https://doi.org/10.33805/2641-7383.111

Volume 2 Issue 1 | PDF 111 | Pages 4

Edelweiss ChemicalScience Journal
Research Article

ISSN: 2641-7383

Chemical Synthesis of Fuel Hydrocarbon from
CO2 and Activated Water, and Purification ofCommercial Light Oil for Dream Oil
Tadayuki Imanaka*and Tadashi Takemoto
Affiliation: The Research Organization of Science and Technology, Ritsumeikan University, Japan*
Corresponding author: Tadayuki Imanaka, The Research Organization of Science and Technology, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 NojiHigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan, E-mail: imanaka@sk.ritsumei.ac.jp
Citation: Imanaka T and Takemoto T. Chemical synthesis of fuel hydrocarbon from CO2 and activated water, and purification of commercial
light oil for dream oil (2019) Edelweiss Chem Sci J 2: 23-26.
Received: Sep 18, 2019
Accepted: Sep 26, 2019
Published: Oct 01, 2019
Copyright: © 2019 Imanaka T, et al., This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract
Here we show that petroleum can be formed efficiently at normal temperatures and pressures from carbon dioxide and activated water. The CO2
nano-bubble containing water was treated with photocatalyst in the presence of oxygen under UV irradiation. The activated water was mixed
vigorously with kerosene or light oil to form an emulsion. The emulsion gradually separated into a two-phase solution. After phase separation, thevolume of kerosene or light oil, depending on which oil was utilized, increased by 5 to 10%. Likewise tetradecane was used, and original
tetradecane may be used as a template for the synthesis of new tetradecane. When commercial light oil was treated in the same way, most organicand inorganic impurities were removed from the oil and very clean light oil was obtained. We named it as dream light oil. The dream light oilmeets strict Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS).
Keywords: Fuel hydrocarbon production, CO2, Activated water, Photocatalyst, Purification of commercial oil.
Abbreviations: JIS-Japanese Industrial Standards, C6 -Hexane, C8 -Octane, C9-Nonane, C10-Decane, C11-Undecane, C12-Dodecane, C13-Tridecane,
C14-Tetradecane, C15-Pentadecane, C16-Hexadecane, C17 -Heptadecane, C18-Octadecane, C19-Nonadecane, C20-Icosane, C21-Henicosane, C22Docosane, C23-Tricosane, C24-Tetracosane, C25-Pentacosane, C26-Hexacosane, C27-Heptacosane.

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Both biotic and abiotic oil hypotheses have been proposed to explain
the origin of oil on our planet. Supporting the abiotic oil hypothesis, it
has been known since 1967 that petroleum could be formed at hightemperatures and pressures from inorganic carbon in the form ofcarbon dioxide with hydrogen or methane. The abiotic origin ofpetroleum has been reviewed in detail by Glasby, who raises a numberof objections, including that there is no direct evidence to date ofabiotic petroleum [1]. Geologists now consider the abiotic formation ofpetroleum scientifically unsupported, and they agree that petroleum isformed from organic material [1].

Generation of Activated Water

However, some argue that the abiotic theory cannot be dismissed
because the mainstream theory has yet to be established conclusively[2]. In 1920’s, Fischer-Tropsch process was reported indicating that
petroleum can be produced from CO and H2 with special catalyst underhigh pressures and high temperatures. Since then, no apparent
procedures on the topics have been exploited [3]. Here, we show that
petroleum can be formed efficiently at normal temperatures andpressures from carbon dioxide and activated water. In addition,
purification of commercial light oil (removal of organic and inorganic
impurities) is presented.

