Synthetic fuel production method and synthetic fuel production device

Abstract

To provide a synthetic fuel production method and a synthetic fuel production device which efficiently make activated water in a radical state to enable the yield of a synthetic fuel to be improved.SOLUTION: A synthetic fuel production method includes: an ultrafine bubble production step of producing ultrafine bubbles in water W; an activated water production step of irradiating the water W containing the ultrafine bubbles with an ultrasonic wave U to produce activated water R; and a reaction step of reacting the activated water R, crude oil O, and carbon dioxide with mixing. A synthetic fuel production device 10 includes: an ultrafine bubble production section 1 which produces ultrafine bubbles in water W; an activated water production section 2 which is provided with a catalyst 20 and which irradiates the water W containing the ultrafine bubbles with an ultrasonic wave U to produce activated water R; and a synthetic fuel production section 3 which reacts the activated water R, crude oil O, and carbon dioxide with mixing to produce a synthetic fuel F. The synthetic fuel production section 3 and the activated water production section 2 are arranged along a direction of irradiation of the ultrasonic wave U in a queue.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a synthetic fuel production method and a synthetic fuel production apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, there is known a technique for obtaining synthetic fuel by mixing and stirring activated water containing active oxygen, carbon dioxide, and base oil (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a synthetic fuel production method in which activated water is produced by bringing tourmaline, which is a catalyst, into contact with water irradiated with ultrasonic waves, and the activated water, carbon dioxide, and base oil irradiated with ultrasonic waves are then stirred and mixed to produce synthetic fuel.

[0004] Patent Document 2 describes a synthetic fuel production method in which oxygen is supplied to water containing carbon dioxide to generate oxygen nanobubbles, and activated water containing active oxygen is generated by irradiating the water containing the nanobubbles with ultraviolet light in the presence of a photocatalyst, and the activated water and base oil are stirred and mixed in a carbon dioxide atmosphere to obtain synthetic fuel. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-189870 [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2016 / 103762 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] It is known that the yield of synthetic fuel increases with the amount of radicals contained in activated water. However, the synthetic fuel production method described in Patent Document 1 does not efficiently convert activated water into a radical state. Furthermore, in the synthetic fuel production method described in Patent Document 2, activated water is generated by irradiating water containing nanobubbles with ultraviolet light, but the ultraviolet light does not have a mixing effect, so the activated water does not efficiently convert into a radical state.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a synthetic fuel production method and synthetic fuel production apparatus that can efficiently convert activated water into a radical state and improve the yield of synthetic fuel. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The synthetic fuel production method according to the present invention is characterized by comprising an ultrafine bubble generation step of generating ultrafine bubbles in water, an activated water generation step of irradiating the water containing the ultrafine bubbles with ultrasonic waves to generate activated water, and a reaction step of mixing and reacting the activated water, base oil, and carbon dioxide.

[0009] According to this configuration, by irradiating water containing ultrafine bubbles with ultrasonic waves, activated water can be produced and the activated water can be efficiently converted into a radical state. Then, by mixing and reacting activated water with a large amount of radicals, base oil, and carbon dioxide, it becomes possible to produce synthetic fuel with a high yield.

[0010] Furthermore, the synthetic fuel production device according to the present invention is characterized by comprising an ultrafine bubble generation unit that generates ultrafine bubbles in water, an activated water generation unit that has a catalyst and irradiates water containing the ultrafine bubbles with ultrasound to generate activated water, and a synthetic fuel production unit that mixes and reacts the activated water, base oil, and carbon dioxide to produce synthetic fuel, and the synthetic fuel production unit and the activated water generation unit are arranged in parallel along the direction of the ultrasound irradiation.

