Replacement for Combustion Engines-1 July 12 2003

( First Letter to John Augustine at the Dept. of Energy )
Woodrow Riley - 7272 South Barrens Road
Roanoke, VA 24019

The drawing

July 14, 2003

John Augustine; fax to 412/386-6137.

Sir:
About 2 weeks ago I began questioning how the wasted heat that discards off of allcombustion engines could be used to do some kind of Work. My thoughts turned to the idea of using the exhaust manifold heat to make steam. Enter my discovery of the LN2000, a car designed by 3 professors at the University of North Texas. They built a prototype that works using super cold liquid nitrogen. They built a very controlled system that uses the nitrogen's 700:1 decompression ratio to power the vehicle. Nitrogen is very cold, around MINUS 350 Degrees F. This LN2000 system does not pollute as it does not combust or burn hydrocarbons and the by-product nitrogen simply returns into the atmosphere from whence it came. So not only does it not pollute, it more or less replenishes itself back into a cycle where we compress it, use its properties in decompression-powered engines, and back again into the atmosphere. It is renewable.

Their car fell into disrepute because of a lack of power and low acceleration.The Dept. of Energy apparently suspended funding of the system, and it has sat on their web page ever since. That was where I found it, mothballed. And that was where I figured out a plausible reason as to (#1) why it did not work and (#2) how it would work.

#1. Why doesn't the LN2000 work? It does work, just very slowly.It lacks for energy. It decompresses the MINUS 350 (+/-) Degree F. nitrogen before it enters an engine's combustion phase. Why?? They built it like a rolling refrigerator. That's why the LN2000 prototype speed is limited to 15-30 mph. Why?? They were attempting to control the power at the wrong points in the operation (prior to piston entry).

#2. The answer is: Send droplets of nitrogen directly into the engine at MINUS 350 (+/-) Degrees F. where the 1 drop will expand to its 700:1 volume ratio on contact with injected hot steam at PLUS 350 Degrees F. The steam enters through the intake ports where combustion air normally enters. The trick to fixing the LN2000 does not lie in "controlling" the decompression before it enters the engine because that is where the POWER IS LOST. The answer is to inject very hot steam thru the intake ports, canceling out the nitrogen's cold temperature and multiplying the rate of expansion! Thereby releasing the expansive power of the nitrogen. Possibly exponentially.

Sir, I have had several days now to look at this problem, and at my steam solution, and I fail to see where it would not work. And that is why I am writing you today. I have examined all types of combustion engines, from the 2-stroke gas and the 2-stroke diesel, to the ordinary steam locomotives, to the full car engine 4-strokes and the diesel truck engines, especially the RCE Wankel DKM; I have concluded that all these engines could be refitted, adapted to use this auxiliary steam solution. Diesel injectors can inject nitrogen, spark plugs could be replaced with nitrogen injectors. These engines can be used to heat generate water for steam and, possibly, compress a supply of air.

Such a solution may be devised so that vehicles can run off of water and nitrogen. It could also use plain air (as the N. Texas researchers found). And that is the answer, to inject steam energy into the equation. Woodrow Riley 540-561-0622 Have a great day.

The fax I sent you yesterday was very truncated. It just explains the changes I made on a very simple level, the "grass roots gist" you might say. I'm working on a drawing that will show the process and present the information much more specifically than the written explanation. When I finish the more detailed drawings, I will put the package together and mail to you. I would fax it but I don't think my fax software will transmit pictures very well.

But I want to make this very clear. The minimum I expect from the additional energy is 500% of the results obtained by the University of North Texas researchers who built the LN2000 prototype. Their results amounted to a top vehicle speed ranging from 15-35 mph. With my changes, a 500% increase becomes a top speed range of 75-175 mph. That is a projected minimum increase. It is enough of an increase to put the new LN2000 into the public domain as a new non-polluting vehicle.

Please, note the following:

The injection together of superheated steam vapor and super-cooled liquid nitrogen into a closed space may create much more than a 500% increase. The method of injection is to shoot a "nitrogen-droplet spread, like torpedoes" throughout the steam at the introduction pressure of 4,000 psi. There is a possibility of creating a plasma power and/or explosion as the two instantly try to permeate each other, the nitrogen trying to expand and the steam trying to condense while under a combined 700 degree force. In other words, the nitrogen "spread" may attempt to block the steam molecules from rejoining while the steam molecules in desperately trying to rejoin may multiply the nitrogen's expansive power. As the molecules attempt desperately to resolve these issues -and obey their respective laws of physics- they may ram together so furiously that they could exceed the speed of sound... In other words and further, this process may constitute creation of a momentary loop of power not unlike a dog chasing its tail.

At the SELFSAME TIME, be it noted that the 2 forces while thus banging each other like tiny F-16 fighters colliding are still going in the same direction! The steam collapse(ing) is creating tiny vacuums that pull the nitrogen molecules DOUBLY HARD into their new expanded state (gaseous), new expanded volume.

To give you an illustration of what this all means, it's like the nitrogen's need to expand is joining with the steam's need to condense just like 2 strong men pulling on the same side of a rope tug of war... yet fighting each other every step of the way. REAL HARD FIGHTING. That's why I must warn that by putting these 2 forces into a closed engine expansion chamber (the combustion chamber for fossil engines) may result in the formation of some type of plasma energy formation.

If & When the D.O.E. decides to build this new system, I sincerely hope you make some computer software models first, then start small and work up. My device may just power a washing machine, a small electric generator, a car, or it may make a very big hole in the ground. To be quite honest John, I think this system could accomplish each. I also think that the rotary Wankel DKM could be powered with this system, generating in excess of 100,000 rpm instead of its present 25,000 rpm. If the temperature is regulated properly (kept low) and the forces controlled properly (to minimize heat buildup), a new, very lightweight and powerful propulsive engine could possibly be developed. After all, steam rises naturally, nitrogen is practically weightless, so the fuel weight of the Shuttle rocket boosters and all other flying craft could be reduced by anywhere from 1,000% to 50,000%. IF onboard oxygen compressors are added then the weight savings would be less so that would be a consideration... It boils down to a choice of lower vehicle weight or having an onboard, constant fuel-rephenishing aircraft that never has to land to refuel.

While this all sounds great, the bottom line remains a new type of engine that does not pollute our planet. It has the potential to FREE US from any further need to burn our planet's fossil fuel supplies. It has the potential to generate large quantities of electricity minus the pollution. Extrapolated further, it is possible that such devices could eliminate the need for building any more nuclear generating plants for electricity. Dominoe effects? No more radioactive wastes to contend with. No more 5 billion pounds annually of burnt hydrocarbons dumping into our atmosphere. The eventual return of better health for everybody concerned; the people the animals the vegetation the oceans and the planet.