Tap water passed through reverse osmosis membrane (TorayIndustries, Inc., Osaka, Japan) to get pure water. Then CO2 gas wassupplied into the water by nano-bubble generator (Nishiken-devise,Osaka) for 30 min. The nano-bubbles are generally maintained in thewater for a long period of time unless CO 2 is consumed. The nanobubble containing water was treated in the presence of oxygen gas withTiO2 catalysis (Takemoto Industry, Okayama, Japan) under irradiationof UV light {UV sterilization lump: Panasonic GL-40 40w (254nm)
and Black light: Toshiba FL40S BLB 40w (315nm-400nm, peak wave
length 352nm)} for 30min.
Material and quantity of photocatalyst is shown below. UV-reactive
TiO2 (70g), visible light-reactive TiO2 powder (70g) (Ishihara Sangyo
Kaisha, Ltd., Osaka, Japan), iron powder No. 300 (10g) (Wako Pure
Chemical Industries, Ltd., Osaka), platinum powder (1g) (Tokuriki
Honten Co., Ltd., Tokyo), and 50g of acrylic resin adhesive (BondFL200, Konishi Co., Ltd., Osaka) were suspended in 1liter of waterglass (SiO2 28-30%, Na2O 9-10%, viscosity 100-250cp) (No.3, Fuji
Kagaku Co, Osaka). This suspension was mixed with ceramic support(1kg) and then dried.

Citation: Imanaka T and Takemoto T. Chemical synthesis of fuel hydrocarbon from CO2 andactivated water, and purification of commercial light oil for dream oil (2019) Edelweiss Chem Sci J
2: 23-26.
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Imanaka T, et al. Edelweiss Chemical Science Journal, 2019 PDF: 111, 2:1

All the powders adhered to the surface of ceramic support with acrylic
adhesive. The 6kg of this photocatalyst was set in the column. In thisprocess, oxygen gas is converted to ozone, and further to reactive
oxygen species such as superoxide anion radicals and hydroxyl radicals[4]. The reactive oxygen species may reduce carbon dioxide to carbon
monoxide, as follows,2CO2 ⇒ 2CO+O2

reaction (1)By using TiO2 photocatalyst, H2O was decomposed into H2 and O2 as
follows,
2H2O ⇒ 2H2+O2

reaction (2)CO2+H2O ⇒ CO+H2+O2

reaction (3)Figure 2: Oil production.
The oil generation reaction may occur as radical polymerization inemulsion and be written as follows,

As a total,

The activated water (10L) containing reactive oxygen species wasmixed vigorously with either kerosene or light oil (10L) and carbon
dioxide (from ambient air) to form an emulsion by the special mixer(Takemoto Industry, Okayama, Japan).

Analytical method
Alkane was analyzed by column chromatography with SHIMAZU GC2010. The experimental conditions are shown below.
Vaporization room for specimen
Injection mode: split Total flow rate: 13.0 ml/min
Temperature of vaporization room: 250oC
Column flow rate: 1.81 ml/min
Carrier gas: He Linear velocity: 40.0 cm/sec
Control mode: linear velocity
Purge flow rate: 4.0 ml/min
Pressure: 142.0 kPa Split ratio: 4.0
Column oven: Column oven temperature program: initial 75oC,Rate: 6oC/min, Final 300oC, Hold 20 min
Column: DB-1 (0.25μm × 30m) (J and W Scientific, California)
Detector
Detector: FID, Make up flow rate: 30.0 ml/min
Detector temperature: 300oC, Flow rate of H2: 47.0 ml/min
Make up gas: He, Air flow rate: 400.0 ml/min
The inorganic impurities from commercial light were analyzed by Xray Fluorescence.

nCO+(2n+1)H2 ⇒ CnH2n+2+nH2O

reaction (4)This reaction is a part of Fischer-Tropsch process [5-7]. Generally, theFischer-Tropsch process is operated in the temperature range of 150300oC. Typical pressures range from one to several tens ofatmospheres. Converting a mixture of H2 and CO into aliphatic
products obviously should be a multi-step reaction with several sorts ofintermediates, 1) associative adsorption of CO, 2) splitting of the C/Obond, 3) dissociative adsorption of 2H2, 4) transfer of 2H to the oxygento yield H2O, 5) desorption of H2O, 6) transfer of 2H to the carbon toyield CH2. These processes are repeated as radical polymerization for
the growth of the hydrocarbon chain. Why such intermediates are notdetected in the present reaction will require further in-depth analysis.
From reactions 3 and 4, mass balance is shown as follows,
nCO2+(n+1)H2⇒ CnH2n+2+nO2

