respective ends 36 38 of the electrodes 22 24 downwardly to the interstitial boundary 20 between the oil layer 16 and water layer 14 and from there is developed an electrical path laterally through the water layer to the other electrode it can be observed that the electrical discharge occurs primarily within this observed area this has given rise to the speculation which taken together with the fact that it is only the water which is essentially electrochemically decomposed that there has developed within the hydrocarbon layer a series of free radicals which play at least some role in the transferral of electrical energy to develop the circuit between the electrodes during operation there is little change in the quantity of the hydrocarbon petroleum layer but in the water layer whether the ph is 7 or is made electrically conductive to a greater extent by the addition of electrolyte the water will successively exhausted thus while it is possible to account for the hydrogen according to the reaction the missing constituent oxygen can be accounted for only on the basis of its reactivity with highly mobile and reactive free radicals of hydrocarbon which are formed by cleaving at least some of the hydrogen carbon bonds within the petroleum layer it has been observed that the petroleum layer changes in its viscosity and appearance to a certain extent suggesting the development of hydrocarboxy compounds such as ethers ketones and aldehydes as mentioned previously the gap 34 d 34 is essential to maintain throughout the operation and this is obtained by means of incoming make up water which is introduced to the system through the trough 68 by means of which a steady stream of incoming droplets is developed as incoming water to balance the conversion rate of water to.