AU664674B2

AU664674B2 - Combustion method for hydrocarbon fuels and fuel modifying apparatus

Info

Publication number: AU664674B2
Application number: AU74257/94A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Hiroyuki Bouzono; Shigenobu Fujimoto; Yutaka Nakatani
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-09-29
Filing date: 1994-09-27
Publication date: 1995-11-23
Anticipated expiration: 2014-09-27
Also published as: AU3054595A; KR950008663A; BR9403933A; AU7425794A; CN1115374A; CA2133183A1

Description

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AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION NAME OF APPLICANT(S): Shigenobu Fujimoto AND Hlroyuki Bouzono AND Yutaka Nakatani o a So *o oi®e aoo o o~o so I~re *:oo 4os a ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Attorneys 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

INVENTION TITLE: Combustion method for hydrocarbon fuels and fuel modifying apparatus The following statement is a full description of this invention, including 4 of performing it known to me/us:the best method i la- BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a combustion method for hydrocarbon fuels, and to fuel modifying apparatus.

Description of Related Art Consumption of hydrocarbon fuels as energy source has been increasing 3 to 5% annually. Thiu has been causing grave public concern in view of the limited reserve of the hydrocarbon fuels and impact of the exhaust gas on the environment. Increasing concentration of CO 2 in the atmos-

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01 (4)2 950907,p:\opcr\gjn,74257-94.250, I I- 1L phere, in particular, poses a serious threat to the environment. While the limit of CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere which can be absorbed by the earth is said to be current level thereof is 0.3% which far exceeds the limit. The increased concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere has been also related to various unusual climatic phenomena including El Nino.

It is also said that depletion of the ozone layer is largely caused by the exhaust gas from jet airplanes flying in the stratosphere, especially NOx and SO x turning to nitric acid mist, and sulfuric acid mist through photochemical reactions. Acid rain also originates in the photochemio *cal reactions of NO x and SOx. The acid rain causes pine trees to wither. This is because the acid rain retards the generation of resin in the pine trees resulting in decreased insect repelling capability of the pine tree, thereby allowing pine bark beetles to reproduce.

Conventional burning method which causes the exhaust emission will be described below. Conventional burning methods, including the highly compressed combustion, are ii based on natural combustion. It has been said that the combustion energy obtained on the natural combustion is the total energy of the fuel minus the dissociation energy (equivalent to binding energy).

Combustion of hydrocarbon fuels is a process of ex- 2 i iH-

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r;4-n tracting thermal energy by dissociating by fission the covalently bonded molecules of CnH2n+x 0, 1, 2) into C (carbon) and H (hydrogen) atoms and then making them to contact with 0 (oxygen) thereby to combine (oxidation) at a high temperature. In the natural combustion, molecules dissociate in such processes as likened to chain reaction while decomposing into various free radicals and the like by its own combustion energy, eventually dissociating into the atomic level thereby to be oxidized. When hydrocarbon molecules are burned completely, carbon dioxide gas and water vapor molecules are generated. In the conventional combustion method (natural combustion), about 2/3 of the total energy is inevitably lost as the dissociation energy during combustion, and cannot be extracted as the combustion enercgy. o J The process of combustion will be described below, taking the case of burning gasoline which has clear structural formula among hydrocarbon fuels, particularly 100% solution of isooctane (straight chain octane having side chains of saturated hydrocarbon, namely 2,2,4 trimethyl pentane) which determines the octane number.

Isooctane has a constitution of C 8

H

18 and molecular weight of 114 g/mol. Dissociation (or binding) energy is 170.9 kcal/mol for C and 52.1 kcal/mol for H. Multiplying these values by the numbers of respective atoms and summing 3 rnr I them yield 2305 kcal/mol for the dissociation energy of I isooctane. By dividing this by the molecular weight, 20.22 pj kcal/g is obtained.

i Chemical equation of the reaction of burning isooctane (gasoline) in the conventional method (natural combustion) i is as follows.

CgH 1 8 25/2 02 8C0 2 9H 2 0 1276.2kcal/mol Dividing 1276.2 kcal/mol by the molecular weight 114 yields 11.2 kcal/g, which represents the energy obtained resulting from the absorption of the dissociation energy I (94.5 kcal/mol) of CO 2 and the dissociation energy (57.1 S. kcal/mol) of H 2 0. Therefore total energy of C8H18 is given as follows.

20.22 11.2 31.42 kcal/g This means that the combustion energy (11.2 kcal/g) which can be extracted from complete combustion is only about of the total energy (31.42 kcal/g). In fact, energy efficiency is 30% at the most even in the jet engine which is characterized by a very high efficiency, with 70% of the energy being lost as the dissociation energy and heat loss.

Then study to substitue the latent energy which is lost as heat of dissociation by energy given from outside by resonance absorption so as to act on hydrogen bond or covalent bond has been performed in many field.

In magnetic resonance such as nuclear magnetic reso- 4 nance or electron spin resonance wherein a specimen material undergoes resonance and absorbs electromagnetic radiation energy upon application of a high frequency electromagnetic field which corresponds to the energy difference between two energy levels of atoms constituting the specimen placed in a static magnetic field, measurement of the frequency where the atom absorbs the radiation or the spectrum of absorbed radiation provides information on the electron density of the atom and the bond between atoms. This phenomenon of magnetic resonance has been utilized in the researches on the properties of inorganic materials and researches on radicals of organic compounds, making great contributions to S: the recent advancements in such fields as solid state physo ics, complex chemistry, organic electron research, radiation chemistry, photochemistry and electrochemistry.

A mechanism to increase a function of separating impurities included in water and thereby to improve the purifyfunction by causing magnetic resonance in hydrogen atoms of water which is a compound of hydrogen, thereby to increase the energy level and acting on hydrogen bond or covalent bond, and an attempt to improve combustion efficiency by causing magnetic resonance in hydrogen atoms of hydrocarbon which is a covalently bonded molecule thereby to increase the energy level and accelerate the dissociation of hydrocarbon molecules has been proposed by the present __lII 1l I ii l I r j I

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applicant.

As for the nuclear magnetic resonance, for example, it has been known that a hydrogen nucleus placed in a static magnetic field of 14,092 gauss shows nuclear magnetic resonance in response to the application of a high frequency electromagnetic field of 60 mega hertz [MHz], since American physicist Dr. Rabi published his discovery in 1932. Intensity G of the static magnetic field and frequency N of the high frequency electromagnetic radiation which cause the nuclear magnetic resonance in hydrogen nuclei are associated by the following relationship.

G/g=N where G: Intensity of static magnetic field [G] g: Resonance constant (234.87 for hydrogen) [G/MHz] N: Frequency of high frequency electromagnetic radiation [MHz] Because of chemical shift in the nuclear magnetic resonance, the frequency N of the high frequency electromagnetic radiation is shifted to N± 77 (17 sweep frequency for chemical shift [MHz]) when the static magnetic field intensity G is kept constant, or intensity G of the static magnetic field is shifted to G± G (a sweep magnetic field for chemical shift when the frequency N of the high frequency electromagnetic radiation is kept constant.

Chemical shift in the nuclear magnetic resonance has ~o o

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o r r r r r r Pp. 7been dealt with in the prior art by sweeping the frequency of the high frequency electromagnetic radiation by means of a frequency conversion amplifier to sweep the frequency of high frequency electromagnetic radiation while keeping the static magnetic field intensity constant.

i This sweeping method for the chemical shift of the prior art has drawbacks of the complex constitution of the 4 frequency conversion amplifier and being expensive. Also there is a problem that automatic sweeping cannot be done continuously unless the radiation frequency is swept manually i with the chemical shift being estimated beforehand.

i' As described above, the efficient method based on chemical theory has not yet disclosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems described above.

The invention essentially entails, in one aspect, a combustion method for hydrocarbon fuels wherein the fuel I 20 molecules are dissociated by resonance absorption of optical energy and magnetic energy. In one or more preferred embodiments, this entails primary, secondary or tertiary Idissociation processes, thereby to dissociate the molecules efficiently by using these alternative energy sources, so that the dissociation energy which has been lost in the conventional combustion methods can be extracted as the I combustion energy, to improve the fuel efficiency,

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decrease the consumption of hydrocarbon fuels and also decrease the exhaust emission.

i The present inventor disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.61-95092 (1986) a combustion method wherein a hydrocarbon fuel is raised to an excited state by means of magnetic field or electromagnetic wave immediately before combustion, thereby controlling the chain reaction during combustion. The present invention is an advanced version of the former invention making the principle clear, and has an excellent applicability to practical use with a good fuel efficiency.

j ;The combustion method of hydrocarbon fuels according to the invention is characterized in that fuel molecules are 1. dissociated by fission into atoms through resonance absorption of optical energy and magnetic energy and the atoms are i brought into contact with oxygen and combine therewith. By imparting both the optical energy which can be absorbed in an amount several times to several hundreds times that absorbed by magnetic resonance and the magnetic energy which is capable of dissociating molecules into atoms, it is made possible to carry out combustion with an efficiency higher than in the case of using either one.

preferred In theVcombustion method of the invention, the process of resonance absorption of the optical energy to dissociate by fission the molecules into radicals is referred to as a on,primary dissociation, and the process of resonance absorption of the nuclear magnetic energy to dissociate by fission the free radicals into atoms is referred to as a preFerred secondary dissociation. Thus thevmethod of the invention is capable of dissociating by fission a hydrocarbon molecule into a plurality of radicals with, unpaired electrons through the resonance absorption of optical energy, and dis.sociating by fission the free radicals into atoms through the resonance absorption of nuclear magnetic energy, thereby burning the fuel with a high efficiency.

