Business methods of renewable hydrocarbon-based fuel

Abstract

A business process where hydrogen-depleted carbon, a fuel byproduct, that is removed from pumped-ion, electrochemical engines, or a similar device derived therefrom, is used directly or indirectly to supply carbon that is used as a reactant in solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizers, or a similar device derived therefrom, the reuse of the recovered carbon thereby yielding a renewable supply of hydrocarbon-based fuel. The synthesized fuel produced by the solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizers is converted to useful work by the pumped-ion, electrochemical engines. Little to no carbon dioxide gas is exhausted into the atmosphere when solar energy is the sole source of process heat used by the synthesizer.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority and benefits of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/879,096, filed Jan. 08, 2007, and priority and benefits of provisional patent application, Ser. No. 60/963,500, filed Aug. 6, 2007.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

This invention is business methods applicable to purchasing and recycling transactions, and advertising of a renewable, hydrocarbon-based fuel cycle.

2. Description of Prior Art

Hydrocarbons of various forms are used throughout the world to produce heat and work. Most hydrocarbon-fueled processes use atmospheric oxygen and exhaust reaction products into the air. Liquid hydrocarbon fuel is used extensively in transportation. Liquid hydrocarbon fuel is refined from crude oil that is extracted from subterranean deposits. Additional sources of liquid hydrocarbon fuels are from commercial crops and naturally occurring grasses.

Great strides, including increased efficiencies, have been made in reducing pollution. Burning any hydrocarbon fuel in air produces carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Governments are beginning to treat manmade carbon-dioxide gas emissions as a climate-changing environmental concern, and social pressure to switch from present-day hydrocarbon fuels is growing. Solar, geothermal, wind and wave energy are non-polluting energy sources.

Fuel cells are another means of producing work. Fuel cells use hydrogen gas as a fuel. Hydrogen gas is expensive to produce and pressurize. Production of hydrogen gas often involves the consumption of fossil fuels. Additional sources of hydrogen gas production are nuclear and solar energy. Nuclear energy produces nuclear waste. Solar energy includes photovoltaics used for electrolysis of water. The cost of photovoltaic panels is expensive, as the electron band gap is small and the resulting surface area is usually large. Another source of hydrogen gas is thermally cracking water. The gas must be separated, filtered, and compressed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The carbon atom is an ideal storage medium for hydrogen used as fuel. Unpressurized storage is part of the high utility of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Liquid hydrocarbon fuel is the fuel of choice for transportation because it is easily contained. The fuel tanks are usually unpressurized and lightweight. The ION PUMP AND AN ELECTROCHEMICAL ENGINE USING SAME, that is disclosed in provisional patent application, Ser. No. 60/963,500, filed Aug. 6, 2007, abridged hereinafter to pumped-ion, electrochemical engine, recovers hydrogen-depleted carbon as a fuel byproduct when converting a liquid hydrocarbon fuel to work. The SOLAR-POWERED, LIQUID-HYDROCARBON-FUEL SYNTHESIZER, that is disclosed in provisional patent application, Ser. No. 60/879,096, filed Jan. 08, 2007, hydrogenates carbon that is used as a raw material to produce a hydrocarbon-based fuel. Together, the two devices might use carbon as a reusable storage medium for hydrogen that is used as a fuel.

This invention is the business processes that link the operations of the pumped-ion, electrochemical engine and the solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizer. Hydrogen-depleted carbon, a fuel byproduct that is collected and stored in, and later removed from the pumped-ion, electrochemical engine, is used as a source of carbon that is used as a reactant in the solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizer. Synthesized fuel is used in the pumped-ion, electrochemical engine to produce work. The hydrogen-depleted carbon might have value other than its use as a reactant used in the solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizers. Transferring ownership of recovered fuel byproduct for its economic value includes ways and means of measuring the quantity of fuel byproduct that is recovered, determining the monetary or other value of the quantity of fuel byproduct, and processing the transaction, which might include both a credit for the fuel byproduct recovered and a debit for fuel purchased. The purchase price of fuel might be advertised as a net value of the fuel price, less the value of recycled byproduct.

NO DRAWINGS INCLUDED

Claims

1. A business process where hydrogen-depleted carbon, a fuel byproduct, that is removed from one or more pumped-ion, electrochemical engines, or a similar device derived therefrom, is used either directly or indirectly to supply carbon that is used as a reactant in one or more solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizers, or a similar device derived therefrom, said reuse of the carbon thereby yielding a renewable, hydrocarbon-based fuel supply,

and/or where said hydrogen-depleted carbon, that is removed from one or more pumped-ion, electrochemical engines, or a similar device derived therefrom, is used as a raw material in another production or product having economic value,

and/or where hydrogen-depleted carbon, that is removed from other devices that collect the byproduct, is used to supply carbon that is used as a reactant in one or more solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizers, or a similar device derived therefrom,

such that said business process of reusing the carbon produces a variety of monetary or other economic benefits while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

2. The business process of claim 1 where a purchase of fuel, or a license or other right to use a quantity of fuel or the hydrogen and/or carbon contained therein, is directly or indirectly reduced by the monetary or other value of a quantity of hydrogen-depleted, carbon recovered from fuel, said fuel purchase and purchase discount, refund, rebate or other fuel-byproduct-credit realized being done in one or more transactions at one or more business entities.

