along a funnel-shaped channel, and the oxygen will be extracted along a separate gas extraction channel. In the case of CH4 dissociation, the gaseous medium decomposes into hydrogen and carbon, wherein the carbon will settle as a deposit to the bottom of the reaction vacuum chamber, from which it can be extracted as described above, and the hydrogen will be extracted along a separate gas extraction channel. One practical application of the proposed method is the dissociation of combustion exhaust gases consisting of water vapor and carbon dioxide gas produced when hydrocarbon fuels are burned, thereby allowing the generation of hydrogen from the combustion gases. Another possible application of the proposed method is methane steam reforming, i.e., the mixing of methane and water vapor to produce carbon dioxide gas and hydrogen. In further processing, the hydrogen is separated from the carbon dioxide gas. The invention will now be reviewed for its application to the dissociation of water vapour as the gaseous medium, wherein the end products of the dissociation of the water vapour are oxygen and hydrogen.

[0018] What is claimed is a method for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules in a gaseous medium, the method comprising: providing a gaseous medium; supplying the gaseous medium into a reaction volume of at least one vacuum chamber to maintain 10 -5 A pressure below atmospheric pressure in the range between mbar and 500 mbar; supplying a radiator-heated medium to a thermal radiator with a storage tank, the radiator-heated medium containing a medium having the same chemical composition as the gaseous medium supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber, wherein at least a portion of the volume of the vacuum chamber is located in the optically visible region of the radiator and is a reaction volume for the gaseous medium, wherein the radiator-heated medium (5) is maintained at a temperature of 350° C. to 1500° C.; subjecting the gaseous medium in the reaction volume to the influence of the radiator, wherein at least one emission line of the radiator-heated medium corresponds at least partially to an absorption line of the gaseous medium molecules. In the reaction volume, due to the resonant oscillation of the gaseous medium molecules excited by the radiator, at least a partial dissociation of the gaseous medium occurs. During the gaseous medium molecule dissociation process, at least one dissociation product is extracted. The method can use the further described embodiments of the device for converting thermal energy into gaseous medium molecule dissociation energy.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the method, a radiator-heated medium is supplied to a radiator equipped with a tank, the radiator-heated medium containing a medium having the same chemical composition as the gaseous medium supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber. A prerequisite for the implementation of this process is that the reaction volume is at least partially positioned within the optically visible region of the radiator-heated medium, which is maintained at a temperature of 350° C. to 1500° C.

[0020] The claimed method makes it possible to carry out a dissociation process of, for example, water vapor, carbon dioxide, a mixture of water vapor and carbon dioxide, water vapor containing an inert gas, carbon dioxide containing an inert gas, methane, a mixture of methane and water vapor or likewise any other gaseous medium that is capable of dissociation under the indicated conditions of the gaseous medium.

[0021] According to another embodiment of the method, during the extraction phase of at least one dissociation product, the separation of at least one dissociation product is carried out with the aid of hollow tubular electrodes spatially separated from one another in the vacuum chamber, the electrodes being connected to a gas extraction channel, the pressure of which is lower than the pressure in the reaction vacuum chamber. At the same time, a DC voltage source is connected to the hollow electrodes to ensure electrostatic separation of the dissociation products of the gas medium.

[0022] According to a further object of the claimed invention, an apparatus configured to implement the above method comprises a reaction vacuum chamber designed to enable the supply of a gaseous medium therein, wherein the vacuum chamber is designed to be able to maintain therein a temperature of 10 -5 The invention relates to a method for producing a vacuum chamber having a pressure below atmospheric pressure in the range between mbar and 500 mbar, at least one thermal radiator having a tank filled with a medium heated by the radiator, wherein the medium heated by the radiator is maintained at a temperature between 350° C. and 1500° C., wherein at least a part of the volume of the vacuum chamber is located in the optically visible region of the radiator and is a reaction volume of the gaseous medium, and wherein at least one emission line of the medium heated by the radiator corresponds to an absorption line of molecules of the gaseous medium. In the reaction volume, due to the resonant oscillations of the molecules of the gaseous medium excited by the radiator, at least partial dissociation of the gaseous medium occurs. The claimed device also comprises a system for extracting at least one dissociation product of the molecules of the gaseous medium.