FurtherVaccording to the invention, the process of I resonance absorption of the optical energy is applied again to the hydrocarbon fuel in the state of secondary dissociation. The hydrocarbon fuel under the state of secondary 4 dissociation is referred to as a tertiary dissociation, Snamely being dissociated into atoms, must either return to S the ground state after emitting phosphorescence, return to the ground state by combining with other atoms and consuming the binding energy, or return to the ground state by diffusing the thermal energy into the solution. The probability of S: combining with other atoms is negligibly low. Because the solution is homologous, it is highly probable that the diffused atoms return to the ground state by emitting thermal energy into the solution, which reduces the benefit of fission. Consequently, the excited state can be maintained rsnn burnng he fel ith hih eficincy n

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i by minimizing the ratio of atoms which emit phosphorescence 1 and return to the ground state. In the tertiary dissociation i! Sprocess, an action comparable to the optical pumping is obtained by causing resonance absorption of the optical energy once again. This effect elongates the period during which the fuel is in the secondary dissociation state.

The primary dissociation in the method of the invention, in concrete terms, can be achieved by using infrared rays of a wavelength from 3 to 4 u m. The nuclear magnetic resonance for the secondary dissociation can be achieved by applying a magnetic field of at least 3500 Gauss at 15 mega hertz or higher frequency, in a functional relationship of 234.87 Gauss/MHz. Tertiary dissociation can be achieved by applying infrared light of a wavelength from 6 to 8 m. The fuel molecules can be excited more efficiently by employing visible light or l,1traviolet rays in the primary or the "tertiary dissociation process. This is due to the fact that optical dissociation by fission of the molecules is more violent when the wavelength of visible rays is shorter and further makes remarkable effect when the wavelength of I ultraviolet rays is shorter.

Further according toYthe invention, optical energy is caused to be absorbed through resonance in the primary dissociation to dissociate a hydrocarbon molecule into radicals, then the secondary dissociation is carried out

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II thoghasrpin 11 paamgni through resonance absorption of electron paramagnetic energy to dissociate by fission the radicals into atoms. Use of the electron paramagnetic resonance which enables it to obtain an amount of energy about a hundred thousand times to a million times that of the nuclear magnetic resonance described previously makes possible an efficient transition from the state of primary dissociation to the state of secondary dissociation.

Also according to an embodiment of the invention, the hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the state of secondary dissociation through the electron paramagnetic resonance is put again to resonance absorption of optical energy. Period of time when the fuel is in the state of secondary dissociation can be elongated in this case too, by an effect comparable to the optical pumping described previously.

In one approach, visible rays are used in the primary 4 dissociation and electron paramagnetic resonance is used in the secondary dissociation. Thus the use of visible rays which enable it to obtain a greater amount of energy than infrared rays make more efficient transition to the primary dissociation possible.

According to an alternative or additional approach, 4 ultraviolet rays are used in the primary dissociation and electron paramagnetic resonance is used in the secondary Ii 25 dissociation. Thus the use of ultraviolet rays which enable ,it to obtain a greater energy than visible rays and infrared rays makes more efficient transition to the primary i dissociation possible.

In a further alternative, visible rays or ultraviolet rays are used in the primary dissociation, electron St paramagnetic resonance is used in the secondary dissociation and infrared rays of 6 to 8Am wavelength are used in the tertiary dissociation. This enables it to achieve the abovementioned operation.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a fuel modifying apparatus, which may be used in the 4 implementation of the method described above of burning A 'T 0950907,p:\opr\gjn,74257.94250, II

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12hydrocarbon fuels, and which is capable of improving the mileage for a given fuel utilisation, reducing the consumption of hydrocarbon fuels and reducing the emission of exhaust gas.

The fuel modifying apparatus of the invention comprises primary dissociation means to dissociate hydrocarbon fuel into radicals thrcagh resonance absorption of optical energy in the primary dissociation, and secondary dissociation means to dissociate the hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the primary dissociation into atoms through resonance absorption of magnetic energy in the secondary dissociation. Further tertiary dissociation means is preferably provided to make the hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the secondary dissociation absorb optical energy through resonance once again in the tertiary dissociation.

The primary dissociation means may have infrared rays irra- 950907,p:\opcr\gjn,7425794.250,12 diating means to expose the hydrocarbon fuel to infrared rays, visible rays irradiating means to expose the hydrocarbon fuel to visible rays, and ultraviolet rays irradiating means to expose the hydrocarbon fuel to ultraviolet rays.

This constitution makes it possible to carry out the primary dissociation described above. P Ina y 4ic/ti/e The secondary dissociation means/.ao- means to form a magnetic field of 3500 Gauss or higher intensity and means to generate high frequency of 15 MHz or higher. This constitution makes it possible to carry out the secondary dissociation by means of nuclear magnetic resonance. Also in case the secondary dissociation means is made in such a constitution that has means to form magnetic field of 3000 Gauss or :r higher intensity and means to generate microwave of 8 GHz or higher, it is made possible to carry out the secondary dissociation through electron paramagnetic resonance.

Ian ewbodi),ewt4 the t 4e tertiary dissociation means has circulating means to circulate the hydrocarbon fuel and a heater installed on the periphery of the circulating means. Specifically, the circulating means comprises a pipe made of ceramics or carbon. Heating the pipe made of ceramics or carbon cause it to emit infrared rays. The hydrocarbon fuel flowing through the pipe is then made to absorb infrared rays thereby to undergo the tertiary dissociation. Further control means is provided to control the temperature of the heater so that i13

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Lu 4 in 14the temperature of the circulating means is maintained within a range from 93 to 206 0 C. This constitution makes it possible to cause more efficient resonance absorption of infrared rays by the hydrocarbon fuel.

Concept of the invention will now be described in detail below together with the chemical background which led to the devising of the invention.

When a molecule is irradiated with ultraviolet light or visible light of a wavelength susceptible to resonance absorption by the molecule, bonds of atoms constituting the molecule are loosened to the extreme so that the molecule dissociates rapidly along the potential curve. This dissociation process starts with decomposition of the molecule into free radicals. Representative dissociation processes taking 950907,p:\opr\gjn,74257-94.250,14 r iii place in hydrocarbons are those of dissociation into methyl radical, methylene radical, methine radical, and so on.

While a chemical reaction is a changing process of chemical bonds wherein electrons form pairs, dissociation of molecules under excited state due to resonance absorption of optical energy produces free radical molecules, or radical molecules having single electron not engaged in pair (unpaired electron) as intermediates of the reaction. The radical molecule has a nature of tiny magnet and shows a peculiar characteristic in a magnetic field, thereby exerting a great influence in the chemical reaction.

:OoooA normal covalent bonded organic molecule which is t stable has an even number of electrons, and does not show the nature of magnet. In a covalent bonded molecule, all electrons exist in pairs including both the electrons which contribute to the covalent bond and the electrons which do ~:not contribute to the covalent bond, which are called the

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shared electron pairs and unshared electron pairs, respectively. In such el.ctron pairs, when one electron of the pair has right-handed spin, another electron of the pair invariably has left-handed spin, thereby to cancel the .intrinsic magnetic field of each other. Consequently, a normal and stable covalent bonded organic molecule does not show the nature of a magnet.

In a free radical molecule, on the other hand, single .1-9i'4r 0S

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electron (unpaired electron) exists independently thus rendering the free radical the property of a magnet. When a pair of free radicals is generated as an intermediate of a reaction in the presence of a magnetic field, the chemical reaction is influenced by the magnetic field. In case a pair of electrons is broken by thermal' or optical energy, two free radicals are always produced. The unpaired electrons in the free radicals sometimes spin in an opposite direction irregularly, giving right-handed or left-handed spin to both of the two free radicals produced by the decomposition.

In the substance as a whole, there exist free radicals with unpaired electrons having opposite spins and those with t unpaired electrons having the same spin. In a magnetic field, however, because the electron spin is restricted by the magnetic field, free radicals with electrons of the same spin become dominant. Free radicals with electrons spinning in the same direction repulse each other and therefore never recombine. Thus because the spin direction of each electron in a pair of free radicals can be restricted in the presence of magnetic field, proportion of groups easily combined and groups not easily combined can be changed thereby making it °"possible to control the chemical reaction.

The present invention has been devised with the background described above, and is based on the idea of passing a magnetic fluid which includes free radicals having un- -21 4 r paired electron, through a strong magnetic field and thereby controlling the direction of spins of the unpaired electron.