3. The business process of claim 1 where the retail purchase price per a standard unit-of-measure of fuel is advertised or otherwise quoted as a net fuel price, discounted for the value of carbon that would be normally recovered at a standardized carbon content of the fuel, if an amount equal to the standardized carbon content were also returned at the time and place of refueling, even though the discount or credit that is given at the time and place of the transaction might be determined by measuring the actual quantity of fuel byproduct returned.

4. The business process of claim 1 in which the quantity of hydrogen-depleted carbon removed from said pumped-ion, electrochemical engine, or a similar device derived therefrom, is measured by a means such as measuring weight by deflection of a spring or balance, measuring mass by deflection of a surface including that of a piezoelectric material, measuring volume flow by rotation of a wheel or propeller turned by the flow, measuring flow density by use of an optical property, or measuring by another property, or any combination of such means, and in which the device that measures the quantity of hydrogen-depleted carbon removed might include a means of calculating the monetary value of the quantity of hydrogen-depleted carbon removed, by multiplying said quantity removed by the monetary value per unit-of-measure of weight, mass, volume, density, charge or other measure used, and in which the calculation of said monetary value might include a conversion from the original unit-of-measure used to measure said quantity removed, to another more widely accepted or better understood unit-of-measure.

5. The business process of claim 1 using a device, that might include or be part of a pump station that dispenses fuel, such as a gasoline pump at a service station, which includes a means of deducting from the purchase of fuel dispensed by the refueling device, the monetary value of hydrogen-depleted carbon that has been removed from said pumped-ion, electrochemical engine, or a similar device derived therefrom, where the means of deducting said monetary value from said purchase might use one or more algorithms performed by microprocessors or another means of performing the calculation, thereby yielding a net transaction for the fuel dispensed and the hydrogen-depleted carbon byproduct recovered, and the net transaction being either completed as a cash purchase or refund, or recorded to a credit or debit card account as fuel purchases at service stations are presently and commonly done.

6. The business process of claim 1 where conversion to said renewable, hydrocarbon-based fuel is done in a manner that yields “carbon credits” deriving from the Kyoto Accord, which is intended to reduce greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide that cause global warming, and where said “carbon credits” thereby yielded are sold or are otherwise converted to monetary or other value, which might include, but is not limited to, selling said “carbon credits” to others who purchase hydrocarbon fuel for vehicles that do not recover or recycle carbon as a fuel byproduct, or where said conversion eliminates a requirement to purchase said “carbon credits.”

7. The business process of claim 1 where implementation and use of said renewable, hydrocarbon-based fuel reduces expenditures, including government expenditures, for pollution control or environmental testing and protection and where the reduction in said expenditures is not equally reflected in lower taxes or other fees paid by citizens to fund the expenditures, but instead, are redirected to government expenditures for other non-environment-related concerns, said implementation and use or said renewable fuel thereby producing a source of government revenue for non-environment-related concerns.

8. A business process where water vapor, which is produced by said pumped-ion, electrochemical engine, or by fuel cells, internal combustion engines or other gas expansion devices that produce work, is not exhausted, but is instead condensed and held in a reservoir until it is removed therefrom, and is reused for the production of a renewable hydrogen-based fuel or for any other use or purpose having value.

9. The business process of claim 11 where a purchase of fuel, or a license or other right to use a quantity of fuel or the hydrogen and/or carbon contained therein, is directly or indirectly reduced by the monetary or other value of a quantity of hydrogen recovered from fuel as water, said fuel purchase and purchase discount, refund, rebate or other fuel-byproduct-credit realized being done in one or more transactions at one or more business entities.

10. The business process of claim 11 where recovery and recycling of water vapor is done in a manner that yields “water vapor credits” similar to said “carbon credits” deriving from the Kyoto Accord, which is intended to reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming, water vapor being a greenhouse gas, and where said “water vapor credits” thereby yielded are sold or are otherwise converted to monetary or other value, which might include, but is not limited to, selling said “water vapor credits” to purchasers of a vehicles that do not recover and recycle hydrogen as a fuel byproduct in the form of water, or where said conversion eliminates a requirement to purchase said “water vapor credits.”

11. A business process where the value of land is increased by advertising or otherwise communicating its suitability for installation of an array of heliostats that reflect sunlight onto one or more solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizers, or devices derived therefrom, the increase in value of said land directly or indirectly deriving from the economic value of the fuel, renewable fuel, or other product that might be produced by solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizers, or a use in combination with said heliostat array, when suitability for a dual use derives from lower ground surface temperatures or an increase in the availability of water that might result as a consequence of the installation of said solar-powered, liquid-hydrocarbon-fuel synthesizer or synthesizers and surrounding heliostats.