[0023] According to one of the embodiments of the claimed invention, the device further comprises a system for separating the dissociation products of the gaseous medium.

[0024] In the case of water vapor dissociation, absorption lines with wavelengths of 2.68 μm and 2.73 μm can be used as examples of absorption lines of water vapor molecules. According to Wien's law, these resonance frequencies of atomic oscillations in water molecules correspond to maximum radiation values ​​at temperatures of about 790° C. and 810° C. Therefore, according to one of the embodiments of the proposed invention, in order to irradiate the water vapor present in the reaction chamber at these wavelengths, any heated solid body can be used as radiator medium, the maximum of its thermal radiation at temperatures of 790° C. and 810° C. being in the vicinity of the emission lines, while an optical filter which mainly allows the passage of radiation corresponding to at least one of the above-mentioned water vapor absorption lines is located between the radiator medium and the reaction volume.

[0025] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the radiator has a tank filled with a medium heated by the radiator, the medium heated by the radiator comprising a medium having the same chemical composition as the gaseous medium supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber, in this case water vapor. In addition, the reaction volume is at least partially located in the optically visible region of the medium heated by the radiator. In this embodiment of the invention, it is not necessary to position an optical filter that mainly allows the passage of radiation corresponding to at least one of the above-mentioned absorption lines of the gaseous medium, since the water vapor contained in the radiator tank, which is heated to a temperature of 800° C., 900° C. or 1000° C., has in fact the same spectral emission lines as the absorption lines of the water vapor molecules in the reaction vacuum chamber. Therefore, in fact, almost all the energy used to heat the water vapor in the radiator tank is radiated at the same frequency as the frequency at which the water vapor in the reaction vacuum chamber absorbs energy most efficiently. Due to these resonant oscillations of the water vapor molecules in the vacuum chamber due to the excitation of the radiator by the water vapor molecules, the dissociation of the water vapor into oxygen and hydrogen occurs in the vacuum chamber.

[0026] In order to increase the density of the energy reaching the reaction volume, according to another embodiment of the invention, a focusing device is installed for focusing the radiation from the radiator into the reaction volume. A lens or a lens system, or a mirror or a mirror system, or a combination thereof can be used as the focusing device. According to one of the embodiments, the focusing device is located between the radiator and the reaction volume.

[0027] According to another embodiment of the proposed invention, the radiation from the radiator medium is a beam radiation, the optical axis of which passes through the reaction volume, wherein a concave reflector is located on the optical axis, on the opposite side of the radiator medium with respect to the reaction volume, said reflector focusing the radiation from the radiator medium into the reaction volume. This arrangement makes it possible to focus the radiation from the radiator medium into the reaction volume in addition to or without focusing the radiation by means of the above-mentioned focusing device, thereby increasing the degree of dissociation of the gaseous medium molecules present in the reaction volume and preventing additional heating of the walls of the reaction vacuum chamber.

[0028] According to another embodiment of the present invention, both systems for extracting and separating dissociation products are in the form of hollow tubular electrodes spatially separated from each other in a vacuum chamber, the electrodes being connected to a gas extraction channel having a pressure lower than that in the reaction vacuum chamber. In order to ensure electrostatic separation of the dissociation products of a gas medium (e.g., water vapor), a DC voltage source is connected to the hollow electrode. In addition, hydrogen is evacuated through a tubular electrode (a negative DC voltage is applied to the electrode relative to the other electrode), while oxygen is evacuated through another tubular electrode (a positive voltage is applied to the electrode relative to the other electrode). In addition, during the dissociation of the gas medium (specifically water vapor), the chemical bonds between the water molecules are broken, and positively charged hydrogen ions and negatively charged OH groups are formed, which are attracted to the negatively charged electrode and the positively charged electrode, respectively, thereby transferring the corresponding charges to these electrodes. This allows electricity to be generated simultaneously on the electrodes together with the dissociation of water vapor.

[0029] Another embodiment of the claimed invention provides that during the dissociation of gaseous medium molecules in the reaction volume, the molecules can be polarized using additional high voltage electrodes placed along the sides of the reaction volume and connected to a high voltage DC power supply. The polarization of the gaseous medium molecules allows the molecules to be oriented accordingly with respect to the high voltage electrodes, the electric field of which is in the same direction as the electric field of the hollow tubular electrode, thereby increasing the efficiency of the gaseous medium dissociation process and reducing the process of recombination of the dissociation products with each other.

