Patent Number: 052276830
Section: description

REFERENCE NUMERALS 1. North pole piece PA0 2. Magnet PA0 3. South pole piece PA0 4. Pole with radius according to the pipe OD PA0 5. Pipe PA0 6. Pipe wall thickness. PA0 7. Inner cover PA0 8. Outer cover PA0 9. Lines of magnetic flux perpendicular to the pipe wall PA0 a. Distance between pole contacts PA0 b. Width of pole contacts PA0 c. Length of condenser DESCRIPTION--FIGS. 1 AND 2 A device according to the invention is shown in FIG. 1 and employs two identical condenser pole pieces 1 and 3 on opposite sides of a neodymium magnet 2, oriented as shown, providing 12,000 gauss. Condenser pole pieces 1 and 3 are machined from hot-drawn, low carbon steel and have an L-shaped configuration as indicated, with one end of the "L" being flat and abutted against one face of magnet 2 and the other end being curved as indicated to mate with the outside of pipe 5. A inner cover 7 and an outer cover 8 are stamped and folded from medium-carbon sheet steel. The outer cover is protected with a powder coating (not shown) and nests upon the inner cover, which in turn nests upon the pole assembly, all, without making contact. An even space between them is maintained with a high tensile strength epoxy resin (not shown). Two completed devices are placed opposite each other on the pipe to form the assembly shown in FIG. 2. One device's pole pieces oppose the other's. No clamps or other appliances are required. The devices are so powerful that they secure themselves to the pipe. The size of the devices is determined by the inside and outside diameters and wall thickness of the pipe. The optimal magnet thickness is 1". Dimension "a" is 1.25 times the inside diameter (ID) of the pipe. Dimension "b" is 3 times the thickness of the pipe wall. Dimension "c" is equal to the ID of the pipe. Dimension "d" is 1.5 times, b. Dimension "e" is 1.5 times the height of radius 4. OPERATION--FIGS. 1 & 2 The operation is quite simple. Two devices, sized according to the above description, are placed on cleaned sections of a steel pipe, directly opposite each other. The north pole of one device opposes the south pole of the other. A very dense magnetic field then flows from each device's north pole, through the pipe's inside wall, and across the inside space of the pipe, to the opposite device's south pole. This completes their magnetic circuits. Any fluid flowing in the pipe will cut the magnetic field which is perpendicular to the fluid's direction of flow. As the fluid cuts the magnetic field's lines of force, an electric current is generated in the fluid. (The current could theoretically, be taken off the charged fluid by means of insulated electrodes through the pipe wall.) The device's immediate operation and application is in allowing the current to be used in ionizing the molecules of fluid and solids, dissolved and/or suspended in the fluid. The resulting ionization is far more than adequate to prevent scale and corrosion, if installed on the inlet pipes to heat exchange equipment to be protected, such as a cooling tower return line and a chiller condenser inlet in an air conditioning system. The device is also very effective in protecting boilers and heat exchangers, from scale and corrosion, if installed at their main feed water inlets. The device can also effectively replace salt water softening by providing hard water sudsing and rinsing. The resulting ionization also is very effective in increasing the combustion efficiency of hydrocarbon fuels by affording a more complete molecular mixing of the fuel and air molecules. SUMMARY, RAMIFICATIONS AND SCOPE Additional applications and operations of the device are possible. In all cases the operation is essentially the same: the device is simply installed on the steel pipe carrying the fluid to be ionized. All water, fuel, and gas systems will benefit, from the device's ability to drive magnetic flux, through domestic, commercial and industrial steel pipe systems. It protects the pipes by holding them negative and ionizing the molecules of the flowing fluids and gases inside. The scope of the invention should not be limited to the examples given, but should be determined from the claims and their equivalents.