The invention will be described in detail below taking a hydrocarbon fuel as an example of substance to be processed. Chain reactions in combustion of the hydrocarbon fuel described above invariably requires dissociation energy. In the invention, the dissociation energy is supplied artificially from the outside, thereby to control the state of dissociation. To cause resonance absorption of optical energy, for example, in order to raise the molecules of the hydrocarbon fuel to an excited state and dissociate them into radicals and make all free radicals have electrons of same spin and repulse each other by means of the magnetic field thereby preventing the free radicals from recombining into the original molecules, is to supply from the outside the self-combustion energy which is consumed in the dissociation of the fuel during chain reactions, and the extent of its effect gives an index of the degree of improving the combustion efficiency.

In the case where water is subjected to the process, water molecules are excited and turned into radicals by resonance absorption of optical energy to dissociate the hydrogen bond with the covalent bond between hydrogen and oxygen being weakened, then it is made very easy to extract hydrogen, thereby enabling it to extract hydrogen with low r7 *r

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The above and further objects and features of the invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description with accompanying drawings.

-f I BRIEF DESCRIPTION OFTHE DRAWINGS FIG.1 is a schematic cross sectional drawing illustrative of a hydrocarbon fuel combustion apparatus used in an embodiment of the invention.

FIG.2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional drawing viewed in II-II direction of FIG.1.

FIG.3 is an oblique view drawing partially broken away illustrative of the detailed constitution of a primary and secondary dissociation device shown in FIG.1.

FIG.4 is a drawing illustrative of the spectrum of infrared ray absorbed by the resonance of isooctane.

FIG.5 is a drawing illustrative of the spectrum of 4 4 infrared ray absorbed by the resonance of normal heptane.

FIG.6 is a drawing illustrative of the spectrum of infrared ray absorbed by the resonance of normal dodecane.

S FIG.7 is a schematic sectional diagram illustrative of the fuel modifying apparatus according to the invention.

FIG.8 is an oblique view drawing illustrative of the for use overall construction of a magnetic resonance apparatus -fthe invention which causes magnetic resonance.

-2-t- S- aS FIG.9 is a front view drawing illustrative of the overall construction of the magnetic resonance apparatus-ethe invention which causes magnetic resonance.

is an oblique view drawing illustrative of a key portion of a magnetic field sweeping apparatus of the third embodiment of the invention.

FIG.11 is a side view drawing in the direction of A-A line in FIG.9 illustrative of a key portion of the magnetic field sweeping apparatus of the third embodiment of the invention.

FIG.12 is an oblique view drawing illustrative of a key portion of a magnetic field sweeping apparatus of the fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG.13 is a plan view drawing in the direction of B-B line in FIG.9 illustrative of a key portion of the magnetic field sweeping apparatus of the fourth embodiment of the «invention.

FIG.14 is an oblique view drawing illustrative of a key portion of a magnetic field sweoping apparatus of the fifth embodiment of the invention.

S. FIG.15 is a plan view drawing in the direction of B-B line in FIG.9 illustrative of a key portion of the magnetic field sweeping apparatus of the fifth embodiment of the invention.

FIG.16 is an oblique view drawing illustrative of a key r ci-- -i portion of a magnetic field sweeping apparatus of the sixth embodiment of the invention.

FIG.17 is a side view drawing in the direction of A-A line in FIG.9 illustrative of a key portion of the magnetic field sweeping apparatus of the sixth embodiment of the invention.

Fig.18 is a longitudinal sectional view of V4-e-magnetizer of the invention.

Fig.19 is a cross sectional view in line X-X in Fig.18.

is a cross sectional view in line Y-Y in Fig.18.

Fig.21 is a cross sectional view in line Z-Z in Fig.18.

Fig.22 is a diagram showing the magnetic field pattern in the magnetizer of thc in-ention.

Fig.23 is a diagram showing another magnetic field pattern in the magnetizer of th- inventin.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail below according to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.1 is a schematic cross sectional drawing illustrative of a hydrocarbon fuel combustion apparatus used in an embodiment of the invention. FIG.2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional drawing viewed in II-II direction of a primary and secondary dissociaion device shown in FIG.1. FIG.3 is 2D U-O C) Or Mr ox I,1 i f an oblique view drawing partially broken away illustrative of the detailed constitution of a primary and secondary dissociation device shown in FIG.l. Numeral 1 in the drawing denotes a tank to store the hydrocarbon fuel. The tank 1 is connected via a communicating pipe'la to the primary and secondary dissociation device 2 made of a magnetically permeable material where the primary and secondary dissociation processes take place. The primary and secondary dissociation device 2 is provided with permanent magnets 2b, 2b having a magnetic flux density of 20000 G which constitute a magnetic field sweeping system installed therein. A hydrocarbon fuel passage 2e is installed therein while meandering so that it crosses the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnets 2b, 2b forward and backward several times.

The communicating pipe la and the passage 2e communicate with each other, so that the hydrocarbon fuel supplied from the tank 1 is introduced into the passage 2e. Further an infrared lamp 2a which emits infrared rays having a wavelength of 3 to 4 u m is installed close to the tank 1 below the meandering passage 2e. A conductor 2d connected to a high-frequency oscillator (85 MHz) 2c is wound around the meandering passage 2e at the middle section thereof.

The infrared lamp 2a is installed below the primary and secondary dissociation device 2 with a lens 21 and a light source 23 being fastened by means of a packing 22, as shown r .r 71.

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As shown in FIG.3 which illustrates the primary and secondary dissociation device 2 as partially broken away on the side of one permanent magnet 2b, an end of the permanent magnet 2b is connected to an adjust yoke 25 made of a good magnetic material. The adjust yoke 25 is screwed into an outer yoke 26 made of a good magnetic material which houses the permanent magnet 2b. The outer yoke 26 is made in such a shape that has a rounded edge 27 as shown in the drawing to prevent magnetic 1 akage to the outside, because a sharp edge of the outer yoke 26 will allow the magnetic flux to leak through it to the outside. A tapered portion at an end of the outer yoke 26 is brought into close contact with a tapered portion of a magnetic relay block 31 made of a good magnetic material installed at the center.

Passage 2e side of the permanent magnet 2b is connected 'to inner yokes 28 made of a good magnetic material which are arranged to oppose each other at a specified distance thereby interposing the passage 2e in-between. The distance ibetween the opposing inner yokes 28 makes an opening of a V magnetic path. A spacer 30 made of a nonmagnetic material i such as aluminum or stainless steel clamped by a ring spacer 29 which is a retainer ring is installed in contact with the inner yokes 28, thereby keeping a space to resist a strong attracting force of the open magnetic field.

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0 The primary and secondary dissociation device 2 is connected via the communicating pipe la to the tertiary dissociation device 3 wherein the tertiary dissociation takes place. The hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the primary and secondary dissociation processes in the primary and secondary dissociation device, 2 is fed to the tertiary dissociation device 3. A ceramic heater 3a made of zirconia zircon formed in pipe shape which emits infrared rays having a wavelength of 6 to 8, m is installed in the tertiary dissociation device 3, in such an arrangement as the hydrocarbon fuel flows through the ceramic heater 3a.

The tertiary dissociation device 3 is further connected via the communicating pipe la to an injection pump 4 for combustion and an engine 5. The hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the tertiary dissociation process in the tertiary dissociation device 3 is sent to the injection pump 4 to be compressed therein with a high pressure before being injected into the engine Operation of the apparatus of the invention in such a constitution as described above will now be described below.

The hydrocarbon fuel supplied from the tank 1 absorbs the infrared rays having a wavelength of 3 to 4 u m (near infrared) emitted by the infrared lamp 2a through resonance absorption in the primary and secondary dissociation device 2. Then the energy level of the molecules is excited from -7 the ground state to break the bonding of radicals, thereby dissociating into free radicals with unpaired electrons.

This process is the primary dissociation.

In the primary and seuondary dissociation device 2, a closed magnetic circuit is formed to run from the N pole of the permanent magnet 2b through the adjust yoke 25, the outer yoke 26, the magnetic relay block 31, the outer yoke 26 and the adjust yoke 25 to reach the S pole of the permanent magnet 2b which is the object pole, forming a large external loop. A small loop is also formed to run from the N pole of the permanent magnet 2b through the opposing inter- S nal yokes 28, 28 to reach the S pole of the permanent magnet o 2b which is the object pole. Thus a complete closed magnetic •circuit is formed at more distance from the permanent magnets 2b, 2b than the open magnetic circuit having an opening in the magnetic path. Such a static magnetic field and highfrequency electromagnetic wave perpendicular to the former cause nuclear magnetic resonance of the hydrocarbon fuel, to excite hydrogen and cause dissociation at the level of H and C atoms. This process is the secondary dissociation.

The hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the secondary 4I dissociation absorbs the infrared rays having a wavelength of 6 to 8 u m through resonance absorption in the tertiary dissociation device 3, to attain a state capable of maintaining the state of the secondary dissociation for a long .24 .1,4 a 11 /Ip i~ 1- -r period of time. This process is the tertiary dissociation.

The hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the tertiary dissociation process is injected by the injection pump 4 into the engine 5 where it is burned similarly to the conventional process.