[0030] According to another embodiment, the reaction vacuum chamber is equipped with a cooling system making it possible to extract the undissociated vapors that could condense on the chamber walls. Preferably, the cooling is performed by means of a water flow that flows through a tubular element that is in heat-transferring contact with the vacuum chamber walls. Due to the cooling of the vacuum chamber walls, the undissociated gaseous medium (in this case water vapor) condenses on the inner walls of the chamber, flows along said walls to the bottom of the chamber and can be extracted alone or together with the medium evacuated by the pump, thus maintaining the reduced pressure in the vacuum chamber. In this way, the cooling of the vacuum chamber walls contributes to establishing and maintaining an additional reduced pressure, i.e. an additional vacuum in the vacuum chamber.

[0031] According to another embodiment of the proposed invention, a radiator tank containing a radiator-heated medium has means for heating the radiator-heated medium. This can be solar radiation or a heating element. As heating means, it is also possible to use a supply of thermal energy generated during operation of an internal combustion engine, or a heating system operated by passing an electric current through a heating element, as well as any thermal energy. Preferably, the radiator tank has means for pressurizing the radiator-heated medium to a pressure above atmospheric pressure, preferably between 5 atmospheres and 100 atmospheres, and most preferably between 10 atmospheres and 50 atmospheres. Increasing the pressure of the radiator-heated medium significantly increases the radiant power of the heated medium.

[0032] Another embodiment of the present invention uses a radiator tank filled with a medium heated by the radiator, wherein the medium heated by the radiator contains a medium having the same chemical composition as the gaseous medium supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber, and this embodiment involves positioning a device for injecting the medium heated by the radiator into the reaction vacuum chamber, which connects the radiator tank to the volume of the reaction vacuum chamber. In this embodiment, the injection device is used as a device for supplying a flow of gaseous medium to the reaction vacuum chamber, wherein the medium heated by the radiator is a gaseous medium that undergoes dissociation in the reaction vacuum chamber. The channel opening of the injection device is selected in the range between 50μm and 1000μm, preferably between 100μm and 500μm. This enables the design of the device to be significantly simplified while using a medium having the same composition as the gaseous medium that undergoes dissociation in the vacuum chamber as the medium heated by the radiator.

[0033] In each of the above-described embodiments of the present invention, a reaction vacuum chamber can be positioned which is surrounded by a plurality of (at least two) radiators (not shown) so that the dissociation efficiency of the gaseous medium can be improved by multiplying the thermal radiation power supplied to the reaction volume from several radiators simultaneously.

[0034] The claimed device and method can be used in one of the following applications: for autonomous refueling / charging stations to receive, store and fill / load hydrogen and electricity; for solar concentrators, in which the solar heat heats the radiator medium, the radiation from which in turn is used for the dissociation of water, thereby releasing hydrogen, for storing energy and / or converting energy into electricity; in internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, for converting excess heat into heating of the radiator medium and ultimately producing hydrogen; in power plants operating with various types of fuels; in the operation of high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells, including for recovering generated heat and water vapor; for recovering heat in various production processes; for producing hydrogen; for producing carbon black and oxygen from carbon dioxide; for converting electrical energy into the radiation energy of the radiator medium and ultimately producing hydrogen from water vapor and, by doing so, storing energy in the form of released hydrogen; for producing carbon black and hydrogen from methane; for producing carbon black and hydrogen from methane. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] The figures depict the following:

[0036] Figure 1 A diagram depicting the basic functionality of the claimed device,

[0037] Figure 2 A basic functional diagram depicting one of the embodiments of the claimed apparatus,

[0038] Figure 3 depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of a reaction vacuum chamber according to one of the embodiments of the claimed device,

[0039] Figure 4 A schematic diagram depicting a cross section of a tubular electrode,

[0040] Figure 5 A schematic diagram depicting a cross-section of a tubular electrode containing a high voltage electrode,