reaction (5)Comparison between original light oil and new oil: The original oiland new oil (a mixture of original oil and newly synthesized oil) wereanalyzed by chromatography. SHIMAZU GC-2010 was used for thechromatographic analyses. Distribution of carbon number of originallight oil was compared with that of new oil (Figure 3). Difference incompositional ratio at each carbon number was compared in Figure 4.
Hydrocarbons with 15 (C15) to 23 (C23) carbon atoms increased in thenew oil, whereas C8 (or less) through C14 decreased and C24 throughC27 (or more) decreased. These data clearly show that C 15 through C23
was synthesized more efficiently than the original light oil and thelower number and higher number hydrocarbon were synthesized less.
If all the fractions (C8 through C27) were synthesized at the same ratio,
the difference of new oil and original oil should be zero. Thus we canconclude the chemical synthesis of hydrocarbon from CO 2 and water.

Results and Discussion
Chemical Synthesis of Oil
Ten liter of light oil and activated water (10 liter) were collided against
the wall of the mixer. The white emulsion (Figure 1) was left static
until it separated into a two-phase (oil-water) solution (Figure 2). The
volume of the oil fraction increased from the original volume by 5 to
10% and water fraction decreased by 5 to 10%. All reactions werecarried out at room temperature and normal pressure.

Figure 3: Comparison of composition between original light oil andnew oil.
Characteristics of newly generated oil and the original oil are comparedas shown in Table 1. No apparent difference between the two oilsamples was recognized. A slightly higher value of gross heatgeneration in new oil may reflect the different distribution of carbon
number.
Figure 1: White emulsion.

Citation: Imanaka T and Takemoto T. Chemical synthesis of fuel hydrocarbon from CO2 and activatedwater, and purification of commercial light oil for dream oil (2019) Edelweiss Chem Sci J 2: 23-26.
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Imanaka T, et al. Edelweiss Chemical Science Journal, 2019 PDF: 111, 2:1

Figure 5c: Chromatogram of newly synthesized material fromtetradecane.
Figure 4: Difference in compositional ratio at each carbon number
between original oil and new oil.
Unit

Item
ReactionFlash point (PMCC)
Viscosity (30℃）
Fluidity point
Residual carbon
Water, KF method
Ash
SulfurDensity (15℃)
Distillation temp.
10% distillation
50% distillation
90% distillation
Cetane number
Gross heat generation
Choked point℃
mm2/s℃
Mass%
Mass%
Mass%
Mass%
g/cm3℃℃℃
J/g

Results
Original oil
New oil
Neutrality
Neutrality
7374
3.479
3.479
-15-12.5
0.01
0.01
0.00630.00490.001
0.001
0.00070.00070.82950.8297
217271.5
326
56.2
45,990-10226274.5
329.5
56.5
46,010-12Method
JIS K2252
JIS K2265-3
JIS K2283
JIS K2269
JIS K2270-2
JIS K2275
JIS K2272
JIS K2541-6
JIS K2249-1
JIS K2254

JIS K2280-5
JIS K2279
JIS K2269

The original sample of tetradecane is composed of 0.021% tridecane(C13), 99.804% C14, and 0.175% pentadecane (C15). The new oil
contained 0.023% C13, 99.793% C14, and 0.184% C15. Although the oilvolume increased, no apparent difference of chromatographic data wasobserved. Original tetradecane may be used as a template for thesynthesis of new tetradecane. These data show that specific carbon
number hydrocarbon (alkane) could be synthesized depending on theoriginal alkane. Therefore it is easily understood that light oil wasproduced with light oil and kerosene was synthesized with kerosene.

Purification of Commercial Light Oil
Commercial light oil was purchased from gasoline stand, and treated
likewise. The volume of oil was increased by 5-10% as mentioned
above. Surprisingly after the reaction, organic soot fraction (impurityfrom commercial light oil) appeared in the water fraction at oil-waterinterface (Figure 6). At the same time, inorganic impurities appearedat the bottom (Figure 7). The inorganic impurities include mainly Fe,Si, Zn, and a little amount of K, S etc.

Note: JIS-Japanese Industrial Standards.

Table 1: Characteristics of original and new oils.

