Process for converting naturally occurring hydrocarbon fuels into gaseous products by an arc heater

Claim 1

In a process for converting naturally occurring hydrocarbon fuels into a gaseous product comprising the steps of: providing a poly-phase arc heater system characterized by a number of arc heaters having arc chambers communicating with a central housing chamber; striking an electric arc in an axial gap between generally hollow, cylindrical electrodes spaced along a common axis that form the arc chamber in each of the intercommunicating arc heater chambers, the arc being maintained at a temperature for at least a portion of its life sufficient to produce free hydrocarbon radical ions from hydrocarbon fuel; introducing a hydrocarbon gas selected from the group consisting of ethane, methane, propane, butane, and mixtures thereof, through the gap in a direction generally transverse to the axis to thereby elongate the arc to produce a temperature therein sufficiently high to produce the free hydrocarbon radical ions from the hydrocarbon gas and to cause the arc in each arc heater to flash through the central housing chamber and into another arc heater; feeding into one end of the central housing chamber naturally occurring coal or oil through the arc chamber and into the region of the free hydrocarbon radical ions to thereby chemically react with the free radical ions to produce a stream of gaseous hydrocarbon fuel; and withdrawing the stream of gaseous hydrocarbon fuel from an exhaust port at the other end of the arc chamber.