[0041] Figure 6 Basic functional diagram depicting an alternative embodiment of the claimed device, wherein the gaseous medium and the radiator-heated medium have the same composition. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] Figure 1 is a basic functional diagram showing the operation of a device for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of gaseous medium molecules. The device is a reaction vacuum chamber 2 into which the gaseous medium 3 to be dissociated is supplied through an inlet channel 9. Figure 1 In the figure, arrow 6 conceptually indicates the supply of a gaseous medium flow. In the right part of the chamber 2, a radiator 4 is conceptually depicted, which radiates heat energy in the range of 350°C to 1500°C. Figure 1In FIG. 1 , the heat energy radiated by the radiator 4 is conceptually depicted as a wavy line 11. A prerequisite is that, in the temperature range of 350° C. to 1500° C., at least one emission line of the radiator 4 corresponds at least partially to an absorption line of the molecules of the gas medium 3 present in the vacuum chamber 2. Another prerequisite is that at least a part of the volume of the vacuum chamber 2 (including the gas medium 3) is located in the optically visible region of the radiator 4. This region in the optically visible region is Figure 1 7, however, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the reaction volume 7 expands to fill almost the entire internal volume of the reaction vacuum chamber 2, into which the radiation 11 of the radiator 4 enters. In the reaction volume 7, as described above, by means of the resonant oscillation of the molecules of the gaseous medium 3 excited by the radiator 4, the gaseous medium dissociates into individual dissociation products, which are extracted from the chamber 2 by means of a system 8 for extracting at least one dissociation product, which is Figure 1 It is conceptually shown in FIG.

[0043] Figure 2 One of the possible embodiments of an apparatus for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gaseous medium is depicted. The apparatus 1 comprises a reaction vacuum chamber 2 having a cylindrical airtight outer shell made of steel. The chamber 2 may have different shapes and the chamber walls may be made of different materials. An inlet channel 9 is provided in the central part of the cylindrical wall of the chamber 2 for supplying a gaseous medium 3 to the chamber 2. The supply direction of the gaseous medium to the inlet channel 9 is schematically depicted by arrows 6. The outlet port of the inlet channel 9 is located inside the chamber 2 and has a diameter of 200 μm. The diameter of the outlet port may be between 50 and 1000 μm. Furthermore, the outlet port may be in the form of an atomizer or in the form of an expansion nozzle. The vacuum chamber 2 is designed to be able to maintain a vacuum of 10 μm therein by means of a vacuum pump (not shown) connected to the chamber 2. -5 Between mbar and 500 mbar, preferably 10 -3 A pressure below atmospheric pressure in the range between mbar and 50 mbar. A system 8 for extracting at least one molecular dissociation product of the gaseous medium 3 is located at the bottom of the chamber 2. The extraction system 8 can be placed at any position in the chamber 2, the position being determined by the molecular dissociation products of the gaseous medium 3. For example, when carbon dioxide dissociates into oxygen and carbon, the carbon deposited as a sediment at the bottom of the chamber 2 can be extracted by a system for extracting carbon, while a system for extracting oxygen can be located at the top of the chamber (not shown). In the following, the operation of the device will be illustrated by the example of water vapor dissociation. A system 10 for separating the dissociation products of the gaseous medium 3 is connected in series to the extraction system 8, in which separation system a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen is separated using a known method for separating one gas fraction from another, for example by subjecting the mixture to the action of centrifugal force. The separation system 10 is in Figure 1Schematically depicted in and optional for the claimed apparatus.

[0044] Figure 2 The right part of the diagram schematically depicts a radiator 4 with a radiant medium 5. The heated radiant medium 5 is Figure 2 The flow indicated by the dashed line 11 radiates heat energy in the range of 350° C. to 1500° C., and flows along the radiation flow axis 15 through the optical filter 12 in the direction of the chamber 2. The optical filter 12 is mounted in the left part of the radiator, between the radiator itself and the chamber 2, and is made of sapphire (Al2O3), and can be, for example, a suitable bandpass filter supplied by Edmunds Optics. A focusing device 14 is mounted in the right end part of the chamber 2, in its wall, coaxially with the radiation flow axis 15 of the radiator 4, in order to focus the radiation 11 of the radiator 4 towards the reaction volume 7. The focusing device 14 is a lens made of a material that allows at least one emission line of the radiator in the temperature range of 350° C. to pass, said emission line at least partially coinciding with the absorption line of the molecules of the gaseous medium 3. The material of the focusing device 14 can be the same as that of the optical filter 12. The presence of the focusing device 14 is optional. In order to further intensify the illumination of the reaction volume 7 with the radiation 11 of the radiator 4, a concave reflector 16 is positioned on the optical axis 15, on the side opposite the radiator 4 with respect to the reaction volume 7, which concave reflector 16 concentrates the radiation 11 into the reaction volume 7. The concave reflector 16 is positioned concentrically with respect to the optical radiation flow axis 15 of the radiator 4, which in turn passes through the reaction volume 7. The presence of the concave reflector 16 is optional.

