JP5833490B2 - Metal ion remover - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a metal ion remover that removes metal ions from fuel, and more particularly to a metal ion remover that is mounted on a vehicle and provided in a fuel flow path that guides fuel from a fuel tank to an internal combustion engine.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a fuel supply device that supplies fuel to an internal combustion engine, metal components such as zinc and lead are eluted into the fuel as metal ions from a fuel tank, an oil feed pipe, and the like. For this reason, these metal ions may be deposited as an insoluble salt on the sliding portion of the injector and cause malfunction.

Therefore, a technology for arranging a metal ion remover in a fuel flow path from a fuel tank to an injector is well known in the fuel supply device (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Then, according to the metal ion remover of Patent Document 1, for example, a packed layer of chelate resin is formed, and metal ions are adsorbed and removed by the chelate resin by passing fuel through the packed layer.
However, since the chelate resin is in the form of particles, it mainly adsorbs metal ions on the surface of the particles, and there is a limit to increasing the removal efficiency of metal ions.

JP 2006-105092 A

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. The object of the present invention is not to use a particulate metal ion removing material such as a chelate resin in a metal ion remover constituting a fuel supply device. The purpose is to increase the removal efficiency of metal ions.

The metal ion remover of the present invention is provided in a fuel flow path that guides the fuel pumped from the fuel tank to the internal combustion engine, and has a water layer. By supplying acid gas and fuel to the water layer in a dispersed manner, Metal ions contained in the fuel are extracted into the water layer.
Thereby, the dispersibility of the metal ion removing material with respect to the fuel can be enhanced as compared with the particulate metal ion removing material by using an acidic aqueous solution obtained by dissolving acidic gas in water as the metal ion removing material. For this reason, in the metal ion remover which comprises a fuel supply apparatus, the removal efficiency of a metal ion can be improved without using a particulate metal ion removal material.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a fuel supply device (Example 1). FIG. It is a block diagram of a metal ion remover (Example 1). It is a whole block diagram of a fuel supply apparatus (Example 2). (Example 3) which is a block diagram of a metal ion remover.

  The metal ion remover of embodiment is demonstrated based on an Example.

[Configuration of Example 1]
The structure of the metal ion remover 1 of Example 1 is demonstrated based on FIG. 1 and FIG.
The metal ion remover 1 removes metal ions contained in the fuel. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the metal ion remover 1 includes a fuel supply device 3 that supplies fuel to the internal combustion engine 2, and a vehicle (not shown). .) Mounted in the engine room.

  Here, the fuel supply device 3 is, for example, an electric feed pump 5 that pumps fuel from the fuel tank 4 and a rotary drive driven by the internal combustion engine 2, and sucks and discharges the fuel pumped by the feed pump 5. Supply pump 6, a common rail 7 that accumulates fuel discharged from the supply pump 6 in a high pressure state, and each cylinder of the internal combustion engine 2. The fuel is distributed from the common rail 7 to inject the fuel into the cylinder. A fuel flow path 9 is formed from the fuel tank 4 to the injector 8 via the feed pump 5, the supply pump 6 and the common rail 7.

  The fuel supply device 3 is, for example, an electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as an ECU) that controls the amount of fuel pumped by the feed pump 5, the amount of fuel sucked by the supply pump 6, and the injection start timing and injection period by the injector 8. 10). The ECU 10 includes a well-known microcomputer having a CPU and the like and various drive circuits. The amount of fuel pumped by the feed pump 5 and the intake of fuel by the supply pump 6 according to information obtained from various sensors. The amount, the start timing of injection by the injector 8, the injection period, and the like are controlled.

Further, according to the fuel supply device 3, the fuel filter 11 and the metal ion remover 1 are incorporated in the fuel flow path 9 between the feed pump 5 and the supply pump 6. Here, the fuel filter 11 incorporates, for example, a filter paper that has been subjected to water repellent treatment as an element, and removes foreign matters and moisture contained in the fuel, and functions as a moisture remover.
The metal ion remover 1 is provided in the fuel flow path 9 between the fuel filter 11 and the supply pump 6 and removes metal ions from the fuel after removing foreign matter and after removing moisture. Hereinafter, the metal ion remover 1 will be described in detail.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the metal ion remover 1 has a fuel from which foreign matters and moisture have been removed by a fuel filter 11, and an aqueous layer 14 that receives a dispersed supply of acid gas. Ions are extracted into the aqueous layer 14 and removed. Here, the acidic gas supplied to the aqueous layer 14 is carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), and the metal ions are extracted into an acidic aqueous solution obtained by dispersing and supplying CO ₂ to the aqueous layer 14. Further, a fuel layer 15 is formed on the upper side in the vertical direction of the water layer 14 due to a density difference between water and fuel, and an interface 16 is formed between the water layer 14 and the fuel layer 15.