[0011] According to this configuration, the ultrafine bubble generating unit generates water containing ultrafine bubbles, and the activated water generating unit irradiates the water with ultrasonic waves, thereby efficiently converting the generated activated water into a radical state. Furthermore, the synthetic fuel production unit, which mixes and reacts activated water with base oil and carbon dioxide to produce synthetic fuel, and the activated water generating unit are arranged in parallel along the direction of ultrasonic irradiation, so that the ultrasonic waves irradiated from the activated water generating unit toward the water are also irradiated toward the synthetic fuel producing unit. This allows the synthetic fuel producing unit to mix activated water, base oil, and carbon dioxide using ultrasonic waves, even if the synthetic fuel producing unit does not have a mixer or the like, thereby simplifying the device configuration of the synthetic fuel producing unit and enabling more efficient synthetic fuel production. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram of a synthetic fuel production device according to the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the amount of activated water radicals generated by the synthetic fuel production method according to the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the amount of radicals when a synthetic fuel is produced using the synthetic fuel production method according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of a synthetic fuel production method and a synthetic fuel production apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0014] [Synthetic fuel production equipment] A synthetic fuel production apparatus 10 according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figure 1. The synthetic fuel production apparatus 10 comprises an ultrafine bubble generation unit 1, an activated water generation unit 2, and a synthetic fuel production unit 3. In the following description, the vertical and lateral positional relationships will be described based on the posture of the synthetic fuel production apparatus 10 in Figure 1.

[0015] The ultrafine bubble generating unit 1 takes in air A and water W from the outside and generates ultrafine bubbles in the water W. The ultrafine bubbles may be Ultrafine Bubbles (registered trademark, the same applies hereinafter) with a diameter of 1 μm or less, or may be nanobubbles with a diameter of several hundred nm or less. A known ultrafine bubble generator or nanobubble generator can be used as the ultrafine bubble generating unit 1.

[0016] The air A taken in by the ultrafine bubble generating unit 1 is preferably atmospheric air. The oxygen contained in the air A generates ultrafine oxygen bubbles in the water W. Note that instead of air A, the ultrafine bubble generating unit 1 may take in only oxygen from an oxygen tank or the like.

[0017] The water W taken in by the ultrafine bubble generating unit 1 may be tap water or pure water. When the water W is pure water, the synthetic fuel production device 10 may be equipped with a removal device such as a reverse osmosis membrane that removes impurities such as ions and salts contained in the tap water. The water W may also be controlled at a predetermined temperature.

[0018] The ultrafine bubbles do not burst and disappear on the surface of the water W, but shrink and disappear within the water W. Therefore, when the ultrafine bubbles disappear, a reaction field is formed due to the disappearance of the gas-liquid interface, and the molecules in the ultrafine bubbles are decomposed, which may generate active oxygen, which is a free radical such as a superoxide anion radical or a hydroxyl radical.

[0019] The water W containing ultrafine bubbles generated by the ultrafine bubble generator 1 flows through the flow path 11 and is supplied to the activated water generator 2. In this embodiment, an ultrasonic wave irradiator 4 is disposed below the activated water generator 2, and ultrasonic waves U are irradiated from the ultrasonic wave irradiator 4 toward the water W flowing through the activated water generator 2, thereby further uniformly breaking down the water W containing ultrafine bubbles. The ultrasonic wave irradiator 4 may be disposed above the activated water generator 2 or to the side of the activated water generator 2. The ultrasonic wave irradiator 4 may irradiate ultrasonic waves U upward, or may irradiate ultrasonic waves U both upward and downward.

[0020] The activated water generator 2 may be, for example, a cylindrical container, and the synthetic fuel production unit 3, which will be described later, may be installed inside the activated water generator 2. The synthetic fuel production unit 3 in this embodiment is, for example, a cylindrical container having smaller vertical and radial dimensions than the activated water generator 2, and is installed in the internal space of the activated water generator 2 so that the upper surfaces of the activated water generator 2 and the synthetic fuel production unit 3 are positioned on approximately the same plane. The synthetic fuel production unit 3 may be arranged so that its central axis is positioned on the central axis of the activated water generator 2. The water W supplied to the activated water generator 2 from the flow path 11 flows through the space surrounded by the side surfaces of the activated water generator 2 and the side surfaces of the synthetic fuel production unit 3, and the space surrounded by the bottom surface of the activated water generator 2 and the bottom surface of the synthetic fuel production unit 3, and is then discharged from the activated water generator 2.