Now the primary, secondary and tertiary dissociation processes will be described concretely below.

FIG.4, FIG.5 and FIG.6 show wavelengths (wave number) of infrared rays absorbed by the hydrocarbon fuel through resonance. FIG.4 shows the wavelengths (wave number) absorbed by isooctane which is included in gasoline. snows the wavelengths (wave number) absorbed by normal heptane which is included in light oil. FIG.6 shows the wavelengths (wave number) absorbed by normal dodecane inc, luded in light oil. FIG.4, FIG.5 and FIG.6 show that any of the hydrocarbon fuels absorb energy through molecular movement in resonance with the infrared rays having wavelengths of 3 to 4 pm and 6 to 8 p m. The bandwidth of the resonance absorption remains almost constant with different hydrocarbon fuels. Upon absorption of light, the hydrocarbon fuel 'molecules are excited to a raised energy level to vibrate and fission.

Isooctane (2-2-4 trimethyl pentane) which is a saturated hydrocarbon has a molecular structure of CH 3

-C

3

H

6

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2

C

2

H

4

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3 When the isooctane molecule absorbs infrared rays -229- V .2 having a wavelength of 3 to 4 u m through resonance, the fission energy acts between radicals to cause them to vibrate. This process is governed by Pascal's additive property law so that the absorbed energy is divided with the divided parts acting separately. This causes the isooctane molecules fission into active free radicals having unpaired electrons, namely five methyl radicals one methylene radical and one methine radical under the condition of solution. The dissociation process of the hydrocarbon fuel into a plurality of free radicals as described above will be called the primary dissociation hereinafter.

This process can be practically achieved by exposing the circulating fuel to infrared rays having a wavelength of 3 e to 4 p m emitted by an infrared lamp.

Combustion of saturated hydrocarbon is expressed by the S following chemical equation.

CnH2n+2 (3n+l)/2 02 nCO 2 (n+l)H 2 0 In this process, the fuel molecules break up into C and H atoms which becomes the state of combustion only when being UV; combined by contact with O. In the absorption of energy in the form of light (infrared rays) described above, the absorption takes place in a wide range of wavelengths and Salmost all of the hydrocarbons can be put into the condition of primary dissociation even with hydrocarbon fuels wherein a plurality of hydrocarbons are mixed. However, in the

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primary dissociation, there is no matching resonance absorption region wherein enough energy is absorbed to dissociate the molecules to atoms. Consequently, hydrocarbon molecules in the state of fission according to the primary dissociation are in the course of chain reaction still retaining some of the molecular structure, and are not dissociated to be ready for combustion. Also because absorbed wavelength in the visible rays and ultraviolet region varies greatly depending on the composition of the hydrocarbon, these portions of the spectrum are not suited to apply to a fuel which is a mixture of a plurality of I hydrocarbons, although it has an advantage for the application to a particular hydrocarbon. Amounts of S electromagnetic energy absorbed through resonance in the I respective portions of the spectrum are shown in the table below.

Kind of Wavelength Energy Frequency electromagnetic wave (nm) (kJ/mol) (Hz) i Ultraviolet rays 200- 400 300- 600 (0.75~ 1.5)x Visible rays 400~ 800 150~ 300 0.75)X 10 Infrared rays 2000- 16000 7.5- 60 1.5)X Electron spin <10 5 <1 10 1 1 10 12 resonance Nuclear magnetic 1 0 10 10 1 1 10 6 0 5 10 6 10 7 resonance Fr 1- (1.1963X 10 1 Jm/mol) Note that; energy Wavelength Secondary dissociation causes the state of fission of molecular fragments generated in the primary dissociation into atoms by means of nuclear magnetic resonance. The working principle applied to the secondary dissociation is described in "A comment on organic electron theory" by Minoru Imoto, published by Tokyo Kagaku Dojin.

Protons and neutrons which constitute a nucleus make respective intrinsic spin movements, and the entire nuclear spins about an axis passing through the center of gravity of the nuclei. Because the nucleus has an electric charge, spin 6 0 0 of the nucleus generates a magnetic field which is equal to Ithe magnetic field generated by an equivalent bar magnet j I *i S' placed along the axis of spin. When a nucleus having such a magnetic field is placed in an external magnetic field, it is aligned in orientations of different energy levels due to the interaction with the external magnetic field.

i The number of orientations is determined by a value characteristic of each kind of nuclei which is called nucle- Siar spin I. A nucleus having nuclear spin I which is placed in an external magnetic field is split to (21+1) energy levels. In the case of a proton which make up the nuclei of hydrogen, for example, it takes two orientations in an external magnetic field because its nuclear spin is 1 2: one i^ is with the magnetic field which is stable, and another is against the magnetic field which is unstable. The directions of the magnetic field and the nuclear spin under this condition do not necessarily coincide. This situation is similar to a gyroscope making precession while spinning under the influence of the gravity. The nuclei makes precession about an axis which is along the external magnetic field. The stable spin and the unstable spin have energy difference of 2 u H o where u is the magnitude of nuclear magnetic moment and H o is the intensity of the external magnetic field.

Frequency of the electromagnetic wave having this value of energy is exactly the frequency of the precession. Thus the energy of electromagnetic wave having this frequency makes p ,II« resonance with the precession and is absorbed by the spinning proton. As a result, the proton is excited, being raised from a low energy level to a higher energy level. Frequency of nuclear magnetic resonance is highest, j about 42 MHz, in the case of hydrogen-nuclei under a magnetic field of 10000G (gauss), and gradually decreases as the atomic weight increases, being in a range from several mega hertz to 42 MHz.

When all covalent bonds with H (hydrogen) which has high electron density around the proton, for example C-H covalent bonds, of the hydrocarbon fuel are put into the state of resonance absorption of energy, all free radicals J, e 74i Oj produced in the chain reactions of combustion are made highly reactive and therefore branching chain reaction is enhanced.

In a functional relationship of 234.87 gauss/MHz, most outstanding peak of absorption takes place at 14000 with other peaks occurring at magnetic field intensities of this value times 2, 3, 1/2, 1/3 and so on.

Minimum value among these peaks, having useful effect is gauss/15MHz. Thus C-H bond and C-C triple bonds can be dissociated by fission the molecules into atoms by applying Imagnetic fields of 3500 gauss at 15 MHz or higher.

Tertiary dissociation is carried out in order to maintain the condition of secondary dissociation described above. Because hydrocarbon absorbs infrared rays having a wavelength of 3 to 4 u m and 6 to 8 u m as shown in FIG.4, and FIG.6, while the energy in the band 6 to 8 u m is used in excitation (that is, absorption of the vibration energy), thereby acting to prevent the atoms in the solution under secondary dissociation from returning to the ground state. This phenomenon can be likened to the optical pumping in producing laser light, and has an effect of sustaining the fission and dissociated state. Although this sustained period varies depending on the condition, excited state generated only by the primary and secondary dissociations which lasts only several minutes can be sustained for about i C%'X

ON^

'C

i r ;i 72 hours by the use of the tertiary dissociation. By making use of the tertiary dissociation, it is made possible to burn hydrocarbon fuels without consuming the self-dissociation energy at all.

Use of the primary and secondary dissociation processes reduces the exhaust emission to less than half that of the natural combustion (conventional method), and increases the mileage by 20 to 50%. Further, the tertiary dissociation improves the mileage from 18 km/liter when only primary and secondary dissociation processes are used, to 48 km/liter, reduces the exhaust emission from 38% (primary and secondary 4 dissociation only) to 8% with the emission from natural combustion being set to 100%, and improves the output power F from 77HP to 96HP.

Comparison of the method of the invention wherein the primary, secondary and tertiary dissociation processes are employed and the case of individual dissociation in running at 80 km/h is shown in the table below.

Improvement Mileage Emission Reproduin output improvement reduction cibility SInvention >20% 100% >50% High 10- 20% 10% Poor C 10% 20- 50% 50% Poor 20% 100% <35% Relatively high /1 3 The invention can be embodied as described below. In the primary dissociation wherein resonance absorption of light is used, infrared lamp emitting infrared rays of a wavelength from 3.2 to 3.6 u m is used to cause resonance absorption at two points. The secondary dissociation wherein the nuclear magnetic resonance is carried out by applying a magnetic field of 2000 Gauss with output of 0.1W at 85 MHz for about 6 seconds. Tertiary dissociation which uses resonance absorption of light is achieved by applying infrared rays of a wavelength from 6.8 to 7.4 u m irradiated by a ceramic heater for at least 2 seconds.

to In the table above, shows a case of using a technol- .i ".ogy of generating a strong magnetic field by means of a Iof forming a magnetic lens by means of a static magnet and .generating extremely strong magnetic field at more than 100 places. shows a case without primary dissociation and I applying static magnetic field (10000G, 104 zones) for 3 seconds, not using nuclear magnetic resonance, in the tertiary dissociation.

While the combustion temperature is 2300 to 25000C and the combustion speed is 15 to 25 m/sec in an internal engine based on the conventional method, the combustion temperature S-3-6- ,tsT is above 3000*C and the combustion speed exceeds 50 m/sec in an internal engine based on the method of the invention.