The metal ion remover 1 includes a container 18 that forms a liquid layer 17 including a water layer 14 and a fuel layer 15, a fuel inlet pipe 20 in which a discharge port 19 is disposed in the water layer 14, and a fuel layer 15. The fuel outlet pipe 22 in which the suction port 21 is arranged, the CO ₂ supply pipe 23 in which the air outlet (not shown) is arranged in the water layer 14, and the uppermost part of the liquid layer 17 in the vertical direction are arranged. And a gas-liquid separation membrane 24 for separating the gas and the liquid. Incidentally, CO _2, for example, is supplied to the supply pipe 23 from the CO ₂ tank 25 which is mounted in the engine room.

  Here, in the internal space of the container 18 in which the liquid layer 17 is formed, the upper side in the vertical direction is partitioned by the inclined surface 26, and the gas-liquid separation film 24 is provided on the uppermost portion of the inclined surface 26. In addition, the discharge port 19 opens to the water layer 14 at a height that is far away from the interface 16, and the suction port 21 is at the height of the inclined surface 26 at a height that is far away from the interface 16. The fuel layer 15 opens below the lower part. Further, the outlet pipe 22 is connected to the container 18 so as to incline so that the fuel is directed to the lower side toward the downstream side. Further, the supply pipe 23 is disposed below the discharge port 19 in the water layer 14, and the outlets are provided in a plurality of locations in the supply pipe 23.

As described above, the fuel flows into the water layer 14 from the inlet pipe 20, and metal ions are extracted from the fuel into the water layer 14 by liquid-liquid extraction of the acidic aqueous solution generated by the CO ₂ dispersion supply and the fuel. . Then, the metal ion extracted fuel moves over the interface 16 to the fuel layer 15, and the fuel in the fuel layer 15 flows out from the outlet pipe 22.
The supply of CO _{2 to} the water layer 14 is set to be intermittent according to the start and stop of the operation of the feed pump 5, for example, and is controlled by the ECU 10.

[Effect of Example 1]
The metal ion remover 1 according to the first embodiment is provided in the fuel flow path 9 and has a water layer 14. By supplying CO ₂ and fuel as acid gases to the water layer 14 in a dispersed manner, the fuel is removed. The contained metal ions are extracted into the aqueous layer 14.
Thereby, by using an acidic aqueous solution obtained by dissolving CO ₂ in water as the metal ion removing material, the dispersibility of the metal ion removing material with respect to the fuel can be enhanced as compared with the particulate metal ion removing material. For this reason, the removal efficiency of a metal ion can be improved without using a particulate metal ion removal material.

Further, the acid gas to be dispersed supplied into the water layer 14 is CO _2.
Thereby, for example, metal ions can be extracted from the fuel into the water layer 14 without using a strong acid such as nitric acid, hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid. Note that CO ₂ has a lower solubility in water than, for example, nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen chloride, and does not exhibit a strong acidity even when dissolved in water. However, since the metal ions contained in the fuel are a very small amount such as several ppm, even an acidic gas having low solubility in water such as CO ₂ and not showing strong acidity even when dissolved in water is sufficient. In addition, metal ions can be extracted from the fuel.

The feed pump 5 is provided on the upstream side of the metal ion remover 1.
Thus, the metal ion remover 1 is disposed on the discharge side of the feed pump 5. For this reason, excessive consumption due to unnecessary suction of acidic gas, which is a concern when the metal ion remover 1 is disposed on the suction side of the feed pump 5, can be prevented.

A fuel filter 11 is provided in the fuel flow path 9 upstream of the metal ion remover 1 as a moisture remover that removes moisture from the fuel.
Thereby, before supplying a fuel to the metal ion remover 1, a water | moisture content can be previously removed from a fuel. For this reason, it can suppress that the water layer 14 increases in the metal ion remover 1. FIG.

A gas-liquid separation membrane 24 is disposed on the uppermost part of the liquid layer 17 in the vertical direction.
As a result, gaseous CO ₂ remaining in the fuel after metal ion extraction can be separated from the fuel and discharged out of the container 18 due to the pressure difference between the gas pressure of CO ₂ and the pressure outside the container 18. it can.

[Example 2]
According to the metal ion remover 1 of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the acidic gas dispersedly supplied to the water layer 14 is exhaust gas after the exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine 2 is processed by the catalyst 29. .
Thus, even if a CO ₂ supply source such as the CO ₂ tank 25 is not mounted in the engine room, the acidic aqueous solution can be obtained by dispersing and supplying CO ₂ to the water layer 14. Furthermore, by using the exhaust gas after passing through the catalyst 29, a gas not containing particulate matter such as black smoke can be supplied to the metal ion remover 1.

