Patent ID: 7487764
Filing Date: 2009-02-10
Classification: F02M,Y02T

Abstract:
1. A method of treating hydrocarbon fuel comprising: (a) creating a reaction zone within a flow of exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine; (b) inserting within the reaction zone a reactor vessel having a proximal end and a distal end, which reactor vessel comprises a reactor enclosure, an injection assembly, a reactor rod, and an annular plenum, wherein the reactor rod is an elongated rod composed of a magnetic catalyst material, or a combination of magnetic and catalytic materials, and wherein the reactor rod is axially disposed within the reactor enclosure and is separated from the reactor enclosure by the annular plenum, and wherein the injector assembly is located at the distal end of the reactor vessel; (c) establishing a pressure differential between within the reactor vessel, such that the pressure at the proximal end is less than the pressure at the distal end; (d) introducing into the injection assembly a fuel-air mixture, which is a mixture of a fuel component composed of hydrocarbon molecules and an air component, such that the pressure differential draws the fuel-air mixture through the reactor vessel from the distal end to the proximal end; (e) establishing a cross-flow between the exhaust gases and the fuel-air mixture, wherein the exhaust gases flow around the reactor enclosure from the proximal end to the distal end, while the fuel-air mixture flows within the reactor enclosure from the distal end to the proximal end; (f) transferring thermal energy from the exhaust gases to the fuel-air mixture by means of the cross-flow, such that the rate of thermal energy transfer increases with the increasing temperature of the exhaust gases as the fuel-air mixture flows toward the proximal end of the reactor vessel; (g) vaporizing the fuel component of the fuel-air mixture with the thermal energy transferred from the exhaust gases as the fuel-air mixture flows toward the annular plenum; (h) drawing the fuel-air mixture into the annular plenum by means of the pressure differential, and thereby creating a constricted flow, in which the flow velocity, temperature and pressure of the fuel-air mixture increases, and the hydrocarbon molecules of the fuel component attain an elevated energy level; (i) initiating a cracking of the hydrocarbon molecules of the fuel component at the elevated energy level at which cracking occurs in the presence of the reactor rod acting as a catalyst; (j) producing from the cracking a plurality of free radicals and ions along with non-ionized molecules of the fuel component, such that the ions and the non-ionized molecules interact with one another in the constricted flow of the fuel-air mixture, and energy is transferred back and forth between the ions and the non-ionized molecules; (k) generating from the constricted flow of the ions an electromagnetic field in and around the reactor rod, thereby magnetizing the reactor rod and causing the reactor rod to develop a magnetic field that exerts a force on the ions; (l) accelerating the ions by the effect of the force exerted on the ions by the magnetic field, such that the strength of the electromagnetic field is augmented, and such that the kinetic energy of the ions is increased, with some of the increased energy of the ions being transferred to the non-ionized molecules, an increasing proportion of which undergo cracking by attaining the elevated energy level at which cracking occurs in the presence of the reactor rod; (m) establishing a positive feedback loop in which the electromagnetic field generated by the ions and the magnetic field generated by the reactor rod progressively strengthen each other, thereby progressively increasing the kinetic energy of the hydrocarbon molecules, such that cracking and ionization the fuel component proceeds to the point that the fuel-air mixture becomes a plasma and constitutes a plasma fuel having an enhanced energy content; and (n) combusting the plasma fuel in an internal combustion engine.