Patent ID: 8007753

Claim:
A process for the catalytic oxidation of a hydrocarbon gas which comprises the steps of: (i) passing a hydrocarbon compressed gas from a source of said compressed gas through a first capillary tube connected to said compressed gas source wherein said first capillary tube is of relatively small diameter; (ii) causing said compressed gas after passage through said first capillary tube to flow through an electronic valve to cause said compressed gas to flow in intermittent pulses; (iii) passing said flow of compressed gas into an expansion chamber of substantially greater size than said first capillary tube to expand said compressed gas and also to reduce the pressure of the compressed gas; (iv) causing said expanded and pulsed gas after step (iii) to flow through a second capillary tube of relatively small diameter which is substantially longer in length than the first capillary tube to reduce both volume and pressure of the expanded and pulsed gas under the influence of friction, and; (v) after passing through said second capillary tube passing said expanded gas through a catalytic converter for catalytic oxidation of the expanded gas to form carbon dioxide.