[0045] According to another embodiment of the invention, the radiator 4 has a tank with a medium 5 heated by the radiator, which contains a medium having the same chemical composition as the gaseous medium 3 supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber 2. In addition, the reaction volume 7 is at least partially located in the optically visible region of the medium 5 heated by the radiator. This embodiment of the invention corresponds to Figure 2 3, except for the optical filter 12, which is not contemplated in this embodiment of the invention (not shown) because the radiator-heated medium 5 has emission lines that are almost identical to the absorption lines of the molecules of the gas medium 3. If water vapor is used as the gas medium 3 and the radiator-heated medium 5, then almost all of the energy (e.g. solar energy) used to heat the water vapor in the tank of the radiator 4 is used to heat the radiator 4. Figure 2The radiator 4 (not shown) is actually radiated at the same frequency at which the water vapor in the reaction vacuum chamber 2 absorbs energy most efficiently. Due to these resonant oscillations of the water vapor molecules excited by the radiator 4, the water vapor is dissociated in the vacuum chamber 2 into oxygen and hydrogen, which are extracted by the extraction system 8 and subsequently separated into oxygen and hydrogen by the system 10 for separating the dissociation products.

[0046] Alternatively, a medium having the same chemical composition as the gas medium 3 supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber 2, which also contains an inert gas, such as argon, can also be used as the radiator-heated medium 5. The gas medium 3 and the radiator-heated medium 5 can also be selected from the group consisting of water vapor, carbon dioxide, a mixture of water vapor and carbon dioxide, water vapor containing an inert gas, carbon dioxide containing an inert gas, methane, and a mixture of methane and water vapor.

[0047] Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reaction vacuum chamber 2 according to one of the embodiments of the claimed device. For ease of explanation, the radiator and the system for extracting the dissociation products of the gas medium are not shown. Figure 2 The chamber 2 shown is different in that the central part of the cylindrical side wall of the chamber 2 is provided with two hollow tubular electrodes 18 and 19, which are located in the same transverse plane as the gaseous medium inlet channel 9 and perpendicular to said inlet channel, diametrically opposite to each other, each of said hollow tubular electrodes being connected to a gas extraction channel 20 and 21, respectively. The pressure in the gas extraction channels 20 and 21 is maintained at a level lower than the pressure in the reaction vacuum chamber 2, so as to generate a corresponding flow for extracting the dissociation products of the gaseous medium from the chamber 2. The preferred positioning of the ends of the electrodes 18 and 19 in the chamber 2 is along the sides of the reaction volume 7. The gaseous medium inlet channel 9 is located in a plane passing through the cross section of the chamber 2 and the center of the end sections of the electrodes 18 and 19, so as to supply the gaseous medium to the region of the reaction volume 7 located between the electrodes. As a result, the gaseous medium 3 supplied from the inlet channel 9 directly enters the reaction volume 7, where the molecules of the gaseous medium 3 are dissociated, and the dissociation products are separated and extracted accordingly along the tubular electrodes 18, 19. An electrical separator 17 (not shown) is located between the wall of the chamber 2 and each of the tubular electrodes 18, 19, wherein the first tubular electrode 18 is connected to the positive terminal of the DC power supply 22 and the second tubular electrode 19 is connected to the negative terminal of the DC power supply 22. The charge difference between the electrodes 18 and 19 ensures electrostatic separation of the dissociation products of the gas medium 3. If water vapor is used as the gas medium, oxygen will be discharged through the positively charged first tubular electrode 18, while hydrogen will be discharged through the negatively charged second tubular electrode 19. In addition, the dissociation products (charged ions) formed by the dissociation process will transfer their charge to the correspondingly charged electrodes, so that electrical energy can be generated at the electrodes simultaneously with the dissociation process. Figure 3In the embodiment, a concave reflector 16 is located at the left end portion of the chamber 2, and a focusing device 14 is located at the right end portion of the chamber 2, the focusing device being a condenser lens made of a material that allows radiation from the radiator (within the temperature range claimed above) to pass. In order to cool the chamber 2, a channel 13 is provided in its wall, the channel conveying a coolant in a spiral around the circumference of the wall of the chamber 2 to cool the chamber.