[0021] The internal space of the activated water generator 2 is preferably filled with a catalyst 20. The catalyst 20 can be of any type, as long as it easily generates ions in the water W. For example, titanium balls containing titanium oxide or tourmaline can be used. Irradiating the water W containing ions and ultrafine bubbles with ultrasound U increases the reactivity of the ultrafine bubbles as they disappear. That is, irradiation with ultrasound U breaks down the molecular aggregates of the water W, increasing the energy generated by the ions as the ultrafine bubbles disappear. Therefore, in the activated water generator 2, the water W is converted into activated water R under the influence of the ions and ultrasound U. This allows for efficient generation of activated water R, and the amount of radicals contained in the activated water R can be increased.

[0022] The activated water R flows through the flow path 21, merges with the flow path 8, and is supplied to the synthetic fuel production unit 3. A pump or the like may be disposed on the flow path 21 to supply the activated water R to the synthetic fuel production unit 3. Note that the flow path 21 does not have to merge with the flow path 8, and may be directly connected to the synthetic fuel production unit 3.

[0023] The synthetic fuel production unit 3 is supplied with raw oil O stored in a raw oil tank 5. The raw oil O is, for example, diesel, kerosene, or heavy oil. The raw oil O flows through a flow path 51 and merges with a flow path 8, and is then supplied to the synthetic fuel production unit 3; however, the flow path 51 does not have to merge with the flow path 8, and may be directly connected to the synthetic fuel production unit 3. A pump or the like may be disposed on the flow path 51.

[0024] Furthermore, air A sucked from the atmosphere by a blower or the like is supplied to the synthetic fuel production unit 3. The air A flows through the flow path 8. The flow paths 8 and 21, 51 may be provided with check valves to prevent backflow of the activated water R and the base oil O. Furthermore, the activated water R, the base oil O, and the air A may be mixed in the flow path 8, and a pump or the like may be provided on the flow path 8 to supply them to the synthetic fuel production unit 3.

[0025] In the synthetic fuel production section 3, activated water R, carbon dioxide contained in air A, and base oil O are mixed to produce synthetic fuel F. In this embodiment, since the activated water R has a large amount of radicals, the yield of synthetic fuel F can be improved.

[0026] In this embodiment, the synthetic fuel production unit 3 is disposed within the internal space of the activated water production unit 2, as described above. That is, the activated water production unit 2 and the synthetic fuel production unit 3 are arranged parallel to each other along the direction of the ultrasonic waves U emitted by the ultrasonic wave irradiation unit 4. Therefore, a portion of the ultrasonic waves U irradiated to the activated water production unit 2 penetrates the underside of the synthetic fuel production unit 3 and is also irradiated to the synthetic fuel production unit 3. When the ultrasonic waves U are irradiated to the activated water R, carbon dioxide, and base oil O in the synthetic fuel production unit 3, they are uniformly fragmented, increasing the reaction area between the activated water R, the base oil O, and the carbon dioxide, and the carbon dioxide and base oil O also become radicalized. This improves the reaction efficiency of the activated water R, carbon dioxide, and base oil O, enabling the synthetic fuel F to be obtained efficiently in a short period of time. The synthetic fuel production unit 3 may also have a stirring blade or the like for stirring the mixture.

[0027] Furthermore, titanium balls containing titanium oxide or a catalyst such as tourmaline may be placed inside the synthetic fuel production unit 3. When activated water R, carbon dioxide, and base oil O are supplied to the synthetic fuel production unit 3 having such a catalyst and ultrasonic waves U are applied, the radicalization of the activated water R, carbon dioxide, and base oil O is promoted, and the yield of synthetic fuel F is improved.

