Emission reduction from mobile sources by on-board carbon dioxide conversion to fuel

摘要

An apparatus and process for reducing vehicle emissions by converting exhaust gases to hydrocarbon fuel. The apparatus and process supplement conventional emission control techniques to further reduce vehicle emissions of harmful substances. The apparatus includes a heat exchanger to extract thermal energy from exhaust gases of a combustion engine that powers propulsion of a vehicle, a membrane separator to separate water and carbon dioxide from the exhaust gases, and a catalytic reactor comprising a nano catalyst. The catalytic reactor receives the water and the carbon dioxide from the membrane separator, contains a reaction of the water and the carbon dioxide that produces hydrocarbon fuel and is facilitated by the nano catalyst, and uses the thermal energy from the heat exchanger to stimulate the reaction. The catalytic reactor is contained within a body of the heat exchanger to facilitate the transfer of thermal energy.