[0048] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a cross section of a tubular electrode 19 with a gas extraction channel 21 and an electrode tip portion which is circular in cross section and is positioned perpendicular to the gas extraction channel 21. A plurality of holes 19a are provided on the end face of the electrode end, which holes narrow towards the gas extraction channel 21. On the one hand, this makes it possible to significantly increase the working surface area of ​​the electrode and, on the other hand, to locally increase the potential at the end of the tubular electrode 19 by means of the pointed protrusions formed by the edge sections of the narrowed holes 19a.

[0049] The further tubular electrode 18 (not shown) has the same design. According to this embodiment of the invention, both systems for extracting and separating the dissociation products of the gaseous medium are in the form of the above-mentioned hollow tubular electrode.

[0050] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an alternative embodiment of an electrode 19 including a gas extraction channel 21. According to this embodiment, Figure 4 The embodiment shown is different in that an additional cylindrical electrode is installed in the gas extraction channel 21, coaxial with the gas extraction channel 21, and has a gap inside the end surface relative to the end of the electrode 19, and the additional cylindrical electrode forms a high voltage electrode 23, which is designed to be electrically isolated from the electrode 19 itself. The tubular electrode 19 itself is connected to a DC power supply 22 (not shown), while its high voltage electrode 23 is connected to a high voltage source (not shown) of the same polarity voltage, which can improve the electrostatic separation efficiency of the gas medium dissociation product.

[0051] Figure 6 is a basic functional diagram showing the operation of an alternative embodiment of the claimed device, in which the composition of the gaseous medium 3 and the medium 5 heated by the radiator are the same. According to this embodiment, it is possible to use Figure 3 The reaction vacuum chamber shown in FIG. 1 is a chamber in which the gas medium inlet passage 9 is not located as shown in FIG. Figure 3 In contrast, the inlet passage 9 is provided with a side wall of the housing of the chamber 2 shown. Figure 3 The openings in the focusing device 14 shown are in the form of openings with a diameter of 50 to 1000 μm. Figure 3In the embodiment of the present invention, the focusing device 14 is part of the partition wall between the inner volume of the vacuum chamber 2 and the tank of the radiator 4. In this way, the radiator 4 lies in close contact with the vacuum chamber 2. The focusing device 14 takes the form of a focusing lens made of sapphire or calcium fluoride, which allows radiation in the range of 350° C. to 1500° C. to pass.

[0052] Alternatively, if Figure 6 As shown, an optical filter 12 can be used instead of the focusing device 14, which also allows the radiation from the gaseous medium heated in the tank of the radiator 4 in the above-mentioned temperature range to pass. The device 26 for pressurizing the radiator-heated medium 5 is connected to the tank of the radiator 4 via the tank inlet port 27. In this embodiment of the invention, the radiator-heated medium 5 is identical in its composition to the composition of the gaseous medium 3 and is supplied to the pressurizing device 26 in the form of a flow of the gaseous medium 6. Figure 6 The movement of the heated medium 5 from the pressurizing device 26 into the heater and from the heater into the vacuum chamber 2 is conceptually depicted by arrows. As pressurizing device 26, a charge pump or any other device capable of increasing the pressure in the tank of the radiator 4 can be used. The pressurizing device 26 generates an elevated pressure in the range of 2 to 100 bar in the tank of the radiator 4. The gaseous medium conveyed under pressure into the tank of the radiator 4 is heated. The heating of the gaseous medium in the tank of the radiator 4 can be performed by using a separate heating device 25 such as a high-frequency Hertzian radiator or an electric radiator, or alternatively an external thermal energy source can be used as a heating device, which external thermal energy source is, for example, a high-temperature solid oxide fuel cell, including for recovering heat and water vapor exhaust, and using solar radiation, thermal energy generated during the operation of an internal combustion engine or when performing any process involving excess heat generation.