Example 3
As shown in FIG. 4, the metal ion remover 1 of Example 3 includes a separation layer 31 that is disposed in the liquid layer 17 to allow passage of fuel and prohibit passage of an acidic aqueous solution. Here, the separation layer 31 is, for example, a nonwoven fabric made of a polyester fiber having hydrophobicity.
Thereby, it can suppress that a fuel flows out to the downstream of the metal ion remover 1 in the state containing acidic aqueous solution.

  Further, the metal ion remover 1 includes a second container 34 that forms a fuel layer (hereinafter referred to as a second fuel layer) 33 different from the container 18, and the second fuel layer 33 in the vertical direction. And a second gas-liquid separation membrane 35 that is disposed at the top and separates gas and liquid. Here, the second container 34 is provided on the downstream side of the outlet pipe 22 in the fuel flow direction. The lower end of the outlet pipe 22 is directly connected to the second container 34, and the discharge port 36 of the outlet pipe 22 is open to the second fuel layer 33.

Further, the discharge port 36 opens to the second fuel layer 33 at substantially the same height as the lower end of the second gas-liquid separation film 35. Note that the second outlet pipe 37 for extracting fuel from the second container 34 is provided so that the suction port 38 opens at the lowermost part of the second fuel layer 33.
Thereby, since the gaseous CO ₂ remaining in the fuel flowing into the second container 34 can be separated from the fuel, the gaseous CO ₂ can be further removed from the fuel.

[Modification]
The aspect of the metal ion remover 1 is not limited to the embodiment, and various modifications can be considered.
For example, the fuel supply device 3 including the metal ion remover 1 of the embodiment includes the common rail 7 that accumulates fuel in a high pressure state, and directly injects the fuel into the cylinder via the common rail 7. The fuel may be injected without going through 7, or the fuel may be injected not into the cylinder but into the intake pipe.

In addition, according to the metal ion remover 1 of the example, the acidic gas dispersedly supplied to the aqueous layer 14 was CO ₂ , but other acidic gases such as hydrogen chloride, nitric acid gas, sulfurous acid gas, and the like were added to the aqueous layer 14. May be supplied.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Metal ion remover 2 Internal combustion engine 4 Fuel tank 9 Fuel flow path 14 Water layer

Claims (8)

A fuel flow path (9) that has a water layer (14) that guides the fuel pumped up from the fuel tank (4) to the internal combustion engine (2). Acid water and fuel are supplied to the water layer (14). In the metal ion remover (1) for extracting metal ions contained in the fuel into the aqueous layer (14) by being distributedly supplied ,
A container (18) for forming a liquid layer (17) having the water layer (14) and the fuel layer (15);
A fuel inlet pipe (20) in which a discharge port (19) is disposed in the water layer (14);
A fuel outlet pipe (22) in which an inlet (21) is disposed in the fuel layer (15);
A supply pipe (23) for the acidic gas in which a blow-out port is disposed in the water layer (14);
A second container (34) provided on the downstream side of the outlet pipe (22) with respect to the direction of fuel flow and forming a fuel layer (33) separate from the container (18);
A metal ion remover (1), comprising: a gas-liquid separation membrane (35) arranged on the uppermost part of the another fuel layer (33) in the vertical direction and separating gas and liquid . The metal ion remover (1) according to claim 1,
The metal ion remover (1), wherein the metal ions are extracted into an acidic aqueous solution obtained by dispersing and supplying carbon dioxide, which is a kind of the acidic gas, to the aqueous layer (14). In the metal ion remover (1) according to claim 1 or 2,
The metal ion remover (1), wherein the acidic gas is exhaust gas after the exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine (2) is treated with a catalyst (29). In a metal ion remover (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The metal ion remover (1), which is provided downstream of the feed pump (5) for pumping fuel from the fuel tank (4) with respect to the fuel flow direction. The metal ion remover (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The metal ion remover (1), which is provided downstream of the moisture remover (11) for removing moisture from the fuel with respect to the fuel flow direction. In a metal ion remover (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A metal ion remover (1) comprising a gas-liquid separation membrane (24) arranged on the top of the liquid layer (17) in the vertical direction and separating gas and liquid . The metal ion remover (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
A metal ion remover (1) comprising a separation layer (31) disposed in the liquid layer (17) to allow passage of fuel and prohibit passage of water . The metal ion remover (1) according to claim 7 ,
The metal ion remover (1), wherein the separation layer (31) is a hydrophobic non-woven fabric .

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