Moreover, because the heat loss decreases and mechanical energy increases due to rapid expansion of the gas which make it possible to increase the output power, the invention enables it to burn even a diluted fuel at a high compression ratio without causing knocking, thereby improving the mileage. Exhaust gas can also be reduced by complete combustion.

An combustion engine wherein the invention produces the greatest effect is a jet turbine engine. This is because a jet turbine engine has such a constitution that has no limitation on the reaction with air (oxygen). Combustion engines which benefit from the invention next to the above are burner combustion units such as boiler and stoves, followed by low-speed diesel engine, then by high-speed diesel engine and gasoline engine in this order. Even in high-speed diesel engines and gasoline engines, the invention has outstanding effects such as 100% increase in the mileage, and accordingly the exhaust gas emitted can be decreased to about 1/2.

An Otto cycle engine used in the combustion of gasoline has a constitution completely different from that of a Diesel engine. That is, in the Otto cycle engine, fuel mixed with air is atomized and injected into a cylinder which is cooled to prevent it from reaching an excessively high temperature, and is ignited by an ignition plug, thereby to explode and burn Therefore a fuel is required to have conflicting combustion characteristics of a high cetane number which indicates the ease of combustion and a high octane number which indicates difficulty to burn. A combustion method capable of improving the combustion efficiency to solve such problem as described above will be described below.

Embodiment 2 FIG.7 is a schematic sectional diagram illustrative of the fuel modifying apparatus used in the implementation of the method of the invention. In the apparatus shown in I FIG.7, a primary dissociation chamber 11, a secondary dissociation chamber 12 where the electron paramagnetic resonance process is carried out and a tertiary dissociation chamber 13 are made in an integral constitution. In FIG.7, the secondary dissociation chamber 12 is located on the right below the primary dissociation chamber 11 and the tertiary dissociation chamber 13 is located on the left of the secondary dissociation chamber 12.

The primary dissociation chamber 11 has a fluorescent A tube 15 which emits visible rays or ultraviolet rays, a quartz glass tube 14 to protect the fluorescent tube 15 and a pipe 16 wound around the periphery of the quartz glass tube 14. In case the fluorescent tube 15 is a transparent 77 glass tube without plating on the inner surface, the radiation emitted therefrom is concentrated at a wavelength of 253.7 nm (ultraviolet rays) (nm: nano meter 10-9m) in a narrow band which cannot accommodate chemical shift. An ordinary -ice fluorescent lamp which is plated on the inner surface, on the other hand, emits visible rays of wavelength from 380 to 760 nm and is capable of easily accommodating chemical shift although the amount of energy delivered is small. The fluorescent tube 15 is further provided with a stabilizer 25 for the protection of a starter which starts the discharge illumination of the fluorescent tube 15 and lamp electrodes, to stabilize the discharge and to maintain stable illumination in such functions as those of a choke coil.

The secondary dissociation chamber 12 has 1X 1 pieces of neodymium magnet 17 having surface magnetic flux density of 3500 G to form a static magnetic field of 3000 to 4000 G, and a gun diode (doppler module) 18 which generates microwave of 8 mmW at 9.53 GHz (giga hertz). The static magnetic field is generated in a constitution of 1-point magnetic \field sweeping of forward layer system with a maximum mag- 4 8 netic field intensity of 3400 G.

The tertiary dissociation chamber 13 has an electric heater 20 installed around the periphery of a carbon pipe 19. The electric heater 20 comprises a base heater 21 for 3-9- I

I

I;I

I-~

heating to a certain level and a control heater 22 to control the temperature within a specified range. When temperature of the carbon pipe 19 detected by a temperature sensor 23 exceeds a specified level, a thermostat 24 turns off to switch off the control heater 22, and when the temperature decreases below the specified level, the thermostat 24 turns on. Other examples of constitution of the tertiary dissociation chamber 13 and detailed conditions of the constitution have been proposed by the present inventors in the Japanese Patent Application No.6-28598.

The hydrocarbon fuel introduced into the apparatus of such a constitution as described above first absorbs visible rays or ultraviolet rays emitted by the fluorescent tube through resonance absorption, while it flows through the l e pipe 16 in the primary dissociation chamber 11. The hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the primary dissociation in the primary dissociation chamber 11 is introduced into the secondary dissociation chamber 12 where it is subject to electron paramagnetic resonance by the action of the static magnetic field formed by the neodymium magnet 17 and the microwave generated by the gun diode 18. The hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the secondary dissociation through electron paramagnetic resonance is further introduced into the tertiary dissociation chamber 13 where it absorbs through resonance the infrared rays (wavelength 6 to 8 ~u m) NT O ii generated by the carbon pipe 19 which is heated to 93 to 0"6*C by the electric heater 20. The hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the tertiary dissociation through the resonance absorption of infrared rays is introduced into the engine.

The principle of resonance excitation of hydrocarbon fuels with visible rays and ultra-violet rays is described in the "Organic Chemistry Electron Theory (vol.II Minoru Imoto mentioned previously, in its chapters 20 through 23 dealing with opto chemical reactions (pp.292 309). It is described also in "General Chemistry No.12, 1976" (edited by the Chemical Society of Japan, published by Gakkai Shuppa Center) under the title of "Chemical conversion of optic, energy", "Chemistry of Energy Conversion and New Fuels" (pp.22 44), "World of Molecules" (Edited by Molecular Science Promotion Society, published by Kagaku Dojin), and j so on. In these literature, it is stated that the optical energy used in the primary dissociation is delivered by ultraviolet rays in a wavelength range from 200 to 380 nm or visible rays in a wavelength range from 380 to 760 nm. As shown in Table 1, the shorter the wavelength, the more the energy delivered by the radiation.

Principle of the electron paramagnetic resonance in the secondary dissociation is also described in the "Organic

I

Chemistry Electron Theory (vol.II by Minoru Imoto men- 37 o tioned previously, in its chapter 25 dealing with electron paramagnetic resonance (pp.328 339). Principle of the electron paramagnetic resonance is entirely the same as that of electron spin resonance shown in Table 1, and works on electron spin instead of nuclear spin in the case of nuclear magnetic resonance. The principle will be briefly described below.

An electron has quantum number of spin of 1/2, same as a proton. Thus an electron can be either in +1/2 spin or -1/2 spin status. In an organic compound, electrons in different states are generally coupled into a shared elec- I tron pair or a non-shared electron pair, and are therefore the spin quantum numbers cancel each other and not observable from the outside. In the case of an independent electron, howe er, it naturally shows the spin quantum number of 1/2. Magnetic moment of an electron U e is given as follows.

Se I (I 1) g' I In this formula I is the spin quantum number 1/2 and g' corresponds to y (gyromagnetic ratio) in nuclear Smagnetic resonance. f is Bonr magneton. The energy width obtained by multiplying the magnetic moment e and the magnetic field intensity is about a hundred thousand times to a million times that of the nuclear magnetic resonance.

This means a capability of breaking more atom-atom bonds to dissociate the substance than the nuclear magnetic reso- S4-2- E i_ nance.

V An electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer commonly used employed magnetic field of an intensity around 3400 G. This leads to v of about 9.58 GHz from the formula of E=hv In various experiments conducted by the present inventors, satisfactory results were obtained when static magnetic field of 3000 to 4000G and microwave of 8.0 to 20.0 GHz were used.

Suppose that the apparatus described above is installed V on an automobile equipped with a 3000cc. engine, for examl ple, and the automobile is driven to run at a speed of 180km/h. Mileage of the automobile not equipped with the I apparatus is usually 8km/liter, but improves to 14km/liter I when equipped with the apparatus.

Fuel consumption per hour when equipped with the apparatus is 180/14=12.9 liters/h, which translates to 12900/3600=3.57 cm3/sec. When it is assumed that a pipe of 8mm in inner diameter is used, the flow velocity is 3.57 cm 3 0.42) 7.1 cm/sec 0.071 m/sec. This is far smaller than the critical flow velocity of 2 m/sec. in the case of a laminar flow in a pipe under atmospheric pressure.

Results of road tests wherein automobiles equipped with the diesel engines described previously were driven to run with the apparatus of the invention in different combina- Stions will be described below. Visible rays or infrared rays .l 49

A

are used in the primary dissociation. Electron paramagnetic resonance or nuclear magnetic resonance is used in the secondary dissociation. Infrared rays are used in the tertiary dissociation.

Nuclear magnetic resonance was accomplished in the test by forming static magnetic field with 3X 3 pieces of neodymium magnets (surface magnetic flux density of 3500 G, 1point magnetic field sweeping of repulsion system (flux pumping system) and maximum magnetic field intensity 12000 A high-frequency oscillator used in the test employed a crystal which oscillated at a frequency of 50 MHz with an j output power of 0.1 W.

I Various methods of combustion have different effects depending on the combination of the dissociation means. The following results were obtained in the road test with different combinations.

