Patent ID: 7186018

Claim:
A method of processing fuel, comprising: providing a coupling having a drive element with a first magnetic member and a driven element with a second magnetic member, the drive element being magnetically coupled to the driven element by the first and second magnetic members; providing a fuel homogenizer having a stator and a rotor rotatably mounted with respect to the stator, wherein the rotor is rotatably coupled to the driven element of the coupling; providing fuel to the rotor; providing rotational energy to the drive element, the rotational energy rotating the drive element and the first magnetic member, wherein the first magnetic member transfers rotational energy to the second magnetic member and rotates the rotor; and shearing asphaltenes in the fuel with opposed surfaces of the rotor and the stator as the fuel travels through a gap extending between the rotor and the stator in a direction substantially parallel to a rotational axis of the rotor, wherein the gap progressively narrows from an inlet portion of the gap to an outlet portion of the gap.