Patent Number: 052276830
Section: claims

1. A permanent magnet assembly for treating a fluid flowing inside a pipe having a pipe wall of predetermined dimensions, comprising: a pair of magnetic devices, each device comprising:  said pair of magnetic devices each being shaped and sized so that when each device is assembled with said magnet sandwiched between said pole pieces with said proximal ends of said pole pieces abutting said respective oppositely facing surfaces of said magnet, said devices can be placed on opposite sides of said pipe at corresponding positions, with said distal ends of said pole pieces of each device longitudinally spaced along said pipe, with opposite poles of said respective devices facing each other, a magnetic field will extend between each pair of said facing opposite poles, across said pipe and transversely to the direction of fluid flow therein so that said fluid, flowing inside said pipe will cut said flux lines to generate an electrical current in said fluid so as to reduce scaling, corrosion, and algae buildup in said pipe.  (a) said permanent magnet of each of said magnetic devices produces a flux density of about 12,000 gauss, and wherein  (b) the cross-sectional area of each of said distal ends of each of said pole pieces is smaller than said oppositely facing surfaces of said permanent magnet, whereby said pole pieces will condense the magnetic fields of said magnets, thereby magnetically saturating said pole pieces and subsequently oversaturating said pipe wall, driving magnetic flux through said pipe wall.  (a) the thickness of said permanent magnets and the lengths of said pole pieces is such that the spacing between said distal ends of said pole pieces is larger than the inside diameter of said pipe and wherein  (b) said distal end of each of said pole pieces has a thickness, measured in the longitudinal direction of said pipe, greater than the thickness of the wall of said pipe.  (a) the cross-sectional area of each of said distal ends of each of said pole pieces is smaller than said oppositely facing surfaces of said permanent magnet, whereby said pole pieces will condense the magnetic fields of said magnets, thereby magnetically saturating said pole pieces and subsequently oversaturating said pipe wall, driving magnetic flux through said pipe wall, and wherein  (b) the thickness of said permanent magnets and the lengths of said pole pieces is such that the spacing between said distal ends of said pole pieces is larger than the inside diameter of said pipe. 2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said permanent magnet of each of said magnetic devices produces a flux density of about 12,000 gauss. 3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the cross-sectional area of each of said distal ends of each of said pole pieces is smaller than said oppositely facing surfaces of said permanent magnet, whereby said pole pieces will condense the magnetic fields of said magnets, thereby magnetically saturating said pole pieces and subsequently oversaturating said pipe wall, driving magnetic flux through said pipe wall. 4. The assembly of claim 3 wherein the cross-sectional area of each of said distal ends of each of said pole pieces is approximately 1.5 times smaller than said oppositely facing surfaces of said permanent magnet, whereby said pole pieces will condense the magnetic fields of said magnets. 5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the thickness of said permanent magnets and the lengths of said pole pieces is such that the spacing between said distal ends of said pole pieces is larger than the inside diameter of said pipe. 6. The assembly of claim 5 wherein the thickness of said permanent magnets and the lengths of said pole pieces is such that the spacing between said distal ends of said pole pieces is approximately 1.25 times larger than the inside diameter of said pipe. 7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said distal end of each of said pole pieces has a thickness, measured in the longitudinal direction of said pipe, greater than the thickness of the wall of said pipe. 8. The assembly of claim 7 wherein said distal end of each of said pole pieces has a thickness, measured in the longitudinal direction of said pipe, approximately three times greater than the thickness of the wall of said pipe. 9. The assembly of claim 1, further including said pipe, said pipe having said predetermined dimensions. 10. The assembly of claim 9 wherein said pipe is made of steel. 11. The assembly of claim 1 wherein 12. The assembly of claim 11 wherein the cross-sectional area of each of said distal ends of each of said pole pieces is approximately 1.5 times smaller than said oppositely facing surfaces of said permanent magnet, whereby said pole pieces will condense the magnetic fields of said magnets. 13. The assembly of claim 1 wherein 14. The assembly of claim 13 wherein said distal end of each of said pole pieces has a thickness, measured in the longitudinal direction of said pipe, approximately three times greater than the thickness of the wall of said pipe. 15. The assembly of claim 14, further including said pipe, said pipe having said predetermined dimensions. 16. The assembly of claim 15 wherein said pipe is made of steel. 17. The assembly of claim 16 wherein said permanent magnet of each of said magnetic devices produces a flux density of about 12,000 gauss. 18. The assembly of claim 1 wherein 19. The assembly of claim 18 wherein said distal end of each of said pole pieces has a thickness, measured in the longitudinal direction of said pipe, greater than the thickness of the wall of said pipe. 20. The assembly of claim 19, further including said pipe, said pipe having said predetermined dimensions.