Production of Specific Carbon Number n-Alkane
In order to examine the possibility of producing oil with a specificcarbon number, the special grade of tetradecane (C14) was purchasedfrom Wako Pure Chemicals (Osaka, Japan) and used as the original oilfor this reaction. The volume of new tetradecane increased by 7%. The
chromatographic data are shown in Figure 5a, Figure 5b and Figure
5c. Figure 5a shows the chromatogram of hexane (C6) used as thesolvent. Figure 5b shows the chromatogram of the original tetradecane.
Figure 6: Soot fraction from commercial light oil.

Figure 5a: Chromatogram of hexane as solvent.

Figure 7: Inorganic impurities from commercial light oil.
Color of commercial light oil and newly synthesized oil was compared(Figure 8). Commercial light oil (left) showed dark yellow and new oil(right) showed pale yellow, because organic and inorganic impurities
were removed from commercial light oil. When this clean new oil wasrepeatedly used for the next process, new clean oil was produced,indicating inexhaustible synthesis.
Figure 5b: Chromatogram of original tetradecane.

Citation: Imanaka T and Takemoto T. Chemical synthesis of fuel hydrocarbon from CO2 and activatedwater, and purification of commercial light oil for dream oil (2019) Edelweiss Chem Sci J 2: 23-26.
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Imanaka T, et al. Edelweiss Chemical Science Journal, 2019 PDF: 111, 2:1

Figure 8: Comparison of commercial light oil (left) and new oil(right).

Application of New Oil
Since newly synthesized clean light oil meets strict Japanese Industrial
Standards (Table 1), the performance was examined by using diesel
engine. In fact, one 10 ton truck, two 4 ton trucks, and a sedan car wereused. The results were very good. (1) Traveling distance was extended
by 1.15 ~ 1.50 fold. (2) Exhaust gas became clear. Amount of sootdecreased drastically. (3) Knocking was hardly experienced, indicating
anti-knocking. (4) Engine sound was getting more quiet. Since theclean light oil is excellent, it was named as “Dream Light Oil”.

Conclusion
Petroleum (light oil, kerosene, n-alkane) could be formed efficiently atnormal temperatures and pressures from carbon dioxide and activatedwater. The CO2 nano-bubble containing water was treated withphotocatalyst in the presence of oxygen under UV irradiation. The
activated water was mixed vigorously with kerosene or light oil to form
an emulsion. The emulsion gradually separated into a two-phasesolution. After phase separation, the volume of kerosene or light oil,depending on which oil was utilized, increased by 5 to 10%. Likewise,
tetradecane was used as a template in the experiment, only tetradecane
was newly synthesized. When commercial light oil was treated in thesame way, most organic and inorganic impurities were removed fromoil and very clean light oil was obtained. We named it as dream lightoil. The dream light oil meets strict Japanese Industrial Standards. The
oil showed very excellent performance for diesel engine.

These results can be summarized as follows; (1) Fuel hydrocarbon canbe synthesized efficiently at normal temperatures and pressures fromcarbon dioxide and activated water. (Inexhaustible resources), (2)Gross heat generation of original oil and new oil were the same, (3)High productivity, (4) High cost performance (Efficient process), (5)Oil is used as a template for next oil synthesis, (6) No need to purify
the new oil, because S and N are not contained in the dream oil. Thus,
SOx and NO x are not generated after burning (Earth friendly), (7) Soot
fraction and other impurities were removed from commercial light oil,and the new dream oil showed excellent performance for diesel engine,(8) Since CO2 in the air is mainly consumed, this process contributes toglobal warming prevention. (Emissions trading is advantageous), (9)Carbon neutral, (10) Abiotic synthesis of petroleum, (11) Energy crisis
will be avoided.

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Since this oil production process is cheap and effective, this technique
is extremely important to deal with the current energy crisis, andshould provide a foundation for carbon-neutral energy production. The
method simultaneously utilizes/reduces carbon dioxide (greenhousegas) as it is consumed as a carbon source when converted tohydrocarbons. Since the newly synthesized oil does not contain sulfur,
SOx is not exhausted from the combustion gas. This result may also
support the abiotic petroleum origin hypothesis.

Citation: Imanaka T and Takemoto T. Chemical synthesis of fuel hydrocarbon from CO2 and activatedwater, and purification of commercial light oil for dream oil (2019) Edelweiss Chem Sci J 2: 23-26.
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