Business methods of renewable hydrocarbon-based fuel

• US 20080168009A1
• Filed: 01/02/2008
• Published: 07/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Robert Paul Johnson
• Original Assignee: Robert Paul Johnson
• Inventors: Johnson, Robert Paul
• Application Number:
  US12/006,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20080168009A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/413
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 15/005 in the presence of catalytically active bodies, e.g. porous plates
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/127 Sunlight; Visible light
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/1806 resulting in a turbulent flow of the reactants, such as in centrifugal-type reactors, or having a high Reynolds-number
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0869 Feeding or evacuating the reactor
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0871 Heating or cooling of the reactor
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0886 Gas-solid
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0892 involving catalytically active material
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 1/00 Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil-shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal mechanical winning of oil from oil-shales, oil-sand, or the like B03B
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 1/06 by destructive hydrogenation
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 1/086 Characterised by the catalyst used
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 15/10 Adaptations for driving, or combinations with, electric generators
• CPC Class Codes: F03G 6/065 having a Rankine cycle
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 7/1823 structurally associated with turbines or similar engines
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/46 Conversion of thermal power into mechanical power, e.g. Rankine, Stirling or solar thermal engines
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 20/133 Renewable energy sources, e.g. sunlight

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.

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.

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.

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.”