[0028] The mixture M of synthetic fuel F and activated water R produced in the synthetic fuel production unit 3 flows through the flow path 31 and is supplied to the static tank 6. In this embodiment, the flow path 31 is arranged so as to penetrate the synthetic fuel production unit 3 and the activated water generation unit 2, but the flow path 31 may also be a pipe or the like connected to the upper surface of the synthetic fuel production unit 3 and the static tank 6. Therefore, a pump or the like for supplying the mixture M to the static tank 6 may be arranged on the flow path 31. By leaving the mixture M statically in the static tank 6 for a predetermined time (e.g., 24 hours), the activated water R and the synthetic fuel F are separated by specific gravity, and the synthetic fuel F accumulates in the upper layer of the mixture M as a supernatant. The synthetic fuel F separated from the mixture M may be supplied to the storage tank 7 and stored therein, or may be supplied again to the synthetic fuel production unit 3 instead of the base oil O and reacted with the activated water R or the like. By repeatedly reacting the synthetic fuel F in the synthetic fuel production unit 3, the yield of newly produced synthetic fuel F can be improved.

[0029] [Synthetic fuel production method] Next, a description will be given of a method for producing the synthetic fuel F in this embodiment. The synthetic fuel F may be produced by using the synthetic fuel production apparatus 10 described above.

[0030] First, an ultrafine bubble generating step is performed to generate ultrafine bubbles in the water W. The generation of ultrafine bubbles may be performed using an ultrafine bubble generator or a nanobubble generator. In either case, a known device can be used. The generation of ultrafine bubbles in the water W can promote the generation of active oxygen such as free radicals.

[0031] Next, an activated water generation process is performed in which water W containing ultrafine bubbles is irradiated with ultrasonic waves U to generate activated water R. The irradiation of ultrasonic waves U is preferably performed on water W flowing through a catalyst 20. The catalyst 20 can be of any type as long as it easily generates ions in the water W, such as titanium oxide-containing titanium balls or tourmaline. Irradiating water W containing ions and ultrafine bubbles with ultrasonic waves U increases reactivity when the ultrafine bubbles disappear. Specifically, irradiation with ultrasonic waves U breaks down molecular aggregates in the water W, increasing the energy generated by the ions when the ultrafine bubbles disappear. This allows for efficient generation of activated water R, thereby increasing the amount of radicals contained in the activated water R.

[0032] The irradiation time of the ultrasonic waves U is preferably 5 minutes to 24 hours, for example. If the irradiation time of the ultrasonic waves U is short, the water W will not be sufficiently atomized, resulting in a decrease in the amount of radicals in the activated water R, and if the irradiation time of the ultrasonic waves U is long, it will be uneconomical.

[0033] Next, a reaction step is carried out in which the activated water R, the base oil O, and carbon dioxide are mixed and reacted. The base oil O is, for example, light oil, kerosene, or heavy oil. Air A from the atmosphere may be used as the carbon dioxide. In the reaction step, a mixture of the activated water R and the base oil O may be sprayed and supplied to the synthetic fuel production unit 3, or these may be separately introduced into the synthetic fuel production unit 3. Carbon dioxide may also be supplied after the activated water R and the base oil O are introduced into the synthetic fuel production unit 3.

[0034] In this embodiment, in the reaction step, a mixture of activated water R, base oil O, and carbon dioxide may be mixed by irradiating the mixture with ultrasonic waves U. By irradiating the mixture with ultrasonic waves U, the base oil O and carbon dioxide can be broken down into smaller particles, thereby increasing the reaction area between the activated water R and the mixture and promoting the radicalization of the base oil O and carbon dioxide, thereby improving the yield of synthetic fuel F. In this embodiment, the reaction step is carried out at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, but it may also be carried out under a predetermined pressure and a predetermined temperature.

[0035] After the reaction step is completed, the produced synthetic fuel F is separated into the synthetic fuel F and a mixture M of activated water R and base oil O in a separation step. The separation step may be performed by gravity separation, for example, by leaving the synthetic fuel F and the mixture M to stand for 24 hours. The separated synthetic fuel F may be stored in a separate tank for shipping or use. Note that new synthetic fuel F may be produced by reacting the synthetic fuel F produced in the reaction step with activated water R and carbon dioxide instead of the base oil O.