4 Primary dissociation: visible rays, secondary dissociation: electron paramagnetic resonance; tertiary dissocia- i tion: infrared rays i Mileage: Improved by 70 to 250% Exhaust gas emission: Reduced by 50% or over Output power: Improved by Primary dissociation: infrared rays, secondary dissociation: electron paramagnetic resonance, tertiary dissocia- .o tion: infrared rays

I

:i Mileage: Improved by 50% or over Exhaust gas emission: Reduced by 30% or over Output power: Improved by Primary dissociation: infrared rays, secondary dissociation: nuclear magnetic resonance, tertiary dissociation: infrared rays Mileage: Improved by 30% or over Exhaust gas emission: Reduced by 20% or over Output power: Improved by As shown above, different combinations have different results, in the order of and in terms of the degree of improvement. Repetition of the tests proved the reproducibility and the effects, and the technology of modifying the fuels can be said to have been established.

As described above, because the combustion method for hydrocarbon fuels of the invention is capable of increasing the mileage and decreasing the consumption of hydrocarbon fuels, and further decreasing the exhaust gas emitted, it is capable of making great contributions to the environment conservation.

Now the construction of a magnetic resonance apparatus (and magnetic field sweeping apparatus) capable of using for the secondary dissociation described above will be described in detail below.

FIG.8 is an oblique view drawing illustrative of the I i 4 1 i L i ii I construction of a magnetic resonance apparatus of the invention, and FIG.9 is a plan view thereof. In the drawings, numeral 1 denotes a magnet composed of an electromagnet or a permanent magnet, and the magnet 1 is provided with a yoke 2 being connected to both ends thereof to form a magnetic path. A part of the yoke 2 is cut away to form an open section 3 of the magnetic path. The yoke 2 has yoke bodies 2a connected to the magnet 1 and end portions 2b of the yoke (magnetic lens) being made in various configurations, which will be described in detail later, having N and S poles opposing each other being separated by the open section 3 of the magnetic path. A cylindrical pipe 4 is arranged to pass j g through the open section 3 of the magnetic path in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field in the open section 3 of the magnetic path. The pipe 4 is made of a nonmetallic material which is not sensitive to magnetic effect, ceramics for example, not of a ferromagnetic material. The pipe 4 carries a hydrocarbon liquid material flowing therein in the direction indicated by an arrow in FIG.8, so that the liquid material flows through the magnetic field formed at the yoke end sections 2b from the magnet 1 via the yoke bodies 2a. The circumference of the pipe 4 is provided with a high frequency coil 5 wound around thereof which is connected to a high frequency oscillating amplifier 6 generr ating a constant high frequency electromagnetic wave, there- +6- Pr 2 by to apply high frequency electromagnetic field to the inside of the pipe 4.

With such a constitution as described above, a static magnetic field and a high frequency electromagnetic field are formed and a hydrocarbon liquid material is made to flow in the pipe 4. According to the invention, frequency of the high frequency electromagnetic field applied by the high frequency oscillating amplifier 6 is constant, while intensity of the static magnetic field is swept. When the static magnetic field has a proper intensity satisfying the equation for the chemical shift described previously, hydrogen nuclei included in the hydrocarbon liquid material flowing in the pipe 4 undergo nuclear magnetic resonance, resulting •f t in increased dissociation of the hydrocarbon. The hydrocarimproved combustion efficiency, is supplied to the downi stream through the pipe 4.

7 The magnetic field sweeping apparatus of the invention Shas features in the configuration and arrangement of the 4i yoke end sections 2b facing the open section 3 of the magnetic path to carry out magnetic field sweeping of the static magnetic field. Examples of patterns of the yoke end sections 2b to carry out magnetic field sweeping of the static magnetic field will be described below.

K Embodiment 3

)Q

T 0'~i is an enlarged oblique view drawing illustrative of a pattern (third embodiment) of the invention. FIG.11 is a side view drawing in A-A line of FIG.9. In FIG.10, the arrow shows the direction of liquid material flow in the pipe 4. In the third embodiment, distance between the yoke end section 2b and the pipe 4 is constant from the upstream of the liquid material path in the pipe 4 (referred to simply as upstream hereinafter) to the downstream of the liquid material path in the pipe 4 (referred to simply as downstream hereinafter), although height of the yoke end section 2b is made to gradually increase so that the magnetic field has the maximum intensity at point a at the upstream end and decreases therefrom to point b at the downstream end.

Embodiment 4 FIG.12 is an enlarged oblique view drawing illustrative of another pattern (fourth embodiment) of the invention.

11 FIG.13 is a plan view drawing in B-B line of FIG.9. In FIG.12, the arrow shows the direction of liqui,- material flow in the pipe 4. In the fourth embodiment, because distance between the yoke end section 2b and the pipe 4 is made to gradually increase from the upstream to the downstream so that the length of the yoke end section 2b in the direction of the magnetic field gradually decreases, the magnetic field has the maximum intensity at point c at the upstream 4-8- .1 k^ 3

J

end, and decreases therefrom to point d at the downstream end.

Embodiment FIG.14 is an enlarged oblique view drawing illustrative of further another pattern (fifth embodiment) of the invention. FIG.8 is a plan view drawing in B-B line of FIG.9. In FIG.14, the arrow shows the direction of liquid material flow in the pipe 4. In the fifth embodiment, because distance between the yoke end section 2b and the pipe 4 is made to gradually increase from the upstream to the center so o .that the length of the yoke end seution 2b in the direction of the magnetic field gradually decreases, and distance between the yoke end section 2b and the pipe 4 is made to gradually decrease from the center to the downstream so that the length of the yoke end section 2b in the direction of the magnetic field gradually increases, the magnetic field S. has the maximum intensity at point e at the upstream end and point f at the downstream end, and decreases therefrom toward the center, having a minimum intensity at point g at the center.

Embodiment 6 FIG.16 is an enlarged oblique view drawing illustrative of further another pattern (sixth embodiment) of the invention. FIG.17 is a side view drawing in A-A line of FIG.9. In FIG.16, the arrow shows the direction of liquid material S-4-9-

I

i j-~ flow in the pipe 4. In the sixth embodiment, although distance between the yoke end section 2b and the pipe 4 is constant, height of the yoke end section 2b is made to gradually decrease from the upstream to the center and gradually increase from the center to the downstream, so that the magnetic field has the minimum intensity at point h at the upstream end and point i at the downstream end, and increases therefrom toward the center, having a maximum intensity at point j at the center.

Because the intensity of the static magnetic field can be continuously swept within a certain range in any of the embodiments described above, static magnetic field having a proper intensity which satisfies the equation for chemical shift described previously can be always obtaineL at one point in th- .hird and fourth embodiments and at two points in the fifth and sixth embodiments, so that nuclear magnetic resonance occurs certainly in the hydrogen nuclei included in the hydrocarbon liquid material flowing in the pipe 4.

The hydrocarbon liquid material with enhanced dissociation through nuclear magnetic resonance is supplied through the pipe 4 to a downstream combustion system, thereby improving the combustion efficiency of the fuel and purifying the exhaust gas.

Although embodiments to improve the combustion efficiency of hydrocarbon liquid materials through nuclear i~ 71 magnetic resonance have been described, these are mere examples and it needs nriot to say that the apparatus of the invention can be applied to nuclear magnetic resonance of l other purposes. It also needs not to say that the apparatus of the invention is not restricted to the nuclear magnetic resonance but can be applied to other forms of magnetic resonance such as electron spin resonance, According to the invention, as described above, because the configuration of the end sections of the yoke are changed to form a static magnetic field generated in the open section of the magnetic path having gradient distribu- Stion of magnetic force, it is capable of automatically deal with the chemical shift in the magnetic resonance thereby automatically carrying out stable magnetic resonance continuously in a simple constitution without using an expensive frequency conversion amplifier., Now the construction of a magnetizer for magnetizing a magnetic fluid and the method for magnetization process.

Embodiment 7 I :Fig.18 is a longitudinal sectional view of the magnetizer of the invention, and Fig.19, Fig.20, Fig.21 are cross sectional views in lines X-X, Y-Y and Z-Z, respectively, of Fig.18. The description that follows will take a hydrocarbon fuel as an example of the magnetic fluid.

m In the drawings, numeral 60 denotes a casing made of a non-magnetic material in a long, hollow rectangular configuration. The casing 60 has lids 61, 62 on either end thereof to form an entrance and an exit for the flow of the hydrocarbon fuel to be subjected to the magnetization process.

The lids 61, 62 keep the inner space having round cross section of the casing 60 liquid-tight to shield against the outside. The lid 61 is provided with a connecting fixture 63 to connect to a passage pipe to flow the hydrocarbon fuel to be subjected to the magnetization process from the upstream side, and lid 62 is provided with a connecting fixture 64 to I connect to a passage pipe to flow the hydrocarbon fuel which has been subjected to the magnetization process to the I downstream side.

