Abstract: A fast pyrolysis reactor includes a tank having a top, bottom and sidewalls extending therebetween and defining a reaction chamber. A fluid inlet and a gas outlet communicate with the chamber. A plurality of cooperatively paired first and second electrodes are positioned within the chamber. Each electrode of a pair is laterally spaced from and vertically aligned with its associated electrode. A gas collection bell is positioned within the chamber and communicates with the gas outlet for collecting generated gas. A power transformer has the poles thereof operatively connected with the electrodes. A tray is positioned between and below the electrodes for defining an interface region extending between the electrodes so that a plasma field is generated between the electrodes when the interface region is formed from two generally immiscible fluids, one of which is conductive and the other of which is insulative, so that the fluids are electrically and thermally decomposed by the plams field into a gas mixture.

Abstract: A medium to high BTU fuel gas is synthesized in a closed tank using a diffuse electrical plasma. An electrode is disposed within, and electrically insulated from, an interface between immiscible mixtures of water and oil in the tank. Comminuted fossil fuel or carbon particles are dispersed in the oil near the interface. A voltage step up transformer connects a potential of about 2-5 kV (kilovolts) across an arc gap between the electrode and the water-oil interface. Electrical breakdown of the oil, due to the high voltage, produces an initial arc across the gap, which at steady state becomes a diffuse, partially-ionized, stable plasma. The electron flow in the plasma chemically and catalytically reforms compounds in the water and oil layers. A capacitor, connected across primary windings of the transformer, has a selected capacitance sufficient to modify the AC voltage and current waveforms so that the power factor of the combined circuit across the arc gap approaches unity.