[0036] [Example] Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to the descriptions of these examples.

[0037] [Example] First, a known ultrafine bubble generator was used as the ultrafine bubble generating unit 1 to generate ultrafine bubbles in pure water. The ultrafine bubbles were generated using atmospheric air. Next, the pure water containing the ultrafine bubbles was reacted with a catalyst 20, and the pure water was irradiated with ultrasound U to generate activated water R containing active oxygen. Titanium balls were used as the catalyst 20. Then, the activated water R was mixed with heavy oil A and air A to generate synthetic fuel F.

[0038] Comparative Example The synthetic fuel F was produced in the same manner as in the example, except that the ultrasonic wave U was not irradiated when the activated water R was produced.

[0039] For both the examples and comparative examples, the amount of radicals contained in activated water R and in a mixture of activated water R, heavy oil A, and air A was measured using electron spin resonance (ESR). DMPO was used as a trapping reagent. The amount of radicals can be estimated from the signal intensity observed by electron spin resonance. In the following, the measurement results will be explained assuming that the signal intensity represents the amount of radicals. The amount of radicals was determined by calculating the average value of a total of 25 measurements.

[0040] Figure 2 is a diagram showing the amount of radicals contained in activated water R according to the examples and comparative examples, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing the amount of radicals contained in a mixture of activated water R, heavy oil A, and air A according to the examples and comparative examples.

[0041] As shown in Figure 2, the amount of radicals contained in the activated water R according to the example is greater than that of the comparative example, which indicates that the amount of radicals contained in the activated water R is increased by irradiation with ultrasound U. Similarly, as shown in Figure 3, the amount of radicals contained in the mixture of the activated water R, heavy oil A, and air A according to the example is greater than that of the comparative example, which indicates that the amount of radicals is increased by irradiation with ultrasound U in the synthetic fuel production process. From the above, it is possible to increase the amount of radicals in the activated water R and improve the production efficiency of the synthetic fuel F by irradiating the water W containing ultrafine bubbles with ultrasound U.

[0042] In the above-described embodiment, the following configurations are envisioned. (1) A synthetic fuel production method comprising: an ultrafine bubble generation step of generating ultrafine bubbles in water (W); an activated water generation step of irradiating the water (W) containing the ultrafine bubbles with ultrasound (U) to generate activated water (R); and a reaction step of mixing and reacting the activated water (R), base oil (O), and carbon dioxide.

[0043] According to this configuration, activated water R is generated by irradiating water W containing ultrafine bubbles with ultrasound U, and the activated water R can be efficiently converted into a radical state. Then, by mixing and reacting activated water R with a large amount of radicals, base oil O, and carbon dioxide, it is possible to efficiently generate synthetic fuel F.

[0044] (2) In the reaction step of the synthetic fuel production method of (1), it is preferable to irradiate the mixture of activated water R, base oil O, and carbon dioxide with ultrasonic waves U.

[0045] According to this configuration, by irradiating a mixture of activated water R, base oil O, and carbon dioxide with ultrasonic waves U, the activated water R, base oil O, and carbon dioxide can be broken down into smaller particles, making them easier to mix and increasing the reaction area. In addition, irradiation with ultrasonic waves U can promote the radicalization of the activated water R, base oil O, and carbon dioxide, thereby increasing the amount of radicals. Therefore, there is no need to stir them using a stirrer or the like, and synthetic fuel F can be obtained efficiently.

[0046] (3) In the synthetic fuel production method of (1) or (2), the activated water production step preferably involves irradiating the water W flowing through the catalyst 20 with ultrasonic waves U.

[0047] According to this configuration, ultrasonic waves U are irradiated onto the water W flowing through the catalyst 20. By irradiating the water W whose ionization has been promoted by the catalyst 20 with ultrasonic waves U, the reactivity at the time of disappearance of the ultrafine bubbles can be increased, and the amount of radicals in the activated water R can be increased.