I Installed at a specified distance from each other in i the longitudinal direction inside the casing 60 are two magnetic blocks 70, 70 having such a configuration that an inner yoke 51 of flat cylindrical shape as a first ferromagi netic member, made of a ferromagnetic material with low I *residual magnetism and having a plurality of pointed portions 51a formed to be sharply pointed, is held by a cylindrical permanent magnet 52. An outer yoke 53 as a second ferromagnetic member made of a ferromagnetic material with low residual magnetism in a ring shape is installed to surround the magnetic blocks 70, 70 constituted of the inner yoke 51 and the permanent magnet 52. The inner yoke 51 and -5-2 c Ij the outer yoke 53 are made of a ferromagnetic material having narrow hysteresis characteristic, for example, a substance specified in JIS C2504 as a preferable magnetic material. The magnetic material has magnetic flux density B1 or E2 10,000 magnetic coercive force HC (Oe) saturation magnetic flux density BI0 or B25 15,500 (G) and tolerable residual magnetic flux density Br 6 50 A space between the permanent magnet 52 and the outer yoke 53, and a space between the magnetic blocks 70, 70 are filled with spacers 54 made of a non-magnetic material.

SHowever, a space between the outer yoke 53 and the sharp I pointed portions 51a of the inner yoke 51 is not filled with the spacer 54 and therefore a strong magnetic field is generated therein. Intensity of the strong magnetic field is set within a range of 1,750 G and over where spins are aligned and up to 98,900 G where hydrogen can be extracted I from water.

H Formed in the inner space of the casing 60 is a fluid i passage 55 which communicates with the connection fixture 63 at one end and with the connection fixture 64 at another end thereof, for the flow of the hydrocarbon fuel. The fluid passage 55 turns around twice near the lid 61 on the entrance side (see Fig.21) and turns around twice near the lid 62 on the exit side (see Fig.20) too, making forward and backward travels two and a half times in the longitudinal direction of the casing 60. Specifically, the fluid passage comprises passages 55A, 55B, 55C, 55D, 55E (see Fig.19) disposed from the upstream side. These four fluid passages 55B, 55C, 55D pass through the space between the outer LI yoke 53 and the sharp pointed portions 51a of the inner yoke 51.

It V! Fig.22 is a sectional view showing the magnetic field I pattern in the magnetizer of such a configuration as dell scribed above. Because there is no non-magnetic material in t the space between the sharp pointed portions 51a of the fi inner yoke 51 and the outer yoke 53, a strong magnetic field is generated in this space. In the case where the permanent magnets 52 are disposed in the same layout of S pole and N pole in the magnetic blocks 70, 70 as shown in Fig.22, a i Jcommon magnetic field zone is formed by the magnetic blocks 70. In this case, magnetic fields are at opposite I directions at the entrance and the exit, while heteropolar I iphase is generated at the pointed portions 51a, 51a of the inner yokes 51, 51 and the strong magnetic field has i opposite directions in the magnetic blocks 70, Embodiment 8 Fig.23 is a sectional view showing another example of magnetic field pattern in the magnetizer of such a configuration as described above. In case the permanent magnets 52 r ,i are disposed in different layout of S pole and N pole in the magnetic blocks 70, 70 as shown in Fig.23, opposing sides of the magnetic blocks 70, 70 repulse each other thereby to form independent magnetic field zones in the magnetic blocks 70. In this case, the magnetic field is in the same direction at the entrance and the exit, while homopolar phase is generated at the pointed portions 51a, 51a of the inner yokes 51, 51 and the strong magnetic field has the Ssame direction in the magnetic blocks 70, Now the operation will be described below. Fluid pipes are connected to the connection fixture 63 on the upstream side (entrance side) and to the connection fixture 64 on the downstream side (exit side), and a hydrocarbon fuel to be Ssubjected to the magnetization process, which has been I raised to excited state by resonance absorption of optical !energy and dissociated into radicals, is flowed into the connecting pipe on the upstream side. The hydrocarbon fuel flows into the fluid passage 55 through the connecting i fixture 63.

The hydrocarbon fuel flowed into the fluid passage flows through holes shown in Fig.20 and Fig.21 in the order.

At first, the hydrocarbon fuel passes through a hole k at the entrance side and the fluid passage 55A, then passes through the strong magnetic field between the pointed portion 51a of the inner yoke 51 and the outer yoke 53 to reach a hole m at the exit side. Then the hydrocarbon fuel turns

I

around, passes through a hole n at the exit side and the fluid passage 55B, to pass through the strong magnetic field between the pointed portion 51a of the inner yoke 51 and the outer yoke 53 to reach a hole p at the entrance side. Then K again the hydrocarbon fuel turns around, passes through a K hole q at the entrance side and the fluid passage 55C, to pass through the strong magnetic field again to reach a hole r at the exit side. The hydrocarbon fuel then passes through a hole s at the exit side and the fluid passage 55D, passes through the strong magnetic field to reach a hole t at the entrance side, thereafter passes through a hole u at the i entrance side and the fluid passage 55E to reach a hole v on the exit side, and flows into the fluid pipe on the downstream side via the connection fixture 64, eventually being fed to a combustion chamber.

i By making the hydrocarbon fuel pass through the strong magnetic field in the course of flowing through the passage as described above, electron spins of numerous radicals of the hydrocarbon fuel are aligned in the same direction to S/ reinforce the state of decomposition and increase the proba- Sbility of dissociation. Because the hydrocarbon fuel is fed to the combustion chamber with increased probability of dissociation, the combustion efficiency thereof can be improved.

In the magnetizer described above, the probability of 'T O i i i ii ii 9: 4 111 jSI i i aligning the electron spins of free radicals in the same direction varies depending on the intensity of the magnetic field through which the hydrocarbon fuel flows and the distance in the magnetic field over which the hydrocarbon fuel travels. The higher the magnetic field intensity through which the hydrocarbon fuel passes and the longer the distance of travel in the magnetic field, the higher the probability of the electron spins of the free radicals to be aligned in the same direction, making the repulsive separation of the free radicals more certain and increasing the amount of replacement of dissociation energy during combustion, thereby making it possible to improve the combustion efficiency.

Although a case of using a hydrocarbon fuel as the magnetic fluid and improving the combustion efficiency thereof is described in the above embodiment, when water which is a hydrogen compound is processed in a similar process, it makes possible to improve the efficiency of separating hydrogen from water.

Installing an apparatus to carry out resonance absorption of infrared rays energy on the downstream side of the magnetizer of the invention in order to sustain highly dissociated state of the magnetic fluid is very preferable for the purpose of ensuring that the effects of the invention are achieved.

Ii As described above, because the magnetic fluid is passed through a plurality of magnetic fields, the magnetic fluid can be surely decomposed into free radicals and the efficiency of combustion of hydrocarbon fuels or the efficiency of separating hydrogen from water can be improved.

Also because the probability of the existence of free radicals can be controlled by means of the intensity of strong i magnetic field through which the magnetic fluid passes i and/or the distance in the strong magnetic field over which i the fuel travels, the rate of chemical reaction, state of equilibrium and other factors wherein the magnetic fluid :takes part can be easily controlled.

Olo The invention provides excellent effects such as being V e capable of improving combustion efficiency of the hydrocarbon fuel and improving the purifying function of water by acting on hydrogen bond or covalent bond so as to control chemical reaction,.

e IAs.this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of essential characteris- 41 tics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds thereof are therefore intended to be ems braced by the claims.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

i It i it 950907,p:\opcr\gjn,74257-94250,5

T'

Claims

1. A hydrocarbon fuel combustion method characterized in that the fuel is made to absorb optical energy and mag- netic energy through resonance to'dissociate by fission it into atoms, then brought into contact with oxygen and com- bine therewith.

2. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 1, wherein the fuel is dissociated into free radicals through resonance absorption of optical energy as a primary dissoci- ation process, and the free radicals are further dissociated into atoms through resonance absorption of nuclear magnetic energy as a secondary dissociation.

3. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 2, wherein the hydrocarbon fuel which has been dissociated in the secondary dissociation pre-ees is made to absorb optical energy again in a tertiary dissociation process.

4. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 2, wherein infrared rays of a wavelength from 3 to 4 ~u m is used in the primary dissociation process. -57 The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 2, wherein magnetic field of at least 3500 gauss at 15 MHz or higher is used in a functional relationship of 234.87 gauss/MHz for the nuclear magnetic resonance in the secondary dissociation process.

6. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 3, wherein infrared rays of a wavelength from 6 to 8 Am is used in the tertiary dissociation process.

7. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 2, wherein visible rays or ultraviolet rays is used in the primary dissociation process.

8. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 3, wherein visible rays or ultraviolet rays is used in the tertiary dissociation process.

9. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 1, wherein optical energy is absorbed through resonance in a i primary dissociation to dissociate the hydrocarbon fuel into radicals, and energy is absorbed through electron paramagnetic resonance in a secondary dissociation to 3 1dissociate by fission the radicals into atoms. f 110. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 9, I wherein optical energy is absorbed through resonance by the hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the secondary :0 dissociation once again in a tertiary dissociation. roi0 S c11. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 9 or claim 10, wherein visible rays are used in the primary dissociation.

12. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim 9 or claim 10, wherein ultraviolet rays are used in the primary R dissociation. Ir 09 7 950907,p:opcr\gjn,74257-94.250,57 L 58

13. The hydrocarbon fuel combustion method of claim or claim 11 or claim 12, wherein infrared rays of wavelength 6 to 8 pm are used in the tertiary dissociation.

