Joe Street wrote:
Ahh ok that makes sense. I thought it must be some exotic type of
caustic used in this radical new process!
I still think it would be less confusing to just say 'methanol' though ;>
I am thinking about how I could do a quick test to see what happens.
I am guessing that the major factors involve the electrode spacing and
voltage or more to the point the field strength in the vicinity of the
electrode and possibley the electrode material is very important. As
well the flow rate past the electrode or dwell time at the electrode
site would have an effect. My reactor uses a recirculation pump and I
could insert a tee into the recirc line with an automotive sparkplug
as the electrode. The gap is easily adjustable and all I would have
to do is cobble a HV circuit together to do a crude trial. I'd like
to do it on a smaller scale first though. Maybe I could just dunk the
sparkplug into a 50 ml beaker together with oil and methanol and see
if any reaction takes place. In the very least I could discover a way
to set myself on fire and electrocute myself simultaneously :'>
Joe
From the days of building high voltage toys (tesla coils, etc...)
memories of the high voltage capacitor came to mind when this topic
first surfaced, and an image formed in my imagination wherein 2 plates,
in this case possibly made of a metal mesh to allow liquid to flow
through them, are placed parallel to each other, allowing a small gap
between them, and when oil (or dielectric, as it would be called in a
capacitor) is flowed between the plates, would take a charge from
oppositely energized plates. This would allow a greater surface area of
contact between the fluid and the energized electrodes, and perhaps make
a noticeable change in the oil. Just a thought, might be useful, might
trigger someone else's ideas, or it might be more stuff for the trash...
doug swanson
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