[0048] (4) A synthetic fuel production device 10 comprising an ultrafine bubble generating unit 1 that generates ultrafine bubbles in water, an activated water generating unit 2 having a catalyst 20 and that generates activated water R by irradiating water W containing ultrafine bubbles with ultrasonic waves U, and a synthetic fuel production unit 3 that mixes and reacts the activated water R, base oil O, and carbon dioxide to produce synthetic fuel F, wherein the synthetic fuel production unit 3 and the activated water generating unit 2 are arranged in parallel along the direction of irradiation of the ultrasonic waves U.

[0049] According to this configuration, the ultrafine bubble generating unit 1 generates water W containing ultrafine bubbles, and the activated water generating unit 2 irradiates the water W with ultrasonic waves U, thereby efficiently converting the generated activated water R into a radical state. Furthermore, the synthetic fuel producing unit 3, which mixes and reacts the activated water R with base oil O and carbon dioxide to produce synthetic fuel F, and the activated water producing unit 2 are arranged in parallel along the direction of irradiation of the ultrasonic waves U. Therefore, the ultrasonic waves U irradiated by the activated water producing unit 2 toward the water W can also be irradiated toward the synthetic fuel producing unit 3. As a result, even if the synthetic fuel producing unit 3 does not have a stirrer or the like, the activated water R, base oil O, and carbon dioxide are mixed by the ultrasonic waves U, which allows the device configuration of the synthetic fuel producing unit 3 to be simplified and enables more efficient production of synthetic fuel F.

[0050] Other Embodiments (a) In the above embodiment, the synthetic fuel F was obtained by reacting the activated water R, the base oil O, and carbon dioxide, but the synthetic fuel F may also be obtained by reacting only the activated water R with carbon dioxide.

[0051] (b) In the above embodiment, the synthetic fuel production unit 3 is provided in the internal space of the activated water generation unit 2, but it may be located above the upper surface of the activated water generation unit 2. Furthermore, the synthetic fuel production unit 3 does not need to be connected to the activated water production unit 2 as long as the ultrasonic waves U irradiated to the activated water production unit 2 are also irradiated to the synthetic fuel production unit 3. Note that the activated water production unit 2 only needs to be located between the synthetic fuel production unit 3 and the ultrasonic wave irradiating unit 4 along the irradiation direction of the ultrasonic waves U, and the synthetic fuel production unit 3 may be located to the side or below the activated water production unit 2. [Industrial Applicability]

[0052] The present invention can be used in a synthetic fuel production method and synthetic fuel production apparatus that include an ultrafine bubble generation step of generating ultrafine bubbles in water. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 1: Ultrafine bubble generator, 2: Activated water generator, 3: Synthetic fuel production unit, 4: Ultrasonic irradiation unit, 10: Synthetic fuel production device, F: Synthetic fuel, O: Base oil, R: Activated water, U: Ultrasonic wave, W: Water

Claims

1. an ultrafine bubble generating step of generating ultrafine bubbles in water; an activated water generating step of generating activated water by irradiating the water containing the ultrafine bubbles with ultrasonic waves; a reaction step of mixing and reacting the activated water, base oil, and carbon dioxide.

2. 2. The method for producing synthetic fuel according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic irradiation is performed on a mixture of the activated water, the base oil, and the carbon dioxide in the reaction step.

3. 3. The synthetic fuel production method according to claim 1, wherein the activated water generating step comprises irradiating the water flowing through a catalyst with the ultrasonic waves.

4. an ultrafine bubble generating unit that generates ultrafine bubbles in water; an activated water generating unit having a catalyst and irradiating the water containing the ultrafine bubbles with ultrasonic waves to generate activated water; a synthetic fuel production unit that mixes and reacts the activated water, the base oil, and carbon dioxide to produce a synthetic fuel, The synthetic fuel production device, wherein the synthetic fuel production unit and the activated water production unit are arranged in parallel along the direction of the ultrasonic wave irradiation.

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