[0053] In experiments carried out to implement a method according to one of the embodiments of the claimed invention, a Figure 6 The device corresponds to the device shown. The gas medium 5 (water vapor in this case) is heated to a temperature of 900°C in the tank of the radiator 4 by a heating device 25, and the pressure is maintained at a level of about 20 atmospheres. The heating device 25 is in the form of a heating coil made of nickel-chromium alloy. The thermal radiation of the gas medium heated under pressure is concentrated in the reaction volume 7 by the focusing device (focusing lens made of sapphire) 14, and is reflected from the concave gold-plated polished reflector 16 and focused again into the reaction volume 7. The dissociation of water vapor was observed in the reaction volume both with and without the reflector 16, so the presence of the concave reflector 16 is optional. An opening with a diameter of 100 microns in the focusing device is used as the inlet channel 9. As an alternative to positioning the gas medium inlet channel 9 in the focusing device 14, as Figure 6As shown, the inlet channel 9 can be located in the partition wall between the radiator 4 and the chamber 2, outside the focusing device 14 (not shown), or can be supplied by a tubular channel connecting the reservoir of the radiator 4 and the internal volume of the chamber 2, close to the reaction volume 7 (not shown). According to this embodiment of the device claimed for protection, the gaseous medium flow 6 enters the reservoir of the radiator 4 at high pressure via the pressurizing device 26 and from there into the inner cavity of the reaction vacuum chamber 2 via the inlet channel 9. The dissociation of the gaseous medium 3 takes place in the reaction volume 7, which is due to the radiation from the same gaseous medium, which is however at a higher pressure in the reservoir of the radiator 4. A prerequisite for implementing the gaseous medium dissociation process is to position the reaction volume 7 at least partially in the optically visible region of the gaseous medium heated in the reservoir of the radiator 4. The dissociation products of the gaseous medium 3 are extracted from the reaction volume via tubular electrodes 18 and 19, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 The embodiment shown is shown.

Claims

1. A method for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gaseous medium (3), the method comprising A) providing a gas medium (3), B) supplying the gaseous medium (3) to the volume of the reactor vacuum chamber (2) to maintain 10 -5 subatmospheric pressure in the range between mbar and 500 mbar, C) supplying a radiator-heated medium (5) to a thermal radiator (4) with a storage tank, wherein the radiator-heated medium (5) contains a medium having the same chemical composition as the gaseous medium (3) supplied to the reaction vacuum chamber (2), wherein: At least a part of the volume of the vacuum chamber (2) is located in the optically visible region of the radiator (4) and is a reaction volume (7) for the gaseous medium (3), wherein the medium (5) heated by the radiator is maintained at a temperature of 350° C. to 1500° C.; D) subjecting the gaseous medium (3) in the reaction volume (7) to the influence of the thermal radiator (4), wherein at least one emission line of the medium (5) heated by the radiator corresponds to an absorption line of the molecules of the gaseous medium (3), wherein at least partial dissociation of the gaseous medium (3) occurs in the reaction volume (7) due to the resonant oscillation of the molecules of the gaseous medium (3) excited by the radiator (4); D) extracting at least one product of said dissociation of molecules of said gaseous medium (3).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gaseous medium (3) and the medium (5) heated by the radiator are selected from the group consisting of water vapor, carbon dioxide, a mixture of water vapor and carbon dioxide, water vapor containing an inert gas, carbon dioxide containing an inert gas, methane, a mixture of methane and water vapor, and a mixture of methane and an inert gas.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, according to which, in stage D), when extracting at least one dissociation product, at least one dissociation product is separated by means of hollow tubular electrodes (18, 19), wherein the hollow tubular electrodes (18, 19) are spatially separated from each other in the reaction vacuum chamber (2) and are connected to gas extraction channels (20, 21), the pressure of the gas extraction channels (20, 21) being lower than the pressure in the reaction vacuum chamber (2), wherein: A direct voltage source (22) is connected to the hollow tubular electrodes (18, 19), the direct voltage source (22) being designed to maintain electrostatic separation of the dissociation products of the gaseous medium (3).

