Submerged Arcs in Liquid Petroleum

Pechuro and coworkers152-162 have used both non-stationary and stationary electric arcs for the decomposition of liquid petroleum fractions. Besides acetylene and ethylene some methane was produced. For acetylene production power consumption in a stationary arc was lower than in a non-stationary arc. Because of the high dielectric properties of petroleum fractions the preparation of acetylene by the electrocracking of liquid petroleum was limited by the small distance between the electrodes. A low voltage ac arc (3 kW) in gasoline, kerosene and diesel fuel yielded 38—46 wt % acetylene. 

In a high voltage ac arc operating at 15 kV and 40 mA the simultaneous decomposition of liquid n-undecane and gaseous natural gas (91% CH4) hydrocarbons was attempted. The discharge zone increased from 1.25 mm (without added gas) to 5-6.5 mm (with added gas) and consequently the product yields increased158. How- 

Selected data on work using submerged arc in liquid petroleum are presented in Table 6. With pulsing the amount of methane in the product gases was increased. Pulsed discharges in liquid hydrocarbons have been studied171,172,182,1831. With 

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Table 6. Selected data on work with submerged arcs in liquid petroleum...

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