Electric arc reactor

Claim 1

A TUBULAR REACTOR EMPLOYED IN THE ELECTROPYROLYTIC CONVERSION OF ORGANIC LIQUIDS WHERE, IN SAID CONVERSION, REACTION TEMPERATURES ARE PRODUCED BY MEANS OF TRANSIENT ELECTRIC ARCS CREATED BETWEEN MOBILE GRANULAR ELECTRODES SUPERIMPOSED IN A SHALLOW LAYER ON AN ELECTRICALLY ENERGIZED FIXED ELECTRODE ASSEMBLY, WHICH COMPRISES AN UPPER SECTION AND A REMOVEABLE LOWER SECTION FITTED THERETO FORMING A JOINT, THE TERMINAL END OF EACH SECTION BEING CAPPED WITH A SUITABLE CLOSURE, A RE-ENTRANT FLANGE LATERALLY DEPENDING FROM THE INNER WALL OF SAID REACTOR ADJACENT TO SAID JOINT, A FIXED ELECTRODE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A FIRST ELECTRODE AND A SECOND ELECTRODE, SAID FIRST ELECTRODE BEING SUPERPOSED ON SAID FLANGE AND HAVING A PERIMETRIC SIDE COEXTENSIVE WITH THE INNER WALL OF SAID REACTOR AND AN OPPOSED INNER SIDE, FORMING AN INTERNAL OPENING IN SAID FIRST ELECTRODE, A SECOND ELECTRODE HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME GEOMETRIC CONFIGURATION AS SAID OPENING, MOUNTED WITHIN SAID OPENING IN SPACED RELATION FROM SAID FIRST ELECTRODE TO PROVIDE A SMOOTH-WALLED PASSAGE OF UNIFORM WIDTH BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND ELECTRODE, THE UPPER SURFACES OF SAID ELECTRODES BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COPLANAR, SAID SECOND ELCETRODE BEING SUPPORTED IN POSITION BY AN ELECTRODE SUPPORT MOUNTED IN THE LOWER SECTION OF SAID REACTOR, AN ELECTRICALLY NONCONDUCTING BAFFLE RESISTANT TO INCREMENTAL CHANGES IN ELECTRIAL CONDUCTIVITY DISPOSED IN AN INTERMEDIATE POSITION BETWEEN SAID ELECTRODES, IN A FIXED SPACED RELATION WITH EACH OF SAID ELETRODES, AND DEFINING SLOTS ADJACENT TO EACH ELECTRODE OF A SIZE PERMITTING FLUID FLOW OF TRITURATE MATERIAL THERETHROUGH WITHOUT PERMITTING THE PASSAGE OF GRANULAR AGGREGATE, SAID SLOTS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY NARROWER IN WIDTH THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID BAFFLE, THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID BAFFLE BEING POSITIONED SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH WITH THE ADJACENT TOP SURFACES OF SAID ELECTRODES, THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID BAFFLE BEING RECTANGULAR IN CROS SECTION, HAVING A THICKNESS OF NOT MORE THAN ABOUT ONE-FOURTH THE THICKNESS OF SAID ADJACENT ELECTRODES, AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR MEANS FOR INTERCONNECTING SAID ELECTRODES TO A POWER NETWORK.