14. A fuel modifying apparatus, comprising: primary dissociation means to carry out resonance absorption of optical energy by a hydrocarbon fuel for a primary dissociation thereof into radicals; and secondary dissociation means to carry out resonance absorption of magnetic energy by the hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the primary dissociation to break the atom-atom bonds thereof in a secondary dissociation. I I tI t 4 t t t a 9S0907,p:\opcr\gjn,74257-94.250,58 I The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 14, further comprising: tertiary dissociation means to carry out tertiary dissociation wherein optical energy is absorbed through resonance again by the hydrocarbon fuel which has undergone the secondary dissociation.

16. The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 14, wherein said primary dissociation means has infrared rays irradiat- ing means to expose the hydrocarbon fuel to infrared rays. i .17. The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 14, wherein -'aid primary dissociation means has visible rays irradiating means to expose the hydrocarbon fuel to visible rays. 4 .j 18. The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 14, wherein i said primary dissociation means has ultraviolet rays irradi- S ating means to expose the hydrocarbon fuel to ultraviolet rays.

19. The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 14, wherein said secondary dissociation means has means to form magnetic field of 3500 Gauss or higher intensity and means to gener- ate high frequency of 15 MHz or over. i Si F -i The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 14, wherein said secondary dissociation means has means to form magnetic field of 3000 Gauss or higher intensity and means to gener- ate microwave of 8 GHz or higher frequency.

21. The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 15, wherein said tertiary dissociation means has circulating means to circulate the hydrocarbon fuel and a heater installed around the periphery of said circulating means. I

22. The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 21, wherein said circulating means is a pipe made of ceramics.

23. The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 21, wherein said circulating means is a pipe made of carbon. or

24. The fuel modifying apparatus of claim 22 "d claim 23, further comprising control means to control the heater temperature so that the temperature of the circulating means is maintained in a range from 93 to 206°C. chemical shift during magnet c-r ance of a moving object 6 ma erial passes so that the magnetic force has a gradient dist ibution.

26. magnetic field sweeping apparatus of claim 1 wherein grad ent configuration of'the magnetic force of the stat: magneti field is made to gradually open from the upstream of the m vement of the object material to the downstream. i i

27. A magnetic fiel sweeping apparatus of claim 1 wherein gradient configuration of the magnetic force of the I static magnetic field is made to gradually close from the I upstream of the movement of the bject material to the downstream.

28. A magnetic field sweeping appa atus of claim 1 wherein gradient configuration of the magi tic force of the static magnetic field is made to gradually o en from the upstream of the movement of the object materia toward the center reaching the maximum value at the center, nd to gradually close from the center to the downstream.

29. A magnetic field sweeping apparatus of claim I wherein gradie fg ti mgnetcfoe ofte \i 29. maneti fild seepng ppartusof caimi th open section of the magnetic path along the direction of the ovement of the object material. magnetic field sweeping apparatus of claim 1 wherein gra ent configuration of'the magnetic force of the static magneti field is formed by changing the thickness of a magnetic circui which forms the magnetic path along the direction of the mo ment of the object material. ~31. A magnetic field sweeping apparatus to deal with chemical shift during magne ic resonance of a moving object S material, comprising: Sa magnet; and i a yoke, connected to said magn t, for forming a mag- netic path having an open section mid ay; wherein the object material moves i the open section of the magnetic path and the thickness of id yoke changes along the direction of the movement of the obect material.

32. A magnetic field sweeping apparatus to de 1 with chemical shift during magnetic resonance of a moving bject material, comprising: a magnet; and direcion f th movmentof te obect ater a nC-+h- i. .I ng -n c .n i dway wherein the object material moves in the open section I of the magnetic path and the distance of the open section of the maghetic path changes along the direction of the move- ment of th object material.

33. A magn tic resonance apparatus to cause magnetic resonance of a mo 'ng object material, comprising: magnetic field orming means for forming a static -j magnetic field with th intensity changing in the direction j of the movement of the ob'ect material; and means for applying a hi h frequency electromagnetic i field of a constant frequency 0 the object material. I 34. A magnetic resonance appar tus of claim 9 wherein said magnetic field forming means incl des the magnetic field sweeping apparatus of claim 1. J 35. A magnetic resonance apparatus of clalm 9 wherein the magnetic resonance is a form of magnetic res ance selected from among a group consisting of nuclear m gnetic resonance and electron spin resonance.

36. A magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 9 wherein A -0 V ro t. 5" 013 y. r o d

37. A magnetic resonance apparatus to cause magnetic ii resona ce of a moving object material, comprising: i a mnet; i a yoke\which is connected to said magnet and forms a magnetic path aving an open section midway; a pipe, whi h is disposed in the open section of the magnetic path, and 'n which the object material moves a high-frequency oscillating amplifier which generates a constant high-frequenc electromagnetic wave; and I h *i a high-frequency coil hich has both ends connected to said high-frequency oscillati g amplifier and is wound o" around said pipe; wherein the thickness of said oke changes along the direction of the movement of the obje t material.

38. A magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 13 wherein j 9the magnetic resonance is a form of magnetic esonance selected from among a group consisting of nucle magnetic resonance and electron spin resonance.

39. A magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 13 whe ein the object material is a liquid material composed of a -hydpo g^e GO a«d. 6-8- gj liL i^ir:-ii~~_ 0- A mgnet ic-r-es~m +ppra a+ magneti-c. resonan e of a moving object material, comprising: a ma et; a yoke hich is connected to said magnet and forms a magnetic path aving an open section midway; a pipe, whic is disposed in the open section of the magnetic path, and i which the object material moves V a high-frequency scillating amplifier which generates a constant high-frequenc electromagnetic wave; and S' a high-frequency coil hich has both ends connected to i said high-frequency oscillatin amplifier and is wound S around said pipe; wherein the distance of the op n section of the mag- netic path changes along the directio of the movement of the object material. I 41. A magnetic resonance apparatus of cl im 16 wherein Sthe magnetic resonance is a form of magnetic re onance selected from among a group consisting of nuclear agnetic resonance and electron spin resonance. 1

42. A magnetic resonance apparatus of claim 16 where the object material is a liquid material composed of a hydgenucomp-nd. c 4n. A 17 .n i r) 1 i H^ -ii co' prising: K a first magnetic member; a agnet holding said first magnetic member; a secnd magnetic member surrounding said first magnet- icmember and aid magnet; and a fluid pa age which a magnetic fluid to be magnetized I Sflows through, andwhich is disposed in a magnetic field i formed by said first agnetic member, said magnet and said second magnetic member. S44. A magnetizer accordi to claim 43, wherein said fluid passage is dispo ed in such a configuration as to turn around a plurality of t es back and forth in t said magnetic field. A magnetizer for magnetizing a ma etic fluid, comprising: two magnetic blocks which include first mag etic mem- J bers having a plurality of sharp-pointed portions w'th such v a hysteresis characteristic that he- low residual magn tiza- tion and magnets holding said first magnetic members and keep the pointed portions of said first magnetic members -i--he--ei~HE3--ai"-e-i 1 mne-DO-- s I H i ii I lli i i i_ i i A 4 1 4 4 A- 4 locks and having such a hysteresis characteristic that has lo residual magnetization; and fluid passage which a magnetic fluid to be magnetized flows th ough, and which is disposed in a magnetic field formed by said magnetic blocks and said second magnetic member.

46. A magnetiz'r of clai., 45, wherein said fluid passage is\disposed in such a configuration as to turn around a plurality bf times back and forth in said magnetic field.

47. A method for magnetization process, characterized in that; a magnetic fluid including free rdical molecules having unpaired electrons is flowed throgh a magnetic field, thereby to control the direction of pins of the unpaired electrons of the free radical molecu s, while magnetizing the magnetic fluid.

48. A method for magnetization process according o claim 47, wherein the magnetic fluid is a compound of hydrogen which has -be eR-dee^3I-- .i-g^h-fe---s^e-n-a-n-3e-3-b c 4-9 r :e-i Steri d in that; the emical substance which has been raised to an excited state hrough resonance absorption of optical energy is flowed through strong magnetic field and the direction of spin of unpaired ele trons of the free radical molecules is subjected to restriction, thereby to regulate the rate of I, generating free radical molecule and to control the chemi- cal reaction wherein said chemical stance takes part. The steps, features, compositio and compounds disclosed herein or referred to or in ated in the specification and/or claims of this application, individually or collectively, and any and all combinati s ef--aiiy--t-we-r--vee--ef--sa"i-t-eps er urea DATED this TWENTY SEVENTH day of SEPTEMBER 1994 (Shigenobu Fujimoto AND Hiroyuki Bouzono AND Yutaka Nakatani by DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Attorneys for the applicant(s) o I I ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A magnetizer wherein a magnetic fluid is flowed through a plurality of strong magnetic fields. Rate of chemical reaction, state of equilibrium and other factors can be easily controlled by regulating the intensity of the strong magnetic field and the distance in the magnetic field trav- eled by the magnetic fluid. *0 C 0. ma oooa o a a e 4 C o i i f