4. A device (1) for converting thermal energy into dissociation energy of molecules of a gaseous medium (3), configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising: - a reaction vacuum chamber (2) designed to be able to supply a gaseous medium (3) therein, wherein the vacuum chamber (2) is designed to be able to maintain therein a temperature of 10 -5 subatmospheric pressure in the range between mbar and 500 mbar, - at least one radiator (4) having a tank containing a medium (5) heated by the radiator, wherein the medium (5) heated by the radiator is maintained at a temperature of 350° C. to 1500° C., wherein at least a part of the volume of the vacuum chamber (2) is located in the optically visible region of the radiator (4) and is a reaction volume (7) of the gaseous medium (3), and wherein at least one emission line of the medium (5) heated by the radiator corresponds to an absorption line of the molecules of the gaseous medium (3), wherein, in the reaction volume (7), due to the resonant oscillation of the molecules of the gaseous medium (3) excited by the radiator (4), at least partial dissociation of the gaseous medium (3) occurs, - a system (8) for extracting at least one dissociation product of the molecules of the gaseous medium (3).

5. The device according to claim 4, further comprising a system (10) for separating dissociation products of the molecules of the gaseous medium (3).

6. The device according to one of claims 4 or 5, further comprising an optical filter (12) located between the radiator (4) and the reaction volume (7), and the filter mainly allows radiation corresponding to the at least one absorption line of the gas medium (3) within the radiation temperature range of the medium (5) after being heated by the radiator to a temperature between 350°C and 1500°C to pass.

7. A device according to one of claims 4 to 6, in which a focusing device (14) is arranged between the radiator (4) and the reaction volume (7), and the focusing device (14) is designed to focus the radiation of the heated medium (5) from the radiator (4) into the reaction volume (7).

8. The device according to claim 4 , wherein the radiation from the medium ( 5 ) heated by the radiator is a beam radiation, the optical axis ( 15 ) of which passes through the reaction volume ( 7 ), wherein: A concave reflector (16) is positioned on this optical axis (15) on the opposite side of the radiator (4) from the heated medium (5) relative to the reaction volume (7), and concentrates the radiation (11) of the heated medium (5) from the radiator (4) into the reaction volume (7).

9. The device according to claim 5 , wherein the system (8) for extracting the dissociation products and the system (10) for separating the dissociation products are both in the form of hollow tubular electrodes (18, 19) which are spatially separated from each other in the vacuum chamber (2) and connected to channels (20, 21) for extracting gas, the pressure of which is lower than the pressure in the reaction vacuum chamber (2), wherein: A direct voltage source (22) designed to maintain electrostatic separation of the dissociation products of the gaseous medium (3) is connected to the hollow tubular electrodes (18, 19).

10. The device according to claim 9, wherein a high voltage electrode (23) is provided in the device, wherein the high voltage electrode (23) is located next to the corresponding charged hollow electrodes (18, 19) or inside the electrodes, and a DC high voltage source is connected to the high voltage electrode (23), wherein the DC high voltage source is designed to maintain the polarization of the molecules when the molecules of the gas medium (3) in the reaction volume (7) dissociate.

11. The device according to one of claims 4 to 10, in which the reaction vacuum chamber (2) is equipped with a cooling system (13).

12. A device according to one of claims 4 to 11, in which the tank has a device (25) for heating the medium (5) heated by the radiator and a device (26) for pressurizing the medium (5) heated by the radiator to a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure.

13. The device according to claim 4 , wherein the tank of the radiator ( 4 ) is equipped with a device ( 9 ) for injecting the medium ( 5 ) heated by the radiator into the reaction vacuum chamber ( 2 ), as a device for supplying the flow of the gaseous medium ( 3 ) into the reaction vacuum chamber ( 2 ), wherein: The medium (5) heated by the radiator is the gaseous medium (3).

14. Use of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 for one of the following purposes: - for autonomous refueling / charging stations to receive, store and fill / recharge hydrogen and electricity, - Solar concentrators for converting solar heat into hydrogen for energy storage and / or conversion of energy into electricity, - In internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, it is used to convert excess heat into hydrogen, - In power plants operating with various types of fuel, - Used for heat recovery in various production processes, - for the production of hydrogen, - for the production of carbon black and oxygen from carbon dioxide, - for converting electrical energy into hydrogen and storing energy in the form of hydrogen, - for the production of carbon black and hydrogen from methane, - In the operation of a high temperature solid oxide fuel cell, including for the recovery of the heat and water vapor generated.

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